Category: Lectureships (Page 8 of 11)

Glory in the Church

“Christ in you, the hope of glory.” ~Colossians 1:27

“To him be glory in the Church.” ~Ephesians 3:21

“Whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~1 Corinthians 10:31

Glory of God in the ChurchGod reveals his glory to us in the soul-stirring words of Exodus 34. God tells us very clearly that his glory has nothing to do with the way he looks. It’s not about his power or his rule. It’s about his character. It’s who God is. God’s self-revealing statements in Exodus 34 are the “I AM” defined.

Compassionate. Gracious. Slow to anger. Abounding in love. Faithful. Forgiving.

If the world really understood these things about our God they would beat down our doors to get to know him better. They’d be lined up around the block. We couldn’t keep them out. But how will they comprehend our God’s eternal qualities if they don’t see those characteristics reflected in God’s redeemed people? How will they know the character of our God, how will they see his glory, unless his Church shows it?

Why do people think God is grumpy and always on the hunt to judge and punish somebody? Do they see that in us? Have they seen that in you? Why do they think our God is distant, out of reach, untouchable, and unable to meet their deepest needs? What would make them think that? Have they experienced that in you? Why do some people believe God can’t forgive them, that he remembers their past sins? Have they noticed that in me or in my church?

As God’s children, we are called to reflect his glory. To live it. To reveal it. Embody it.

A lot of people say we are the hands and feet of Jesus. A real understanding of what it means for us to reflect his glory tells us the Church is actually the very heart of God. The glory of God.

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Austin GradI just completed all my registration forms for the 29th annual Sermon Seminar at Austin Graduate School of Theology late next month. It’s always an intense 48-hours of exegesis and outlines and sermon prep at the feet of the best scholars/preachers practicing today. I’ve been blessed in the past to work under Ben Witherington, Tony Ash, Rick Marrs, Eddie Sharp, Glenn Pemberton, Tom Olbricht, James Thompson, and Harold Shank, to name just a brief few. I’ve been inspired and encouraged and convicted during these serious sessions.

But this next one is shaping up to potentially be the best I’ve ever attended.

My great friend Jim Martin is presenting 2 Corinthians. And he’s the perfect guy to do it. Jim is a compassionate comforter. He’s sensitive to people and their deepest needs. He embodies the message of 2 Corinthians with his every breath. The legendary Rubel Shelly is presenting the Sermon on the Mount. Jim Reynolds is discussing the Old Testament Story. And Paul Watson is back to show us how he preaches Ezekiel. I love Ezekiel because he is such a crazy, over-the-top prophet. Ezekiel’s prophesy illustrations were exotic and unforgettable. And Paul Watson really knows how to make the biblical text come alive. I was moved by his presentations of Jonah and Ruth and Daniel in 2006. Those sessions helped shape our Missions Month this year at Legacy. And I know he’s going to make Ezekiel pop for us this year in Austin.

Everett Ferguson, the world’s foremost authority on early church history, is presenting a special session on “Baptism in the Early Church: What I Learned and What Surprised Me” and Wendel Willis is hosting a Q&A session on “Lord’s Supper Theology and Practice.”

Are you kidding me? I can’t wait.

If you’re a preacher, you should make the Austin Grad Sermon Seminar an annual event on your calendar. You’ll be better for being there. And so will your church.

Peace,

Allan

Tulsa Time

If I’m ever going to hear any good preaching, I’ve got to get away from Legacy.

C-A and I are headed up to Tulsa today for the annual Soul Winning Workshop. We will spend the next four days praising God with thousands, sitting at the feet of our tribe’s best speakers, and fellowshipping with dear friends. When we return, I fully expect to be sung out and wrung out. And renewed. And re-energized.

Have a great week!

Allan

Blessings For All!

Blessings For All!There are people around the world every single day who receive great blessings from God without ever asking for them. These people don’t pray. And they don’t give God thanks when they receive these great blessings. The fact is, they enjoy the benefits of these wonderful gifts and never acknowledge the Giver.

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” ~Matthew 5:45

We joke sometimes about getting more rain than our friend who lives somewhere else because we must be “livin’ right.” Obviously, that’s not the way God works. He pours his merciful blessings on the good and the bad.

And he tells us to do the same.

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ~Matthew 5:46-48

Be perfect in your indiscrimination. Be perfect in your unbiased grace toward others. Be perfect in the equality with which you share your love and good deeds. Like our God, be perfect in showing kindness and mercy to people who like you AND to people who don’t.

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

What a wonderful five days in Fresno with my great friends, Jim Gardner and Jimmy Mitchell, at the 12th annual Spiritual Growth Workshop at the Woodward Park Church of Christ. What a time of encouragement and edification. What a time of renewal and re-energizing.

I strained several muscles from all the laughing. I gained several pounds from the late night Cookies-and-Cream milkshakes at Chick-Fil-A and the animal fries at In-and-Out Burgers. I threw grapes at friends sitting four tables away under a big tent at a lunch on the grounds. I was inspired by Evertt Huffard’s presentation on the honor of our God. I was moved by two women who gave their lives to Christ in baptism. I was the butt of Paul Methvin’s jokes. I was hugged by a hundred different people who really don’t know me at all. I met missionaries and homeless people (sorta the same thing). I talked with Brian and learned several new “words” in sign language. I slept in Tori’s room on her Cheetah Girls sheets. I was amazed to watch the Laotians keep coming and keep coming to pack the place to worship our God. Joann’s generosity. Dan’s parsing. Andy’s sarcasm. Jimmy’s tenor. John’s unique songleading. Mandy’s personality. John Ed’s wisdom. L. Jeeves’ nametag. Steve’s great attitude. Praying with Jim and Jimmy Sunday morning, just like old times.

What a blessing to see the Kingdom of God expressed in such clear ways among his people there in the California valley. Different colors. Different cultures. Different ethnic groups. Different languages. Different ages. Different socio-economic classes. Praising God with one voice. Communing around the same table and celebrating our one salvation through our one Lord and Savior.

Participating together in baptisms. Praying together for families who’ve lost jobs. Learning new songs together. Sharing meals together. It’s wonderful. It’s heaven.

The kingdoms of the world come with power. They come with violence and noise and fanfare and bloodshed. The kingdoms of the earth come with great force. God’s Kingdom comes with casseroles and rides to the doctor. The Kingdom of God comes with kind acts and loving mercy. Hugs and pats on the back. Sharing and bearing.

May God continue to bless our brothers and sisters in Fresno as they bring the Kingdom to the California valley. May his perfect will be done there as it is in heaven.

Peace,

Allan

Blessings For All!

Blessings For All!There are people around the world every single day who receive great blessings from God without ever asking for them. These people don’t pray. And they don’t give God thanks when they receive these great blessings. The fact is, they enjoy the benefits of these wonderful gifts and never acknowledge the Giver.

“He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” ~Matthew 5:45

We joke sometimes about getting more rain than our friend who lives somewhere else because we must be “livin’ right.” Obviously, that’s not the way God works. He pours his merciful blessings on the good and the bad.

And he tells us to do the same.

“If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ~Matthew 5:46-48

Be perfect in your indiscrimination. Be perfect in your unbiased grace toward others. Be perfect in the equality with which you share your love and good deeds. Like our God, be perfect in showing kindness and mercy to people who like you AND to people who don’t.

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

What a wonderful five days in Fresno with my great friends, Jim Gardner and Jimmy Mitchell, at the 12th annual Spiritual Growth Workshop at the Woodward Park Church of Christ. What a time of encouragement and edification. What a time of renewal and re-energizing.

I strained several muscles from all the laughing. I gained several pounds from the late night Cookies-and-Cream milkshakes at Chick-Fil-A and the animal fries at In-and-Out Burgers. I threw grapes at friends sitting four tables away under a big tent at a lunch on the grounds. I was inspired by Evertt Huffard’s presentation on the honor of our God. I was moved by two women who gave their lives to Christ in baptism. I was the butt of Paul Methvin’s jokes. I was hugged by a hundred different people who really don’t know me at all. I met missionaries and homeless people (sorta the same thing). I talked with Brian and learned several new “words” in sign language. I slept in Tori’s room on her Cheetah Girls sheets. I was amazed to watch the Laotians keep coming and keep coming to pack the place to worship our God. Joann’s generosity. Dan’s parsing. Andy’s sarcasm. Jimmy’s tenor. John’s unique songleading. Mandy’s personality. John Ed’s wisdom. L. Jeeves’ nametag. Steve’s great attitude. Praying with Jim and Jimmy Sunday morning, just like old times.

What a blessing to see the Kingdom of God expressed in such clear ways among his people there in the California valley. Different colors. Different cultures. Different ethnic groups. Different languages. Different ages. Different socio-economic classes. Praising God with one voice. Communing around the same table and celebrating our one salvation through our one Lord and Savior.

Participating together in baptisms. Praying together for families who’ve lost jobs. Learning new songs together. Sharing meals together. It’s wonderful. It’s heaven.

The kingdoms of the world come with power. They come with violence and noise and fanfare and bloodshed. The kingdoms of the earth come with great force. God’s Kingdom comes with casseroles and rides to the doctor. The Kingdom of God comes with kind acts and loving mercy. Hugs and pats on the back. Sharing and bearing.

May God continue to bless our brothers and sisters in Fresno as they bring the Kingdom to the California valley. May his perfect will be done there as it is in heaven.

Peace,

Allan

I Still Got It

Giants 33, Cowboys 31I suppose you regular readers have already taken note that I absolutely nailed the outcome of last night’s Cowboys-Giants game, including a lot of the details, well over a week ago in my game-by-game predictions of the 2009 season. I said Eli Manning would throw two touchdown passes. He did. I said he’d go 7-8 in the last 2:00 and the Giants would win it in heart-breaking fashion on the last play of the game. In actuality, Manning went 7-10 on that last drive, setting up the game-winning field goal at the gun. I also predicted that Roy Williams would only have one catch in the loss. He did. I missed the final score. But you get the idea. You can go back to those pre-season predictions to see what’s going to happen Monday night against the Panthers by clicking here.

Opening KickoffMy friend Glenn Branscum came through for me again. By his grace I was able to attend last night’s regular season home opener with Doug, Todd, and Scott up in his luxury suite. Forty-seven of us total up in that huge suite, including Russ and his family and Cody M. What a blast! To be there for that historic kickoff, the unveiling of the names around the new Ring of Honor, and all the dignitaries and pageantry of that opening night was a true blessing. My deepest thanks to Glenn. And to Scott for driving. And for knowing how to make U-turns.

I’m taller than Walt Garrison when he’s not wearing his hat. Yes, he still looks like he could run over anybody. And, yes, he was enjoying “just a pinch between his cheek and gum.”The highlight of the night, as far as I was concerned, was looking up about an hour before kickoff to see Walt Garrison walk into our suite. He and Preston Pearson were making the rounds and they both stayed in our room for almost 45-minutes. I was thrilled to be able to talk to Walt about the legendary stories of those early ’70s Cowboys, attempting to separate fact from myth. I’ve read the stories about Walt sneaking out after team meetings on Saturday nights to bull ride down at the Mansfield rodeo. He’s told me in a telephone interview about being busted by Tom Landry after a rodeo official called the coach to thank him for letting Walt rope and ride bulls the nights before football games. But to stand there right beside him and interact with him as he re-told the tales was priceless.Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dumb

As for the game itself, Cowboys fans may want to blame Doug. He was visiting with Wade Phillips before the game and suggested to the Cowboys coach they let Romo call his own plays. On his way off the field, Doug also whispered to Flozell Adams that if he kicked Justin Tuck in the thigh in the middle of a play, nobody would notice.

I’ll wait a while before making too many comments about the new stadium. There are some disappointments with several aspects of the venue and the game presentation I’ll write about later. And I can’t tell you how upset I am about the commemorative patch the team is sporting on its jerseys. Suffice it to say, for now, this whole thing, all of it, is solely about Jerry Wayne. It’s all about Jerry.

Jerry ought to be more than a little concerned about his quarterback. And his secondary. And his pass rush.

No more blogging until next Monday, September 28. I’m flying out to Fresno, California this Wednesday for the annual Spiritual Growth Workshop at the Woodward Park Church of Christ where my great friend Jim Gardner is the preacher. I’m speaking three times on Christ’s fulfillment of the Law: God’s Eternal Intentions, Christ’s Eternal Fulfillment, Our Eternal Righteousness. Gardner’s also got me delivering the Saturday night keynote on salt and light and teaching a combined adult class at his congregation Sunday morning. What an honor. I love that Woodward Park church. A thousand people. And only 600 of them speak English. A true Kingdom experience to worship with that multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-languaged, economically-diverse body of believers.

Pray for us to have a great week in Fresno and for our God to overcome my shortcomings and prove his power in my weakness to bless everybody who attends.

Peace,

Allan

I Still Got It

Giants 33, Cowboys 31I suppose you regular readers have already taken note that I absolutely nailed the outcome of last night’s Cowboys-Giants game, including a lot of the details, well over a week ago in my game-by-game predictions of the 2009 season. I said Eli Manning would throw two touchdown passes. He did. I said he’d go 7-8 in the last 2:00 and the Giants would win it in heart-breaking fashion on the last play of the game. In actuality, Manning went 7-10 on that last drive, setting up the game-winning field goal at the gun. I also predicted that Roy Williams would only have one catch in the loss. He did. I missed the final score. But you get the idea. You can go back to those pre-season predictions to see what’s going to happen Monday night against the Panthers by clicking here.

Opening KickoffMy friend Glenn Branscum came through for me again. By his grace I was able to attend last night’s regular season home opener with Doug, Todd, and Scott up in his luxury suite. Forty-seven of us total up in that huge suite, including Russ and his family and Cody M. What a blast! To be there for that historic kickoff, the unveiling of the names around the new Ring of Honor, and all the dignitaries and pageantry of that opening night was a true blessing. My deepest thanks to Glenn. And to Scott for driving. And for knowing how to make U-turns.

I’m taller than Walt Garrison when he’s not wearing his hat. Yes, he still looks like he could run over anybody. And, yes, he was enjoying “just a pinch between his cheek and gum.”The highlight of the night, as far as I was concerned, was looking up about an hour before kickoff to see Walt Garrison walk into our suite. He and Preston Pearson were making the rounds and they both stayed in our room for almost 45-minutes. I was thrilled to be able to talk to Walt about the legendary stories of those early ’70s Cowboys, attempting to separate fact from myth. I’ve read the stories about Walt sneaking out after team meetings on Saturday nights to bull ride down at the Mansfield rodeo. He’s told me in a telephone interview about being busted by Tom Landry after a rodeo official called the coach to thank him for letting Walt rope and ride bulls the nights before football games. But to stand there right beside him and interact with him as he re-told the tales was priceless.Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dumb

As for the game itself, Cowboys fans may want to blame Doug. He was visiting with Wade Phillips before the game and suggested to the Cowboys coach they let Romo call his own plays. On his way off the field, Doug also whispered to Flozell Adams that if he kicked Justin Tuck in the thigh in the middle of a play, nobody would notice.

I’ll wait a while before making too many comments about the new stadium. There are some disappointments with several aspects of the venue and the game presentation I’ll write about later. And I can’t tell you how upset I am about the commemorative patch the team is sporting on its jerseys. Suffice it to say, for now, this whole thing, all of it, is solely about Jerry Wayne. It’s all about Jerry.

Jerry ought to be more than a little concerned about his quarterback. And his secondary. And his pass rush.

No more blogging until next Monday, September 28. I’m flying out to Fresno, California this Wednesday for the annual Spiritual Growth Workshop at the Woodward Park Church of Christ where my great friend Jim Gardner is the preacher. I’m speaking three times on Christ’s fulfillment of the Law: God’s Eternal Intentions, Christ’s Eternal Fulfillment, Our Eternal Righteousness. Gardner’s also got me delivering the Saturday night keynote on salt and light and teaching a combined adult class at his congregation Sunday morning. What an honor. I love that Woodward Park church. A thousand people. And only 600 of them speak English. A true Kingdom experience to worship with that multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-languaged, economically-diverse body of believers.

Pray for us to have a great week in Fresno and for our God to overcome my shortcomings and prove his power in my weakness to bless everybody who attends.

Peace,

Allan

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