The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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It Is God Who Works In Us

April 24, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“It is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose…” ~Philippians 2:13

283 baptisms since moving to Mid-Cities Blvd. in 2001; 15 already in 2009!

$488,000 given for local and foreign missions in the past 13 months!

760 men, women, and children serving others in Small Groups Church!

22 Give Away Days meeting the physical and spiritual needs of untold thousands!

2 local elementary schools receiving tutoring, financial aid, and Christ’s love!

1 designation as the flagship church for Lifeline Chaplaincy in Tarrant County!

1 watershed partnership with Continent of Great Cities for Hispanic outreach!

God who works in usOn this 50th Anniversary weekend for the Legacy Church of Christ — as we look at all the old pictures, as we tell and re-tell all the old stories, as we reflect on what’s been accomplished here since 1959 — it’s best that we remember every bit of it is the result of God’s work in us. This is the truth. It’s a deeply humbling truth that should give us great pause when considering the many good things done here in the name of our Savior. It’s not you and it’s not me. It’s not us. It is God who works in us. It is God who is shaping our wills, renewing our minds, and transforming us into his image according to his good purpose.

And what is his good purpose? What is his will? All these good works? Heaven? What’s the point while we’re here on this earth? What is God’s purpose for the years I have left here?

“…so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe.” ~Philippians 2:15

Happy Birthday to this family of believers at Legacy! Here’s to another 50 years of grateful response to the love and grace of our God in Christ Jesus!

Peace,

Allan

Regarding a Poor Post

April 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I received two emails and one phone call yesterday afternoon from great friends who know me very well, asking me if everything was OK. They were concerned about my well-being after reading yesterday’s post, “Slugging It Out With The Preacher.” I was initially surprised. It was a passage from Paul and two quotes from great theologians on the great role of the preacher within God’s Church. I was trying to convey, to other preachers maybe, as an encouragement, the great honor it is to be a preacher of God’s Holy Word. The great responsibility. The great burden. The high calling.

It was a poor post. I should have written some other comments around it, setting it up or explaining it or something. But the three quotes, I thought, stand alone as eloquent reminders of the great privilege of preaching.

To answer the question, I’m fine. In fact, the past two months in my ministry here at Legacy — all of March and April — have been more than wonderful. God has shown me not just little glimpses, but huge blaring, glaring, high-definition proofs of his working with and among and in his people here. I’m greatly encouraged by what I see. More baptisms. More families jumping in to join us. More sacrifice. More service. More giving. More love. More joy. More openness to study. More conversation between generations. More trust. More willingness to grow. More answered prayer. More understanding.

Legacy seems to be alive with the love of our God, the grace of his Son, and the power of his Spirit.

Terry Rush, the king of encouragers, the Barnabas of blogs, says there are two kinds of churches: congregations that reach in and congregations that reach out. Quoting from his blog post, Churches: Sharp or Dull, from last week:

A church is sharp when it reaches out. It is dull when it focuses inwardly. Churches possessing a mission to keep everyone in the herd corrected become top-heavy with pseudo-truth. Such a church falls into the same trap as the religious leaders of Jesus’ day when he wouldn’t do church stuff the way they saw it.

What was it he did so glaringly errant in their sight? He disregarded religious law for the benefit of healing non-religious people. He loved the injured more than he feared the threats of the church.

I see a big difference in churches when one of the other of dispositions is present: reaching in or reaching out. One is sharp. One is dull. One is alive. One is dead. One is praising. The other is complaining. One is daring. The other cowers in fear. One is saved. One is afraid it isn’t. One is grateful for grace. The other is aggravated at those grateful for grace.

Legacy is celebrating its 50th anniversary this Sunday. Seems like a great time for reflection. What kind of a church are we? I see us, by the grace of our God, moving toward him in the right direction. Being much more concerned about the lost than the saved. Considering others more important than ourselves. Less of self and more of Thee.

Am I OK? Oh, yeah!

Thanks for asking.

Peace,

Allan

Slugging It Out With The Preacher

April 21, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Preach the Word!“In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his Kingdom, I give you this charge: Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke, and encourage — with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. But you, keep you head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.” ~Paul, 67 AD

“In a sense, the preacher is like a sparring partner. His job is to keep the church on its toes both intellectually and spiritually. If the church neglects truth, sooner or later it will get flabby and go sick; and what once were soul-stirring insights will degenerate into hollow platitudes. And if the church neglects its call to live out the gospel as the people of God, then whatever truth the church has will go sour on it.” ~Colin Brown, 1967 AD

“May God grant, then, that I may with the help of your prayers, be what you would have me to be. May I, too, with the help of your prayers, be what He would have me be who called me and bade me assume this office.” ~Augustine, 397 AD

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

At God's Right Hand

April 17, 2009 / / 0 Comments

At God’s Right Hand

“The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead!” ~Acts 5:30

When Peter and the apostles are questioned about their teachings, when they’re asked about their motivations, when they’re given an opportunity to share their beliefs, please notice where they start.

They start the Gospel story not with Jesus’ birth, not with his ministry, not with his teachings or healings, they don’t begin with his crucifixion. They start with his Resurrection. The God of our fathers, they say — our God, your God — raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior!

All of salvation history hangs on the Resurrection of Jesus; the fact that God brought him out of the tomb in a physical, bodily way; and the fact that God seated him in the position of honor and power and authority at his right hand.

This is where the Gospel gets its power. Jesus reigns! Jesus is Lord! Jesus is King! He is sovereign! He rules! He controls! He directs! All power and all authority and all dominion belong to the resurrected and exalted Christ who reigns at the right hand of God!

The whole world receives new life in the Resurrection of Jesus. And courage. And confidence. And power. And that’s a message worth telling. In fact, the angel of the Lord tells these apostles in Acts 5, don’t hold anything back. Tell the people the full message of this new life.

And they do.

“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ!” ~Acts 5:42

 Peace,

Allan

The Cost of Preaching

April 16, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Cost Of Preaching 

To all the preachers out there, the fearless proclaimers of God’s wonderful news:

“When I called, you answered me; you made me bold and stouthearted.” ~Psalm 138:3

The Word we preach is mind-blowing, earth-altering, history-changing Truth. We proclaim the unmerited love and favor of the Creator of the Universe, a right relationship with him through the sacrifice of his Holy Son, and unsurpassed power and authority extravagantly given by his Spirit. It is the greatest news this world has ever heard. It impacts all who hear. It transforms all who respond. And preaching it week after week comes with a price.

Hang in there.

“I will praise your name for your love and faithfulness, for you have exalted above all things your name and your Word.” ~Psalm 138:2

If we are truly passionate about the texts and the Lord of the texts when we preach, it will cost us. We are painting a vision of the Kingdom of God in opposition to the reign in this world of other powers, so it is a spiritual battle we are fighting, which will also physically exhaust us. We have to allow ourselves plenty of time to recover, a Sabbath of rest. We might also have to fight the darkness of doubts, the fiends of seeming failure in society’s terms, the monsters of personal hang-ups, the demons of misunderstanding on the part of those who hear or refuse to hear. (from Marva Dawn’s A Royal Waste of Time)

For all those times when our words don’t come close to matching what’s in our hearts, when our sermons don’t live up to the power of the Truth, when our best efforts fall woefully short of the splendor of our King and the beauty of his love and the majesty of his reign…

…hang in there.

God’s doing something wonderful with you.

To Jason R., Jim G., Grady K., Scott M., Charlie J., Kyle B., Jim M., David H., Jim H., Jimmy M., Chris V., Greg N., Rick A., Terry R., Robert W., Stan R., and every gospel preacher out there who labors in the Word, wrestles with the text, listens to our Lord, and then speaks that Word of Truth and Grace week after week after week:

“The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O Lord, endures forever — do not abandon the works of your hands.” ~Psalm 138:8

Peace,

Allan

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