Month: February 2008 (Page 1 of 4)

God Bless Texas

February 29, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

172 years ago Sunday, 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 over 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.”

The Texas Declaration is filled with a lot of the same language found in the United States Declaration of Independence, written 60 years earlier. It contains statements about the function and responsibility of government, passages regarding the rights of human beings, and a list of grievances. The Mexican Constitution of 1824 stands at the crux of the matter:

“The Mexican government, by its colonization laws, invited and induced the Anglo-American population of Texas to colonize its wilderness under the pledged faith of a written consitution, that they should continue to enjoy that constitutional liberty and republican government to which they had been habituated in the land of their birth, the United States of America. In this expectation, they have been cruelly disappointed, inasmuch as the Mexican nation has acquiesced in the late changes made in the government by General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna, who having overturned the constitution of his country, now offers us the cruel alternative, either to abandon our homes, acquired by so many privations, or submit to the most intolerable of all tryanny, the combined despotism of the sword and the priesthood.”

Like the U.S. Declaration, the Texas document stated religious persecution in the list of grievances. Right in the middle of a list that includes the imprisonment of Stephen F. Austin, the lack of a public education system, no representation in the government, violence against their businesses, and “inciting the merciless savage, with the tomahawk and scalping knife, to massacre the inhabitants of our defenseless frontiers,” the delegates declared worship of God as at least part of their motivation for rebelling against Mexico:

“It (Mexican nation) denies us the right of worshipping the Almighty according to the dictates of our own conscience, by the support of a national religion, calculated to promote the temporal interest of its human functionaries, rather than the glory of the true and living God.”

Finally, the delegates concluded the Declaration with a magnificent charge to freedom:

“We, therefore, the delegates with plenary powers of the people of Texas, in solemn convention assembled, appealing to a candid world for the necessities of our condition, do hereby resolve and declare, that our political connection with the Mexican nation has forever ended, and that the people of Texas do now constitute a free, Sovereign, and independent republic, and are fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations; and, conscious of the rectitude of our intentions, we fearlessly and confidently commit the issue to the decision of the Supreme arbiter of the destinies of nations.”

A wise man once said never 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 embarassing him.

Happy Texas Independence Day!

Allan

Mashed Potatoes

February 28, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

Terry Rush is one of my spiritual heroes. And he probably doesn’t even know it. His passion for the Christ and his compassion for God’s people hit me like a freight train every time I hear him speak, every time we share a quick little two minute conversation or email, both times I’ve sat with him and other preachers in his study at the Memorial Road church in Tulsa, and every single time I read his blog. I want to share with you today something Terry wrote on his blog, Morning Rush, yesterday regarding the Church of God as a sacrificial Body of believers, a truly selfless family bent on doing this thing together.

Enjoy:

“I may be off an author or two but I think it was Juan Carlos Ortiz who wrote a book in the 70s discussing unity. He pointed out boiled potatoes in one bowl does not equal unity just because they are all together. Mashed potatoes is unity. He went on to explain: boiled ones are still individuals simply at the same location. The mashed are blended in with all others to serve one purpose as a unit.

Boiled? These members are in but not committed. They are in the church for their welfare, but not in it for the sake of the body. There is a thin line which calls for personal examination. Are we in the church for experiencing what makes me happy or to extend the body of Christ to the current and the next generations? Are we in it because our kids like it and need it or because God has burdened our hearts to live for Him? Are we in it to give us something good to do or to show mercy and love to a rude society? Are we boiled or mashed?

If boiled we find it easier to pick up our blankets and toys and find a new picnic. If mashed we find we can’t breathe without the body of Christ…He is our total life. What makes a boiled potato a mashed one? Beaters. Jesus asked us to face the beaters every day…..take up your beaters and follow me….he said, sorta. Each congregation is so much healthier mashed. There is found complete harmony. Only boiled? Oh, we may sit in the same bowl but we aren’t in it for the others. While we may sit together, we are still in this for self.

Take up your beaters. Let us submit to the beatings we take realizing we are simply in the wonderful kingdom process of God growing His people into one selfless body.”

Just 27 more days until the Tulsa Workshop!

Peace,

Allan

Finish Strong

February 27, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour.” ~Matthew 25:13

We generally focus on the differences between the ten virgins in Jesus’ story in Matthew 25. Afterall, five were wise and five were foolish. Five packed extra oil and five didn’t. But have you ever examined their similarities? Upon close inspection, these ten women are all exactly alike. They’re the same.

They’re all virgins. Completely pure. Unstained. Totally cleansed. All ten virgins are righteous. They’ve all ten been invited by the bridegroom to the feast. There are no party-crashers here. All ten are on the list. They’ve all accepted the invitation. They’re all planning to attend the wedding. They’re all looking forward to the bridegroom’s coming. They all have lamps. They all have oil. They’re all drowsy. They all fall asleep. They’re also completely alike in their knowledge and their ignorance. They all ten know the bridegroom is coming. And they all ten have absolutely no idea when.

So what makes the wise virgins wise and the foolish virgins foolish? The wise girls had prepared for an extended wait. The foolish girls hadn’t even considered that possibility.

Please understand: if the bridegroom had come at 9:30pm instead of midnight, they’d all ten be in. Have you ever considered that? If the bridegroom shows up just a couple of hours earlier, the foolish virgins are in just like the wise. Those five girls were lost when the bridegroom delayed his coming.

It’s all about being steadfast and finishing the race. Jesus had been warning about it all through chapter 24. Verse 13, he who stands firm to the end will be saved. Verse 42, keep watch because you do not know. Verse 44, be ready, because he’ll come when you don’t expect it.

Be ready. Stand firm. Be prepared. Pack the extra oil. Because we don’t know. You might have 20 more years or you might have 20 more minutes. But we’re called as disciples of Christ to live our lives—every moment to the very end—in a continual state of preparedness. Readiness.

What does that look like?

We are ready to meet Jesus when our relationships with God and with others are what they should be. We are ready when, at any moment of our day, whether in the privacy of our own homes, out in public with friends and co-workers, or in the deep recesses of our minds, we are not ashamed to have the Lord meet us. When we’re living the way our God calls us to live, we’re ready. We’re prepared.

It’s a race. It’s a marathon. And the call is to finish it. Finish it. Don’t quit. It doesn’t matter how you start. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve stumbled. It doesn’t matter that you’re in last place and you’ve been lapped six times. All that matters is that you finish.

The New York Giants started the season 0-2.

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” ~Hebrews 12:1-3

Peace,

Allan

Building Faith At Home

February 26, 2008 / Allan / 13 Comments

Jason and Kipi have been on me for some time to read Mark Holmen’s latest work, Building Faith at Home. The premise of the book is that what we as followers of Jesus do in our homes is much more important to passing on the Christian faith than what we do in our churches. And I believe that with all my heart. Amen. The focus and the attention and the emphasis we place on what we do together during our weekly assemblies is not just overshadowing what parents should be doing with their kids at home, it’s in some ways undermining it. And until we begin again to live our lives of faith in front of our children and with our children, what we’re doing in our churches isn’t really helping. We’re raising generations of kids now—I’d say even people my age and younger, maybe beginning with the first generation to be raised with a Youth Minister—who are sold on church programs and faithful to church activities but who have no real depth of commitment to our God in Christ Jesus.

I believe all that. I see the impact of it everyday. It’s evident in the things we talk about and argue about and the choices we make within our own congregation here at Legacy.

And as I cracked open Building Faith at Home for the first time Saturday night, I was struck by the statistics Holmen uses to back up what we’ve suspected all along.

*Since 1991, the population in the U.S. has grown by 15% but the number of adults who don’t attend church has increased 92%, from 39-million to 75-million.

*In 1990, 86.2% of Americans claimed to be Christian. Today that number is less than 75%. It’s going down by nearly a full percentage point per year. It that trend continues, non-Christians will outnumber Christians in this country by the year 2042.

*Search Institute conducted a survey of more than 11,000 young people from 561 congregations across six different Christian denominations. Keep in mind, these are all church kids! According to their responses: only 12% of youth have a regular dialogue with their mothers on faith issues; only 5% have a regular faith dialogue with their fathers; only 9% of youth experience regular reading of the Bible and devotions at home; and only 12% of youth have ever experienced a faith-based service event with a parent.

*In Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions, George Barna claims “fewer than ten percent of parents who regularly attend church with their kids read the Bible together, pray together (other than at meal times), or participate in an act of service as a family unit. Even fewer families—1 out of every 20—have any type of worship experience together with their kids other than while they are at church.”

It seems that religious life in the home is just about nonexistent. It’s nearly extinct.

And the Church is called to teach our families how to share their faith, how to live their faith, how to exhibit their faith with each other.

I’m only halfway through Holmen’s book. And it’s pretty good. He gives very practical ideas for helping parents and kids grow and mature their faith at home. And I think we can very easily implement a lot of those things here at Legacy. It’s not so much overhauling what we do, it’s just looking at what we do through a different lens. It’ll require only some minor, yet critical, tweaking and adjusting as we encourage families to worship together and study together in their homes.

I especially appreciate Holmen’s emphasis throughout this first part of his book on involving all the different generations in our churches with each other in faith-building exercises. So much, if not most, of what we do as a congregation is segregated by age-group. Bible classes, retreats, fellowships, even our Small Groups are mostly divided along generational lines. And that’s not healthy for anybody. A truly healthy church will be intergenerational almost everywhere. Having young marrieds without children and parents of teenagers and empty-nesters and 85-year-old widows in the same classes and groups and pews and small groups should be the norm, not the exception. So when Holmen mentions baby blessings and involving much more of the whole church family in those ceremonies, I think we can apply baptisms along the same lines, much like what we did with the Dennis grandkids on Sunday. When new members come to the church I’m trying to involve the whole church family in vowing publicly to love them and take care of them and work with them as we follow Jesus. Weddings and funerals, high school and college graduations, anniversaries and other rites of passage should be celebrated by the whole church family together.

But everything we do should be geared toward getting our members to actually live out their faith in their homes with their spouses and kids and cousins and grandchildren.

Read a Bible story to your kids tonight. Pray with your spouse tonight. Plan to do something together as a family that will serve someone else.

Peace,

Allan

Not Just New Creatures

February 25, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

Paul Dennis baptized two of his grandchildren, Luke and Mackenzie, yesterday afternoon here at the Legacy church building. It was a moving ceremony. Carefully planned. Wonderfully executed. Packed with love and emotion. A true portrait of what it means to pass on the Christian faith.

Paul spoke of the pride he has in his grandkids. An uncle led us in a couple of songs of faith and thanksgiving. Paul then talked with the kids in front of us about the things they had been studying, especially over the past few months about Jesus and his life, death, and resurrection. He talked about the promises we have in God through Christ. And he reminded them, and us, of what it means to be buried with Jesus in the waters of baptism. And then Paul confessed his belief in Jesus as the Christ, the son of God. Two of the uncles voiced the same confession. Then all of the baptized believers in the congregation made the same confession in unison. Paul talked to Luke and Mackenzie about how they are not alone in their belief and in their faith. He mentioned the cloud of witnesses in Hebrews 12. And then Luke and Mackenzie confessed Jesus as the Son of God and were baptized into his death, burial, and resurrection.

I was honored to read from 2 Corinthians 5 and to exhort everyone in attendance to look back often on our own baptisms and to be reminded of what it means to become, not just new creatures, but part of a new creation. All of creation is brand new to those who come up out of the waters of baptism. All the old things have become new. The way we look at each other, the way we treat each other, the way we view creation is all new. The mercy I extend my neighbor is in response to the mercy I’m shown by God. The forgiveness I show my brother is in recognition of the forgiveness I receive from my Father. The love I give others is from the overflow I get from God. Everything’s brand new.

And then Jim McDoniel took the kids through their first communion. He spoke lovingly to them about how communion means all of us together, as if we’re all sitting at a big round dining room table, sharing in the blessings we have from God in Christ. And then we all participated in the Lord’s Supper with them, eating the bread and drinking the wine, and hugging Luke and Mackenzie, congratulating them, pledging our love and support to them.

Wow.

Can we incorporate a little more of this into every single baptismal ceremony in our churches? Or how about a lot more? If we weren’t so confined by the blasted time constraints, I think our baptisms would look and feel significantly more like yesterday’s services with Paul’s family. And I think we would better communicate as the Church, to each other and to our communities, how important it is to be baptized into Christ Jesus.

Baptism is not an individual thing. It’s a family thing. It’s a Church thing. It’s a community of faith thing. Baptism involves parents and friends and preachers and cousins and elders and angels and Bible school teachers and brothers and sisters and those who have gone before and those who are coming after. It touches the past, the present, and the future. It obligates the young and the old. It’s a cause for rejoicing and remembering.

It should never be entered into lightly. And it should never be treated as a mere ritual performed in order to gain forgiveness, the Holy Spirit, a place at the communion table, Church membership, and whatever else you want to add to the list.

May we always treat baptism as the unique and God-ordained sacrament that it is. And may we always give it the special focus and attention in our churches it deserves.

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Saturday’s Inaugural Legacy Chili Cookoff was a fantastic success. Mild to super-hot. Beans and no-beans. Weight watchers and suet (is that how you spell suet?). Chili with chocolate. Chili with potatoes. We even had SPAM chili.

Congratulations to all the winners: Greg, Judy, Jackie, and Jennifer. Congratulations to Suzanne and Bonny and Kipi and everyone who organized the evening.

And congratulations to all of us who actually sampled all 17 varieties. This Pepto-Bismol’s for you!

Peace,

Allan

He Is Not Here!

February 21, 2008 / Allan / 4 Comments

“Because I live, you also will live.” ~John 14:19

In the northwest corner of the city of Jerusalem stands the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the traditional burial place of Jesus. Very early Christian tradition, ancient writings, and archaeological evidence points to this being the location of the tomb where Jesus was laid after his crucifixion. I spent a couple of hours there a little over a year ago, milling around the inside of that massive building with probably 300 other people.

And we were all very quiet. We tiptoed. We whispered. There’s a true sense of awe in that place. Reverence. Holiness. A genuine feeling of sacredness. It’s consecrated. It’s highly significant. And it doesn’t take long to realize the glaring truth that overwhelms the impressive backdrop.

Jesus is not here.

The beautiful 900 year old paintings are here. But he is not here. The 800 year old church building is here. But he is not here. The 2000 year old tombs are here. But he is not here. The chapels and candles and altars and shrines and worshipers and pilgrims and disciples are all here. But he is not here.The rock and the tomb and the caves and the songs and the stories and the history; it’s all here. But he is not here.

I’ve been to Elvis’ grave. He’s there. I’ve been to Stevie Ray Vaughn’s grave. He’s there. John F. Kennedy. Abraham Lincoln. I’ve never been, but I’m certain Grant is still buried in Grant’s tomb.

I’ve been to Jesus’ tomb. And he’s not there.

And because of that, we have hope. And confidence. And courage.

Yesterday our dear brothers Ken Phillips and Sam Hughey both passed from this life to the next. Two great warriors for Christ. Two great soldiers of the cross. Two great followers of Jesus. Leaders. Examples. And as disciples of the King, they have died. Just like Jesus. This weekend they will be buried. Just like Jesus. And just like Jesus, they will be raised. And they will reign at the right hand of the heavenly Father in the eternal Kingdom of God forever and ever. Just like Jesus.

Obviously, I didn’t know either one of these brothers very well. Ken was the very first song leader for the Pipeline/Legacy church back in 1959. I heard from a couple of people last night that Ken taught so many of our boys—boys my age and older—how to lead singing and how to pray and read Scriptures publicly. Sam always had a huge smile on his face and a smart aleck comment on his lips. He was so funny. I remember clearly the day he brought his baptismal certificate to me on the 50th anniversary of his new birth in Christ. Both of these men were so happy all the time. And both encouraged me every single time I talked with them. Both of them told me more than a couple of times, “Just keep doing what you’re doing. Just preach the Bible.”

I was struck yesterday in both hospital rooms by the faith and confidence and courage exhibited by Opal and Bernice. Both of these strong Christian women faced the moment of death with tremendous faith, truly happy for their husbands, each at peace in the knowledge that her beloved is basking in the presence of God, confident that her husband will live. What an encouragement. What a testimony.

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 15 that all who are in Christ will be made alive. Jesus goes before us. He leads us. And we follow. In his death. And in his resurrection.

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They’re beginning to lay the bricks around the new worship center. Perfect match.

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Cherokee Parks was drafted #12 overall.

Peace,

Allan

Month: February 2008 (Page 1 of 4)

God Bless Texas

Mashed Potatoes

Finish Strong

Building Faith At Home

Not Just New Creatures

He Is Not Here!

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