The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

“The thread of our speech comes alive through the very joy we take in what we are speaking about.” ~Augustine

Some of my early Sunday morning alone time with God is spent thanking him for his preachers. As I prepare to do again what so many have done before, what so many are doing even as I’m praying, what so many more will do long after I’m gone, I praise our Father for their courage and boldness and commitment to our God and his Kingdom.

I ask our Lord to bless all the preachers I know with wisdom and fire. I ask him to speak through them to his people all over the world. I thank God for the preachers in the past who have taught me and shaped me: Burt, Jim, Willis, Rick, Doug. I thank him for the ones I listen to today who mold my theology and challenge my thinking: Terry, Buddy, Don, Patrick. I thank him for some of my best friends who are preachers: Jason, Jim, Charlie. I thank him for the preachers right here in Tarrant County who share with me their wisdom and friendship and encouragement: Eric, Rick, Jim, Larry, Grady, Robert. I thank him for those who are preaching in other lands, who’ve given up everything to answer our Lord’s call: David, Corey, Salvador.

And today I ask God to bless my great friend Jason as he preaches with our church family at Legacy.  May he deliver to our brothers and sisters at Legacy this morning just half the encouragement and wisdom he regularly delivers to me.

Peace,

Allan

“In a good friendship each member often feels humility towards the rest. He sees that they are splendid and counts himself lucky to be among them.” ~C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

(Regular readers of this blog know about the Four Horsemen. If you’re brand new, if you need a refresher, or if you just want to read something really cool about how God has used and is using four men with one another and for the Kingdom click here.)

My three greatest friends and I go camping together every year on the last weekend in February. It seems to be the one weekend that all four of us can consistently get away. Late February is far enough after the holidays and the start of the year and far enough before the madness of the spring to be just perfect. The odd date is also good for guaranteeing that we’re going to be the only ones at the campgrounds. Some years it’s sunny and in the 60s. Some years we nearly freeze to death. Yesterday Dan sent us all a picture of the National Weather Center’s weekend forecast for East Texas. Looks like it’s going to be perfect!

This weekend we will pray together. And laugh. And argue. And eat. Somebody will almost get hurt really badly. We’ll talk about our families, our churches, our struggles, our triumphs. At some point the raccoons will get brave enough to go for an open bag of chips on the table. We’ll ask for advice and listen patiently to advice that’s unsolicited. Dan will encourage. Kevin will challenge. Jason will connect it all back to our God. And I’ll be thinking to myself the entire time, “Why can’t I be more like these guys?”

Our annual Four Horsemen Advance is regularly one of the best weekends of my life. We are all four so different. And I think we each genuinely appreciate the uniqueness in one another. We see very clearly the goodness in each other. And we recognize easily that it comes from beyond us. I have no doubt that our God brought us together for his divine purposes. And I thank him for that.

Jason and Dan and Kevin are splendid, indeed. And I am lucky to be among them.

Have a great weekend,

Allan

“He took Peter, James, and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” ~Mark 14:33

What happened that night in the olive grove at Gethsemane? What transpired there? Jesus is meeting a tremendous trial, he’s facing a gruesome horror, he’s fighting intense temptation. And he does not do it stoically. He does it biblically. Loudly. With tears and sweat. And honest lament. He lays his body and soul before God in complete honesty and trust and says, “Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.”

Jesus is facing the most severe test of his life. God is handing him the cup and demanding he drink it. Jesus’ physical and spiritual self — his mind and his body, his heart and his soul — none of him wants to do this. He shudders in horror at the mission before him. He dreads all of it. The pain. The torture. The death. Jesus is facing the terrible prospect of crucifixion. His Father is in the process of making him who had no sin to be sin for the world. Jesus is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And he’s in turmoil.

Jesus wants another way. And he asks for it.

This is a horrible scene.

Jesus crying out to his Father — “Deliver Me!!” — and no dove descends, no voice from heaven says this is my Son. God has already spoken. And the Son must obey.

And he does.

“Not my will, but yours be done.”

Perfect honesty. Total truthfulness. Complete trust. And a beautiful, matchless example of devotion and commitment and obedience to God. The perfect example of understanding God’s will, wrestling with the difficulty of carrying it out, demonstrating to us that asking God about it, even asking him to change it, is not inappropriate. It’s honorable. But through it all, we clearly see Jesus’ commitment to obey.

Jesus overcomes the silence. He fights off the temptation to do what he wants. And through open and honest prayer, he obeys the Father. At Gethsemane, we see both Jesus’ agony and his determination to do God’s will, even if it means his horrible death.

Praise God for the Savior’s love. And for his obedience to our Father’s will.

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

Early Saturday evening, while moving a water sprinkler in the back yard, I noticed a huge glob of bees congregated on the northeast corner of our house. The blob of bees was about two feet in length and 18-inches wide, probably 20-thousand bees according to the beekeeper I was forced to call.

He told me he would charge me $200 to remove the bees, $300 if they had actually gotten into the walls of the house, and $400 if I spray them or attempt to remove them myself first.

Needless to say, we had bees on the brains at Stanglin Manor Saturday night. So when a June bug flew into the kitchen and buzzed Valerie’s head toward the end of dinner, the terrified screams, I’m sure, set off car alarms in Haltom City.

The beekeeper showed up at 7:30 yesterday morning. It was cold outside so the bees weren’t moving much. They had actually all clumped on top of each other instead of being all spread out the way they were in the evening. He put on his bee suit and used a tricked-out vacuum cleaner to suck them them all quickly and painlessly into a big white box. 15 minutes. Two-hundred dollars.

He says he does about 400 calls a year.

Valerie did the math. Now she wants to be a beekeeper.

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

What a fantastic morning Saturday at the Eastridge Church in Rockwall. The Four Horsemen met at 7:00 for an hour of prayer in their beautiful worship center (having Mason, Jason’s oldest son, there to pray with us was an unexpected treat!). Seeing Dan on 24 hours of prayer and zero hours of sleep was interesting (actually, it’s not that different from seeing Dan any other time). And, for the first time ever, over-dressing at an event Kevin helped sponsor was a bit unsettling.

Jason and I had the great privilege of sharing breakfast with and then speaking to the men of Eastridge who had just completed a 24-hour period of continuous prayer. What a blessing! I love listening to these men recount the experiences of praying with one another for an hour or more over the needs of the congregation and the community. The unexpected tears. The overwhelming nature of the requests. The burden-bearing. The responsibility. The fellowship. The pouring out of hearts and souls to God. The bonding.

The same thing happened when we did this here at Legacy. And in Marble Falls. And in Mesquite. In fact, the 24 Hours of Prayer was one of the very first things we did as the Four Horsemen following that monumental breakfast at our house in 2001. We pledged to one another that morning to do more for Christ and for his Kingdom. We pledged to do more for the Mesquite congregation and the Mesquite community. We vowed to stop asking the elders for permission, to just start doing the things we knew needed to be done that would shape us all more into the image of Christ. The Second Saturday Servants. Feeding the homeless and hungry in downtown Dallas. The Men’s Advance. We didn’t ask for permission to do any of that. We just organized it and got the whole church to do it.

On Saturday, as we reflected with those men at Eastridge on that life-changing, earth-altering year for us, a year that saw a series of events that facilitated tremendous spiritual growth, Jason pointed out that now he and I both have to ask our elders permission before we do anything.

Funny.

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

Parity has entered the world of NCAA tournament brackets at Stanglin Central. And it’s not pretty. Whitney unseated me as undefeated bracket champion in a tie-breaker following the final game last year. This year, Carrie-Anne has unceremoniously taken the crown even before the on-court title is decided. She finished with 72 points. Valerie was next wtih 71. Carley and I tied with 70. Whitney went from first to worst with 63. None of us has Carolina or Michigan State winning the whole thing. So we’re done. Congratulations, C-A.

There’s always next year.

Speaking of next year………Go Rangers!

Allan

“So he called ten of his servants and gave them ten minas. ‘Put this money to work,’ he said, ‘until I come back.” ~Luke 19:13

So the King gives his servants money and says, “Use these resources until I come back.” Put this money to good use. Make something out of it. The servants were to carry on the King’s business while he was gone. Continue doing what he himself would be doing if he were there. Working on his behalf. Taking initiative. Using the knowledge and experience they had acquired in their years of being associated with him as his servants to promote his interests. Here are the resources. Now take care of my business while I’m gone.

First thing the King does when he comes back is to call his servants in and ask them how it went. The first two had obviously been hard at work. They’d turned a pretty good profit using the King’s gifts. And they were praised and rewarded. (Luke 19:15-19)

The third guy’s brought into accounting and he says, “I didn’t do anything. I sat on it. I was afraid of you. I know you have high standards. I know you hate sloppiness. So I didn’t do anything.”

And then seven verses of harsh judgment from the King. “You wicked servant!”

Jesus’ last parable before he enters Jerusalem to face his death is a sobering one: non-participation is not a casual matter. However timid or meek it is, non-participation is disobedience. It’s sin.

This story is hard. It’s unrelenting. Doing nothing is not an option in the Kingdom of God. In the Kingdom of God there are no non-participants. Jesus spends more words and time and space on the judgment delivered to this play-it-safe, do-nothing, overly-cautious, non-participating, non-servant than he does the other nine. Even the ones who signed the petition and sent the delegation saying they didn’t want this King, they only get one verse.

Here’s the deal. And it’s clear: a timid refusal to obey makes us liable to the same judgment as defiant and rebellious disobedience. It’s the same thing.

The story is a call to faithfulness to the King and his business. We’re all accountable to Jesus. Those who claim to follow him are responsible for a ministry of sacrifice and service in seeking and saving the lost. Those who reject him are responsible for not recognizing who he is and not accepting his invitation. This 3rd servant represents the dangers we face as members of the Lord’s Church. He’s associated with the King. He’s a member of the community. He lives with the King, he wears the King’s name, he eats at the King’s table, but he doesn’t trust the King. He’s never walked through that door of faith that responds to grace. So he winds up on the outside with nothing.

Obediently following Jesus, being proactive and taking risks and spending ourselves and our God-given resources in this already-inaugurated Kingdom of God is serious business. The gifts we have from God are not to be guarded or protected or kept safe. They are to be used extravagantly for the King’s business until he comes back.

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

In the first year of Legacy Small Groups Church we’ve experienced our mighty God at work building faith, encouraging Christian ministry and service, and fostering deeper friendships and relationships in our church family. And I believe our Father wants us to do even more. I believe he’s using Small Groups to transform our entire church family into the image of Christ Jesus.

The Apostle Paul exhorted the Christians in Philippi to practice the same attitude “as that of Christ Jesus” by looking not only to our own interests, “but also to the interests of others.” A union with Christ and fellowship with his Holy Spirit is proved when disciples “consider others better than yourselves.”

I’m convinced that the next big steps in our spiritual growth at the Family of God at Legacy will best be taken by everyone of us — young and old, singles and families, new members and long-time members — meeting weekly in our Small Groups to apply the Word, connect as a family, and evangelize our community.

Our groups start meeting again this Sunday night. For twelve months we’ll be opening up our homes and our lives to each other in the name of our King. Over 750 of us sharing meals and prayers and Christian love and service in 40 homes all over Northeast Tarrant County. Being church, not doing church. Increased unity and and ministry and worship and healing and fellowship and forgiveness. It’s going to that next level as a member of the Kingdom. And taking others with you.

This Sunday night. Jump in.

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

At 7:00 tomorrow morning, the Four Horsemen will be holed up together in some little sideroom at the EastRidge Church of Christ in Rockwall to pray for an hour. My great friends, Dan Miller and Kevin Henrichson, half of the Horsemen, have organized a 24 Hours of Prayer that started at 8:00 this morning. Men at EastRidge are right now in fervent prayer, lifting up nearly a thousand different thanksgivings and requests that have been submitted by that church family.

Jason Reeves and I, the other half, will be the tag-team speakers at the prayer breakfast that wraps up the event tomorrow morning. I’m honored to be a part of it. Our mighty God is at work anytime men are gathered to pray for extended periods of time. And I love being right in the big middle of it. You pray with a group of three or four men for an hour and it’s like you’ve been in a fox hole with them. You’re bonded to them for eternity. You see their hearts and their spirits as they open up to their Lord. You feel their joys and their pains as they lay bare their souls before God. You learn more about a brother by praying with him than you could ever learn at a two-hour lunch or even a fishing or hunting weekend.

Praying together is huge. Jason and Dan and Kevin and I figured that out a long time ago. The men at EastRidge are learning it right now. And I’m really looking forward to sharing some of that time with them tomorrow morning.

Peace,

Allan

The lawyer in Luke 10 wants to justify himself. His question, “Who is my neighbor?” seeks to create a distinction. He’s suggesting that some people are neighbors and some are not. He implies that God’s people are only called to love God’s people. And we get to decide who those people are! This expert in the Scriptures is saying that, whether due to geography, heritage, ancestry, skin-color, or socio-economic factors, some people are non-neighbors.

That’s what Jesus is reacting to when he tells his story.

A priest walks by and sees the victim by the side of the road and does nothing. A Levite sees this half-dead man and does nothing. Two religious leaders who’ve known and taught the Great Command — Love God and Love Neighbor — for as long as they can remember. They saw and they passed by on the other side.

And then Jesus gives us the emotional twist that both astonishes and convicts.

A Samaritan walks by and sees. Then he went to him. The two verbs here are so important. He saw and he went. And then he verbed this man completely back to health. He gave this victim, this helpless soul, this desperate and dying man created in the magnificent image of God, everything he needed. Look at all the verbs.

He went to him. He bandaged him. He poured on oil and wine. He put the man on his own donkey. He took him to an inn. He took care of him. He took out his money. He gave his money to the innkeeper. He promised to return and reimburse.

And Jesus says, “Now, define ‘neighbor’ for me. Who’s the ‘neighbor’?”

Then our Savior looks this expert right in the eyes and gives him two verbs: Go and Do.

Jesus’ words, Go and Do, totally end the conversation. No more questions. No more answers. No more religious loopholes and religious line-drawing and religious double-talk. No more interpretations of Scripture. No more using God or the Word of God as a way to avoid or dismiss the real hurting men and women we see in our lives.

When we understand the story, we understand that something big is going on and I’m told I can get in on it. Actually I’m told, “Go! Get in on it!”

It’s not “Who is my neighbor” as if some people are and some people aren’t. That’s the wrong question. The question is, “Will I be a neighbor?” Everybody sees all the pain around us. Everybody sees all the hurting people. Everybody sees all the lost. God’s people, though, see and do. We see and render aid. We see and provide help. We see and then we sacrifice and serve in joining our God to make things right.

Go and Do. In Northeast Tarrant County and Nairobi. In our subdivisions and in downtown Fort Worth.

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

Another Four Horsemen Campout/Advance in the books. Twenty-four hours at Tyler State Park. 55-degrees warmer than last year. Four hours of sleep. Seven bags of chips. No major injuries. This one, though, to be forever remembered for three things.

1) The Food. All of it provided and cooked by Kevin. Four-inch-thick ribeyes and football-sized baked potatoes. And salad! Salad? Yeah, I know. Followed up by perfectly-prepared eggs, toast, sausage, and bacon Saturday morning and ham and turkey sandwiches Saturday afternoon. No offense to Jason and his water-in-a-jug pancakes from years past. But the food this year was, by far, the best ever.

2) The Raccoon. He stole Kevin’s bag of marshmellows from right underneath his chair while we were all sitting by the fire. He came within a couple of feet, twice, of nabbing my bag of jalapeno potato chips right next to my chair. While we were all sitting there. Jason had a clean shot at him with a football from about four feet, but short-hopped it bad. Choked under pressure. Somewhere, in the deep recesses of Tyler State Park, a raccoon is throwing up 48-jumbo marshmellows. I hope.

3) The Near-Death Experiences. Falling trees. Flying ax handles. Slides down dangerous cliffs (OK, just the hill from the parking lot to the lake). Jumping rocks. It was an adventure.

The best part, though, is always the mutual encouragement, the prayers, the study, and the counsel that’s shared. Every year. We know each other so well that the prayers are always dead-on. I mean, right-between-the-eyes, yes, thanks I needed that, kind of prayers. We pray for each other’s ministries, each other’s churches, each other’s families, and each other’s personal walk with Christ. We ask God to give us all the strength and power to do his will, the courage and boldness to do it his way, and the character and integrity to do it with pure hearts and clean motives, above reproach.

I’m blessed to have three such great friends, such great men of God who love me and take care of me. They know exactly when I legitimately need genuine encouragement and they know exactly when I just need to suck it up and get over it. God continually touches me and speaks to me and blesses me through these great men. They challenge me and push me. They model for me what it looks like to be a disciple of Jesus. I can’t imagine trying to do it without them.

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

And Terrell Owens is in Buffalo, where in December it’ll be 19-degrees with a 35 mph north wind. The Bills will be 5-9 at that point, they’ll be playing the Ravens, and he’ll be split out wide where he can get a good view of another running play. The 13th play out of their past 15 that have stayed on the ground. Sweet.

As Dan Miller would say, “Life is good.”

Peace,

Allan

Is it “Hi-Ho, Silver!” or “Hi-Yo, Silver!”?

It doesn’t matter. I’m probably not the one on the white horse. And I’m certainly not the Lone Ranger. But the famed Four Horsemen are riding off to Tyler State Park this morning for our annual Advance. And, as fast as the masked man rode down the trail at the end of every episode, that’s how I’m going to feel when I take off here in a couple of hours.

It’s just been a long, hard past four or five weeks. Gearing up for Missions Month and planning a new Small Groups cycle at the same time is too much. Extra meetings, extra website articles, extra brochures and handouts, extra meetings, extra speakers to schedule, extra meetings. And on top of all that: extra meetings! And these people still want to hear a decent sermon Sunday!

Nobody wants to hear about it, I know. But God in his providence is giving me this great weekend of encouragement and refreshing and revival just when I need it most.

I’ve written at length here about Jason and Kevin and Dan. I don’t have any closer friends. And I don’t know any men who are more dedicated to our Father and his Kingdom than these brothers. My time with them — during our monthly lunches, our quarterly family get-togethers, and, especially, our annual weekend camping trips — is always uplifting and encouraging. We pray together. We talk about our families and our kids. We study Scripture. We talk about God’s Church. We help each other with advice and insights. Jason and I talk about preaching. Dan talks about ministering to the margins and planting churches. Kevin keeps all of us grounded and connected by talking about the big-picture of the Kingdom. And we all four come away stronger and better and closer to God and each other.

I’m a little concerned about our vehicle. Jason’s meeting us in Tyler. But the other three of us are leaving from Dan’s house in Forney in Kevin’s brand new Lexus SUV. I know, give me a break. First, Kevin doesn’t need to be driving a Lexus. Second, nobody needs to drive a Lexus to a campout. I don’t know what we’re going to do. It just seems wrong on so many fronts.

I’m not worried about the weather. We froze in Cleburne two years ago and froze last year in Tyler. Not this time. Perfect.

I pray our Father blesses your weekend like I know he’s going to bless mine. We’ll check back in Monday.

Peace,

Allan

One of the many joys of my Christmas morning was unwrapping a copy of Eugene Peterson’s latest theological work, Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in his Stories and Prayers. Peterson had finished his trilogy on spiritual conversations with his most excellent The Jesus Way. But apparently he needed to write one more. And God’s Church is all the better for it.

I’m halfway through this theological treatment of the parables and prayers of Jesus. Peterson examines, in the way only he can, the ways our Lord used language and conversation to reach out to others with the love and grace of God. When he spoke, people were drawn to Jesus. His words engaged the people around him. His conversations involved them. He spoke truth and grace. He encouraged and instructed. He spoke love.

I want to share with you a short passage from the introduction of Tell It Slant that challenges us in this new year to “be careful little mouth what you say.” Our tongues are powerful tools, able to heal and destroy, to comfort and enrage, to protect and attack, with a bare minimum of effort or syllables. James knew this well. So does Peterson:

“There is a lot more to speaking than getting the right words and pronouncing them correctly. Who we are and the way we speak make all the difference. We can sure think of enough creative ways to use words badly: we can blaspheme and curse, we can lie and deceive, we can bully and abuse, we can gossip and debunk. Or not. Every time we open our mouths, whether in conversation with one another or in prayer to our Lord, Christian truth and community are on the line. And so, high on the agenda of the Christian community in every generation is that we diligently develop a voice that speaks in consonance with the God who speaks, that we speak in such a way that truth is told and community is formed.”

May our words in 2009 reflect the love and the mercy of the God who saves us. May our conversations always teach and encourage. And may our language glorify God and exalt Christ Jesus.

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

We rang in the New Year as a church family with an evening of games and food and worship. I don’t have a lot of pictures because I was way too busy dominating Sequence (OK, Carrie-Anne dominated, I rode her coattails to impressive victory), collecting Uno word cards, getting Bear’ed and Bull’ed by Lance, and barely surviving Around the World with Sarah. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the gift of a new year from our God than reading together from Hebrews and Galatians and 1 John, singing songs of praise, praying together to dedicate this new year to our Lord, and then circling up to sing It Is Well as the clock struck 12:00.

Wow. God-ordained, Jesus-inspired, Spirit-powered, community-forming.

And then the sparklers.

Typical New Year’s Day at Stanglin Manor: sleep in; donuts; college football; traditional Texas New Year’s Day lunch with ham, cabbage, and black-eyed peas; college football; college football; rented movie; college football. Perfect.

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

My great friend Jason Reeves, the preacher at the Grayston Church in Diana, Texas and one of the Four Horsemen, has finally waved the white flag and joined the blogging community. I’m placing a link to his site, Reeves’ Rhetoric, on my blogrole on the right hand side of this page. You can also get there by clicking here.

You’ll be encouraged by Jason’s blog. God speaks through him. God will speak to you through him. He’ll challenge you. He’ll make you think. He’ll force you to re-evaluate your walk with Christ as you examine his. I know. Because most everybody I know falls way short when placed next to Jason. Especially me.

Jason, some days the blog will be an unforgiving task master. Some days it’ll take too much time. Some days it’ll seem that it’s not having as big an impact as you’d like. But those days are few and far between. You’ll discover that the blog is a wonderful way to connect to people you might not otherwise. You’ll see that it’s a great tool for reinforcing your sermons and classes. It forms Christian community. It teaches and encourages. It allows you to better articulate your thoughts and dreams while you’re wrestling with God and his Word and his world. It’s an effective way for other people to be inspired by your faith and your hope.

I pray that our Father will use your words and your thoughts to speak to the people in his Kingdom. I pray that your blog will reach people who need increased faith and stronger hope. I pray that God will be glorified in the time and effort you put into it.

And the very first time that lady from Denver with the pregnant teenager and abusive husband or that man in Arizona who’s left God’s Church calls you on the phone, from out of the blue, to tell you that your words about Habakkuk or your thoughts on 1 Thessalonians are the only thing that’s kept them going, you’ll fall on your knees in gracious humility and praise God for using you in ways far beyond what you could ever ask or imagine.

Peace,

Allan

All Four Horsemen, all four wives, and our 11 kids all in the same house at the same time Saturday for the first time in at least five years. Kevin’s GPS got them there a little late. (Didn’t realize you could get to North Richland Hills from Rowlett without getting on a highway.) But it was a wonderful day of just catching up with one another, sharing our plans and our dreams, lots of laughing, and lots of mutual encouragement and support. We cooked together, we ate together, we talked about our kids, and we cried a little.

But the absolute best part was the last 30-minutes of the evening we spent together in prayer. All the adults and all the kids, holding hands and putting our arms around each other, lifting one another up to our Lord. Pledging before our God to love each other and support each other. Giving him praise and thanksgiving for blessing our lives with these powerful relationships. Realizing we would not be where we are today if not for his grace and these friends.

And then the conversations we had with our three girls later that night and again on Sunday. They all know what good friends we are with these three other families. They know how much we love each other. But we’ve elevated that conversation now. Now we’re talking about why we love these families, why we take care of each other, why we cry when we pray together, how we depend on each other, how we’re getting to heaven together and cannot get there by ourselves. What a memorable lesson for our kids, to see their parents so involved in the lives of other people because of what God has done for us through Christ. How important for them to see, up close, that their parents rely on other Christians for strength and support. How impactful to see that our God works through his people to sustain his people. We don’t do this alone.

We live in an increasingly individualistic society that fights against God’s plan for his people to live their faith in community. God places us—calls us—to live together in a faith community, his Church, so we can help each other and support each other and grow and get better together. To get to heaven together. But we’re so busy plugging speakers and phones in our ears and gluing our eyes to the millions of screens at work and at home and even now in our cars that we don’t even see the people around us.

There can be three people sitting right next to each other on an airplane, all three sharing armrests, but watching three different entertainment programs on three different screens. They can sit like that together for three hours and never even look each other in the eye. We’re arranged in cubicles in our workplaces. This is my space. We fence off our yards. Speaking of MySpace, we have more meaningful conversations—if you can call those conversations—over a screen with people we’ve never met than with our own family. We watch screens while we’re in line at Wal-Mart and then check ourselves out with a debit card while being greeted and thanked and wished a nice day by a computerized voice from a tiny speaker. Even now in our cars we’ve got our children watching movies instead of interacting with each other. I can’t get anybody to make eye contact with me during an invitation following a sermon because they’re all glued to the song on the screen. Even if we’re singing “Jesus Loves Me” they don’t take their eyes off the screens.

I had lunch yesterday with one of our wonderful Legacy teenagers. And we talked about relationships and community. He brought it up, not me. He’s worried about it. He notices that we come in, go through the paces, grunt our “hello” and “how’s it going?” and then disappear until the following Sunday. We’re so individualistic.

Robert N. Bellah, a pretty well-known American sociologist describes our values today as “utilitarian individualism.” He says:

We are mostly driven by the need for personal success and vivid personal feelings. Marriage becomes an instrument for personal development, work becomes a vehicle for personal advancement, and the church a means for personal fulfillment. We simply live as if nobody else were here.

We need each other. Whether we admit it or not, whether we’ve ever thought about it or not, whether we ever realize it or not, we need each other. We’ll never get to heaven alone. We’ll never grow in our faith or be transformed into the image of Christ alone. We’ll never confess our sins, we’ll never make sacrifices, we’ll never serve or practice patience alone. We live our faith with each other in community.

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

Ask me how I’m doing and I may talk to you about my family, my job, or my own health. I may talk to you about my schedule, what I’ve done or what I’m planning to do. Ask the apostle Paul how he’s doing and he talks to you about Christ.

He only speaks about himself and his own affairs as they relate to his Lord and to the advance of God’s Kingdom.

In his letter to the Christians in Philippi, Paul is in prison but that “has really served to advance the Gospel.” Rival preachers are attacking him but “What does that matter? Christ is preached!” He doesn’t know whether he’s going to live or die, but he sees great benefit in both. To Paul, dying means going to be with his Lord. Living means serving his Lord to advance his cause.

The breathtakingly comprehensive nature of Paul’s devotion to Christ and his good news of salvation is the most theologically significant part of the first part of his letter to the Philippians. At the time he wrote, every major feature of his life—his physical comfort, the opinions others have about him, his position with respect to the secular world, the question of whether he lives or dies—are molded by his commitment to the spread of the good news. His perspective is shaped by his loyalty and devotion to his King.

What would our lives look like? What would our speech sound like? What would happen if we cultivated this joyful perspective? If the decisions we made and the ways we looked at life as it relates to our families, jobs, recreation, where we live, and the things we buy were considered from this radical Christ-centered perspective, what would we be as a people? What would we become?

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

Back in the spring of 2001, Jason and Dan and Kevin and I gathered around my dining room table in Mesquite and vowed to serve our Lord and his Kingdom with everything we had. Together. We would do it together. We would pray for and with each other. We would encourage each other. We would challenge each other and we would hold each other accountable. We promised that day we would take care of each others’ families. We would support one anothers’ wives and kids. We would do this together.

For some reason we started calling ourselves the Four Horsemen. Kinda weird, but it stuck.

Seven years ago we had very little in common besides our intense desire to be loyal to our Savior. Today, there’s nothing that could ever separate us. We are the very best of friends. We all talk to each other weekly. We have a long lunch together in Dallas once a month. We spend the ACU Lectureships together every year. We have an annual campout every February. We support one another. We encourage one another. We pray together. We plan together. We counsel one another. We depend fully on one another. We selflessly serve one another.

But we dropped the ball with our wives and kids. Totally.

We’ve never incorporated our families into this most amazing Christian circle. Yes, we’re all friends. We all went to church together in Mesquite. But my life has changed significantly because of these three men. And they all three say the same thing. But our wives and children haven’t been in on it.

Since 2001, Carrie-Anne and Tiersa have become preachers’ wives. Tiersa’s way out in East Texas where “going to town” means a trip to Gilmer. Carrie-Anne’s gone back to school. Shelly’s raising two boys and twin girls and finding herself in charge of more and more at Dallas Christian. Debbie’s battling breast cancer and caring for aging parents. Each of our four families—each of our marriages—has gone through quite a bit of stress over the past six or seven years. We men have have found strength and encouragement in each other. But we’ve never included our wives.

Big mistake. I like to think it was short-sighted, not selfish.

That all changes tomorrow. We’re all spending the day together tomorrow at Stanglin Manor. Jason & Tiersa and their four kids, Kevin & Shelly and their four kids, Dan & Debbie and their three teenagers, and us. All 22 of us. Lots of visiting. Lots of sharing. Lots of open discussion. Lots of food. Maybe some college football. And lots and lots of prayer. A ton of prayer. We’ll renew our vows to each other to support and encourage one another. All of us. Together. We’ll promise to strengthen each other, to challenge each other, to comfort each other, and hold each other accountable. And we’ll get together like this, all of us, at least four times a year. This will become a quarterly deal for us.

By God’s grace we’ve been given another chance to make this right. And I’m really looking forward with great anticipation to what our Father is going to do with us and for us and through us to his glory.

Have a great weekend,

Allan

Allow me two or three quick shots here before we get into the meat of today’s post. I need to catch up from yesterday. I’m finding it increasingly difficult to post on Mondays and Fridays. I’m not giving up. But it’s getting tougher. Hang with me.

The Dallas Cowboys are spiraling around the bowl and they’re going down. And nobody should be surprised. This thing was headed in the tank long before Romo and Felix and McBriar got hurt. This season was doomed before it began. You can’t keep signing players like Terrell Owens and Tank Johnson and PacMan Jones and expect everything to go well. There’s a reason the Titans are undefeated right now. They canned PacMan. Kicked him off the team. Took a stand for right and reason. But not Jerry Wayne. The Cowboys are getting everything they deserve.

Watching Sunday’s game reminded me of the Dave Campo days. Senseless penalties. Turnovers. Sacks. Drops. Finger-pointing. No heart. No guts. It’s not Wade Phillips’ fault. It’s Jerry’s.

Somebody said yesterday Roy Williams (the safety) broke his forearm while deflecting blame. Great line. Roy Williams (the receiver) was shut out—no catches—for the first time in his five year career. Detroit has to be looking pretty good right now. The Lions never won a game. But they were never humiliated like this, either.

Jerry’s putting the finishing touches on a trade right now with the North Carolina basketball team to bring in their Roy Williams as a motivational speaker/special teams coach.

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

Three observations on Sunday night’s great Game Seven in the ALCS: 1) I don’t know how Rays pitcher Matt Garza doesn’t dehydrate by the 3rd inning. I’ve never seen a human spit that much, that often; 2) MLB could cut their games from three hours long down to an hour and a half if they would pass a rule allowing a maximum of three batting gloves adjustments per at-bat. Did A-Rod start this mess? They all adjust their gloves three times in between pitches! and 3) does the Rays’ success mean that now Arizona State will simply call their teams the Sun?

I’m a Phillies Phan for the next ten days. My good friend Scott Franzke, who hosted our Rangers pre-game and post-game shows when we were together at KRLD, is now the play-by-play voice of the Phils. He’s a great guy who deserves all the fun he’s having right now. We spent many a long, long evening together disecting 11-4 Rangers’ losses. Go Phranzke!

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

What a blessing to have as our guests at Legacy Sunday morning my great friends Dan & Debbie Miller! Dan’s one of the Four Horsemen, a great personal encourager of mine, and the most positive, optimistic, upbeat, man I know. He blesses my life in more ways than he could ever imagine. Dan seems to know exactly what our God is doing in almost every situation. And he points it out to me all the time. He and Debbie have shown great faith and endurance through her cancer and surgeries and treatments. They’re both an inspiration to everyone who knows them.

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

For the first time in the storied history of the “KK&C Top Twenty” college football poll, we have a unanimous number one! The Texas Longhorns, fresh off their whipping of then #11 Missouri, receive all 14 1st place votes in this week’s poll. Even Jerry K put “ut” at the top “…for now.” Nine of the top ten teams stayed the same with very little shifting. The exception is BYU. The Cougars fell from #9 to #20 after being destroyed by TCU’s Frogs. Utah makes it Top Ten debut, moving up from #13. Michigan State, Virginia Tech, North Carolina, and Vandy all dropped out of the poll, replaced by TCU, South Florida, Pitt, and Tulsa.

Pollster Richard A delivers the most uncomfortable remark of the week by referring to TCU’s win as the “Mormon Massacre.” Paul D gets in some denominational shots in his comments about Colt McCoy and Jordan Shipley. Mark H’s comment about Virginia Tech’s “BC” is the most confusing remark of the week. And Charlie J delivers yet another golden Mangino reference. Beautifully placed. The subtlety makes it genius. Billy W, who’s taken it upon himself to keep an eye on the Sagarin Poll gives us this: “The fightin’ Texas Aggies are #110 in the latest Sagarin rankings, behind 12 Division I-AA schools and the other eleven Big 12 teams. The good news is that they are 85 spots in front of North Texas.” And panelist Steve F will actually be at the Alabama-Tennessee game in Knoxville Saturday night. He says he’s “requested the resume of Texas Defensive Coordinator Will Muschamp to personally deliver” to the higher-ups at Tennessee.

You can find this week’s poll, released late every Monday night, along with all the comments by the pollsters, and their pictures and bios by clicking here or by clicking the green “KK&C Top 20″ tab in the upper right corner of this front page.

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

“Through Christ, the ‘Amen’ is spoken by us to the glory of God.” ~2 Corinthians 1:20

Why don’t we say “Amen” in our Christian assemblies? Where’s the “Amen?” In the middle of, and after, our prayers? In the middle of, and after, our readings from Scripture? In the middle of, and after, our songs of praise? In the middle of, and after, our sermons? In the middle of, and after, our communion time around the table? Where’s the “Amen?”

Paul assumes in 1 Corinthians 14:16 that those in the assembly who are being edified, those who understand what’s being said or sung, those who are thankful, those who are in tune with what’s happening, are saying “Amen!” The apostle makes it clear in 2 Corinthians 1:20 that the congregation’s “Amen” is a response to the promises of God as they’re fulfilled in Christ. As the promises are revealed and understood and accepted, this congregational “Amen” affirms our salvation and redemption in Christ and brings glory to God.

So, where’s the “Amen?”

I can’t tell you how many times—at least four or five times a week since I’ve been here at Legacy—someone will come up to me following an assembly and say, “Boy, I really wanted to say ‘Amen,’ but I just didn’t.” Or, “I was saying ‘Amen’ in my heart today, just not out loud.” Men and women alike tell me things like this all the time. Although, about half the time our women add, “Of course, if I said ‘Amen” I’d get in trouble.” (sigh……..)

Why aren’t we saying “Amen” or “Right On!” or “Yes” or “That’s Right!” constantly during our time together in our Christian assemblies? Did we ever? Is this a Church of Christ thing? Is it a white suburban thing? Is it something we used to do all the time and don’t anymore? Or have we never been a people to verbally participate as a congregation in the things that are said from the front? What’s the deal?

I have tons to say on this. Admittedly, this thread or this conversation might last all week. There’s a lot to be said for the “homothumadon” throughout the book of Acts. Deuteronomy 27 gives us great insights into the verbal affirmation of a congregation. Saying “Amen” isn’t just to show approval of what’s being said. It’s not just to communicate agreement. Saying “Amen” or “Yes” or “Right On” affirms this is what we believe. This is how we live. This is truth. This is what I’m holding on to.

Our time together should always be spent as participants, not spectators. Always. Full participants in every prayer offered, every song sung, every Bible passage read, and every sermon preached. Never as spectators. It’s not Matt’s prayer, it’s the church’s prayer. It’s not Jim’s Scripture reading, it’s the church’s recitation of the words of our God. It’s not Allan’s sermon, it’s the church’s proclamation of the gospel of Christ Jesus! It all belongs to the church. We own it. And we participate in it when we raise our voices to say “Amen! Yes! That’s what we believe. That’s how we live. That’s where we put our faith.”

Together. Out loud. In the assembly.

Where’s the “Amen?” What’s the deal?

My own frustrations with this problem boiled over in a weird, and not entirely Christian, way in the middle of a sermon here at Legacy two Sundays ago. I apologized to the church this past Sunday, not for being enthusiastic about my God and my rescue from hell through Christ, but for accusing and judging the church in a way that set me up above everybody else. That was wrong. But the problem of our passivity and our spectator-stances in our assemblies remains. Needless to say, I’ve received a few emails and had a few conversations with our people about this over the past ten days. A couple of them have given me permission to post their comments here. Maybe this can foster some increased conversation.

“American culture has made us complacent and lazy — we don’t get out of our cars to get food or leave our houses to rent movies — and we bring this attitude on Sunday mornings. We confuse you (the preacher) with our favorite fast-food drive-thru and expect our religion to be preached quickly, with quality, not too hot or cold. We’re so used to our corporate worship setting, sitting in our assigned seats and being spoon fed from the pulpit that we get a little uncomfortable when we’re reminded that we just can’t sit back and absorb the faith.” ~Aaron G.

“The Creator of all things in existence, everything that was or is, sent his only Son to die for our sins. Every blessing, every dollar we have, every bite of food we eat is a benevolent act from our Father. If that doesn’t excite us and get us involved, I don’t know what will! We need, MUST, act like a people who embrace our inheritance in the Kingdom of God. We need to be a people excited about Christ coming again. Not like hourly working punching our Sunday morning time clock.” ~Rusty T.

“If you had been preaching that sermon to a poor, have-nothing, group of people, you would have been drowned out by the ‘amens’!!” ~Doug D.

Where’s the “Amen?”

Ready. Set. Go.

Peace,

Allan