Month: October 2008 (Page 3 of 4)

The Least Of These

October 13, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

“I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” ~Matthew 25:35-36, 40

The 22nd annual Give Away Day here at Legacy proved to be the biggest and best yet. God brought to us a record 517 families, a record 2,832 individuals. We gave them food and clothes and household appliances and shoes and toys. We prayed with them and studied with them. We held their babies and played with their kids. We hugged them. We laughed with them. And in a few instances, we cried with them.

It’s impossible for me to single out one part of Give Away Day as my favorite. Every minute of the day is a sacred minute, set apart for God’s purposes for God’s people in the name of his crucified and resurrected Son. From the 7:00 am meeting in which we dedicate every part of the day to our Lord to the final clean up and exhausted hugs twelve hours later, Give Away Day is a beautiful living breathing moving portrait of what it means to be the Body of Christ. One body, many parts, young and old, teens and senior citizens, singles and entire families, members working their 22nd Give Away Day and members who haven’t been with us 22 weeks, all coming together, sacrificing, serving, cooperating, exercising gifts of love and mercy and hospitality and teaching and generosity and compassion in a unified effort to join our God as fellow laborers in his Kingdom.

After Give Away Day, there’s not a member of our church family who couldn’t preach the sermon the next day. At the very least we all come together Sunday morning with our own set of sermon illustrations. Our own stories. Our own moving experiences of what it means to serve others in the name of Jesus.

I love taking the families through the building. Rita’s four children were angels. One of them is literally an angel. Or “Ahn-hel” as I was reminded. He’s 2-1/2 years old. And he was a handful for almost two hours. No dad. He’s never met his dad. And somehow we bonded. He kept grabbing my face with both of his little hands and pulling me close. We made noises together. Funny noises with our mouths and our tongues, clicking and spitting and sqeaking with each other to our own great delight. I lost him three times during that two hours, twice in the clothes racks and once after he’d been given a beautiful stick horse and “ridden” it to the top of the stairs in A Pod. We made each other laugh. I kept up with his water bottle. We chased each other out in the parking lot. We prayed together after we loaded up their car with everyday items you and I take for granted but for which they were so grateful.

Francine was shopping for her three children, two teenage girls and a three-year-old boy. I kept having to remind her to get things for herself. I kept having to steer her to the ladies sections and telling her to take things she liked. She kept apologizing. “I’m sorry,” she said over and over. “I’m just thinking about getting clothes for my babies.” Francine’s sister was there with us in the parking lot when we prayed. They were both overcome with emotion. And gratitude. They must have said, “Thank you” and “Praise Jesus” a hundred times.

Maria came through with six children. Six kids. Ranging in age from 17 to six-years-old. We loaded up two Home Depot baskets with clothes and shoes and toys. Nine-year-old Rogelio was showing off his brand new football. Rusty had found it for him. He wanted me to throw it with him in the parking lot. He told me this was his first ever football. Manuel had walked us outside to pray and asked Maria what she really needed us to pray for. And this obviously needy, poor, overwhelmed, hungry, poorly-clothed woman said, “Please pray for my husband. He’s not a Christian.” And we did.

And then Phyllis. Phyllis found out in May she has liver cancer. She has no husband. She’s the lone care provider for her severely physically and mentally handicapped 14-year-old son. He’s in a wheelchair. He wears diapers. She feeds him and changes him. She begged me to allow her to go into the Infants Section of our building, even though her son is not a baby. She needs baby wipes. She needs washcloths. She needs ointment and lotion. And Billye and Dianne and Ada loaded her up. And when they brought out a huge stack of blue changing pads, Phyllis lost it. “You have no idea,” she kept saying. “Thank you, thank you, thank you. You have no idea. You have no idea.” And she’s right. I don’t.

I should have had other people preach yesterday. I tried to proclaim our rescue from the life-choking clutches of Satan. I tried to preach about how our Savior has delivered us from all the powerful tools the devil uses to separate us from our God and from each other. And I couldn’t do it justice. I didn’t even get close. If I were wise, I would have asked seven or eight of our members here to jump up and share their Give Away Day stories. That’s the sermon.

Our God is still in the business of redeeming people. He’s still on a mission to rescue people who are stuck behind the bars of sin and sickness. He’s still active in liberating those who are paralyzed by disease and death. Our powerful God is alive. And he’s defeating Satan. And he’s robbing hell.

And we are blessed to join him in that work.

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I take great personal pleasure in the failings of the Dallas Cowboys. In light of the way this team is built and structured and in relation to the gospel the owner lives and preaches, my position is certainly defensible. My great joy in yesterday’s disaster in the desert is tempered a bit by all the bad news coming out today. Romo’s broken pinky finger has him out for four weeks. McBriar’s fractured foot has him gone for at least six weeks. Felix Jones will miss at least two games with a hamstring. More surgery for Sam Hurd.

This team could very easily go straight into the tank, where it seems to be heading anyway. They could lose three of their next four and fall straight out of the picture. But some of the joy will be stolen because they’ll have the built-in excuse of missing these injured players. That takes some of the fun out of it. It lowers expectations. It’s not as dramatic.

It’s so much better when they fall apart at full-strength.

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For the first time since 1984, the Texas Longhorns are the #1 team in the regular season AP poll. They’ve never been ranked #1 in the history of the “KK&C Top 20.” Let’s see if that changes late tonight.

Thanks to Jesse V for the Give Away Day pictures.

Peace,

Allan

Hook 'Em

October 11, 2008 / Allan / 4 Comments

(5) Texas 45(1) Oklahoma 35

All Things Hold Together

October 9, 2008 / Allan / 0 Comments

“By him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” ~Colossians 1:16-17

Paul may be talking about tangible powers on earth or spiritual forces in the heavens. He may be talking about good powers and evil powers. He may be talking about our own human systems of power and authority. The point, though, is that Christ has majesty and power over all of them, whatever shape they take. Just like every single thing under the sun, they were created by him and for him.

Jesus is the spiritual gravity that holds all of creation together.

God didn’t create the world and then pull back. He didn’t just hit the “start” button and now he just watches everything from a distance and only intervenes when he feels like he has to. God through Christ sustains the whole universe. He keeps the cosmos from becoming a chaos.

But that “hold together” in verse 17, I think, means even more. Christ is more than just the force that keeps everything spinning and you and me upright. Christ is the meaning of creation. He’s the rationale of creation. He is the rhyme and reason of creation. Creation exists in him. The universe is not self-sufficient. Neither are we. No matter how much we deceive ourselves into thinking we are. We and all of creation are entirely dependent on Christ.

The difficult part is knowing that God’s creation is—and has been for a while—out of harmony. It’s messed up. It’s fallen. Broken. The world is corrupted, distorted. It’s ravaged by sin.

And we worry about the whole thing being blown to bits. We worry more and more about an asteroid smashing through our atmsosphere or a world-wide nuclear war or global warming disentegrating all of it. The way technology is now, we get news instantaneously from around the corner and around the world. Everytime we turn on the TV, everytime we turn on the computer, we see more bombings, more killings, shootings, arson, gangs, violence, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, drought. This news reinforces our notions that the world is dark and dangerous. All the violence around us reinforces our beliefs that everything in the world is aimless. It becomes harder and harder to believe that God’s creation can somehow be good. That it can ever be saved or redeemed. It’s very easy to give up hope in this world. It looks like evil rules. Not Christ.

And in the middle of all that, Paul gives us this beautiful and powerful poetry in Colossians 1:15-20. It inspires us. It nourishes us. It reminds us that God’s gracious purposes for this planet are being worked out and will be realized in Christ. Our destiny is determined by a merciful and loving Father, not by fate or fluke or chance.

If creation is created by Christ and exists for Christ, then it’s never meaningless or without direction. And if we belong to Christ, we also have a place in the story. And a divine purpose.

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Three observations about this latest incident with Cowboys cornerback PacMan Jones:

1) What’s the point of having a bodyguard you think you can whip? Does it make any sense to employ a bodyguard who’s not even as tough as you are? If you’re being threatened or attacked, why is the one charged with protecting you the guy you just licked?

2) There were no arrests made and no charges filed. It looks like Jones’ bodyguard is the only one who got hurt. But it was nearly 2:00 am. They were all, including Jones, quite drunk. And it was very public. And it was bad enough that hotel officials called 9-1-1. This is the 13th time in a little less than three years that police have been called to respond to a situation involving Jones. Thirteen times in three years! If we’re looking for a pattern…..

3) I’m hearing a few Cowboys fans today say they should cut Jones from the team. They say this is too much. He’s a bad egg. I’m certain these are the same fans who, in the wake of Michael Irvin’s very public troubles with prostitutes and cocaine and aggravated assault (attempted murder?), were calling for mercy and grace. See, I think if PacMan had five interceptions and had returned two punts for TDs already this season, Cowboys fans would be unanimously calling for Jerry Wayne and the NFL to show great leniency. “No arrests were made. No charges were filed. This is all being blown out of proportion.” It’s all about performance on the field. It has very little, if anything, to do with integrity or character. And that’s a shame on many fronts.

Peace,

Allan

Living To Intercede

October 8, 2008 / Allan / 5 Comments

“He is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.” ~Hebrews 7:21

Nearly 90 men of the Legacy Church of Christ met in our worship center this past weekend to pray over 1,500+ requests from our church family and the North Richland Hills community. Groups ranged in size from two or three to seven or eight. Continuously for 24 straight hours. Lots of overlap as most of the groups needed much longer than an hour to pray for the 50-60 requests they were assigned and for each other.

We opened up the floor during our prayer breakfast Saturday morning to process the previous 24 Hours of Prayer. And the discussion was inspiring.

Everyone expressed a genuine sense of humility and awe as they sat down in the presence of God with that many requests from our brothers and sisters. What a responsibility. Some felt a great sense of unworthiness. What great faith our church family has in prayer and in our God to take the time to write down their pleas. What great trust they have in us to take those requests to the Father. It was said many times that they learned more about their own brothers with whom they prayed for one hour than if they’d spent all weekend with them doing something else. There’s something about listening and participating as someone pours out their heart to God. There’s a true bonding that takes place that can’t really be described, it can only be experienced. I know my life will never be the same after having spent 90-minutes praying with Quincy and Manuel Friday afternoon. And neither will our friendships. I see them differently now. I know them differently. Lord, bless Quincy. Your Word dwells in him. He is really living in you. Please bless him. We were all amazed to realize that people we run into in the halls of our church building two or three times a week, for years, are dealing with some of the things they’re dealing with. Who knew? It never would have occured to me. I see them differently now. I treat them differently now. What great ministry opportunities something like this creates. God, please give me the sensitivity to recognize those people who are all around me and the power to jump in and hug them and love them and minister to them. It’s amazing to read the requests of the strongest and most faithful people I know. They’re asking for forgiveness. They’re asking for strength. They’re asking for answers. They’re asking for the power to be better. And I can’t imagine them being any better. God, I’ve got such a long, long way to go. Please help me be more like your Son. More like them. Al Grant prayed with four different groups from 1:00 am to 5:00 am Saturday. And he began each of those hours by confessing his own sins to our Lord. He ended each of those hours by making all the men hold hands in a circle, encouraging them to feel the same love he was feeling. Father, please help me be more like Al.

The prayers were raw. And they were all for other people.

We are Christ-like when we pray for other people. When we bear one another’s burdens to God’s throne, we are being like Jesus. When we lift up our brothers and sisters, when we carry their concerns, when we take their problems to God, we’re imitating Christ.

When I mentioned at the close of our breakfast that the next 24 Hours of Prayer was already set for September 18-19 next year, we nearly had a revolt on our hands. We can’t wait that long. We need to do this at least twice a year. At least. They’re right.

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October 8, 2008

This week’s poll has the same ten teams at the top, just in a little different order. OU & Mizzou remain #1 & #2. LSU drops from #3 to #5. So Alabama, Texas, and Texas Tech all move up a slot. South Florida drops from #12 to #19. Auburn falls seven spaces to #20. And the undefeated Commodores bolt from #19 all the way up to #13. Wisconsin is out. Virginia Tech is in. Charlie gives us another Mangino crack. Steve has this week’s only prediction on the outcome of this week’s Shootout at the Cotton Bowl. I’ll throw mine in right now: Texas 52, OU 10.

1. Oklahoma (10 1^st place votes, 294 total votes) – “Last week for OU to be number one this year: Texas 29, OU 27.” SF; “Baylor will have to leave the Big 12 ‘Sooner’ or later.” JR; “Would love to see Texas whoop up on some Boomer Sooner.” JennG; “Winners of the Big 12.” JS; “Their defense will help them prevail in the Red River Shootout.” JimG; “Can they play defense against a real team?” PD; “Gotta vote ‘em high while I can.” RA; “Next poll, #12.” MH;

2. Missouri (1, 293) – “Oh, my word, they are good.” JennG; “Chase Daniel is starting to make me sick.” JR; “Potent.” JimG; “I really think they can outscore anybody.” PD; “Still impressive, biggest test in Austin in two weeks.” SF; “Still in the ‘chase’ for #1.” CJ; “That mean boy from Nebraska spit on me.” RA; “Looked unstoppable against the Huskers.” DM; “Great win in Lincoln.” BW; “Could beat ANY SEC team.” MH;
3. Alabama (276) – “Continues to ‘roll.’” JR; “Should not have been so close.” BW; “After last week, a let down was inevitable; a W is a W.” CJ; “The luster is gone.” PD; “Winners of the SEC.” JS;

4. Texas (2, 271) – “Will be my #1 after this week.” SF; “Will need big defensive effort to win Saturday.” JimG; “Colt is looking like a Heisman Trophy winner.” CJ; “Look out, OU.” DM; “Go Horns!” MH; “I hate to say it, but they are ready for the Sooners.” PD. 5. LSU (2, 262) – “Still under the radar?” CJ; “Can’t drop them yet.” PD; “Tigers deserve the top spot until someone beats them.” JimG; “Still undefeated defending champion.” BW;

6. Penn St. (240) – “Playing well in a weak Big 10.” BW; “Joe Pa onside kick demonstration scheduled for Thursday.” JimG; “Not the best in the Big 10. Bet the farm they lose to OSU.” CJ; “Love the vanilla unis.” MH; “Joe Pa demonstrating extreme domination all the while having nothing to do with the game plan.” DM;

7. Texas Tech (222) – “Impressive win Saturday.” CJ; “When you’re hot, you’re hot.” PD; “4^th & 9 from their 10-yard line, Leach will go for it. Do they have a punter on scholarship?” SF; “Mike Leach is the strangest coach ever.” JimG; “Still surviving without a D.” MH.
8. USC (200) – “Have they righted the ship?” BW; “Highest ranked one-loss team. Trojans hoping everybody else falls.” MH; “If Sanchez is OK, USC is OK.” PD.

9. BYU (197) – “As a diehard Euless Trinity supporter, I’m obligated to vote for a team with players named Vakapuna, Latu, and Mahuika.” JR; “BCS-crashing party starts in SaltLake.” CJ; “Could BYU be QBU again?” MH; “They will enjoy conference play.” BW.

10. Georgia (166) – “Black, white, red, pink; whatever jerseys Georgia wears, the Vols are in trouble.” SF; “Still walking around with their tails between their legs.” CJ; “Have I said the SEC is overrated?” MH;

11. Florida (146) – “It was just Arkansas.” BW; “Don’t have quite the teeth they had three weeks ago.” CJ;

12. Utah (130) – “Still beating everyone they play.” BW.
13. Vanderbilt (127) – “Still best team in Tennessee.” SF; “Daydream becoming reality.” CJ; “Proof you can win with smart guys.” DM; “The nerds are here.” PD; “Can’t believe they are here.” BW; “Too high.” JS;

14. Ohio St. (113) – “Wisconsin missed its band.” SF; “Would not want to play them in a bowl as young one gains experience at QB.” CJ; “Still vastly overrated.” RA; “Also ran.” PD; “Will continue to win ugly.” BW; “May still win the Big 10 and lose again to USC.” DM.

15. Kansas (89) – “Beat Iowa State by a basket at the buzzer. Not bad for a hardwood school on grass.” MH; “Big comeback against who?” BW; “Leaky defense.” PD; “I’m taking a sabbatical on Mark Mangino waistline cracks.” JimG; “Mangino takes a bite out of Cyclones’ chances for an upset.” CJ (Charlie’s riding last week’s momentum, he can’t let it go. Thank you, Charlie.);

16. Oklahoma St. (86) – “Their defense scored more points than their offense.” JennG; “Aggies exposed weaknesses in their D. Missouri will capitalize this weekend.” CJ; “Scary running the ball.” JS;

17. Boise St. (82) – “Will they face a challenge?” BW; “I would rather eat my shoe than watch one of their games.” CJ;

18. Virginia Tech (38) – “Starting to get going.” BW; “Bouncing back nicely as they always do.” CJ; 19. South Florida (35) – “On my list because of a complete lack of choices.” CJ;

20. Auburn (21) – Also receiving votes:

Michigan St. (17); Wake Forest (14); TCU (13); North Carolina (7) “Butch Davis should be in Fayetteville, not Chapel Hill.” JimG; Illinois (4); Kentucky (3); Clemson (2); Northwestern (2); Pittsburgh (2); Wisconsin (2); Ball St. (1); Florida St. (1) “Bobby B has ‘em on the mend.” MH; Fresno St.(1); Nebraska (1) “only losses are to Top 20 teams.” DM; Notre Dame (1); Texas A&M (1) “A model of consistency.” CJ;

Delay Of Game

October 7, 2008 / Allan / 0 Comments

Due to family commitments that were all met yesterday at Putt Putt Golf & Games, Carrie-Anne’s midterm exam and the celebratory dinner afterwards, and today’s trip south to the Waco Alliance, this week’s “KK&C Top 20” will be posted later this evening.

I know you understand.

Check out one of the blogs I have listed here on the right side of this page. You can’t go wrong. Have a great day.

Peace,

Allan

Off The Chart!

October 6, 2008 / Allan / 5 Comments

If I were the owner of the Cincinnati Bengals, Marvin Lewis would have had to catch his own flight home after yesterday’s game at Texas Stadium. I would have fired him at the 7:39 mark of the fourth quarter.

After fighting back from 17 points down, on the road, Lewis had his 0-4 football team poised to pull off the upset of the Cowboys. They had all the momentum. They had all the confidence. Things were bouncing their way. Palmer was torching the Dallas DBs. Romo was out of sync. The crowd was out. This was all heading the Bengals’ way. The Cincinnati TD with 7:39 to play brought Lewis’ team to within two points. And, again, they had all the momentum.

Until Lewis called for a two-point try.

I’ll never understand this.

Never mind that the play itself was a lame fade route to a tight end. Forget that. The fire-able offense here is in attempting the two-point conversion in the first place.

In the NFL, the one-point kick has a success rate of 99%. The PAT is automatic. The two-point try is successful 52% of the time. Pretty much a 50-50 proposition. It’s a roll of the dice. Why these coaches choose to do it with so much on the line makes no sense.

Now the Bengals are down two points instead of one. Now the Bengals, after enjoying so much success, have experienced a failure. They missed the conversion. Now the Cowboys, after suffering nothing but failure since the end of the first quarter, have experienced a success. They stopped the two-point play. The home crowd, dejected by Cincy’s effortless drive down the field for the score, now has something to celebrate. They’re back in. Momentum, which had belonged solely to the Bengals for almost three full quarters, was now gone.

Why?

On the ensuing drive, the Cowboys score the TD through Austin to Crayton. And now, instead of only being down eight points, the Bengals trail by nine with two-minutes to play. Instead of needing to score a touchdown and a two-point try to tie the game and send it into OT, Cincinnati has to score twice. How huge is that? There’s a HUGE difference between needing one score in the last two minutes and needing two scores! Huge! The game’s over. It’s done. It’s not going to happen. And all 53 of the Bengals’ players and all 20 of their coaches knew it. Marvin Lewis killed his team’s chances by going for the two-point try too early.

I’m sure he blamed it on “the chart.” They always do.

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Terrell Owens is pouting on the Cowboys sideline during the third quarter. He’d only caught two balls up to that point. Dallas is winning. But T.O. is upset. He’s wearing the towel over his head and face. He’s slumped down on the Cowboys bench. I’m not sure if he’s crying or not. Hard to tell. And Jerry Wayne comes down from his box to encourage his ten million dollar superstar. Jerry consoles Owens.

“I was just reminding him how important a player and an important part he is to this team winning.”

After the game, T.O. won’t answer any questions from the press. He makes a statement about how difficult it was out there and how he kept fighting and kept trying. He thanked God for his abilities. He declared that he only does things for God anyway.

Tick, tick, tick, tick…………

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I’m hanging out with the girls today. Everybody’s out of school. Except C-A. Not sure what we’re going to do. But it’s daddy-daughters day today.

Tomorrow’s my monthly trip down to the Waco Alliance. Before I leave, though, I’ll make sure the “KK&C Top 20” is posted, along with some thoughts about the 24 Hours of Prayer.

Peace,

Allan

Month: October 2008 (Page 3 of 4)

The Least Of These

Hook 'Em

All Things Hold Together

Living To Intercede

Delay Of Game

Off The Chart!

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