The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Table in the Desert

January 6, 2014 / / 0 Comments

“Can God spread a table in the desert?” ~Psalm 78:19

The psalmist asks if God can really provide a feast for his people out in the middle of the remote wilderness. Is it possible? Can God provide nourishment and life where there is none?

The answer gushes powerfully from a rock. Streams flow abundantly. Water in the desert. Thirst-quenching life in the middle of certain death.

The psalmist sees the water. And he follows up with, “But can he also give us food? Can he supply meat for his people?” (Psalm 78:20)

And the Almighty Creator of heaven and earth opens up the skies to rain down manna and quail. The grain from heaven, the “bread of angels.” He “rained meat down on them.” They ate “till they had more than enough.”

“He sent them all the food they could eat.” (Psalm 78:25)

Yes, our God can spread a table in the desert. He can open up a 24-hour-all-you-can-eat smorgasbord right in the middle of your desert. Right in the middle of your driest condition. Right in the darkest part of your worst night. Down in the lonely depths of your deepest valley. He can shine bright light into your scariest situation. He can bring life from your dead-as-a-doornail, going-through-the-motions rut. Absolutely. Yes, he can.

Our God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. And we eat with God in complete communion and perfect peace. Protected. Provided for. Saved.

Our God is sufficient. He is able. And he covers us with his tent and promises us we will hunger and thirst no more.

Peace,

Allan

Members of God’s House

January 2, 2014 / / 0 Comments

People are looking for a connection. We have a human need to belong to something, to be a part of something, to be a part of some group. We get our identity, in large part, from the groups to which we belong. And that something, or some group, should be successful and popular. Even if it’s only a sports team, that drive to identify with something is enormous.

So we buy the jerseys. We refer to “our” teams as “we” and “us.” We have a need to belong, to connect, to have some sense of fitting in this world. And it’s from this sense of belonging — at work, at school, at the club, at the football stadium — that gives us the confidence and ability to relate and accomplish things. Our own families, of course, are foundational in giving us a true sense of belonging.

“You are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.” ~Ephesians 2:19-20

We do belong. We belong to God and to God’s family. That’s our connection.

Christ has brought us home to God. We live in God’s house as his much-loved sons and daughters. We belong with God and are involved in what he is doing. The other people in the house are family with us. This home defines us. Christ gives us a place in this world. And from that connection, that sense of belonging, we grow in our abilities to relate to each other and accomplish great things for the Kingdom.

Remember where home is. Remember who’s your family.

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The “4 Amarillo” cooperative coalition among the four downtown Amarillo churches made the list of the year’s top “headliners” in the local Amarillo Globe News. You can read the article in yesterday’s paper by clicking here.

Peace,

Allan

Everything New

December 31, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Texas A&M is playing in the Chick-Fil-A Bowl tonight in Atlanta. These are the made-for-the-occasion, corporate sponsorship, special uniforms the Aggies may or may not be wearing:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing!” ~Isaiah 43:18-19

Some of the most exciting phrases in Scripture are when our God declares with all of his power and promise, “Check it out! I’m doing something brand new!” As followers of the Christ, our faith is grounded in God’s mighty salvation acts of old. But our lives are also centered on the confidence that God is working right now to bring about something new. Our God is a God of limitless creativity, of exciting potential, of never-before-thought-of possibilities.

New life. New wine. New wineskins. New creation. New heavens and new earth. New festivals. New covenants. New hope. New songs. New heart. New spirit. New people.

“New things I declare; before they spring into being, I announce them to you!” ~Isaiah 42:9

Our God is the God who sees things that are not, calls them as if they are, and then continually shocks us by making them happen. This new year is another gracious gift from our merciful Father. It’s for making new commitments and turning ourselves more fully to our Lord, for resolving anew to live in the light of Jesus for the sake of others.

“…to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self

created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” ~Ephesians 4:23-24

The new year is a time for reflection, for confessing sin, for expressing gratitude for blessings. And it’s the time for recognizing that our God is working in us and through us to do brand new things here at home and around the world we’ve not yet begun to imagine. God is with you and shaping you during every moment of this coming year. And, chances are, he’s planning something you’ve never even dreamed.

“I am making everything new!” ~Revelation 21:5

Let’s anticipate and be open to God’s new things. Let’s look for our God to reveal himself to us in exciting new ways in 2014. And let’s submit ourselves to him for his holy purposes and to his eternal glory and praise.

Peace,

Allan

8-8. Again. And Again. And Again…

December 30, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I don’t understand people who watch a lot of TV, but don’t like sports. I don’t get it. I know people who watch crime dramas and sitcoms and “reality” shows, but don’t ever watch sports. Are you kidding me? For sheer entertainment value, for pure and unmitigated intrigue and drama, for unmatched suspense and wow-I-didn’t-see-that-coming surprises, for unscripted highs and lows of real people in real life, you simply can’t beat live sports. And for absolute over-the-top doses of all the above, nothing beats a Dallas Cowboys football game.

Nothing.

In the closing minutes of the final quarter of the regular season last night the Cowboys had all the momentum. They had just scored an improbable touchdown on a 4th and 9. They had just held one of the league’s highest octane offenses to a three-and-out. They had the ball at their own 30 with a timeout to use, needing to gain only 35-40 yards to kick the game-winning, playoff-clinching, NFC East division title-taking field goal. And in half a blink, Kyle Orton threw the ball to Brandon Boykin and the game was over.

Over.

It was like watching sudden death in a hockey game seven. It was over so fast, it came crashing down so quickly, it was almost breath-taking.

Where else on TV do you get to watch one of the world’s richest billionaires jumping up and down and hugging his grandkids with joy and in an instant later watch him contort his body in anger, throwing himself all over his out-sized luxury suite, spewing language out of his mouth that those grandkids shouldn’t be hearing? It’s not scripted; it’s not “take two;” it’s live! Where else do you get to watch up close the very careers and livelihoods of grown men hang in the balance second-by-agonizing-second? Where else do you see the fortunes and fates of millionaires change in a heart beat? Jerry Wayne is presiding over the longest Super Bowl drought in franchise history, but he keeps banging his head against the wall week in and week out in front of hundreds of thousands of live television viewers. Kyle Orton, the only quarterback in NFL history to be replaced by Tim Tebow, goes from hero to goat in one super-fast throw. Nobody writes stuff like this.

The Cowboys lost three games by one point this season, another game by three points, and last night by two. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it’s the first time in league history one team has suffered four losses by two points or less in one year. The Cardiac Cowboys, indeed. Historic blown leads. Heroic fourth quarter comebacks. You can’t make this stuff up. You can’t write a script like these. You never, ever, ever know what’s going to happen. And, even when you have a pretty good idea they’re going to lose, you can’t possibly ever imagine the crazy, unexplainable way it’s going to go down.

The most exciting .500 team in all of sports. Why would you watch anything else?

Peace,

Allan

Songs that Soothe

December 26, 2013 / / 2 Comments

“Whenever the [tormenting] spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.” ~1 Samuel 16:23

I’m particularly curious about what kinds of songs David played and sang for King Saul that brought him so much comfort and peace. As the writer of so many corporate psalms and congregational hymns, I’m convinced that David sang familiar temple songs for the king, songs both he and Saul would have recognized and known. Those old familiar hymns seem to be the ones that bring us the most comfort. Personally, a song like Be With Me, Lord has powers to calm me down, to re-orient my hectic life, to re-order my confused priorities:

Be with me, Lord — I cannot live without Thee, I dare not try to take one step alone,
I cannot bear the loads of life unaided, I need thy strength to lean myself upon.
Be with me, Lord, and then if dangers threaten, if storms of trial burst above my head,
If lashing seas leap everywhere about me, they cannot harm, or make my heart afraid.

Every phrase of this old song is intended to comfort, to soothe, to calm the troubled soul. Every stanza is meant by the writer and sung by the singer to restore belief, to strengthen faith, to increase confidence in the face of distress. It reminds me that I’m not alone, that even when God is not visible or not easily recognized as present, he has never abandoned me. He will never leave me. “A constant sense of thy abiding presence.” What a song.

In our Bible class this past Sunday we browsed through the song books together and remembered the songs that speak so powerfully to us in times of stress and despair. We shared our favorites with one another and told the personal stories that go along with each song and each specific set of circumstances. “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” “As the Deer.” “A Wonderful Savior.” “It is Well.” “Because He Lives.” “As the Mountains Surround Jerusalem.”

I wonder generally about the power of music and its deep connection with our God’s Holy Spirit. By playing and singing these soothing songs, David brought great peace and comfort to Saul. Most English translations of the above verse from 1 Samuel say the king was “refreshed” or “relieved” by the music. But the meaning of the original Hebrew wording is that God’s Spirit actually returned to Saul while David was singing. The tormenting spirit would leave and the Spirit of God would return. Through his music, David becomes a mediator of God’s Spirit; David brings life to Saul — Holy Spirit life — in his songs. In our Scriptures, spiritual music and the Holy Spirit are deeply connected:

“Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” ~Ephesians 5:18-19

It was good to flip through the song books together on Sunday and to be reminded of all those hymns that have brought us so much comfort through the years. These songs mediate the presence of God, they have the power to give life.

What’s the one song that has brought you the most comfort, the song that has soothed you during times of trial? I think my two are “Be With Me, Lord” and “It Is Well.” How about you?

Peace,

Allan

Jesus is Lord of All Things

December 18, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“In him all things hold together.” ~Colossians 1:17

By bridging the gap between God and creation in himself, Christ Jesus unites the whole universe. This beautiful section of Colossians 1 states it over and over again by his repetition of the word for “all things:”

Colossians 1:15 – the first born over all creation
v.16 – by him all things were created
v.16 – all things were created by him
v.17 – he is before all things
v.17 – in him all things hold together
v.18 – in everything he might have the supremacy
v.20 – through him to reconcile all things

I think sometimes we’re inclined to emphasize Christ’s work in redemption and salvation too individualistically. That’s between her and Jesus. It only involves me and my Lord. That’s going to be up to God and him. This is about Jesus and me. You ask me how I know he lives? He lives within my heart. Yes, he does. Of course. But it’s bigger than that. The reign of Christ Jesus is never ever confined to my own existence or to the property lines of my church parking lot or to the national borders of my nation. It’s universal and eternal! Christ reigns supreme over all, over all things. The whole universe. The whole world in his loving hand.

These verses are a  celebration of human impossibilities that have become God’s possibilities: reconciliation, renewal, salvation, peace. We always want to assume that the status is quo, that things will and must remain the way they are. A lot of the time we can’t even imagine there’s a way to really improve much of anything. Paul’s words in Colossians 1 affirm to us that wonders have not ceased! Possibilities not dreamed of can happen! And hope is an authentic position to take!

Peace,

Allan

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