Author Archives: alanconrow

A Better Way To Pray…

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Last Sunday at Fellowship I led the congregation in a Scripture reading and prayer. The text was Deut. 30:11-20. A key verse in the text was Deut. 30:16:

For I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep his commands, decrees and laws; then you will live and increase, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land you are entering to possess.

Often the temptation is to respond to such a text by praying something like this:

Heavenly Father, help us to keep your commands so that we might live and receive your blessing…

We’re tempted to pray this way because we want God to bless us. We want God’s favor upon us.

The problem is that this kind of prayer is, in some way, unnecessary.

Here’s why….

You and I will never (this side of heaven) be able to walk in perfect obedience to God. We will never be able to perfectly keep all of God’s commands. We will never be good enough to receive God’s blessing.

God actually knows this.

So why then does God give us commands?

God’s commands exist for two reasons. First, they exist as a reflection of the character of God. God’s commands show us just how holy God is. Second, God’s commands show us just how unholy we are.

In other words, the commands of God show us we need help. They show us we need a savior.

Jesus Christ is that Savior.

When Jesus lived on earth he did what we could not do. He walked in perfect obedience to God the Father. He fulfilled every command of God. He showed us what a perfect life actually looks like.

But Jesus did more than just show us how to live. Jesus lived a righteous [right relationship to God] life for a bigger reason.  He desired to give his righteousness away…

In Romans 3:21-24 the Apostle Paul writes:

But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.

Paul’s point is this: because none of us can keep the commandments of God perfectly, none of us on our own can be righteous [in right relationship to God]. Therefore we need another way of being righteous. A way that is outside of the law of  God. Jesus is that other way.

Furthermore, when we put our faith [trust] in Jesus Christ, we are justified [judged innocent] by God. And redeemed [put back in right relationship] by God.

This is called “The Great Exchange”. When we repent and put our faith in Jesus, he takes on all our sin, and in turn gives us all his righteousness.

This changes how we pray.

Now when we read verses such as Deut. 30:16, we can respond very differently than before.

Our prayer no longer needs to be “God help me to keep your commands,” but instead something like this:

“God, thank you that you sent your Son, Jesus, to keep all the commands on my behalf.

Thank you, Jesus, that you lived a righteous and perfect life, and that you gave the righteousness you earned to me. Thank you that by your grace you delivered to me the favor and blessings of God.

Jesus, I want to do your will—not so I can earn your favor, but as an act of gratitude for what you have done for me!“

When we see Jesus Christ as our righteousness, we will no longer be burdened by the law of God. What is more, the entire Old Testament will open up to us, beautifully displaying just how much Jesus has done for us. Understanding this will allow us to pray in a better way.

 

Today,  I pray that you will put your trust in Jesus. That you will trust that Jesus has made you righteous. I pray that you would know that, because Jesus has made you righteous, the favor and blessing of God is already upon you. And I pray that, because God’s favor is already upon you, your life today will be filled with grace and gratitude.

I Will Never Read The Bible The Same Way Again

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Every so often a Christian thinker/leader comes along and radically changes my views on something. In college it was C.S. Lewis and John Piper. In seminary it was (among others) Stanley Hauerwas. In the last few years it has been Tim Keller.

Today I’m traveling to the EPC General Assembly. Tonight at the General Assembly Tim Keller is preaching.  I am looking forward to it.

I have listen to many of his sermons and lectures. And I have read a few of his books. By far his greatest impact on me has been his ability to interrupt Scripture in a Christ-Centered way.

One of the first times I remember having my mind blown, was listening to a lecture he gave about the story of  David and Goliath.

Here’s what he said:

For example, look at the story of David and Goliath. What is the meaning of that narrative for us? Without reference to Christ, the story may be (usually is!) preached as: “The bigger they come, the harder they’ll fall, if you just go into your battles with faith in the Lord. You may not be real big and powerful in yourself, but with God on your side, you can overcome giants…

A better approach … “how is David foreshadowing the work of his greater Son”?… The story is telling us that the Israelites can not go up against Goliath. They can’t do it. They need a substitute. When David goes in on their behalf, he is not a full-grown man, but a vulnerable and weak figure, a mere boy. He goes virtually as a sacrificial lamb. But God uses his apparent weakness as the means to destroy the giant, and David becomes Israel’s champion-redeemer, so that his victory will be imputed to them. They get all the fruit of having fought the battle themselves.

And here comes the clincher:

…There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done? If I read David and Goliath as basically giving me an example, then the story is really about me. I must summons up the faith and courage to fight the giants in my life. But if I read David and Goliath as basically showing me salvation through Jesus, then the story is really about him.

Until I see that Jesus fought the real giants (sin, law, death) for me, I will never have the courage to be able to fight ordinary giants in life (suffering, disappointment, failure, criticism, hardship).

 

After hearing this I remember thinking, “I will never read the Bible the same way again.”

I am looking forward to hearing Keller preach tonight. Not because I want hear about what more I need to do. But because I expect to be reminded of what Christ has already done for me.

May all of us today stop striving to get the victory in our own lives, but instead  live out of Christ’s victory on our behalf!

 

 

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Transcript taken from http://www.monergism.com/thethreshold/articles/onsite/moralismkeller.html

Give Up Your Story

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There is something in all of us that desires to live a great story. We want to have a part in a story that matters. We want to do something that will count.  We want a legacy that will live beyond our death.

But how do we ensure that happens?

Some of us fixate on our own stories.

We try to get the most out of life. We seek to accomplish the most we can. We seek to achieve what others could not. We seek to do more, shine brighter, so that when we die our last thought will be “I lived a fulfilled life”.

But of course the problem with this kind of life is that we may never have enough. We may never accomplish enough. There is always more that could be done.

Some of us fixate on the story of our families

“Family is everything”, we say. We love our family’s history. And we care about our family’s future. We want to do everything we can to help our family be successful. Our legacy is directly tied to the future flourishing of the next generation.

But families can be fickle. The hard work and success of one generation is easily wasted by the next. And what one generation wants for a family is not necessarily what the next generation will want. There is no guarantee that the story of our families will turn out how we would like it.  There is no guarantee that our legacy will be past down.

Some of us fixate on the story of our nation

Individual stories and family stories are fine. But some of us are attracted to a much greater story. The story of our nation. That is the story the engulfs our lives. In our minds we feel like we know how the story should go.We feel good when the story is going the way we think it should. And we feel scared and anxious when the story seems to go off course.

Of course, here too there is problem. We have little control over what happens in our nation. We can do our best to get the people we want in office, but that does nothing to ensure the nation will go in the direction we believe it should go.

A better option- the story of Jesus

Jesus understands that we long to be part of a greater story– a story that matters. He made us that way. He also knows that the stories of individuals, families, or nations (or anything else), can’t give us what we desire.

Sin runs through everything and corrupts every story.

Thus we need a better story. A story that can’t be corrupted. A story that has the power to sustain hope. A story that will last. A story we can depend on. A story that can not fail.

This is the story of Jesus.

Jesus is the hero of history. At the end of time Jesus alone will receive all glory, honor, and praise. His will be the story that will be retold and never forgotten.

This is why Jesus invites us to give up our story, and enter into his story.

When we follow Jesus we are freed from trying to get the most out of our own life. Because we no longer have to strive for our own success, but can now live out of his success.

When we follow Jesus we are freed  from trying to ensure our legacy will be carried out by future generations. Because Jesus brings us into his family, a family whose legacy is guaranteed to never be forgotten.

When we follow Jesus we are freed from putting our hope in the story of our nation. Because Jesus invites us into his nation, “The Kingdom of God”.  The only perfect nation that will last forever.

Through our relationship to Jesus we become part of the greatest story.  The story that is able to ensure for us the significance we long for.

That is why the story of Jesus is the only story worth giving up all other stories to be a part of.

 

 

 

 

 

The Hope of Father’s Day

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Father’s Day, for me, is a reminder. A reminder that relationships can change and even be restored.

Growing up, I did not have the best relationship with my dad. We seemed to have lived in parallel universes. I liked sports. He couldn’t care less about sports. He liked working on cars and trucks. To this day I hate working on even a toy car or truck. He liked analyzing everything and teaching  people whenever he had the chance. I liked….well, ok, we have that in common.

Early on my dad was involved in my life. He was a coach on my t-ball team. He was my Tiger Cub leader, my Cub Scout Den leader, and then one of my Assistant Scout Masters. He was the one who pushed me to finish well and become an Eagle Scout (I am very thankful for that).

But as I grew older we grew further apart, partly because my dad was hard to be around. He had mood swings, and bursts of anger. He worked late and was less and less involved with the family. He was unstable, unpredictable, and oftentimes irrational.

In my teens years I really, really, did not like him. And once I left for college, I expected to see him even less. And the truth was, at that time, I was fine with that.

But a funny thing happened.

Through a series of fortunate events, I came to find out that my dad was not so much a bad man as he was a weak man. What I didn’t know growing up (and neither did my dad) was that he was suffering. My dad had severe sleep apnea which was causing him to lose more than 80% of his oxygen when he slept, and he was bi-polar.

I remember coming home from college one weekend and, unbeknownst to me, my dad had made some changes. He had begun using an air machine to help him breathe at night, and he had started taking medication to help control his mood. He was a totally different person.

He was kind. He was loving. When he saw me, he gave me a hug (a really big bear hug). And as I stood, trapped in the arms of my father, I thought, who is this?

Things were going to be different.

In my own heart there was still much anger and much pain from the wounds of the past. There was still confusion, and an extreme reluctance to take a step forward toward this new, unknown relationship. But the seed of healing had been dropped into the ground of our relationship. Over time it would blossom.

Over the next decade there would be many conversations, and many confessions (from both of us). There would be tears, understanding, and eventually forgiveness. And, to my surprise, there has been, is now, and always will be friendship.

This gives me hope.

I often wonder how my own three kids, as they grow up, will perceive me. I wonder how a decade (or two) from now they will describe me to their friends. Will they remember the laughs we had? Or will they remember the times I yelled at them? (Hopefully they’ll remember the times I apologized).

I don’t know which of my faults and weaknesses will drive stakes into their memories. But I do know this: That even if, for a time, they remember me as a terrible dad (I hope not); even if there is a time they want nothing to do with me (I really hope not); even if (hypothetically) I make every mistake imaginable… there is still hope of redemption and reconciliation.

My dad’s relationship to me is a testimony that Jesus Christ is bigger than our brokenness. That no matter how bad certain seasons of life are, there is always the possibility of things getting better.

I love my dad. I consider him a true friend, and a person I desperately want in my life and the life of my kids.

When I was a teenager I could not have imagined wanting such things. But that is the power of Christ.  Through Christ we have found the power to be honest about our shortcomings, the power to forgive, and the power to move toward reconciliation and healing.  Through Christ we have found the power to love again.

In Christ there is hope— there is always hope.

Father’s Day is a reminder of that hope. A hope my dad and I both share.

 

 

 

 

Maybe We Need More Cathedrals…

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You might have already seen this video floating around the internet. But if you haven’t it’s worth a few moments of your time to watch and listen to. The singers are from Iceland and their group is called, Arstidir.  The song they are singing is a 13th century Icelandic hymn entitle Heyr himna smiður (“Hear, Smith of heavens”).

After watching this video my first thought was, we need to start building cathedrals again. But until that happens, train stations will have to do. Enjoy!

For those who are curious, here’s a translation of what they’re singing:

Hear, smith of heavens.
The poet seeketh.
In thy still small voice
Mayest thou show grace.
As I call on thee,
Thou my creator.
I am thy servant,
Thou art my true Lord.

God, I call on thee;
For thee to heal me.
Bid me, prince of peace,
Thou my supreme need.
Ever I need thee,
Generous and great,
O’er all human woe,
City of thy heart.

Guard me, my savior.
Ever I need thee,
Through ev’ry moment
In this world so wide.
Virgin–born, send me
Noble motives now.
Aid cometh from thee,
To my deepest heart.

 

If you like what you heard, you can find more of their music and videos at

http://www.arstidir.com/#music

Free From Graduations

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When I graduated from sixth grade, all I could think about was would people like me in the seventh grade. When I graduated from eighth grade all I could think about was would people like me in the ninth grade.

It was a little pathetic I know…

But, hey, I wanted to be accepted. I wanted to be liked. I wanted to be part of the “cool group.” And it turns out that desire to be accepted never goes away.

Whether we’re graduating from elementary school, high school, college, or entering a new career, there is always a part of us that desires to be accepted by the next group of people. We can’t help but look for approval from the “cool group.”

The “cool group” isn’t always the people who wear the best clothes or who are the most popular. As you graduate in life, the cool group is often the group of people that has something you want. Whether it is knowledge, good-looks, money, power, or the appearance of success. It is the group you want to be around because you’re hoping that some aspect of their life will rub off on you. And in turn you will be “cool” too.

The reason any of us want to graduate into the “cool group” is because we want to be valued. We want someone with some status to give us his or her approval. We want this because we believe the approval of someone we look up to will somehow show the world we are worth something too.

We’re not wrong.

Getting the approval of someone with a higher social standing will add value and worth to our lives…but it won’t last. It will only last until we meet someone else with a higher “cool” factor. As soon as that happens, we’ll want that person’s approval…that is, until we meet someone “cooler.”

It can be a never ending search for approval. A never ending search to find our self-worth. If we’re not careful, we’ll spend our whole lives trying to “graduate” from one person’s approval to another.

Thankfully, Jesus sets us free from this never-ending desire to “graduate.”

Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the King of kings, and the ruler of all of the universe. There is no one in the universe with a higher social status than him.  He is at the very top. He is smarter, prettier, richer, more accomplished, and more powerful, than any other being in existence. There is no one “cooler” than him.

Yet, despite his untouchable social status, Jesus did something for you and me that was unthinkable–scandalous even.

He set aside his social status. He came down from heaven. And he pursued you and me.

We were in no state to be pursued. We were rebels, we were gross, and untouchable. We were evil and unlovable.

Yet Jesus came and invited us into his life, into his home, and into his holy family.

Of course, in the state we were in, we couldn’t actually enter into his family. Our evil desires, thoughts, and actions made us too unclean, too imperfect. We were too much of a mess to be a part of Jesus’ “cool group.”

So Jesus again did the unthinkable. He cleaned us. But not with soap and water. But with his blood.

On the cross, Jesus, the king of kings, sacrificed himself for you and me. He used his blood to wash us clean and make us holy. He paid our entrance fee into God’s family.

It was a gift.

A gift he gave to the undeserving, the unworthy, the poor, to all of us desiring to have some kind of social status. As a result, for all those who would believe in him he gave them the right to become children of God (John 1:12).

In this mind blowing act Jesus did something amazing for all of us who would receive him. He gave you and me status. He gave you and me his approval. He made us new creations.

Jesus broke the never ending need to “graduate.”

Today, we no longer have to look for acceptance from other people. We no longer have to try to “graduate” to the next level of “coolness”. We no longer have to work like crazy to climb up the approval ladder. Because Jesus, the One at the top, has come down to us—to accept us.

Of course, now, the only question is, will we accept him? Will we accept his approval? Will we give our lives to him, and stop looking for lesser approval from others?

If we will, we will be free from the never-ending desire to “graduate”.

For all the graduates this year, may you no longer worry if the next group of people you will meet will accept you. Jesus Christ offers you his approval. Give your life and future to him.  Then rest in the knowledge that wherever you go,  you are already accepted by the “coolest” person of all.

A Better Kind of Love

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Love is not what you and I think it is. Or at least not what the culture around us says it is.  In our world “love” is just code for “a positive emotion”. It comes and it goes. You can fall in love with someone. And you can fall out of love with someone. I once read an article about wedding vows the understood love in this kind of way.  Instead of promising to be together “till death do us part”,  the bride and the groom promised to be together “as long as our love shall last”. Yikes!

Christian love is a totally different kind of love. In the New Testament there are a few different words used for “love”. But the most significant and the most often used is the word “agape”. Agape was a common Greek word for love, but early Christians injected new and deeper meaning into it.

When Christians spoke of agape they did not merely speak of an emotion. Agape was not just a way of feeling something toward someone. Agape was not something that could come and go. Agape was not something that could run out.

Agape-love moved the idea of love from a noun to a verb. Instead of love being just a feeling, love was now something more. It was an action.  The action was self-sacrifice.  It was the choice to lay down one’s life for another.

The Apostle Paul speaks of this kind of agape-love when he encourages husbands to love their wives. He writes, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” (Eph. 5:25) The point Paul is making is that a husband’s “love” for his wife should have little to do with how he feels about her in a given moment. Instead it should have everything to do with his choice to sacrifice his own life (ambitions, time, and career) for the well-being of his wife.

This agape-love is a very different kind of love then what we are used to. But it is the same kind of love that God through Christ shows us. In his letter to the church at Rome the Apostle Paul writes, “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”(Rom.5:8)

God had every right to feel a whole host of negative emotions toward us, as we were his enemies. But God made a choice to pursue us, to sacrifice himself for us, to love us. In the person of Jesus Christ, God laid down his life for us. He showed us his agape-love.

God’s love for you is not only a different kind of love, but it is a better kind of love.

God’s love for you is not just an emotion or a feeling, it does not come and go. God’s love for you can not run out. God can not fall out of love with you.

God’s love for you is a choice. It is a disposition. It is through Christ Jesus absolutely secure.

It is for this reason the Apostle Paul wrote the beautiful words of Romans 8:38-39

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

 

God’s love displayed through Jesus Christ is not like our love. It is a different kind of love. And it is a better kind of love.

 

 

10 Things Jesus Never Said To God The Father

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Last week the 10 Things Jesus Never Said…post received a pretty good response. So here’s another one.

10 Things Jesus Never Said To God The Father…

 

 

 

#10.  I think Joseph knows I don’t look like him.

 

 

 

 

 

#9.  Remind me again, why we didn’t send the Holy Spirit first.

 

 

 

 

 

 

#8.  I feel like I am talking to myself…

 

 

 

 

 

 

#7.  FOR THE LOVE OF…, oh never mind!

 

 

 

 

 

#6.  You’ve seen what happens on a cross…, right ?

 

 

 

 

 

#5.  The food here stinks!!

 

 

 

 

 

#4.  You are REALLY old!

 

 

 

 

 

#3.  This would be a lot easier if you weren’t invisiable…

 

 

 

 

 

#2.  I’m starting to think those Pharisees don’t really like me.

 

 

 

 

 

#1.  I could really go for some bacon…

Tozer on Whole-Life Worship

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Every soul belongs to God and exists by His pleasure. God being who and what He is, and we being who and what we are, the only thinkable relation between us is one of full Lordship on His part and complete submission on ours. We owe Him every honor that is in our power to give Him. Our everlasting grief lies in giving Him anything less.

The pursuit of God will embrace the labor of bringing our total personality into conformity to His. And this not judicially, but actually. I do not here refer to the act of justification by faith in Christ. I speak of voluntary exalting of God to His proper station over us and a willing surrender of our whole being to the place of worshipful submission which the Creator-creature circumstance makes proper.

The moment we make up our minds that we are going on with this determination to exalt God over all, we step out of the world’s parade. We shall find ourselves out of adjustment to the ways of the world, and increasingly so as we make progress in the holy way. We shall acquire a new viewpoint; a new and different psychology will be formed within us; a new power will begin to surprise us by its upsurgings and its outgoings.

 

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Excerpt from A.W. Tozer’s The Pursuit of God: The Human Thirst For the Divine p.96