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Sacrificial Giving

March 4, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Dickey’sWe talked last Sunday about sacrificial giving, Christ-like giving, when it comes to Legacy Missions Sunday on March 29. We also encouraged our church to give above and beyond what they’ve already planned and purposed in their hearts to give to the Lord every Sunday. Please don’t split up your regular weekly offering and put a portion of that towards missions. A lot of people did that Rosa’slast year and, frankly, it’s gotten us in a little bit of trouble. What we’re asking is that we add to what we’re already giving. Don’t split up the pie. Bake a brand new pie. Be sacrificial. Be creative. Give something up.

Just Like You Like ItI told the church about my family’s plans to do what we did last year: give up going out to eat for the entire month of March and give all that money to missions on the 29th. No eating out. None. Not as a family, not individually. The whole month of March. You won’t see us at Dickie’s on Sunday afternoons, we won’t be at Rosa’s on Tuesday nights, we won’t find us at Pizza Garden on Saturdays. And I won’t go to Whataburger for lunches on Mondays and Thursdays. And every dime we would normally spend on eating out this month goes to Missions Sunday.

Last year we were shocked at how it all added up. We wound up putting aside and giving almost twice what we anticipated.

Of course, it killed the kids. They thought it was torture. “Why are we doing this?” “Why can’t we go out?”

What a great teaching opportunity. What great learning experiences, around the dinner table, together as a family, participating together in some family sacrifice (especially if I’m cooking) for a cause much bigger and greater than us.

What are you giving up? One lady told me immediately after the service Sunday she’s going to paint her own toenails this month and give the money to missions. What are you giving up? How are you going to sacrifice to give to missions? I’d love to share a few of these from the pulpit Sunday. Why don’t you hit the comments link at the top and tell us what you’re doing, individually or as a family, to contribute to Legacy’s missions efforts. Your plans may strike a creative spark in someone else who’s reading this. Your idea may inspire someone else to participate in a similar way. Let me know what you’re doing in the comments.

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Sunday night I read a short passage from an old Charles Spurgeon sermon to illustrate some points about God’s sufficient grace. (Quoting Spurgeon makes any sermon a whole lot better.) A couple of you have asked that I re-print it here. So here it is. This is from a Spurgeon sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:9 he delivered on April 2, 1876. The title of the sermon is Strengthening Words from the Savior’s Lips.

“God’s sufficiency is declared without any limiting words, and therefore I understand the passage to mean that the grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient to uphold thee, sufficient to strengthen thee, sufficient to comfort thee, sufficient to make thy trouble useful to thee, sufficient to enable thee to triumph over it, sufficient to bring thee out of it, sufficient to bring thee out of ten thousand like it, sufficient to bring thee home to heaven. Whatever would be good for thee, Christ’s grace is sufficient to bestow; whatever would harm thee, his grace is sufficient to avert; whatever thou desirest, his grace is sufficient to give thee if it be good for thee; whatever thou wouldst avoid, his grace can shield thee from it if so his wisdom shall dictate…Now let me press upon you the pleasing duty of taking home the promise personally at this moment, for no believer in this house need be under any fear, since for him also, at this very instant, the grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient.”

Peace,

Allan

Sufficient Grace

March 2, 2009 / / 4 Comments

“My grace is sufficient for you.” ~2 Corinthians 12:9

What kept the apostle Paul going? Seriously.

Running Through The WallThe Holy Spirit would tell him to go preach in this town or in that city and they’d beat him half dead. They’d stone him and throw him in prison. God would tell Paul to get in a boat and it would wreck. The Lord would send Paul on a mission to establish a church and a year later that church and its leaders would turn on him. It was constant with Paul. One thing after another. Paul never had any relief.

And I know he must have thought about quitting.

As the flesh on his back was shredded by lash #37.

As his energy and strength waned on day 12 without any food or water, hanging on to a wrecked-out ship in the middle of Perseveringthe Adriatic Sea.

As his heart was ripped out by the biting criticisms and harsh condemnations coming from his own brothers and sisters he had just recently baptized.

As his body wasted away in a dark and damp dungeon under the downtown streets of Rome.

What kept him going?

EndurancePaul was not able to endure, he was not able to fight the good fight and finish the race, because he somehow was able to muster up the strength and the courage and the energy to run one more lap. Paul hit the wall and ran through it over and over again. But he never claims one time to have done it by his own power. Paul’s ability to persevere is a divinely granted gift from from God. The power to endure, the power to persevere, the power to run through the wall, “this all surpassing power is from God, not from us.”

My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is enough for you. My power is plenty for you.

It’s easy to believe in grace for the past and the future. Past grace is what saved me from my sins. Past grace is what redeemed me and brought me into God’s Kingdom. Future grace is what’s going to get me to heaven. Future grace will lead me home. Or at least, this is how we view it most of the time.

Sufficient GraceTrue faith is resting in God’s grace to provide us with the strength we need to endure every immediate need; God’s grace to provide us with the power to persevere through all our present circumstances. That’s faith. Right now, at this very moment, and in every moment you’re going to have between now and the end of your race, God’s grace is sufficient for you.

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Texas Independence DayNever ask a man where he’s from. If he’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, there’s no sense in embarrassing him.

173 years ago today, 48 delegates from the 48 territories of Texas gathered for a convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos to sign a Declaration of Independence. Santa Anna’s Mexican army had more than 180 Texans trapped in the Alamo. But with the signing of this document,  Texas was on its way to becoming “a free, Sovereign, and independent Republic, fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations.”

Happy Texas Independence Day! God bless the Republic!

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Naked GunHappy Birthday, also, to my little brother, Keith. In your honor, bro, I’m listening to an Enrico Palazzo album and eating a bowl of split-plea soup.

Peace,

Allan

All That Jesus Began To Do

February 27, 2009 / / 0 Comments

LegacyToTheWorldThis Sunday marks the beginning of Missions Month here at Legacy. Our entire local and foreign missions budget for 2009 will be funded by one single church offering on March 29. Between now and then we’re going to focus on what God is doing with us and through us to save the world. Guest speakers this month include Mark Hooper from Missions Resource Network and our own church missions ministry, Charles Coulston from Made In The Streets in Nairobi, Darin Campbell from Let’s Start Talking, and Salvador Cariaga and John Bailey from the Philippines and Body and Soul Ministries. Michael Thames from Fortress Youth Development Center in Fort Worth will join us. So will Corey Mullins from Australia and David Nelson from Ukraine, via the miracle of the internet skype.

We’ll share together our plans and vision for the year. More missionary teams. More church planting. More teaching. More training. More preaching. And we’re asking our whole church family to get personally involved. We’re asking everyone to seriously discuss Missions giving with their spouses and kids. We’re asking everyone to adopt a missions mindset. We’re asking everyone to pray and reflect on our role in the gospel story.

Because the story’s not over.

We’re still writing sacred history. As disciples of the Christ, we are the next pages in the continuing account of God’s good news of salvation to the world. Every time a person is treated or cured in the name of Jesus, another page is added to the gospel. Every time a church is planted in the name of our Christ, another line is written. Every time a hungry person is fed, another paragraph is etched.

Every time a preacher is sent, a homeless person is given shelter, a sermon is preached, a woman is baptized, a jobless man is encouraged, someone is confronted for the first time with God’s love and mercy in Jesus, another page is added to the continuing gospel story. Every time.

What are we going to do? What are you going to do?

Legacy Morning Prayers

February 25, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“What’s happening in your church or in your ministry that’s really, really good?”

I get that asked that question quite frequently. Other preachers from other churches, distant relatives, people I don’t see that often and some people I visit with all the time are increasingly asking me this question.

“What’s something good, something positive and encouraging, that’s happening in your church?”

Two things. I always lead off with these two things: Small Groups and Legacy Morning Prayers.

Legacy Morning Prayers began in December as an effort to be more available as elders and ministers to pray with and for the people of our church family and our community. Every weekday morning, on a rotating schedule, our shepherds and ministers are here in our worship center, lifting up to God the prayer requests of our congregation and those that come in over our church website. The folder is thick. The requests are many. The hour is almost not long enough.

We want everyone in our congregation to participate. The worship center’s open every weekday morning. There’s a shepherd and/or a minister in there to pray with you and for you every weekday morning. We want people from the community — those driving by our flashing sign on Mid-Cities Boulevard, those reading about Morning Prayers on our website —to join us so we can pray for them and with them.

We want this to be an aid to strengthening our bonds in Christ. Increased unity and fellowship. A way to facilitate the love and mercy of God in Christ to a hurting church and a hurting community.

There’s no better way to get to know your brother or sister in Christ than to spend an hour with them in prayer. Listening to each other’s hearts, listening to each other’s thanksgiving, participating in each other’s suffering and pain. I’m always overwhelmed by the lists of requests. Real people. Real families. Real diseases and death. Real divorces and unemployment. Real moms and dads. Real grandparents. Real kids. Real relationships. Real reaching out to God for his comfort and peace, his healing and forgiveness.

I’m encouraged every time my turn comes up. I love praying with my church family. Quincy’s teaching me how to talk to God like a true best friend. Rick is showing me what it looks like to give God full and unabashed praise and thanksgiving. Jesse is modeling for me humility and awe in the presence of our Holy Father. Paul confesses his sins. Bob prays like a shepherd. Keith calls on God to be accountable to his promises.

I love Legacy Morning Prayers. And you would, too.

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Allright, I’ll finish Tell It Slant before I go to bed tonight. I want to give you one more quick passage from Eugene Peterson’s latest book, this on prayer. It fits.

Prayer is not begging God to do something for us that he doesn’t know about, or begging God to do something for us that he is reluctant to do, or begging God to do something that he doesn’t have time for. In prayer we persistently, faithfully, trustingly come before God, submitting ourselves to his sovereignty, confident that he is acting, right now, on our behalf. We are his “chosen ones,” and don’t ever forget it. God is, right now — the word is “quickly” (Luke 18:8) — working his will in your life and circumstances. So keep praying. Don’t quit.

Peace,

Allan

That We May Be One

February 24, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Church Split = willfull violation of Jesus’ will (sin)“…that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” ~John 17:22-23

Jesus prays many things for us. He prayed for the apostles as they battled the wind on the sea. Hebrews says Christ lives to intercede for us. We can imagine that Jesus prays continually for our salvation, our sanctification, our bodies, and our souls. In John 17 he prays that his Father will give us eternal life, that his joy will be made complete in us, that God will protect us from the evil one and keep us safe, and that he will sanctify us in truth.

And he prays that we will be one.

“…so that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:11)

“…that all of them may be one.” (John 17:21)

“…that they may be one as we are one.” (John 17:22)

“May they be brought to complete unity.” (John 17:23)

We read these prayers of our Lord and it’s difficult, most of the time, to take it to heart. It doesn’t seem like Jesus’ prayers make that much difference or carry much weight as far as the unity of his disciples. Christ’s Church is famous around the world for being contentious and mean-spirited. Instead of looking at our love for one another and seeing the Savior, people look at our contempt for one another and see the world. Or worse, the devil.

Where’s the unity?

I’m almost finished with Eugene Peterson’s latest book on theological conversations, Tell It Slant. The following is from his chapter Jesus Prays For Us.

Many Christians, impatient with what they perceive as the inefficiency of Jesus’ prayer, attempt to solve the problem by the imposition of unity, unity by coercion — that is, authority depersonalized into an institution. The style is hierarchical. The methods are bureaucratic. Any person or congregation who refuses to conform is excluded: anathematized, excommunicated, or shunned. Unity is preserved by enforcing an institutional definition.

Other Christians, also impatient with Jesus’ prayer, solve the problem by schism. They reduce the scale of unity to what can be managed by gathering men and women of like mind and temperament. Often there is a strong and charismatic leader who shows up to define the reduced parameters of the so-called unity. If persons or groups find that they no longer fit into the theological or worship or behavioral style that defines the unity, another schism is always an option — simply split off with others of like mind and spirit. Unity is preserved by personal preference.

The repetitive urgency with which Jesus prays that we be one, just as he is one with the Father, throws deliberate acts of schism into sharp relief as acts of insurrection, an eruption of violent willfulness in the very presence of the one who is interceding for our relational unity with one another according to the unity of the Trinity. The frequency of this violence done to the body of Christ, a violence justified by rationalizations without end, is nothing less than astonishing. Defying Jesus in the cause of Jesus. A huge scandal.

The scandal is often boastfully vaunted as necessary to preserve the church. But whatever the language used, whatever slogans are placed on the banners, it is pretty clear that the schismatics at some point walked out on John 17.

If we’ll just stay in the room with Jesus as he prays for us, we will acquire a readiness to embrace all the baptized as brothers and sisters. It may be slow in coming, but Jesus’ prayer will have its way with us. We will no longer define other Christians as competitors or rivals. Jesus does not evaluate or grade his followers as he prays. He does not lay out plans to settle the controversies that he knows will arise. He is praying us into an easy camaraderie. The longer we stay in Jesus’ praying presence the more we will understand that our impulses toward schism and sectarianism, our rivalries and denunciations, have no place in the room while Jesus is praying for us “to be one.”

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Collin and Marisa McCormick have just found out they’re having a boy! Congratulations! You can get the latest news from our displaced Texas brother and sister while they’re in Germany by clicking over to their blog here.

Peace,

Allan

The Gospel According To Potluck

February 23, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been accused of many things. Most of those things are untrue. This latest allegation that surfaced last night in more than a couple of places from more than a couple of people must be addressed in an open forum.

 I DID NOT IMPLY IN MY COMMENTS FROM THE PULPIT YESTERDAY THAT IF ONE DID NOT BRING BANANA PUDDING TO THE CHURCH POTLUCK ONE COULD NOT BE SAVED!!!

I merely commented that a church potluck isn’t really a church potluck without banana pudding. That’s all. The fact that we had about three dozen banana puddings at the dinner last night only proves I really didn’t need to say anything about it at all. Of course, I exaggerate. However, I’m taking bids now to secure my services for March 29. For the highest bidder, I’ll mention your favorite dessert from the pulpit while making an announcement about that night’s supper. Right now, I’m up to $35 for Key Lime Pie.

What a fantastic night last night. Well over 500 of us brought our favorite dishes and shared a common meal together a la Potluck GospelActs 2 and 1 Corinthians 10 & 11. The quantity of food was mind-boggling. The variety was spellbinding. Only at a church potluck can you get chicken enchiladas, green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the same plate. And love it. It was loud. It was chaotic. It was fun. And it was theologically beautiful.

Yes, a church potluck is a re-enactment of the gospel. A common meal. A common table. Every nation, tribe, language, and people. Everyone bringing something to the body. A gift of creamed corn. A talent of chocolate pie. A blessing of homemade egg rolls from our brand new sister in Christ who’s still wet behind the ears from her baptism that morning. All these abilities, all these contributions, all these gifts brought to the table to form one amazingly wonderful meal that serves to nourish the entire body.

Purity PledgeLast night’s dinner was even more special as we witnessed our junior high boys and girls make vows of purity to their parents, to their friends, to their church family, and to their God. Over the din of crying babies and clanging forks, their parents made similar vows of love and availability and support. And then the whole church body stood and made vows to those families, vows to hold them accountable, to encourage them, to celebrate with them in their victories and mourn with them in their defeats. In the presence of our heavenly Father and each other, in the name of Christ, and by the power of his Holy Spirit. Running the race together. Passing the baton of faith. Through laughter and tears, promising to act like a real family.

And as great as all that was, the real capper of the evening was the sharing of the communion meal together as a church True Love Waitsfamily. Around the table(s). Real tables and real chairs. In the context of a shared meal. A real meal with real food and real drink. A public acknowledgment that we are enjoying this meal together because of what God has done for us in Christ. A recognition that we are brothers and sisters together because of the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord. Again, over the noise of restless toddlers. Through the “distractions” of extra activity. Looking people in the eyes instead of staring at the backs of their heads. Giggling with each other when someone dropped a tray in the back. An encouraging wink during and after the prayers. A pat on the hand. Personal, but not private. Putting the “community” back in communion. “Recognizing the body of the Lord.” Making communion truly communal again.

Legacy is one great potluckin’ church! And I’m so grateful to belong to this body of believers that sees and understands the gospel value of a shared common meal.

Peace,

Allan

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