Month: December 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

A Holy People

December 30, 2009 / Allan / 6 Comments

I’ve heard people talk about church like they talk about the gym. They think about going to church like they think about going to the gym. You know, a person who regularly goes to a gym is more likely to stay in shape than a person who doesn’t. At the same time, though, you don’t absolutely have to go to the gym to stay in shape. There are other ways. So, the logic goes, you don’t have to go to church to be spiritual. You don’t have to be an active member of a church in order to have a right relationship with God. A lot of people think — some people even say out loud — that church is a nice addition to personal salvation, but certainly it’s not essential to that salvation.

Wrong answer.

As we say goodbye to 2009 and anticipate God’s gifts for us in 2010, we need to understand that his church is far too important to his purposes and his plan for the world he created to be thought of as some kind of optional, personal, spiritual gym. The Gospel has never, ever been just about saving individuals. The Gospel has always been about creating a community where walls are broken down and human beings are reconciled not only to God, but also to one another.

We are a people. A holy people. A saved people. A people brought together by God to serve his purposes and fulfill his mission in the world. The church as a people, as a community of faith, as a family of God, a family of brothers and sisters connected to one another by the blood of Christ, and actively engaging the world is critical to God’s eternal plans.

The New Testament Scriptures do not recognize a disciple of Christ who is not an active, involved, all-in member of a community of faith. One of the many facets of baptism is initiation into that Body of Christ, his Kingdom, made up of saved and sanctified people. There are no such things as pew-sitters or occasional attendees in the Bible. We are all holy brothers and sisters, made holy by the poured out blood of Jesus, called to live together before the world as an alternative community.

I know you’re going to lose weight in 2010. I know you’re going to give more and spend more quality time with your family in the New Year. I know. Why don’t you also commit to getting more plugged in to what God is doing with his Church? Why don’t you jump in with everything you have to realize all of what God has in store for you? Live up to your God-created and God-ordained potential. Live into everything God intends when he creates in you that brand new person, full of his Holy Spirit, made to experience everything in a brand new way! Show up everytime the doors are open. Give more of your money than you’ve ever given before. Get connected in a Small Group. Study and pray with your brothers and sisters. Join a ministry. Create a new ministry.

God’s Church is not anybody’s personal spiritual gym. You don’t just show up when you need a boost and plug in your ear buds and work out on your own. It’s the community — the family — in which God placed you when he saved you. It’s where he intends for you to live.

Peace,

Allan

Catching Up

December 29, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Spike Dykes…

Since the last post (Good gravy! Was it really two weeks ago? Sorry.) we’ve been up to Searcy for Harding’s winter graduation. My brother, Keith, led the invocation; his wife, Amanda, walked the stage to get her diploma; and we all hung together there for a couple of days and knocked out Christmas. I picked up great pastoral points for being up there for two of our Legacy kids: Jordan Bailey with a perfect 4.0 on the President’s List and Jonathan Stein with a 3.95. All the really smart kids go to Legacy. The highlight of the trip came during lunch at a Searcy restaurant Sunday afternoon when a lady from Paris, Texas recognized my dad from the 1.5 seconds they show his picture on the Tyler TV station as a weather watcher. We think he’s being stalked.

~~~~~~~~~~

We were extra blessed to be able to spend the night on the way to Searcy and again on the way home in Benton, Arkansas with our great friends, Jimmy & Elizabeth Mitchell. Jim & Mandy Gardner have moved back to Benton after three years or so at the Woodward Park Church of Christ in Fresno, California to preach at his hometown congregation where Jimmy is the youth minister. So it was a great reunion with the Mitchells and Gardners. Our three families grew really close during our nearly two years together in Marble Falls. And we did all of our catching up at Larry’s. Where else?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Here at home it snowed like crazy all day and most of the night on Christmas Eve. So much so that we were forced to cancel our Christmas Eve Service. It was the first white Christmas in DFW in 80 years. The kids and I drove out here to the church building to change the sign and send out a mass email regarding the evening service. And then we did donuts in the parking lot and threw snowballs at each other until we couldn’t feel our fingers or toes. We spent the later part of the night curled up with big bowls of popcorn and glasses of egg nog and Carrie-Anne’s favorite Christmas movie, Albert Finney’s “Scrooge.” Christmas morning, Santa brought Whitney a cell phone, although she seemed just as excited about her Colt McCoy jersey. Valerie got all kinds of clothes and accessories, many with a zebra-print theme. And Carley got a stereo and a watch. None of our girls are little anymore.

~~~~~~~~~

The Pope and I are finally in agreement on a very sticky theological issue. The head of the Catholic Church came out last week and praised “The Simpsons” on the show’s 20th anniversary. He cited the show’s clever writing and acknowledged the show’s important social criticism of religion. You can read about it here. I’ve long said “The Simpsons” is the only prime time television show on a major network in which all the characters regularly go to church, good is rewarded and evil is punished, sex outside marriage is portrayed as wrong, and people who drink and smoke are viewed as disgusting. You can’t find those kinds of Christian values on any other TV show. I join the Pope in congratulating “The Simpsons.”

~~~~~~~~

And the Cowboys have clinched a playoff berth. Jerry Wayne’s team is the only team in the NFL that hasn’t won a playoff game in the past twelve years. (The Texans don’t count; they haven’t been around twelve years.) In fact, there are only three teams in the NFC that haven’t played in the conference championship game in the past twelve years: Detroit, the Redskins, and Dallas. Why would anybody think this version of Jerry’s kids will break the string? Wade Phillips has never won a playoff game in his head coaching career. The Cowboys are 3-5 against teams with winning records this season. And they are zero for their last 19 in a row on 3rd-and-1 and 4th-and-1 dives by Marion Barber. Plus, has anyone else noticed that they’ve got Mark Cuban playing linebacker?

~~~~~~~~

Lastly, Jim McDoniel and Jennifer Gambill are dominating our Legacy office college football bowl challenge. They are. But there are still 23 games remaining. It’s a long way from over.

Go Bruins and Canes,

Allan

Common to Man

December 15, 2009 / Allan / 2 Comments

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13

We live in an age of unparalleled developments in technology. We are subject now to an unprecedented and seemingly endless stream of information. We face new physical and emotional and mental diseases that were unheard of a century ago. Natural disasters and human warfare are on the rise, not the decline. And all of these things are adding to the amount of suffering in this world. It might be that human suffering is, today, occurring on a scale unmatched in the history of mankind.

Isn’t it reassuring to know that the temptations we face are nothing new?

External circumstances are different. Very different. But the spiritual dynamics of what we face as God’s children living in these circumstances remain unchanged. The natural inclination to say “my problems” or “our issues” or “this country” is/are different or worse than what anyone else has ever experienced is simply not accurate. The contemporary practice of blaming the way I am on God or my parents or our society or the devil is just not right, unless it also includes an honest acknowledgement of my own sinful nature.

Nothing has changed. Everything’s the same. We have always been tempted to depend on ourselves instead of God. We’ve always been tempted to trust ourselves and our own strength while putting our God and Savior on the backburner. Yes, we need our Father in heaven. But we don’t need him for everything. Yes, our God is important. But he’s not that important.

“God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.” ~1 Corinthians 10:13

I think sometimes we want to re-write the above verse to read, “…so that you don’t have to stand up under it any longer.” We’ll complain sometimes that God didn’t provide the “way out” because he didn’t deliver me from the troubling situation. That, of course, is just the opposite of what Paul wrote. It’s the opposite of what he intends. It’s the opposite of what God inspired. The “way out” isn’t the removal of the temptation. It’s not the removal of the situation or the circumstance in which you find yourself being tempted. The “way out” is the strength provided by the Spirit of God, the endurance and perseverence provided to stand strong and faithful under the pressure.

Look back at the times you’ve yielded to temptation. Last year. In the last hour. Who knows what would have happened if you had just hung on for 30-more seconds. If you had just stood strong and said ‘no’ to the temptation for just half-a-minute more, who knows if the temptation itself wouldn’t have just vanished. You don’t know how close you really were to that victory over Satan, to that tremendous boost of confidence that comes with defeating the devil and his schemes.

Be strong. Walk with your God always, faithful to the end. You’re not going through anything right now that’s not common to man. He knows. He endured the same things. And he will give you the power you need to stand up under it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Allright, I need your help. I’ve asked once, with no reply. I’ll try one more time:

Can anybody find an explanation or a reason the Dallas Cowboys are not sporting a 50th season patch on their uniforms this year? Have you read anything or heard anything about it? The team wore “Silver Season” patches in 1984 to celebrate their 25th year. In 1999 they donned 40th season emblems. They’ve honored Tom Landry with a fedora patch. They broke out a one-time stadium patch to inaugurate Jerry Wayne’s new monster in Arlington for that initial home game this year. They wear sponsor patches on their practice jerseys like some kind of little league rec team. Where’s the 50th season patch?

Eight other NFL franchises are recognizing their 50th seasons this year with a commemorative patch on their game uniforms: Bills, Broncos, Chiefs, Jets, Raiders, Chargers, and Oilers/Titans. I understand those are all old original AFL teams. And their patches all feature the old AFL logo. I just don’t understand a guy like Jerry Wayne who will do anything and everything to market his brand (see 3D disaster last Sunday) not designing a patch for the 50th.

Unless it has something to do with Cowboys history. Pre-Jerry Wayne history. And his reluctance to honor it. Or his desire to break from it. See, that can’t be right, either. I know it can’t. Surely the owner/GM understands it’s that very history of Murchison, Schramm, and Landry that makes his franchise as valuable as it is. Without Lilly and Meredith and Staubach and Dorsett, Jerry doesn’t even bother buying the Cowboys. He’s acknowledged that before.

But he builds this new stadium and he puts the 14 Ring of Honor names from the Schramm/Landry years on one side of the stadium and the three names from the current Jerry Wayne era on the other. Separate and apart. No Super Bowl banners have been hung in that new place yet. Where’s Emmitt’s all-time rushing champion banner?

Whoa. Sorry. I’m sidetracking, big time. I need to stop or I’ll be writing all day about the video board, the play clocks, the score board, the 3D, the roof, the kicker, the GM, and everything else that’s wrong. Back to the original question. Please, somebody help me out on this. What do we know about the 50th season patch?

Peace,

Allan

Several Bells

December 14, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Still basking in the glow of what was a fantastic day yesterday here at Legacy. Our God blessed us with a beautiful day of worship and fellowship and thanksgiving and praise.

During our worship assembly we were able to hook up with two of our young missionary couples via the miracle of the internet skype. David and Olivia Nelson joined us from their living room in Kharkov, Ukraine where they were just beginning their Sunday evening Russian worship service at the same time we were beginning our Sunday morning assembly. The greatest part of that five minutes was being able to meet Andrei, a brand new brother in Christ who was just baptized last Sunday. Our people at Legacy broke out into joyful clapping when they saw Andrei and heard David tell his story. What a blessing! Andrei was able to physically see and hear and participate in a part of this larger, world-wide, international, eternal Kingdom of which he’s now a member. How great for Andrei to feel some kind of connection, even if for just a moment through an internet camera to a group thousands of miles away, to God’s Church which is assembling all over the world to celebrate our common salvation in Christ. How cool!

Later in our service we got Corey and Emily Mullins to join us from Australia. And what a blessing to see Emily’s pregnant belly from the other side of the world! I just asked her to stand up in front of their camera so we could all see the evidence of their little boy who’s going to be born at the end of March. And, somewhat surprisingly, she did! So there’s Emily’s belly at 3:00 AM Monday morning in Wollongong on the big screens at Legacy. And again, the laughter and clapping and great joy that broke out in our worship center. It was so wonderful.

Christmas time is great. It reminds us of friends and family we don’t get to see as often as we’d like, like the Nelsons and Mullins. And it reminds us that this Gospel story we own and live is for everybody. It is intended to be told to and shared with the whole world. It really is good news of great joy for all people. I also think just reflecting on the nativity story does us a lot of good. We recall that God loves us so much he came down to this earth in the form of a helpless baby. To relate to us. To totally identify with us. He lived with us, walked with us, became one of us. He died for us and was raised for us in order to save us. That is Jesus. That is the Gospel. And that’s a story worth telling. It’s worth repeating. And it’s worth celebrating.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last night we all participated in our annual Legacy Family Christmas. All of our children’s classes sang Christmas songs. And we smiled and laughed and took pictures and shot video. We all sang “like Columbus!” after “you’ll go down in hist-or-y!” And a lot of us remembered when our own children were that young and cute.

A few adults also climbed up on the stage and sang Christmas songs for us. We admired their courage. And their harmony. And Gary Giles’ music stand.

And then the Legacy ministers and staff performed what’s become our traditional rendition of a Christmas classic. I’m not sure anything will ever top last year’s “Working for the Church at Legacy” to the tune of “Winter Wonderland.” But it was still pretty good. Starting our number with the Bible class bells that are hooked into our building’s fire warning system is always good for a cheap laugh. Many people clapped their hands and whooped with the mention in our song of our new children’s minister, Jennifer Gambill. And our playful jabs at Jim’s new area of ministry, the crowded church hallways, and our new pictorial directories also seemed to be appreciated.

Two of you have asked me to put the words to our song on the blog like I did last year. And, to echo the words from the last lines of last year’s number, hope I’m still employed at Legacy!

“Several Bells”

Several bells, several bells;
That noise is not very pretty.
Hear them ring, endlessly;
Don’t we all love Legacy?

Crowded concourse, busy concourse,
lots of signs and displays;
in the hall there’s a feeling of chaos.
Turkey boxes, baby baskets,
fifty-two sign-up sheets;
And behind every table, you’ll hear:

Candle sales, cookbook sales,
it’s hard to walk through the concourse.
It’s the hall; not the mall!
But we still love Legacy.

Staffing classrooms, work the nursery,
who is teaching fifth grade?
All the work will be done now by Jennifer.
Trips to Branson, games and movies,
this is Jim’s ministry.
And at evening assemblies you’ll see:

Silver hairs, silver hairs,
potlucks and quilting and Jack’s class!
Hobo stew, it’s what they do.
Soon it will be Jackie Crain!

Fill your card out, use your own pen,
you won’t find one in here.
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha – ha, ha, ha.
New directory, take your picture,
awkward smile after smile.
Just who are all these people in here?

Ministers and the staff
wish you a very merry Christmas.
Ring-a-ling, hear us sing.
We sang this song without Lance!
Don’t we all love Legacy!
Yes – we – all – love – Leg – a – cy!

Peace,

Allan

God Wins!

December 8, 2009 / Allan / 3 Comments

We just finished up our “Anchors” series this past Sunday morning with the climactic foundational truth that God wins! This is the one that gives us the most assurance in times of trouble. Our confidence in the face of suffering and trials comes in this final anchor. This is the strong characteristic of our God’s eternal nature that we hang on to as we walk through the dark valleys of this life.

We know that God wins.

At the end of the last book of the Bible we’re given a clear picture of the culmination of God’s eternal plans for his people. Revelation 21 tells us of the new heaven and new earth. The sea that separates heaven and earth has disappeared. We behold the “new Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God” to unite with this world and purify it of all its brokenness and imperfection. God and man now dwell with one another forever. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

Someday the whole world will be healed as it is drawn into the fullness of God’s glory. Evil will be destroyed and all the potential of creation will explode in eternal beauty. Heaven and earth become brand new. And one. Again.

And the pains of this life will be wiped away forever. Totally forgotten. “The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.” (Isaiah 65:17)

God created us for eternal life. Eternal communion. Eternal fellowship. Sin and death are alien invaders. Evil and suffering don’t belong. And they will not win.

God wins. God always wins. And it’s always a blow-out. When he brought his people out of Egypt the final score was: God – two million to nothing. God uses a woman with a glass of warm milk and a tent peg to crush the head of Sisera. God uses a scrawny little kid with a lunch basket and a sling shot to crush the head of Goliath. He brings down the walls of the oldest and biggest city in Canaan with a few trumpets. We see it in all the Old Testament stories of salvation and deliverance. We see it in Jesus’ great miracles and in his Resurrection. And we see it in our Lord’s revelation to John. God wins. And — praise God! — by your relationship with him through his Son, so do you!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m a bigger TCU fan right now than I’ve ever been. In the face of this BCS travesty, Gary Patterson is showing tremendous restraint and honor in taking the high road with college football. He’s not saying anything. But what happened to his Horned Frogs Sunday is nothing short of a shame for everybody involved. By pairing up TCU and Boise in a rematch from last year, the big BCS powers have guaranteed that neither school will make any noise during the postseason. Outside Tarrant County and Idaho, who really wants to watch the Frogs and Boise State?

The undeniable truth is that TCU could completely wreck the collusion and totally destroy the backroom BCS buddy-system by losing to Florida or Ohio State by single digits (very likely). Heaven forbid they should actually beat the Gators or Buckeyes (possible). But even if they demolish Boise’s Broncos by 75 (bet on it), it won’t even cause a ripple.

“Who cares? They beat Boise! Big deal!”

The uglier truth is that if Colt McCoy had waited just one more second before launching that ball out of bounds or if that ball off the Longhorns’ kicker had not straightened out and nudged through the left upright, TCU still wouldn’t have been slotted against Alabama in Pasadena. The BCS would have given us a back-to-back Tide vs. Florida rematch first. Without even blinking.

It’s not fair. TCU is as high as they can possibly go in college football under this current system. Duke and Connecticut can win basketball titles. Fresno State and Rice can win baseball championships. Because every other sport at every other level in the history of the world has a real playoff to determine its best team. A good team with a good coach that really comes together to do something good by out-playing and out-coaching the others has a fair postseason shot at everybody else in every other sport. But not college football. It doesn’t matter what TCU does or how badly they beat everybody who will play them, they are as high as they can go. Because they won’t be given the opportunity to beat anybody else.

The entire rest of the world, every football fan and TV executive in the country, would much rather watch TCU and Florida or TCU and Ohio State. Everybody except Urban Meyer and Jim Tressel. And the commissioners of the Big XII, SEC, Pac-10, Big 10, and Big East Conferences.

It’s not right.

Go Frogs.

Allan

Chasing Glory

December 3, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

We look up “glory” in the dictionary of Jesus and here’s the definition:

Glory – obscurity, rejection, sacrifice, service, ridicule, obedience, death.

These are all the things the world ignores. These are things the world runs from and even despises. The world says “glory” is all about fame. Indiana Jones is forever chasing his “fortune and glory.”

In a way, I’m afraid — if we’re honest — we’re all chasing glory.

How do I get on TV? How do I retire at age 50? How do I get the lakehouse and the third car? How do I get the promotion and the big office? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned? How do I get a parade? How do I get my picture in the paper?

See, that’s the world’s definition of glory. And we can get caught up in all that. Whole churches can get caught up in that.

How can we grow to two-thousand members and go to three services? How can we attract wealthier people? How can we appeal to the right demographic? How can we get on TV? How can we get in the paper? How can we get noticed?

Preachers can get caught up in this chase for glory. How can I get invited to speak at ACU? How can I write an important book? How can I “wow” the audience? How do I get noticed? How do I get mentioned?

Glory. How do I get glory?

Jesus says if you want glory, you suffer. If you want life, you die. If you want victory, you surrender.

Jesus says, brother, forget the lakehouse and the new car and give that money to the single mom struggling in that apartment across town. Forget the promotion or the second job and spend your time and energy ministering to the teenager in your neighborhood who doesn’t have a dad. Churches, forget about growing big and concentrate on growing out. Forget about appealing to the right people and get enthusiastic about appealing to people who don’t have anything. Preacher, let go of wanting to “wow” the church and work more on submitting to the church and quietly and faithfully serving its people.

“Now my heart is troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour?” ~John 12:27

Jesus is bothered, he’s distressed, not because he’s questioning his Father’s will or because he doesn’t understand. He’s troubled because he knows how hard it’s going to be. He understands perfectly everything the cross is going to mean. He sees the suffering and the pain and the death and the burial. And he trembles.

And at this moment, Jesus can pray one of two prayers.

“Father, save me from this hour.”

“Father, glorify your name.”

It’s the difference between losing your life and saving it. It’s the difference between rejecting the cross and picking it up, between serving yourself or serving others. It’s the choice between seeking glory the way the world defines glory — the way Indiana Jones sees it — or the way God defines it.

“Father, glorify your name.”

Our God’s great name is glorified every time we, individually and as a church, go against the world’s definition of glory and pursue God’s. Every time we sacrifice. Every time we serve. Every time we consider others better than ourselves. Every time we put somebody else first. Every time we submit to rejection and ridicule, every time we face suffering, every time we die in the manner of Jesus, in the name of Jesus, and for his glorious cause, we bring glory to God.

And that’s our God-created purpose. To participate personally in that eternal glory of God.

Peace,

Allan

Month: December 2009 (Page 1 of 2)

A Holy People

Catching Up

Common to Man

Several Bells

God Wins!

Chasing Glory

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links