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Be Perfect

December 13, 2007 / Allan / 3 Comments

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” ~Matthew 5:48

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus takes six specific commands from God’s Law, corrects the faulty interpretation and selfish external applications, and then points his disciples toward the true nature and true intent of the Law: living selflessly with others in community. God reveals himself to man through the Law. The Law is the perfect reflection of our God. And as we pursue this true intent and motive of the Law, as we strive to emulate our God in the ways we live with each other, we are pursuing that perfection of God. It’s a goal that shapes the disciple’s entire life. It’s the ultimate object of our behavior and our thoughts and our will. We accept nothing less than the perfection of God. We’re always striving toward it.

OK. We understand all that. We also are assured by Holy Scripture that our perfection is found only in Jesus. We are righteous only through the blood of the Son. All have sinned. None are perfect. It’s only by participating in the salvation work of God through the Christ that I can be viewed as righteous in God’s sight.

OK. We get that, too. But here’s where it gets weird.

1) I’m saved by grace. I know I’m going to sin. I’m human. I can’t not sin. And so I wake up every morning resigned to my fate as a sinner. I’m going to sin before I make it out to my car today. When I go to bed at night, I know I’ve sinned. And I’ll sin again tomorrow. I’m human. But I’m saved. As a natural result, I’m not quite as bothered by my sin as I used to be.

or 2) The Holy Spirit dwells in me. I’ve been changed by God. I’m a new creature. Every sin I commit I do so by my own choice. Nobody’s making me sin. So it’s up to me to be perfect. And I will be. From this point forward I will not sin again. God calls me to be perfect. Paul tells me to stop sinning. And I will. As a natural result, I’m continually disappointed. I’m setting myself up for failure.

I struggle with finding the balance between the two extremes. I believe I’m not alone in that. I try to live it one day at a time, like most of us do. I pray every morning that God will give me the power to remain free from sin all day until my head hits the pillow that night. I am confident in my salvation. But I should be grieved by my sin.

Michael J. Wilkins calls the balance “restful dissatisfaction.” He elaborates in his NIV Application Commentary on Matthew:

“I rest content with what Christ has done in my life and with the growth that has occurred, yet at the same time I balance that contentment with the desire to move on. At any one point in my life I want to be satisfied with what God has been doing in my life, yet I want to be dissatisfied to the degree that I press on to complete maturity. I accept my imperfection, yet I have the courage to press on to perfection. I rest in the indicative of what God has accomplished in Christ’s work of redemption and regeneration, I rest in the assurance that transformation is, at this very moment, being accomplished, and I rest in the promise that ultimately we will be like him. But I am dissatisfied when I see immaturity or impurity in my heart, mind, and life; I am dissatisfied with the state of this world apart from Christ; I am dissatisfied with loving less than the way Jesus loves.”

Peace,

Allan

A Doctrine of Participation

December 12, 2007 / Allan / 3 Comments

I’m beginning a three-week sermon series this Sunday on the Incarnation, that wonderful, mysterious miracle of our God becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Fully human and fully divine. God embracing our humanity, submitting to his creation, joining the world in order to save it. Unfathomable. I’ve prayed over and poured through all of the Scriptures. I’ve highlighted all my commentaries. I’ve re-read Unveiling Glory. I’m making a feeble attempt at trying to preach this in terms of 1) God coming into our sinful situation, our messy world, just the way it is, to save all of mankind; 2) God as a human baby showing us our own weakness and dependence and teaching us how to surrender; and 3) God’s call to join him in his salvation work, to imitate him as he partners with his creation to redeem it back to himself.

I think I could preach for three or four hours on each topic (but I won’t, I can’t) and still just barely scratch the surface of the depth of the theological realities behind the Incarnation. It’s so rich and meaningful. So full of life-affirming truth.

I like this from Kallistos Ware:

“The Incarnation is a doctrine of sharing and participation. Christ shares to the full in what we are, and so he makes it possible for us to share in what he is, in his divine life and glory. He became what we are, so as to make us what he is. Christ enables us to share in the Father’s divine glory. He is the bond and meeting point: because he is a man, he is one with us; because he is God, he is one with the Father. So through and in him we are one with God, and the Father’s glory becomes our glory…the divine likeness that we are called to attain is the likeness of Christ.”

What we see in the watering trough in the stable in Bethlehem is the coming together of heaven and earth. Creator and creation. Holiness and sinfulness. Angels with their beautiful voices and shepherds with their bleating sheep. The aromas of incense and myrh mixing with the stench of livestock and hay. It all converges in that stable. God and man as one.

How am I supposed to tackle all that?

Peace,

Allan

One Book Meme

December 11, 2007 / Allan / 4 Comments

My great friend out in Fresno, Jim Gardner, tagged me on his blog to answer this survey of questions about books I’ve read, am currently reading, and am planning to read. I’m obliging because I like Jim and his blog, I’ve gained some interesting insights into him looking at his list, and you might be just as curious to see my list as I was to see his. Here goes:

One book that changed your life: The Witness of Preaching by Thomas G. Long

It was one of the textbooks assigned in my Ministry of Preaching class at Austin Grad. Long’s premise is that the preacher-witness is figuratively sworn in by his congregation to testify each week to what he has seen and heard through his study of God’s Word. The witness preacher is responsible for going to the Scriptures each week on behalf of the congregation and is bound by that arrangement to speak the truth in what he finds. What radically changed my outlook on preaching is Long’s contention that the work of a preacher—his study, his reading, his meditation, his preparation—is really the work of the entire church. The preacher doesn’t confront the people on Sundays, Christ does. The ministry of preaching actually belongs to Christ. It’s only given as a gift to the Church.

One book you’ve read more than once: The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis

I first read this book as a required text in an English class at Oklahoma Christian. And I’m certain I’ve read it at least a dozen times since. Every single one of the tempter’s 31 letters is about me or the church I’m in or the people around me. Every one. It’s so modern and contemporary. Everytime I read it, it seems like it was written just yesterday in the office across the hall. And it hits me everytime like a 2×4 to the face. The book always serves as a real wakeup call to my true motivations. And when I’ve used it in a men’s group, it never ceases to force us to discuss openly the things we normally ignore. I’m in a group of men right now who are going through the book on Tuesday mornings. And there are parts of this thing I’m seeing for the very first time. Again.

One book you would want on a deserted island: Sports Illustrated’s Fifty Years of Great Writing

The book came out three years ago and, while I’ve read it from cover to cover—all 558 pages—I still find myself going back to it and reading a column or two every couple of months. I love the way sports reflects life and vice-versa. And writers who can take a sporting event or a sports personality and draw larger, big-picture conclusions and observations about life are a dying breed. This book contains the best of the best. Award-winning writers from Frank Deford and Dan Jenkins to George Plimpton, Rick Reilly, and John Steinbeck on football, baseball, basketball, hockey, boxing, horseracing, you name it. From the mid 1950s to now. Wonderful stuff.

One book that made you laugh: Open Secrets by Richard Lischer

I read this book almost two years ago (another textbook in my preaching class), before I knew my first ever preaching assignment would be in a large metropolitan church in the suburbs. For all I knew, and exactly what I expected, I’d be in a much smaller church in a much less urban setting. Lischer’s book is an auto-biographical account of his very first preaching assignment, fresh out of divinity school and bursting with enthusiasm, to a very small conservative church in an economicaly-depressed town in southern Illinois. He makes plenty of mistakes at this church. The changes he tries to implement sometimes backfire. He winds up alienating several prominent church leaders. But his heart is good, he’s doing his best, and he learns a valuable lesson from each horrible miscue. It’s very funny. And very insightful. And I’ve realized after six months on the job here at Legacy, people are people, preachers and congregants. I’ve done my best to learn from Lischer’s mistakes. But I’m still making my own.

One book that made you cry: Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian

Another required textbook from Austin Grad, this one in my Christian Ethics class. The author’s premise is that all children are born with a natural desire to draw the distinctions between right and wrong. It’s a gift of grace given to us by God. And parents do more harm than good in teaching our children when we water down those ideals. We seem to be more concerned with teaching tolerance, paralyzed by the fear of labeling anything as absolutely black or white and, instead, painting everything a seemingly harmless shade of gray. We’ve learned somehow to allow our kids to make up their own minds about what is right or wrong for them, or to somehow grow into that knowledge on their own. We want them to develop their own morals or their own standards. And instead of shaping and molding young lives, we’re abandoning them. By ignoring the great themes of love and sin and redemption and moral goodness we are teaching our children that morality is relative to individual desires and personal cultural contexts. Guroian takes ten classic children’s stories that revolve around those great themes. He takes Pinocchio and The Little Mermaid, Bambi and Charlotte’s Web, The Velveteen Rabbit and The Snow Queen, stories we’ve all known since we were kids and stories our kids know by heart, and he draws out those great theological and moral and ethical themes that we sometimes ignore or purposefully bury. Come on, it’s about kids and being a parent. Of course I cried.

One book you wish had been written: Transformed: How the Ninevah Experience Changed My Life by Jonah

One book you are currently reading: The Jesus Way by Eugene Peterson

He’s one of my favorite authors. This is the third book of his spiritual theology series and it deals with “the way” we are to be Christians. He paints, as always, vivid pictures using the lives Abraham, Moses, David, Elijah, and of course, Jesus, to communicate that the “means” (way) are just as important as the “ends.” The way we do things as disciples—in our churches, in our communities, in our families—does matter. There’s a right way and a wrong way. There’s a Jesus way and an anti-Jesus way. I’m about halfway through the book. Peterson is excellent, as always.

One book you’ve been meaning to read: The Body Broken by Jack Reese

It’s been on my shelf for a year. It’s coming up very soon. What to do about our differences in the Body of Christ. How to love and serve Jesus and, at the same time, love and serve one another despite our differences. I’m looking forward to it. I’m also going to read Pastor by William Willimon very soon. It, too, has been on my shelf for over a year. The theology and practice of ordained ministry. Willimon’s one of my favorite authors. His daily blog is excellent. Check it out by clicking here.

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I must give you our great news about Whitney. She saw the neuro-opthamologist in Dallas on Friday and, after a series of tests on her eyesight and peripheral vision, we were told that everything was excellent. Her peripheral vision is “excellent” for someone with her optic disc drusen condition. Nothing is deteriorating, as far as they can tell. The doctor was anticipating already starting her on the treatment. But now he’s not because it looks like everything’s staying the same. It’s not worse. Praise God!

We asked him point blank if Whitney would eventually lose her peripheral vision or her eyesight altogether. And he told us his intentions were that she would not lose either. He wants to see her every three months to keep a close handle on things and monitor her situation.

Again, our God is so very, very good. He answers prayers. He provides for his children. And he surrounds us with loving family and friends. Thank each of you so much for your thoughts and prayers on Whitney’s behalf. Thank you. And give our Father all the glory, honor, and praise for working in our daughter’s life.

Peace,

Allan

More Than We Ask or Imagine

December 10, 2007 / Allan / 0 Comments

Forgive me while I borrow liberally from Seinfeld:

“I don’t know if you’re ready for this. I don’t know if you should be sitting down for this or standing up. On the one hand, sitting is good if you’re going to faint. But standing is good for jumping up and down.”

I’ve counted the numbers three times. Are you ready for this?

I’ve thought for several months now that if we somehow were able to get 500 people to sign up and participate in our Legacy Small Groups Church it would be a wild success. In fact, there’s no way I thought we’d hit 500 in this first go-round. It was the way-out-there, impossible goal. We always, as a planning committee, threw 500 out there as the high ceiling mark of possibility.

We have 386 adults signed up for Small Groups. 386! And that doesn’t count one single baby, not one child, not one teenager. These are all adults. 386 of them! And they know what they’re signing up for. They and their families are committing to meeting in each others’ homes every Sunday night to worship and study and love and serve. 386! And if we add in all the kids (and there’s no way I’ve had time today to do that. Who is going to do that, by the way?) we easily have well over 600. Maybe even closer to 700. Some here at the building today have insisted that a safe and fair estimate would be to calculate one child per adult. They say that’s a pretty good average to work with. If that’s the case, IF that’s accurate, we’re looking at 772 people signed up to participate in Small Groups Church! And that’s after just one day of sign-ups. Now, I don’t ever want to be accused of throwing out a trumped-up number or a “preacher’s count.” So, to stay on the conservative side, it’s more than safe to say that we have way over 600 dedicated to Small Groups.

Praise God!

And I’m not sure yet what all this really means. Not yet. Our church family is indeed ready for weekly Small Groups. We’re starving for deeper, more meaningful relationships with each other. We’re hungry to get deeper into the Word and apply it to our daily lives. We’re excited about new opportunities for evangelism. We’re tired of meeting at the building on Sunday nights. We’re ready to try something new. We see the vision of growing closer to each other and closer to God through Small Groups. We believe in the dream of turning our community upside down for Jesus with Small Groups. We view the mission and the goals of Small Groups Church as Scripture-based and as a return to the Bible. We think the new logos are cool. I don’t know what we can read into these numbers just yet. Except for this: our God is blessing what we’re doing. The response has been more than we could ever ask or imagine. Our Father has overcome every hurdle, he’s obliterated every obstacle, he’s risen above every miscommunication and misunderstanding, he’s triumphed over all the ways I’ve messed everything up to show us that this is the way to go. And I’m more convinced than ever that he’s not leading us or guiding us as much as he’s pushing us in this direction. I’m committed more than ever to turn all of this completely over to him, to sacrifice it all to him and tell him to do with it what he wants.

Give our God all the glory and honor and praise. He is so very, very good.

We still have 15 different groups of every variety and demographic that have not filled up. We still have slots for 68 more adults which translates to probably another 120 people. There’s still room in the inn. And we’d love to have you! Signups will continue through the end of the month.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. ~Ephesians 3:20-21.

Peace,

Allan

Ask Not What Small Groups Can Do For You…

December 7, 2007 / Allan / 5 Comments

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12

Jesus left everything. Jesus considered the glory he had with the Father in heaven nothing. Jesus came to earth to suffer; to be deserted by family and friends; to be ultimately, for a while, even forsaken by God; to be tortured; to be killed like a criminal for you. As lousy as you are. And for me. As lousy as I am.

That’s how the Christ loves us.

And his command—not his suggestion, not his recommendation, not something he said that only makes sense in his culture at his place in time—is that we love each other in the exact same way. John 15:12 and all the other commands to love just like Jesus in that last part of John are not a gray area of debate.

So the question is: are you loving like Jesus? Can you, will you, die for each other?

And we say we’re not called to die. Not in this country. Not in this age. If we were in a different country or living in a different time, maybe I could. But, thankfully, I don’t have to worry about it. Living in America in the 21st century, that’s a concept I don’t even have to consider.

Wrong answer.

“If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 2:1-5

Paul goes on to quote from the ancient church hymn that Jesus took on the role, the very nature, of a servant and humbled himself by dying on the cross.

And this is exactly how we die for our brothers and sisters. This is precisely how we die for each other. We die to ourselves. We kill off selfish ambition. We put to death vain conceit. We crucify our own interests. We suffocate those parts of us for each other. Like Jesus in the upper room the night he was betrayed, we have to continually find ways of making ourselves the least important person in the group.

Sign-ups begin this Sunday morning at Legacy as we continue our move from a church that does small groups to a Small Groups Church. And I would ask that we each consider our parts in small groups as our ministries of service to God’s people in the Kingdom. Let’s not choose our groups based on our own needs. Let’s not sign-up according to comfort zones and best friends. Let’s sign-up with hearts of service and ministry for others. How can I serve people? How can I love people? How can I reach lonely and struggling and hurting people with the mercy and grace of Christ? What can I do to put the needs of others over my own? As Peter would say, “To this we were called…”

Jesus did it. And he had more to give up than all of us combined.

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The Legacy teens are playing the Legacy family guys in a flag-football extravaganza tomorrow morning at 10:00 on the soccer field north of the building. I’ve always felt like I was a little too old to be in that Sunday morning Young Families Class. But Vic’s presence in there has always comforted me. However, it may be proven tomorrow morning that I really don’t belong with these guys who are ten years younger. By agreeing to play in the game, I’m afraid my brain has written a check my broken down body can’t cash. Like Jon Kitna maybe.

When we moved here this past summer I promised myself I was going to see lots of DFW high school football. And I’ve not seen a single game since the DC debacle at FWC in September. But I’m taking care of that tomorrow by taking in a playoff double-header at Texas Stadium. Hebron’s Hawks are tangling with Abilene, the team that knocked Southlake Carrol out last weekend. My great friend, Billy Whiteley, is the head athletics trainer for Hebron, and I’m anxious to see if they can recapture that state championship magic from two years ago. The second game features Trinity’s Trojans against Arlington Bowie. Lots of our Legacy kids here go to Trinity and so I’ll have a rooting interest in both games. But I refuse to do the Haka. Hocca? Hawka?

Peace,

Allan

Of Cranes and Beams…

December 6, 2007 / Allan / 3 Comments

The 90-foot steel beams rolled in from Sherman at about 10:30 this morning and they were both in place on the north and south sides of our new worship center by 2:00. This first group of pictures below are of the first beam being lifted and then lowered into place by the larger-than-life crane and secured by workers on the north side. As always, click on the photo for the full size: