The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Worship (Page 19 of 28)

As A Mother Comforts Her Child…

November 3, 2009 / / 0 Comments

My kids run to me all the time. They run to me when I get home from work in the afternoons. They scream from upstairs and from the living room, from the dining room table and the computer room. Wherever they are they yell, “Daddy!” And they usually come running. Wow. I love that. Running to Dad

They run to me when they want to go to Sonic to get a Dr Pepper float. When they want to play, they come to me. When they want to spend the night at a friend’s house, they run to me. When they’ve learned a new trick or made a good grade, when they have a difficult question or a problem at school, my daughters come to me.

But when they get hurt…..

…they go to their mother.

Whitney&MomWhen they skin their knee, they go to their mother. When they’re sick, they go to their mother. When they have a fight with a friend, when they don’t make the team, when they smash a finger in a kitchen drawer, they run to mom.

Because they know how I am. “Suck it up, girl! Let’s go! What? Are you crying? Come on! I’ve had bigger scratches on my eyelid! Walk it off! Rub some dirt on it! What’s the matter with you?”

Valerie&MomWhen children are hurt they go to their mother. Physical pain. Emotional pain. When it’s deep and it’s real, they go to mom. Because mother will meet you with a Band-Aid. Mother has a hug. Mother wipes away all the tears. Mother will just hold you and kiss you and carry you. Mother always knows exactly what you need. A mother’s love is warmer. It’s more sensitive. It’s more in tune. When you’re really hurting, you need your mother.

“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.” ~Isaiah 66:13

Have you ever pictured God as a mother? God does.

Carley&MomWhen God’s people are at their lowest — the temple’s destroyed, the holy city is in ruins, they’re scattered in exile, they’re experiencing deep separation, pain, loneliness, and despair; when the only memories they have are bad and the only future they have is bleak — God says, “I will hold you and comfort you. Just like a mom. I have borne you and I will love you forever. Just like a mom.”

In Isaiah 49, God’s people say, “The Lord has forsaken me. The Lord has forgotten me.” And God replies, “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you!”

And that’s reason for joy.

“Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people and will have compassion
on his afflicted ones.” ~Isaiah 49:13

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An emailed comment from a loyal reader regarding last week’s picture of the 24 elders from Revelation 4-5 casting their crowns down at the heavenly throne: “Great comments, awful picture. Old white guys as elders? Really?”

OK, that’s fair. You got me. I’ll forever stand on the biblical picture of elders being old(er) and guys. There’s no debating that. Ever. But you’re absolutely right on the absurdity of all 24 elders being white. That doesn’t hardly capture the revelation of Christ as these elders representing “every tribe and language and people and nation.” Not at all.

Sorry. Good catch.

If anyone can email me a picture or a link to a picture which represents the elders around the throne as from every color and language and nation, please do.  

Peace,

Allan

The Love of God

November 2, 2009 / / 2 Comments

“Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made;
were every stalk on earth a quill,
and every man a scribe by trade;
to write the love of God above
would drain the ocean dry;
nor could the scroll contain the whole
though stretched from sky to sky.

Oh, love of God, how rich and pure!
How measureless and strong!
It shall for evermore endure
the saints and angels’ song.”

~F. M. Lehman, 1917

In The Spirit On The Lord's Day

October 27, 2009 / / 1 Comment

Worshiping God together on Sundays is the single most important thing that happens in the world.

Casting our crowns at his feet

Revelation 4-5 give us a heavenly vision of the eternal worship of our God, first as Creator, second as Redeemer. The vision from Christ, relayed to us by the Holy Spirit through the apostle John, paints the worship of God as proof of his sovereignty. It’s the picture of his complete power and authority. And it shows us clearly that he is God. And we are not.

Every animal. Every human. Every angel. All of creation is represented here in the throne room of God. And they’re all worshiping. They’re all present. They’re all in the presence of God. And they’re all engaged in giving praise and glory to God.

It’s us. It’s all of us. We’re all together, joining with the saints of all time, when we gather to worship on the Lord’s Day. We bow down and we get off our thrones. We jump down off our high horses and we take off our crowns of accomplishment and status and wealth and power and position and authority and we fall on our faces before the only one worthy of our praise.

When the creature worships the Creator, it’s more important than anything that ever happens in Austin or Washington D.C. The eternal worship of God is bigger than anything that ever goes on in London or Paris or Tokyo or Baghdad. What happens on Sundays is that the creation order is restored and the order of redemption is proclaimed. Worshiping God is the culmination of every thing we were intended to do and to be. Worship restores the original Garden of Eden order of creation. It’s what we were made for and meant for. It’s what we’re being restored for. It’s why we’re being saved.

We were made to be caught up, not in our selves or our preferences or our comforts or our likes and dislikes. We were created to be caught up in love and wonder and praise of the Almighty.

Peace,

Allan

Last Call

October 23, 2009 / / 2 Comments

We’ll wrap up our True Vision = Right Conduct discussion today by throwing out another couple of ideas for ways our churches can present a better picture of the realities of the eternal Kingdom of God.

True VisionWe’ve said this week that until we learn to see the world in the reality of the cross, see how the love of God and the sacrifice of Christ and the promises we have in that salvation act impact all of reality, our character won’t change and neither will our actions. There needs to be a mindset developed in our congregations that everything we do or say is directly controlled by our God. Our actions are always determined beforehand by what God has done for us, is doing for us currently, and has promised to do for us tomorrow. It all has to be connected.

We’ve talked about service and the spiritual disciplines. We’ve discussed prayer and the reading of Scripture. I appreciate your comments and suggestions. And I’m looking for more. Allow me to prime the pump with another couple of recommendations.

What’s wrong with incorporating some of the Liturgical Year into what we do as a church family? I’m not sure we could find book-chapter-verse that would sanction this (like we have for every thing else we do in worship) or if the very first church practiced it. But what’s wrong with following the life of Christ through the Lectionary readings and events over the course of a church year? We change our worship schedules according to the Super Bowl and Thanksgiving holidays, things celebrated by everyone in this country. Why not arrange our lives around things Christians celebrate as children of God? It would give a much needed sense of structure — Christian structure — to our hectic lives and serve as a weekly reminder of how our time and talents are gifts from God and should be used with him in mind. I’m thinking it would be really great to do this as a church family every five years.

I also love the idea of worshiping as a church family in public places and serving the community while we worship. Why not plan a big cookout and worship assembly at a city park or a public recreation center three or four times a year? Maybe on a holiday weekend or a beautiful spring evening. The whole congregation. Invite everybody already there at the park to join you for dinner. Feed everybody in the place. Meet people. Meet needs. And worship. Sing. Pray. Read Scripture. Proclaim the Gospel. Out loud. Together as a Church. The Church. What a huge statement to your community that being together and worshiping God is the most important thing you can do. It’s the most appropriate way to celebrate Labor Day or New Year’s Eve. Won’t that be the same statement your church takes away from the event? I think public worship would help shape our vision of our devotion to God and to each other steering our actions in the world, not the other way around.

I love the concept some churches have adopted of putting the baptistry outside. I’m reading of more churches that have put their baptistry outside in the parking lot, next to the main road, when they’ve built new buildings. The entire church family proceeds outdoors for baptisms where they stand and sing and pray and witness and participate together in a new birth in Christ. What a testimony to the whole community! We try to use the church marquee here at Legacy for welcoming new members into our family. Instead of just cute bumper sticker sayings, how about something like, “Welcome Mike & Pat Fry to the Legacy Church of Christ! See how God is blessing us!” Or maybe, “Congratulations to Trevor Podsednik, baptized into Christ on Sunday! Praise God from whom salvation flows!” Something like that tells the community—and reminds us—that we’re growing, we’re serious about what we’re doing, and that it’s God who gives the increase.

Our society, this culture in which we live, is not a good thing. It’s not even a neutral thing. Our churches should be taught to realize that almost everything about the way this country operates is designed to pull us away from our God and from one another. It works to make us less Christian, not more. It’s time we let go of the culture. It’s time we recognize God’s Church as counter-cultural, an eschatological community of faith, the boot camp that gets us ready for eternity with the Father.

That’s the vision that shapes the attitude that informs the actions.

What else?

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Out of Service from 8p Friday thru 8a SaturdayPlease be patient with the blog this weekend. Our server is being moved — actually, physically, being moved, I think — and will impact a couple of our blogs here at Legacy and our Legacy church website. We’re going to be down and unavailable, I’m told, from 8p Friday through about 8a Saturday. Sorry.

Go Angels. Go Falcons.

Peace,

Allan

One Man's Vision

October 6, 2009 / / 0 Comments

For us in the Churches of Christ, I think some of the fear of publicly and openly recognizing other groups of Christians as brothers and sisters is that our people will leave and join those other churches. We’re going to lose members. If we admit that the members of all these churches are just like us in that we’re all calling on the name of the Lord, we’re all baptized into Christ, we’re all following the Word to our best abilities, and we’re all saved by the matchless mercy and grace of God, there’s nothing to keep our members or our children from embracing those other churches. We’ll lose members. As I’ve heard more than a couple of people put it, “If we’re not better, if we’re just like everybody else, then what are we calling our people to? What’s the point?”

OK. Hear me out.

I think that openly embracing other groups as Christian brothers and sisters will actually cause our specific Church of Christ stream to grow, not shrink. We can still hold and uphold certain practices and preach and teach certain doctrines. Those practices and doctrines are critical. They’re important. Saved by faith. Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Weekly celebrations of that salvation around Christ’s table. Acappella singing. Yes! We stand strong for them. But just because we take ownership of certain doctrines and practices doesn’t mean we have a monopoly on God. We don’t. And if we’ll just recognize that, if we’ll just accept that we’re all doing the best we can with sincerity and faith, that we’re all saved by grace, it will change us for the better.

Here’s how: I think it would actually force us into where Christ inarguably calls us to be.

Instead of saying, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our worship is correct, we’d be forced to say, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our people are being shaped by Jesus. Be a member here because our people are so good. Be a member here because our people will love you and support you no matter what. Be a member here because we’re so involved in our community. Because Christ really does dominate our thoughts and deeds. Because we’re serious about being transformed into his image. Because we really have sold out to Christ Jesus as our Lord. Because we act like a family. Because we take care of each other. Because we really believe we are saved through no merit of our own. Come be a member of this church because God is using us in huge ways to impact his eternal Kingdom.

When we receive one another as Christ received us, when we forgive one another as God forgives us, when we love one another as God through Christ loves us, that will attract many more people to Jesus than a “correct” worship service on Sunday morning. Our focus will no longer be inward, on the “correctness” of our Sunday morning hour, but outward, toward loving one another and sharing God’s mercy and grace to a lost and dying world.

Just a dream? Maybe.

But I hope to pass it on to my children as the holy will of our God and something that needs to be pursued by his people with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

One Man's Vision

October 6, 2009 / / 0 Comments

For us in the Churches of Christ, I think some of the fear of publicly and openly recognizing other groups of Christians as brothers and sisters is that our people will leave and join those other churches. We’re going to lose members. If we admit that the members of all these churches are just like us in that we’re all calling on the name of the Lord, we’re all baptized into Christ, we’re all following the Word to our best abilities, and we’re all saved by the matchless mercy and grace of God, there’s nothing to keep our members or our children from embracing those other churches. We’ll lose members. As I’ve heard more than a couple of people put it, “If we’re not better, if we’re just like everybody else, then what are we calling our people to? What’s the point?”

OK. Hear me out.

I think that openly embracing other groups as Christian brothers and sisters will actually cause our specific Church of Christ stream to grow, not shrink. We can still hold and uphold certain practices and preach and teach certain doctrines. Those practices and doctrines are critical. They’re important. Saved by faith. Baptism for the forgiveness of sins. Weekly celebrations of that salvation around Christ’s table. Acappella singing. Yes! We stand strong for them. But just because we take ownership of certain doctrines and practices doesn’t mean we have a monopoly on God. We don’t. And if we’ll just recognize that, if we’ll just accept that we’re all doing the best we can with sincerity and faith, that we’re all saved by grace, it will change us for the better.

Here’s how: I think it would actually force us into where Christ inarguably calls us to be.

Instead of saying, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our worship is correct, we’d be forced to say, “Be a member at Legacy” or “Be a member of the Churches of Christ” because our people are being shaped by Jesus. Be a member here because our people are so good. Be a member here because our people will love you and support you no matter what. Be a member here because we’re so involved in our community. Because Christ really does dominate our thoughts and deeds. Because we’re serious about being transformed into his image. Because we really have sold out to Christ Jesus as our Lord. Because we act like a family. Because we take care of each other. Because we really believe we are saved through no merit of our own. Come be a member of this church because God is using us in huge ways to impact his eternal Kingdom.

When we receive one another as Christ received us, when we forgive one another as God forgives us, when we love one another as God through Christ loves us, that will attract many more people to Jesus than a “correct” worship service on Sunday morning. Our focus will no longer be inward, on the “correctness” of our Sunday morning hour, but outward, toward loving one another and sharing God’s mercy and grace to a lost and dying world.

Just a dream? Maybe.

But I hope to pass it on to my children as the holy will of our God and something that needs to be pursued by his people with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

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