Category: John (Page 28 of 31)

Just Ask!

September 15, 2009 / Allan / 1 Comment

Before we can expect our God to give us the things we need, we have to ask. It’s super obvious. But I think we sometimes need to be reminded. We need to ask.

Around the table during that last meal with his apostles, Jesus told them several times, just ask. “Whatever you ask.” “You may ask me for anything.” “Whatever you ask.” “Whatever you ask.” “Ask and you will receive.”

The question for Jesus and his disciples — the question for us — is never, “Does God have the power to meet my needs?” The question always is, “Do I have the dependence on him and the presence of mind to ask?”

But that sounds too simple. Just get on my knees and recite my needs? That’s it? There’s gotta be more to it than that. Don’t I need to be doing something else? Something more? And if we’re not careful we wind up sounding like Naaman at the Jordan River: “This is it? If this is it, I’m outta here. Never mind.”

That’s why a lot of the times prayer is our last resource. We want to exhaust all of our own resources first. We want to do everything we can first — something tangible and practical. And if that fails (WHEN that fails), then we pray. You walk into a hospital room and say, “Let’s pray” and the patient panics. “Oh, no, has it come to that?!?” No, prayer is the first thing we do, not the last thing we try when everything else has failed.

See, I think Satan loves that. As long as he can keep us from asking God, as long as he can keep us depending on ourselves and not God, he’s got us.

“Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. In your hands are strength and power to exalt and give strength to all.” ~1 Chronicles 29:11-12

The only uncertainty as it relates to prayer is in our willingness to ask. God knows what we need. And he can’t wait to give it. But we have to ask. It’s the asking that displays our dependence.

Peace,

Allan

Just Ask!

September 15, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Before we can expect our God to give us the things we need, we have to ask. It’s super obvious. But I think we sometimes need to be reminded. We need to ask.

See, I think Satan loves that. As long as he can keep us from asking God, as long as he can keep us depending on ourselves and not God, he’s got us.

The only uncertainty as it relates to prayer is in our willingness to ask. God knows what we need. And he can’t wait to give it. But we have to ask. It’s the asking that displays our dependence.

Peace,

Allan

Knowing Christ, Knowing God

August 27, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you.” ~John 15:15

When you meet a stranger, when you shake somebody’s hand for the very first time, you’ll probably tell them your name, what you do for a living, and how many kids you have. When you bump into a friend, you might tell them a little more about your job or your spouse or your children. But when you sit down for a talk with your very dearest and closest friend, you tell him everything. Everything. You don’t hold anything back. You talk to him about the burdens of being who you are at work. You share with her the intimate details of your marriage, the wonderful things and the awful things. You open up to him your deepest feelings and your wildest dreams for your children. No reservations. No holds barred.

Everything.

Jesus totally opens himself up to us. He completely pulls back the curtain on his thoughts and motives so we can fully know him. Through Jesus, we’re able to fully know God. And that’s huge. That deserves serious and careful consideration.

Trust and love and loyalty — true friendship — is what leads to really knowing one another. In a marriage. In any kind of relationship. In EVERY kind of relationship. In the same way, knowing one another is what leads to trust and love and loyalty and true friendship. And when people really share that, there’s nothing they can’t survive together. There’s no situation, no circumstance, no event that can destroy that relationship.

I think that’s why Jesus prays, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” (John 17:3)

Doesn’t this sum up everything? All our problems and all of God’s solutions in this one sentence: Knowing God and knowing God through his Son.

When Jesus calls us his friends, he’s telling us, “I want you to know me. I’ve held nothing back from you. I’ve given you everything I have. There’s no door I won’t open for you. There’s nothing I won’t do for you. I’m wide open to you. You don’t have to worry about any surprises with me or any sudden changes with me. I’ll never pull the rug out from under you. You know me too well for that. You are my friends.”

Jesus loves you. He defends you. He protects you and gives to you. Jesus saves you and gives you access to the eternal riches of our Father in heaven. He died for you.

It’s good to have a friend like Jesus

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The Red Ribbon Review is my attempt to pass away the days until football season. We’re looking at the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. And today’s #17 is backup quarterback Jason Garrett.

Garrett was an undrafted free agent out of Princeton, bouncing around from the Saints to the World League and the CFL, before landing in Dallas where his dad, Jim, was a scout for the Cowboys. And for seven years, Garrett was one of the most popular Cowboys in town.

Garrett played in 25 games as Troy Aikman’s backup from 1993-1999. He started nine of those games, going 6-3 and keeping the team together during Super Bowl and playoff runs. And while his numbers aren’t gaudy (come on, he was a backup!) he had quite the penchant for the big play.

An 80-yard touchdown pass to Billy Davis in a big win over the Giants in ’98. A 43-yard scoring strike to Ernie Mills in a victory at Washington that same season. A 37-yard TD to Rocket Ismail in a home win over the Packers in ’99.

Of course, his biggest win came on Thanksgiving Day against Green Bay in 1994. The Cowboys were down 17-3 early in the second quarter, 17-6 at the half. But Garrett, who started that day in place of an injured Aikman, rallied Dallas to 36 second-half points for a huge 42-31 win. Garrett racked up 311 yards passing that day, including two second-half touchdown bombs to Alvin Harper (45 yards) and Michael Irvin (35 yards). He also won the eight-legged turkey or the metal turkey or whatever the network was giving away that day.

Now Garrett serves as the Cowboys offensive coordinator / assistant head coach, pulling down almost three-million-dollars a season. His career track reminds me of Danny Reeves’. I don’t think Garrett will be a head coach in Dallas. But he’ll always be the second-best #17 in Cowboys history.

Peace,

Allan

In Christ Jesus

August 20, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“You are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” ~1 Corinthians 1:30

All the doctrine of the Bible is made personal is Jesus. God’s wisdom is Jesus. Our righteousness is Jesus. Our holiness is Jesus. Our redemption is Jesus. Our resurrection is made personal and real in Jesus. Everything we need, and indeed have, for salvation and a right relationship with God is in Jesus.

When you’re down two scores in the fourth quarter you need a Pro Bowl quarterback, not a good playbook. When you’re being sued you need a good lawyer, not a comprehensive law encyclopedia. When you’re sick you need a good doctor, not a user-friendly medical website. And when you’re facing your greatest enemies — sin, death, Satan — you need the Savior of the World!

God’s wisdom and righteousness and holiness and redemption are gifts to you from him. They are benefits, yes. But they’re more than that. They are actually aspects of a relationship with Jesus. It is him in you. For all of us who were baptized into Christ have clothed ourselves with Christ.

When you belong to Christ Jesus you have all you’ll ever need in life and death, in time and space, and for eternity.

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A look back at Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address which he began writing in August 1809, 200 years ago this week inspires the reader to carefully and prayerfully consider our Lord’s call to Christian unity. Scripture’s picture of unity. Our God’s will for unity.

The opening lines — one sentence with tons of commas — goes like this:

“That it is the grand design, and native tendency, of our holy religion, to reconcile and unite men to God, and to each other, in truth and love, to the glory of God, and their own present and eternal good, will not, we presume, be denied, by any of the genuine subjects of christianity.”

The whole thing is a call to unity. Reconciliation. The kind of reconciliation Paul writes about in 2 Corinthians 5. Reconciliation between God and man. Between man and man. The kind of reconciliation that drives God’s eternal plans. The very ministry he’s given those of us who’ve professed our faith in him and put his Holy Son on in baptism. Campbell’s words in this document are bold. Aggressive. And they ring with beautiful and undeniable truth. The Declaration and Address, the charter document of our Churches of Christ, calls for a swift end to all divisions among those who claim to be followers of Jesus.

“Has the Captain of Salvation sounded a desist from pursuing, or proclaimed a truce with, this deadly enemy that is sheathing its sword in the very bowels of the church, rending and mangling his mystical body into pieces. Has he said to his servants, let it alone? If not, where is the warrant for a cessation of endeavors to have it removed?”

Campbell claims that tearing down the walls and uniting again with our brothers and sisters in Christ is a “matter of universal right, a duty belonging to every citizen of Zion, to seek her good.” And while the work will be difficult and the opposition will come mainly from within the church establishment, Campbell says it is God’s will. It is the Church’s will. It is the will of those who’ve gone before us. And our efforts will be divinely rewarded.

“…both the mighty and the many are with us. The Lord himself, and all that are truly his people, are declaredly on our side. The prayers of all the churches, nay, the prayers of Christ himself, John 17:20-23, and of all that have ascended to his heavenly kingdom, are with us.”

I thank God for the Campbells and the Stones and other giants of the faith who latched onto God’s holy will as revealed to us in Scripture and. would. not. let. it. go. They lived to obey God rather than man. They swore to use only the Bible as their guide. And they vowed that, despite the opposition, they would remain loyal to their King and his Kingdom. We owe them a tremendous debt of gratitude. We owe them the effort to carry on the difficult work they started 200 years ago.

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24 days until the Dallas Cowboys kick off their historic 50th NFL football season. 24 days from now they’ll be battling the Bucs down in Tampa. And we’re counting down the days with the Red Ribbon Review, a look at the second-best players in Cowboys history, according to jersey number. (This countdown becomes much more important with every Rangers loss. If they lose tonight, I’m blaming it on Lewin’s “1999-ish” comments on Tuesday.)

The second-best ever #24 in Cowboys history is a Super Bowl MVP, cornerback Larry Brown. The Cowboys stole him with a 12th round pick in 1991 and got a starting right corner for five straight seasons, three of them Super Bowl championship seasons. Brown is best known for picking off two Neil O’Donnell passes in the second half of Super Bowl XXX which led directly to the points the Cowboys needed to win their third title in four years. Yes, the balls hit Brown right in the chest. Yes, it looked like one of them would have to be surgically removed after the game, O’Donnell threw them right at him so hard. But a lot of people forget what a great ’95 season Brown had leading up to that game.

The former TCU star collected six picks that season, racked up 124 return yards, and ran two of them back for TDs. All of this just a few months following the tragic death of his young son. It was a great story that year. But most people have already forgotten.

Brown used his three rings and his MVP trophy to cash a huge paycheck in Oakland with the Raiders. That only lasted two years. He came back to Dallas in ’98 and played just parts of four games for the Cowboys before hanging it up for good. He finished his Cowboys career with 13 total picks and 279 total tackles. He played in 13 playoff games, four NFC Championship Games, and three Super Bowls as a Cowboy. And he’s the second-best #24 in Cowboys history.

Peace,

Allan

Love Each Other

July 23, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“My command is this: love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12

I’m blown away by the fact that Jesus showed his apostles how much he loved them by washing their feet the night he was betrayed. The Lord and Master of all got up from the meal, took off his coat, wrapped a towel around his waist, poured water into a bowl, and washed their feet.

He washed their feet.

The King of the Universe knelt down and scrubbed 120 filthy, stinky, sweaty, dirty, disgusting toes. And all the stuff in-between the toes. He even washed the feet of Judas.

Knowing what Judas was planning to do — what he was about to do — Jesus still humbles himself and washes his feet. Jesus loves Judas that much. And then hours later he dies for Judas, this one who betrayed him. He dies for Peter, this one who denied him. He dies for all the apostles who fled and disowned him. He dies for the Jews who demanded he be killed. He dies for the Romans who carried out the execution. He dies for me, who’s just as guilty as any of these men in Scripture.

That’s a Savior’s love. No ifs, ands, or buts. Jesus never says I’ll love you if you treat me right. He doesn’t say I’ll love you when you get your act together. He doesn’t say I’ll love you when you grow up. Jesus’ love is not conditioned by right behavior or a good performance. It’s not based on your IQ or money or skin color or clothes or education or bloodline or status. Jesus actually says I’ll die for you when you’re my enemy. I’ll serve you while you’re sinning against me. I’ll give my life for you when you’re only thinking of yourself.

Because I love you this much.

And then he says, “Love each other as I have loved you.”

We don’t think about that enough. We don’t take it seriously enough.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 13 that love is more important than preaching and giving and good works. Incredibly, he even says love is bigger than faith and hope. And if love is really more important than those things, then our conclusion must be that love is more important than everything. Love trumps our worship assemblies and worship styles. Love is bigger than our business meetings and budgets. It’s bigger than our doctrine and our tradition. Love is bigger and more important than any thing else out there that could ever possibly divide us.

If so — and I believe it with all my heart — then why aren’t we as committed to loving each other as we are to those other things that divide us and lead to arguing and fighting? Seriously. If love is the most important thing — and if you don’t believe that, then we’re not reading the same Bible — why do we fuss and complain?

As children of God and disciples of his Son, we must place unconditional, God-ordained love in the supreme position of our hearts and our minds and our church. All of our time and energy and strength should go into loving each other as Christ loves us.

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52 days until the Cowboys begin their 2009 regular season against the Bucs in Tampa Bay. Of course, training camp and pre-season games are right around the corner. But, honestly, who can watch that? We’re all pointing to Sunday September 13. And to help us get there, we’re recognizing the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number.

Today’s #52 is tiny linebacker Dexter Coakley.

OK, he’s not exactly tiny. 5’10” and 236 pounds is good for a small 1-AA school like Appalachian State. And despite setting all kinds of national tackle and interception records there and winning every defensive award there was, Coakley slipped all the way to the Cowboys in the third round of the 1997 draft.

And they got a steal.

Coakley wound up starting in his rookie year and played eight seasons in Dallas before giving way to Bradie James and Bill Parcells’ 3-4 defense. He was named to three Pro Bowls playing on a Cowboys defense that was built on speed and pursuit. And he wound up all over the Cowboys team record books. Coakley racked up a team record seven consecutive seasons of at least 100 tackles. He’s got the fourth highest total tackles record in team history with 1,046. And he’s tied with Dennis Thurman for the most defensive TDs in a Cowboys career with five.

Despite his size, Coakley was durable, too. In his eight seasons in Dallas, he only missed one game. He started all 127 games he played for the Cowboys. None of those games, by the way, were playoff wins. But he’s still the second-best #52 in Cowboys history.

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I’m still looking for information regarding the commemorative patch the Cowboys are going to wear on their uniforms this season to mark their 50th year. Anyone with info on that?

I’m also thrilled to share this bit of news with you: the NFL is going to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the old AFL all year long. The original eight teams of the old American Football League will wear 1960 throwback unis for three games this season, several of them matchups between AFL alums. Of great interest to me is the old Houston Oilers. Yes, the Titans are going to throw on light blue jerseys with light blue helmets and white derrick logos and gray facemasks for three games this season. Plus, they get the bonus game at the Hall of Fame on August 9. I can’t wait to see that.

Of course, the Jets will be sporting their New York Titans uniforms and logos this year. And the Boston Patriots will be giving us the classic triangle-hat wearing-Revolution-soldier-snapping-the-ball look on their helmets.

The Cowboys will also be involved in something pretty neat. When they travel to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs, they’ll actually be lining up against the old Dallas Texans. The Chiefs will be wearing bright red jerseys and helmets with the all-white Texas-shaped decal, including the gold star that designates the location of Dallas. Some Chiefs fans are upset that their team will be wearing a huge map of Texas on their hats this year, especially in a game against the Cowboys. But I think it’s super cool. The Cowboys and Texans never played a regular season game against each other before Lamar Hunt moved his team to Kansas City. Too bad this one’s at Arrowhead and not at the Cotton Bowl.

Peace,

Allan

Pruning Pains

July 16, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener….every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” ~John 15:2

What about this pruning? Trimming back parts of the healthy branch to make sure the greatest energy of the branch goes into making bigger and better fruit? Cutting parts of the branch in an effort to produce more quantity and quality?

Ouch.

If the branches of the vine could speak, they’d tell us, yes, it’s painful. Yeah, it hurts to be cut. But they’d also rejoice because they’re able now to produce more and better fruit as a result of that painful pruning.

I can look back on my life and see how God has pruned me. You can, too. I can feel, I can point to, even now — this past week, today — things God is using to prune me, to trim away distractions, to really focus my life. Let’s not ever forget — and I need to be reminded of this all the time — that God uses painful and unpleasant things to prune us.

“You have forgotten that word of encouragement that addresses you as sons: ‘My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, and do not lose heart when he rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, and he punishes everyone he accepts as a son.’ Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as sons.” ~Hebrews 12:5-7

What’s keeping you from bearing fruit? What is it in your life that’s distracting you or gets in the way of producing righteous fruit? Now, how is the gardener working, today, to prune it away?

Our trials and tough times need to always be appreciated as part of God’s pruning process. Pruning is the gardener’s job. And we need it. We don’t ignore it or curse it. And we shouldn’t be surprised by it. We grow from it.

John Bunyan wrote: “There are those that grow ill and well again like beasts, learning nothing from it.”

Let’s not let that be us. Submit to God’s pruning. And learn and grow. It’s a sure sign that God has accepted you and is actively working to transform you more into the image of his Son.

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We’re into the linebackers now as our countdown to Cowboys season heads into the 50s. There are 59 days left until the Cowboys kick off their historic 50th NFL season. And our Red Ribbon Review honors the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number.

Today’s #59 is the first Vietnamese-American to ever play in the NFL, Aggies linebacker Dat Nguyen. Highly decorated in the Big XII and across the nation — he still holds the A&M record for career tackles at 517 — Nguyen was still considered too small to be an impact player in the pros. So he slipped all the way to the third round where the Cowboys selected him in 1999. Nguyen led the Cowboys in special team tackles that rookie year. And by the middle of his second season, he had become the starter at middle linebacker.

A variety of injuries, mainly a neck injury in 2005, forced his retirement after just seven seasons. But Nguyen wound up with 665 total tackles and seven interceptions for his Cowboys career, including 172 stops in 2001, the second-highest season total in team history. His hustle and determination and huge smile made him a fan favorite. His work ethic and brains have made him a current Cowboys assistant coach. (His involvement in Michael Irvin’s “Fourth and Long” causes me to question his brains. And the advice he’s getting from counselors.)

I was there in the Dome, on the sidelines in St. Louis as a sports talk show host at WHBQ in Memphis, when Dat’s Aggies came from 17 down to beat K-State in double OT for the Big XII Championship. And I was hosting a morning show on KTUB in Wichita Falls by the summer of ’99 when Dat made his Cowboys debut there at training camp at Midwestern State. Super nice guy. And the second-best #59 in Cowboys history.

Peace,

Allan

Category: John (Page 28 of 31)

Just Ask!

Just Ask!

Knowing Christ, Knowing God

In Christ Jesus

Love Each Other

Pruning Pains

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