Category: Discipleship (Page 29 of 30)

Almost everything I do from the pulpit I do in the context of community. The Community of Faith. The Church. The Family of God. I believe that God creates us, he brings us together, and he sustains us to live in community. I believe part of being created in the image of God is in our living in community the way he does. We give each other life and support each other and share in relationship just as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit do. And I think this way of thinking is critical. I think it’s paramount to our Christian walk.

I believe it takes a village to raise a child. I believe the business of the Church is to create a culture that is counter to the culture we experience in the world. I believe nobody is saved by himself. No one gets to Heaven alone.

I believe that and I teach that because the God of Heaven and Earth, the God of Holy Scripture acts on behalf of people. He intercedes and interferes for people. And when he acts with and for and through individuals, his purpose and his mission is focused on a much larger group. Of people.

Christianity and discipleship is done in community.

But then the Sermon on the Mount reminds us that the standards of our community — even our church community — will not save us. As critically important as they are, the conduct and behavior and beliefs of the Church will not redeem us. What is paramount in that regard is our individual and personal commitment to walk in the ways of God.

Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount that our Father sees what we keep secret. What we don’t show to anybody else, he knows. It doesn’t matter what other people think about me, my Father knows if my religion is just a show. He knows if I’m just performing for the people who hear me preach. He knows if I’m just faking it for the people sitting next to me on my pew. He knows.

Jesus tells us that the day is coming when people will present themselves to him in judgment and show him all the great and mighty deeds we’ve done in his name. We preached Jesus. We defeated Satan. We helped people. And we did it in the name of the Christ. I preached. I baptized. I ran the shoe department at Give Away Day. I visited the sick. I cooked for that family. I co-led a Small Group. And I did it all in the name of Jesus.

And the answer Jesus will give to so many that day is, “Who are you? Have we met? You must have been calling on somebody else all those years. I don’t have a clue who you are. And those things you did were actually evil.”

If we seek Jesus and Jesus alone, if we purify our hearts and take care to devote ourselves only to the Father, we will never have that fear. It’s in that we become truly his.

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I’m happy to direct you to “Talkin’ The Walk,” a daily blog now being written by our Youth Minister here at Legacy, Jason Brown. I’m more impressed every day with Jason’s love for our Lord and for the young people and families of this congregation. He and I struggle with the same things as far as culture and Christ, youth ministry versus family ministry, and a host of other related dilemmas. He’s passionate about walking in the Jesus Way. And about taking as many people with him as he can. I thank God for Jason and his wife, Cori, and their precious daughter, Rylee. I’m blessed to know him. You’ll be blessed to read him.

Peace,

Allan

“Everyone wishes very much to be a servant of Christ, but no one wishes to be his follower. No one can love Christ who does not follow the example of his holy life.” ~ Johann Arndt, 1610

“I feel a burning desire to be in everything a complete Christian; and conformed to the blessed image of Jesus Christ.” ~ Jonathan Edwards, 1720

“Whoever wishes to truly understand the words of Christ must try to pattern his whole life on that of Christ.” ~ Thomas a Kempis, 1451

“The object of the Christian religion is to make men and women like Jesus Christ. To the extent that it fails to make us like Christ in our whole character, to that extent it fails to benefit man. The great end to be gained here through the religion he has given us is to make ourselves like him in all that we think, feel, purpose, and do.” ~ David Lipscomb, 1867

“I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.” ~ Galatians 4:19

I’m captured by the concept of Christ being formed in those of us who are “being saved.” There is no other goal. Giving ourselves completely over to the resurrection of our Savior and the power of that resurrection to save us takes away all of our fears and anxieties about following him. There should be no hesitation. No doubt. We’re not afraid to risk anything because we don’t have anything to risk. We’ve given it all to him. And we trust him to furnish our every need as we become more and more like him.

Rick Ross, the preaching minister at Mesquite at the time, gave me a copy of a discipleship pledge in 2001. (By the way, his dynamic wife, Beverly Ross, is the featured speaker for our ladies at this Saturday’s Redeeming the Time event here at Legacy.) He had used it in a sermon on commitment and it really moved me. I’ve kept the copy, fairly tattered now, taped to the top of my desk or tacked to the wall above my computer wherever I’ve been ever since. And I read it everyday. I don’t know who wrote it. I think it was a missionary from maybe nearly a hundred years ago. I think it’s timeless.

I am a member of the fellowship of the unashamed.

I have Holy Spirit power.

The die has been cast.

I have stepped over the line.

The decision has been made.

I am a disciple of his.

I won’t look back, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure.

I am finished and done with low living, side walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, same visions, mundane talking, cinchy giving, and dwarfed goals.

I no longer need preeminance, prosperity, promotions, position, plaudits, or popularity.

I don’t have to be right, first, tops, recognized, regarded, rewarded, or praised.

I now live by present, lean by faith. walk by patience, lift by prayer and labor power.

My face is set, my gait it fast, my goal is Heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my Guide is reliable, my mission is clear.

I cannot be bought, compromised, lured, manipulated, enticed, or bribed.

I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice, hesitate in the presence of the Adversary, negotiate at the table of the Enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won’t give up, shut up, or let up until I’ve stayed up, prayed up, and preached for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of his.

I must go until he comes, give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until he stops me.

And when he comes back he will have no problem recognizing me.

For I have forgotten all that is in the past, I’m pressing on for the prize, the high calling of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

My colors are clear.

I am a disciple of his.

“Now I am a disciple. Let all the dreadful tortures of the devil come upon me; only let me get to Christ.” ~ Ignatius, 117AD

I’m into the last chapter of Childers and Aquino’s Unveiling Glory: Visions of Christ’s Transforming Presence and I’m convicted anew of the paramount importance of seeing our salvation as our new creation. Sanctification. Holiness. Whatever you want to call it. Our baptism into Jesus’ life, death, burial, and resurrection frees us from the bonds of sin to live our lives the way he lived his. Our call as God’s children is to live like Jesus.

I’ve heard my whole life that Jesus died so I don’t have to. Now I realize more and more that that’s not true. Jesus died to show me how to.

He lived to show me how to live. He overcame temptation to show me how to overcome temptation. He selflessly served others to show me how to selflessly serve others. He denied himself and picked up his cross and then commanded me to do the same thing.

From Unveiling Glory: “To confess Jesus as Lord is not merely to claim a relationship with him; it is to surrender to a very specific aim — being shaped according to Jesus’ image. Transformation into the image of Christ is the chief aim of the Christian life, and it is growing maturity in Christlikeness that validates authentic Christian experience.”

What Would Jesus Do?

It’s a question that has become almost trite and uninteresting because of all the bumper stickers and bracelets and T-shirts. But WWJD is not a new innovation. It’s not a marketing phenomenon of the past dozen years. Charles M. Sheldon, the preacher at the Central Congregational Church in Topeka, Kansas in 1896 first coined the phrase in his book In His Steps. WWJD was the theme of the book. The introduction to the book includes this memorable line: “I want volunteers who will pledge themselves earnestly and honestly for an entire year not to do anything without first asking the question, ‘What would Jesus do?'”

The apostles believed and preached the exact same thing, that we “all reflect the Lord’s glory and are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit” (2 Corinthians 3:18).

So if that’s the priority, and I know that it is, how do we gauge it? How do we judge whether our lives and our churches are on track? What measurements are appropriate? Precise accuracy in doctrinal thought and practice? Numerical growth? Stimulating and emotionally powerful worship experiences? All of these are compelling gauges of success. Churches plan entire strategies around aims like these. And they hire and fire preachers and ministers every day based on their ability or lack of ability to deliver those kinds of results. But none of those things provide the correct measurements for the authenticity of a Christian experience. I guess we can judge worship, church involvement, daily life, relationships, devotional practices and disciplines. But that’s not the deal.

The only clear sign that a person is sharing true intimacy with Jesus is the evidence that he or she is genuinely being shaped according to his image. That’s what the apostles repeatedly tell us in our Scriptures. And this is the true standard by which they judge the appropriateness of Christian decisions and behavior.

“Your attitude should be the same as that of the Lord Jesus ~Philippians 2:5

“Imitate me as I imitate Christ ~1 Corinthians 11:1

“Be imitators of God ~Ephesians 5:1

No other indicator, no matter how emotionally rich or intellectually satisfying fits the witness of Scripture.

Again, from Unveiling Glory: “Authentic Christian experience always leaves a person acting, speaking, thinking, looking more like Jesus. It may or may not bring people in — sometimes Jesus attracted people; sometimes he repelled them. It may or may not be pleasant or fulfilling — joy abounds in Christ, and yet sharing fellowship with Jesus’ sufferings is never likely to be pleasant. It may or may not impart a sense of warm intimacy with Jesus — sometimes, walking with Jesus causes the disciple to cry out, ‘My God, why have you forsaken me?'”

As church leaders, we should use the aim of growth in Christlikeness as a standard in our personal lives and in our church ministries. Wherever we find other, counterfeit goals driving the agenda, as they often do, we need to identify them as distractions and re-center our focus on the real work of our God.

Peace,

Allan

What an incredibly busy last couple of days and an even busier week ahead! We spent most of the weekend with my side of the family out in East Texas where my parents live in Liberty City, using about half the day Saturday to shop in Canton on the way back here to North Richland Hills. Keith had to teach his classes at Harding yesterday, but Rhonda’s family came back with us to see the house and worship with us Sunday at Legacy. Rhonda’s middle child, Caleb, is the sports nut in their family. And she’s constantly telling him to get rid of some of his sports junk and stop accumulating more sports junk. I brought them in to see my office here at the church building Sunday afternoon and all that did was provide Caleb with more ammunition. When he saw my Dallas Cowboys lamp that I got on my 12th birthday and the Super Bowl pennant from ’72 and the collector’s glasses I purchased in 1979, he became even more convinced that it was OK to hang onto all that stuff.

Good for you, Caleb. Don’t throw any of it away! Live the dream!

Carrie-Anne is teaching one of the three-year-old classes at the Legacy church day school this year and I was honored to be the first speaker at their weekly chapel services this morning. I’m having lunch with my good friend Paul Brownlow today, breakfast with David Byrnes Thursday morning, and dinner with the Roseberrys Thursday night. Friday morning I’m speaking at chapel at Fort Worth Christian (weird) and then we’re having dinner and attending the Dallas Christian – Fort Worth Christian football game that night with Andrew and Stephanie Brownlow and their kids. Give Away Day kicked off here at Legacy Sunday. And Carley’s birthday is Monday. She wants to go to Chuck E. Cheese. I’m trying to talk her out of it.

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I’m right smack dab in the middle of book #3 in the ACU Heart of the Restoration Series, Unveiling Glory: Visions of Christ’s Transforming Presence. In a chapter on Jesus’ earthly ministry and teachings, the authors make an interesting observation. They claim that we sometimes distort or downplay Jesus’ role as an example for us to follow.

“He is the founder of the church and the doorway into eternal life, not so much a model for our current behavior. Instead, the institutional features of the church take the lead, so that discipleship is defined in terms of meeting the conditions for membership and faithfully upholding the traditions of the institution. In direct defiance of Jesus’ teaching and example, matters such as adherence to specific worship forms become more important measures of faithfulness than whether or not one is showing mercy to those in need. The church’s vast resources are pledged to support and defend its traditions in such matters. Straining out the gnat of procedural details, we fall into danger of swallowing the camel of apathy towards the sick and wounded.”

There are probably none among us who don’t feel that this is a real threat to genuine discipleship to Jesus. And most, if not all, of us want to get as far away from the sectarian mindset as we can. We want to flee the old judgmental dynamic of the church. We want to avoid at all costs the arrogance of that attitude and legalistic atmosphere. And, rightfully so, we run away from those things.

But I’m afraid a lot of us are running backwards.

We’re so bent on distancing ourselves from those harmful aspects of the church that, while we’re running, we don’t take the time or the effort to turn around and watch where we’re going. Are we thinking as seriously and reflecting as deeply about where we’re running as we do about from what we’re running? Some of us are running away from legalism and church tradition — backwards — so fast that we could be heading right for the edge of a fatal cliff and not even realize it. We’re not looking for it. And we don’t see it.

The authors of Unveiling Glory, Jeff Childers and Frederick Aquino, address this very thing that I’ve been concerned about for some time.

“Ironically, strong currents of reaction against traditional preoccupation with the institution can produce a similar distortion of Jesus’ ministry. Some among us have felt the need to reject what they see as a religion of maintaining rules and regulations about procedural matters. They refuse to carry a Pharisaical yoke of legalism that burdens people unnecessarily and distracts them from pursuing a personal relationship with the Lord and cultivating matters of the heart. They yearn to experience the liberty of the Gospel. However, at times this impulse becomes so all-engrossing that it leads us to suppose that the freedom Jesus brings is an escape from our own traditions, from obedience, and from duty. Rather than understanding the Good News to be about deliverance from sin and the opportunity to serve others as slaves of God, we see it as delivering us from the bondage of our religious ancestors and from the oppressive burden of religious obligation.

People start to judge the spiritual vitality of churches based on how non-traditional they are in certain areas and how well they avoid creating uncomfortable feelings of guilt or obligation, rather than using the rigorous standards of servant spirituality that Jesus shows us. Taking up the anthem that ‘it is for freedom that Christ has set us free,’ we run the risk of using our freedom ‘to indulge the flesh’ rather than serving one another in love.”

Let’s do everything we can to separate ourselves from an arrogant, self-assured, legalistic mindset. Let’s do everything to flee that sort of thinking and acting within our brotherhood and in our communities. But let’s turn around and watch carefully where we’re going.

Peace,

Allan

Akibah, the great first century Jewish rabbi who lived and taught in Capernaum one generation after Jesus, said “The greatest sin is to teach a student to believe in God and not teach the student that God believes in him.”

When you understand the Jewish education system during the time of Jesus — the ages of the students, the steps in the education process, the expectations — it’s clear that most, if not all, of Jesus’ disciples were the ones who hadn’t made the cut. They were the ones who either were not able to memorize the entire Torah by the age of 12 or who had not made the grade in the Beth-Midrasch by the time they were 15. Most of them were already working, fishing, collecting taxes. These were not the merit scholars. There were no valedictorians in this group. They had disappointed their families and themselves.

And then Jesus walks up to them and says, “Come. Follow me.” Jesus tells these young men, “You can be like me.” Do you understand what it means to tell a C-student that you believe in him?

We’re always shocked by the Gospel accounts of the disciples dropping their nets immediately, at once, to follow Jesus. Luke goes out of his way to tell us they dropped everything, left it all, right there on the spot. Why are we surprised? If Luke’s chronology is correct, this rabbi Jesus had already raised the dead, cast out demons, and fed the five thousand. When he shows up and tells these young men, “You can be like me. You can follow me” they probably broke the world record in the half mile running home to tell their parents, “Jesus says I can follow him!”

Do you understand what it means to tell someone you believe in him?

In John 15, Jesus tells the disciples to go change the world. “And,” he says, “remember, you didn’t choose me. I chose you.”

When Peter is trying so hard to be just like Jesus and actually steps out of the boat and begins to walk on the water, just like his rabbi, he notices the wind and the waves and he begins to sink. Jesus reaches out and saves him and then says “oligopiste,” “little of faith,” why did you doubt?

What did Peter doubt? Who had Peter doubted? What was Jesus talking about? Did Jesus think Peter had doubted him? No. Jesus was still standing there, right on top of the water. He hadn’t sunk. He wasn’t sinking. Peter didn’t doubt Jesus.

He was doubting himself.

He was unsure if he could really be like Jesus, even with Jesus standing right there beside him.

And Jesus says, “Why?” Why do you doubt yourself?

Why don’t we believe we can be just like Jesus? Why don’t we really believe it?

He believes it. Why don’t we?

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Football season is here! Today! Right now! Oh, glorious day! You can tell how great it is because of all the exclamation points! Eleven college football games today and tonight, climaxing with the SEC matchup at 7:00 on ESPN between LSU and Mississippi State in Starkville. Forget the preseason finale tonight between the Vikings and Cowboys. The real football season, with games that count and outcomes that matter, is here!

Several of you have asked me to list all of the football players in the countdown to football season. I’ve done you one better. Starting today, you can go to the “99 Numbers” page and see all the players—from 1 to 99 — who helped us pass the time this summer in anticipation of football season. You can roll your cursor across the image to see the name of the player and the college and/or pro team where he had the success that earned him a spot on the list. And if you click on the image you’ll get the full size.

I must confess, counting down the days to football season with the jersey numbers served at least a couple of different purposes. Knowing I had to keep up with the commitment forced me to write every day. It worked. Now I’m in the habit. It also provided a bit of a hook for some of you who wouldn’t otherwise pay much attention to a preacher’s blog. I hope that part worked, too. I hope you’re in the habit.

Peace,

Allan