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Category: Ephesians (Page 16 of 18)

Power In The Blood

October 5, 2009 / / 2 Comments

PowerInTheBloodThe blood of Jesus is what courses through our veins. It’s in our DNA. It’s the thing that unites us with all baptized believers who are saved by the grace of God through faith in the Son. The pouring out of his blood is what breaks down the barriers that divide us.

The moment our Christ died, the veil in the temple was ripped in two, torn in half from top to bottom. No more separation. The writer of Hebrews makes a pretty big deal out of this. The death of Jesus, his blood, opens up this new and living way by which we live an integrated life. We’re now integrated with God by total access to his throne in the Holy of Holies. And we’re integrated with one another to live in perfect Christian unity.

There’s an ancient communion prayer written by Hippolytus late in the 3rd century that speaks to the power of Christ’s blood:

“We render thanks to you, O God, through your beloved Son Jesus Christ, whom in these last times you sent to us as a Savior and Redeemer according to you will and in whom you were well pleased. And he was betrayed to voluntary suffering that he might destroy death and break the bonds of the devil and tread down hell and shine upon the righteous.”

Those are powerful words. Destroy. Break. Tread.

Those are fitting words, appropriate action verbs, worthy of what our crucified and resurrected Lord has accomplished for us by his great love and grace. Ephesians 2 tells us in no uncertain terms that when Jesus poured out his blood he “destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility” and he “abolished the certificate of debt that stood against us.”

He himself is our peace — our peace with God and with one another.

There’s power in the blood. Great power. Wonder working power.

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100.7 FM, The WordThe Word FM — 100.7 on your radio dial — a local Christian talk radio station here in DFW, has designated Legacy as their Church of the Week. What it means for Legacy is a week’s worth of 60-second promotional spots that I recorded in their Irving studios a couple of weeks ago. I haven’t heard the edited versions yet, but they do focus almost exclusively on our outreach to our community. Specifically the spots mention our involvement with our local elementary schools. And I spend about 30 of those seconds talking up this Saturday’s 27th annual Legacy Give Away Day.

What it could mean for you is $250 cash. At 3:00 this afternoon Texas time, Janet Mefferd will begin her talk show and at some point during that first hour, between 3:00 and 4:00 today, she’ll ask callers to identify this week’s Church of the Week. The first caller to correctly identify the Church of the Week as “Legacy Church of Christ in North Richland Hills” wins the 250-bucks. The call-in number is 800-949-5973. Be ready for it.

And then you can take me to lunch on Friday. I’ll be listening for Janet to call your name.

Peace,

Allan

More Than Enough

August 24, 2009 / / 0 Comments

More Than EnoughFaith is living in the knowledge and confidence that our God is always going to give us everything we need in order to live. But it’s also knowing that the truly important things — the eternal things, the things that really matter — he gives us in abundance. We have more of those things than we know what to do with.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul uses hyperbole to describe these great spiritual gifts. In fact, the actual greek word he uses over and over is pronounced “hyperballo.“ It’s translated into the English words “incomparably,” “immeasurable,” and “surpassing.” It’s extravagant! It’s over the top! It demands exclamation points!

Ephesians 1:19 – “his incomparably (hyperballo) great power for us who believe” Overflowing power! Overwhelming power! More than enough divine Holy Spirit power within me to annihilate sin and death and Satan and everything that works so hard to separate me from God!

Ephesians 2:7 – “the incomparable (hyperballo) riches of his grace” Through the kindness of Christ Jesus! Buckets of grace! Grace in spades! More than plenty of grace to be saved and to join God in doing good works!

Ephesians 3:19 – “love that surpasses (hyperballo) knowledge” Incomprehensible love! Love that cannot be fathomed! Heavenly love up to here! God’s love coming out my ears! A surplus of love that fills me to the measure of all the fullness of God himself!

God’s love! Christ’s grace! The Holy Spirit’s power! Lavished on us! More than we need! Why? Why does God give us so much?

“To the praise of his glory” ~Ephesians 1:14

“To do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ~Ephesians 2:10

“Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~Ephesians 3:21

Some of us are having to pinch pennies right now. Some of us are having to pinch half-pennies. Economically, some of us are struggling right now. What a blessing to realize that the eternal things, the things that will not fade, the rich blessings of divine power and grace and love are piled so high on top of us by our God, that inspired writers don’t quite know how to say it.

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First Day Of School 09-10    Outside the new Richland Rebels gym   Whitney showing off her new school

The three girls started back to school today. Whitney’s a sophomore at the all-new-and-improved Richland High School here in North Richland Hills. We attended the ribbon cutting and open house yesterday afternoon and were blown away by how nice the place is. It almost looks like Mark Cuban built the place with huge HDTV screens placed about every 20-feet throughout the campus. It’s now, by far, the high school with the nicest facilities in the district. Not sure if that’ll add up to another football win over Birdville this year. Valerie’s a 7th grader at Northridge. And Carley’s in the 4th grade now at Green Valley. Three girls at three different schools. Yeah, it takes 30-minutes taking them in the mornings and almost a full hour to pick them up in the afternoons. Carrie-Anne starts her second year at TWU next week.

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20 days now until the Cowboys begin their 50th NFL season. And we’re counting them down with the Red Ribbon Review, Ron Springs & Everson Wallsa look at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. #20 on our list is running back Ron Springs. You already know the moving story of Springs’ Type 2 Diabetes and how former teammate Everson Walls donated one of his kidneys to Springs three years ago. But do you also remember that he was a pretty good football player, too?

Ron SpringsSprings was drafted in the 5th round out of Ohio State in 1979, mainly to back up Tony Dorsett. In that rookie season he was fifth in the NFL with an average of 9.8 yards per touch. And the Cowboys were forced to think up other ways to get him the ball. So Springs lined up at fullback. He lined up as a wingback. As a tight end. In motion of the backfield and then in the flats for a pass. He was big enough to stay in and block blitzing linebackers on third-and-long and quick enough to run a draw play up the gut for 12 yards and a first down. In his six seasons in Dallas, Springs racked up 2,180 yards rushing, 2,028 yards receiving, and a total of 38 TDs. He played in 3 NFC Championship Games.35-34. 1979 regular season finale. Staubach to Hill and then to Springs.

The image, though, that’s stuck in my mind is of Roger Staubach joyfully leaping in Springs’ arms after throwing a fade route for a touchdown to Tony Hill in the back-right corner of the end zone at Texas Stadium to complete a 35-34 come-from-behind win over the Redskins that simultaneously clinched the division title for Dallas and knocked Washington out of the playoffs. Dallas actually overcame two separate 17-point deficits that day in a win that turned out to be Staubach’s last ever victory. I love the picture.

Doug DennisonCatching up from yesterday, #21 in the Red Ribbon Review is probably a backup running back you’ve never heard of. Doug Dennison was an undrafted free agent out of Kutztown State in Pennsylvania. (I couldn’t make that up.) He made the team in 1974 and only carried the ball 16 times that rookie season. But four of those runs resulted in touchdowns. He had a nose for the end zone. So he was able to hang on until his big break in ’76 when he filled in for an injured Preston Pearson. Dennison led the team with 542 yards that season. He scored a team-leading seven touchdowns the next year. But in ’77 the Cowboys drafted Tony Dorsett and that pretty much ended Dennison’s career in Dallas. Dennison only got a total of 26 carries in ’77 and ’78 and was traded to Cleveland before the ’79 season.

Peace,

Allan

More Than Enough

August 24, 2009 / / 1 Comment

More Than EnoughFaith is living in the knowledge and confidence that our God is always going to give us everything we need in order to live. But it’s also knowing that the truly important things — the eternal things, the things that really matter — he gives us in abundance. We have more of those things than we know what to do with.

In his letter to the church in Ephesus, Paul uses hyperbole to describe these great spiritual gifts. In fact, the actual greek word he uses over and over is pronounced “hyperballo.“ It’s translated into the English words “incomparably,” “immeasurable,” and “surpassing.” It’s extravagant! It’s over the top! It demands exclamation points!

Ephesians 1:19 – “his incomparably (hyperballo) great power for us who believe” Overflowing power! Overwhelming power! More than enough divine Holy Spirit power within me to annihilate sin and death and Satan and everything that works so hard to separate me from God!

Ephesians 2:7 – “the incomparable (hyperballo) riches of his grace” Through the kindness of Christ Jesus! Buckets of grace! Grace in spades! More than plenty of grace to be saved and to join God in doing good works!

Ephesians 3:19 – “love that surpasses (hyperballo) knowledge” Incomprehensible love! Love that cannot be fathomed! Heavenly love up to here! God’s love coming out my ears! A surplus of love that fills me to the measure of all the fullness of God himself!

God’s love! Christ’s grace! The Holy Spirit’s power! Lavished on us! More than we need! Why? Why does God give us so much?

“To the praise of his glory” ~Ephesians 1:14

“To do good works which God prepared in advance for us to do.” ~Ephesians 2:10

“Glory in the Church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” ~Ephesians 3:21

Some of us are having to pinch pennies right now. Some of us are having to pinch half-pennies. Economically, some of us are struggling right now. What a blessing to realize that the eternal things, the things that will not fade, the rich blessings of divine power and grace and love are piled so high on top of us by our God, that inspired writers don’t quite know how to say it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

First Day Of School 09-10    Outside the new Richland Rebels gym   Whitney showing off her new school

The three girls started back to school today. Whitney’s a sophomore at the all-new-and-improved Richland High School here in North Richland Hills. We attended the ribbon cutting and open house yesterday afternoon and were blown away by how nice the place is. It almost looks like Mark Cuban built the place with huge HDTV screens placed about every 20-feet throughout the campus. It’s now, by far, the high school with the nicest facilities in the district. Not sure if that’ll add up to another football win over Birdville this year. Valerie’s a 7th grader at Northridge. And Carley’s in the 4th grade now at Green Valley. Three girls at three different schools. Yeah, it takes 30-minutes taking them in the mornings and almost a full hour to pick them up in the afternoons. Carrie-Anne starts her second year at TWU next week.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

20 days now until the Cowboys begin their 50th NFL season. And we’re counting them down with the Red Ribbon Review, Ron Springs & Everson Wallsa look at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. #20 on our list is running back Ron Springs. You already know the moving story of Springs’ Type 2 Diabetes and how former teammate Everson Walls donated one of his kidneys to Springs three years ago. But do you also remember that he was a pretty good football player, too?

Ron SpringsSprings was drafted in the 5th round out of Ohio State in 1979, mainly to back up Tony Dorsett. In that rookie season he was fifth in the NFL with an average of 9.8 yards per touch. And the Cowboys were forced to think up other ways to get him the ball. So Springs lined up at fullback. He lined up as a wingback. As a tight end. In motion of the backfield and then in the flats for a pass. He was big enough to stay in and block blitzing linebackers on third-and-long and quick enough to run a draw play up the gut for 12 yards and a first down. In his six seasons in Dallas, Springs racked up 2,180 yards rushing, 2,028 yards receiving, and a total of 38 TDs. He played in 3 NFC Championship Games.35-34. 1979 regular season finale. Staubach to Hill and then to Springs.

The image, though, that’s stuck in my mind is of Roger Staubach joyfully leaping in Springs’ arms after throwing a fade route for a touchdown to Tony Hill in the back-right corner of the end zone at Texas Stadium to complete a 35-34 come-from-behind win over the Redskins that simultaneously clinched the division title for Dallas and knocked Washington out of the playoffs. Dallas actually overcame two separate 17-point deficits that day in a win that turned out to be Staubach’s last ever victory. I love the picture.

Doug DennisonCatching up from yesterday, #21 in the Red Ribbon Review is probably a backup running back you’ve never heard of. Doug Dennison was an undrafted free agent out of Kutztown State in Pennsylvania. (I couldn’t make that up.) He made the team in 1974 and only carried the ball 16 times that rookie season. But four of those runs resulted in touchdowns. He had a nose for the end zone. So he was able to hang on until his big break in ’76 when he filled in for an injured Preston Pearson. Dennison led the team with 542 yards that season. He scored a team-leading seven touchdowns the next year. But in ’77 the Cowboys drafted Tony Dorsett and that pretty much ended Dennison’s career in Dallas. Dennison only got a total of 26 carries in ’77 and ’78 and was traded to Cleveland before the ’79 season.

Peace,

Allan

Power In The Blood

July 7, 2009 / / 0 Comments

PowerSome of the earliest Christian writings we have concerning the weekly observance of the Lord’s Supper come from Hippolytus’ Apostolic Tradition, written in 215 AD. I want to share with you this morning part of a communion prayer from those writings. Keep in mind this is a prayer to God prayed by the community of faith as they’re gathered around the table on Resurrection day.

 “When he was handed over to undergo voluntary suffering, to destroy death and to break the chains of the Devil, to crush hell beneath his feet, to establish the rule of faith, and manifest his resurrection, taking bread he gave thanks to you and said, ‘Take, eat; this is my body broken for you.’ In the same way, taking the chalice, he said, ‘This is my blood which is shed for you. When you do this, do it in memory of me.'”

These are powerful words. These words thunder with the very powerful image of the saving work of God in Christ. Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection served a history-changing, earth-altering purpose. Christ’s work did something huge and eternal. It won a great victory over a mighty opponent. And it will stand forever.

CommunionDestroy. Break. Crush. Establish. There is great power in these words. This is the work of the Savior of the World! And we celebrate the eternal benefits of that work when we commune with our Holy God. We rehearse the story, we remember the work, with words and images of power — “his incomparably great power for us who believe.” This is the picture and message of power that we celebrate together around the table. This is the picture and message of power that needs to be shared with a lost and dying world.

“That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age, but in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the Church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.” ~Ephesians 1:18-23

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Red Ribbon ReviewWe’re counting down the days until the Cowboys kick off their 2009 season with the Red Ribbon Review, a list of the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. There are 68 days left until Cowboys season. And today’s #68 is offensive lineman Crawford Ker.

CrawfordKerKer was a third round pick out of Florida in 1985 and became the highest paid offensive lineman in Cowboys history. He played six years in Dallas. But he never was a starter for a winning Cowboys team. The Cowboys won the NFC East with a 10-6 record in Ker’s 1985 rookie season. Tom Landry would later say that was probably his best ever coaching year because the team really wasn’t very good. And they proved it in subsequent seasons.

Ker became the full-time starter at right guard in ’86, the year the Cowboys went 7-9 and ended the longest consecutive winning seasons streak in NFL history at 20 in a row. Clint Murchison died in ’87, another dark moment in Cowboys history, and the team finished 7-8. Steve Pelluer was named the starting quarterback in ’88 and led them to 3-13. Jerry Wayne came in and Jimmy Johnson held on to Ker for two more losing years before shipping him off to the Broncos before the ’91 season. Ker was a starter on the Cowboys line for five seasons during which the team went 25-54.Ker’s Winghouse Logo

Ker’s success has come since his retirement from football. He owns and operates Ker’s Winghouse, a Florida-based chicken and burger joint with 22 locations and 1,700 employees, that raked in almost 60 million dollars in revenue in 2007.

It’s only fair to mention that Ker did taste some success before he left the NFL. It wasn’t all gridiron failure. In his one season in Denver, he got to block for John Elway and made it all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

Peace,

Allan

Great Power For Us Who Believe

April 20, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“…far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” ~Ephesians 1:21

Because Jesus is Lord, because he is King, because he is above all for ever more, we do not lose hope over any temporary, earthly setbacks. Those things, we understand, only contribute more to that ultimate victory for our Savior and the Kingdom.

Any failings, any struggles, any dark valleys, all of our temporary trials just make the victory of our Lord and Savior that much more magnificent. It makes it that much more huge. It gives us that much more confidence and joy!

Our attitude is, “You can’t do anything to me. The world can’t do anything to me. The world can’t do anything to us because we belong to the resurrected and exalted King!”

Jesus is Lord.

He is Lord over all the nations. He is Lord over all our schools. He is Lord over all the churches. He is Lord over every economic system. He is Lord over every form of government. He is Lord over your street and your family and your career. He is Lord! He is Lord over your greatest thrills and your darkest fears. He is Lord over all! There is nothing that is above him. There is nothing not under his authority and control. No situation, no circumstance, no power, no bully, no disease, no layoff, no relationship, no nothing. You name it! Name anything! There’s nothing over our Christ. There’s nothing too big or too strong for him to control. There’s nothing too small or insignificant for him to be concerned about. The Scriptures say all rule, all authority, all power, all dominion! And every title that can possibly be given, now, today, in this present age, and in the age to come for ever and ever. Amen!

And that’s great news! It’s wonderful news! It’s earth-shattering, history-changing, mind-blowing good news for us who believe. Because our Holy Scriptures make it very clear that his incomparably great power is for us. It belongs to us and to all who believe. Resurrection power. Exaltation power. Holy Spirit power.

That power is in you.

It’s in you giving you the courage to defend someone being picked on or insulted or attacked. It’s in you giving you the strength to endure one more chemotherapy treatment, one more day without a job, or a spouse. It’s in you — this great Resurrection power — giving you the boldness to say you’re not going to that party this weekend because you know what’s probably going to happen. It’s in you, empowering you to teach, to give aid, to encourage, to make peace, to sacrifice and serve and love. It enables you to live like our King, to live with our King, to live in our King; to live the fullness of this new life.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.” ~Ephesians 1:18-19a

Peace,

Allan

Reversing Fortunes

March 20, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Reversal of Fortunes“Remember that in your lifetime you received good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony.” ~Luke 16:25

Jesus tells his story about the rich man and Lazarus to illustrate several points, among them that the things God considers of value are not recorded with numbers and dollar signs. But I’m particularly interested in the reversal of fortunes theme that appears to be synonymous with the coming of the Kingdom of God.

“The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.” ~Matthew 11:5

The roles of the rich man and Lazarus are reversed.

The rich man is very wealthy. He lives in a home with a gate and wears purple, an outward sign of great luxury. He dresses in fine linen, a description of his fancy underwear. Lazarus, by contrast, has nothing. He lies at the gate, begging, full of sores, unclean, and starving. His situation is as tragic as the rich man’s is sumptuous.

But now their fortunes are reversed. And it’s a permanent situation.

Isn’t this exactly what God through Christ has done for us? He has turned our lives completely around. He has totally reversed our fortunes. Permanently.

“As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins…But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgression — it is by grace you have been saved.” ~Ephesians 2:1-5

Peace,

Allan

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