Category: Church (Page 58 of 61)

Obey & Submit

September 22, 2008 / Allan / 4 Comments

“Obey your leaders and submit to their authority.” ~Hebrews 13:17

Yield to their authority and respect their position. If you go back to verse 7 we see that these elders, these leaders, were the ones who had taught these Christians. They were the teachers. And they were living such exemplary lives of faith that the members of the congregation were told to imitate that faith. Follow the example of the godly lives of their leaders. Live like they’re living. And, yes, the elders are told they will have to give an account, not for the church finances or the proper use of the church gym, but for what they’re teaching and how they’re living their lives. And as the flock of these shepherds, we are to be open and accepting of their teaching and eager to imitate their examples.

But here’s the real thing. And here’s the crux of what we did yesterday at Legacy.

My concern with the elders is usually, “How are they treating me?”

And the answer, once I think about it, is always, “Better than I deserve.”

And the same goes for you.

You are more important to your elders than you know. They love you. They pray for you. They think about you. They wonder how to better serve you. They agonize over your soul. Every single day they wake up, completely aware of their limitations to perform the difficult task of shepherding a flock of believers, and it’s a tremendous burden. And they pray and they cry and they study and they grieve. And they pour their lives out for us. They sacrifice time with their families and work and vacation. They agonize over our souls. Did I already say that?

They would die for you. They would.

And yesterday we took a few minutes to pray over our elders. We drug our elders and our wives into the three center aisles and we prayed over them. The whole church. We got up out of our pews and walked over to our eleven elders (Jerry, wish you were here) and put our hands on them and our arms around each other and lifted them up to our God. Eleven big groups of loving brothers and sisters praying out loud for our Father to shower our leaders with his richest blessings of mercy and love and wisdom and strength. One of those memorable moments that I think was wonderful for our elders and for the church. Lots of tears. Lots of smiles. Lots of hugs. Lots of pats on the back. And a realization of the burden our shepherds carry and the church’s responsibility to help them carry it by encouraging them and making their difficult tasks a joy and not a burden.

Hug your elder today. Send him a card or an email. Love him. And try to make his job easier.

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

I’ve got very little to say about the Cowboys game last night since I just saw the second half in our hotel room last night after the opening keynote at the ACU Lectureships here in Abilene. Maybe the Eagles have a pretty good offense. Maybe the Cowboys defense is better than we thought. Maybe Aaron Rodgers is already done. I don’t know. I wasn’t really able to pay much attention.

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

The blogging will be sporadic this week. Hang with me. The “KK&C Top 20 College Football Poll” will be released late Tuesday night / early Wednesday morning.

Peace,

Allan

So Their Work Will Be A Joy

September 19, 2008 / Allan / 3 Comments

Fill in the blanks:

I wish our elders did more ___________, and less _____________.

I’d love to see all our members complete this sentence according to their personal desires and hopes for God’s Church. According to their own frustrations. According to the ways they interpret Holy Scripture and see it applied at the congregational level.

And then I’d love to see all our elders complete the exact same sentence according to their personal desires and hopes for the Church and according to their own frustrations, according to the ways they interpret the Bible and see it applied at the congregational level.

And I promise we wouldn’t be able to tell which sentences were completed by the members and which ones were completed by the elders. They would look exactly the same. Exactly.

We all claim to want a group of spiritual shepherds, not a board of directors. But then we bog them down with questions and complaints about air conditioners and classroom space, bulletin boards and coke machines. And our elders, feeling those unrealistic expectations from the church to know everything and fix every problem, allow themselves to be weighed down by those unnecessary burdens. And we’re nurturing an unhealthy culture that prompts some of our very best men to say, “I can be a better shepherd if I’m not an elder.”

What a strange relationship between a congregation and its elders. What weird dynamics are involved when everyone in the equation wants one thing but act in ways that make that one thing nearly impossible to achieve.

Changing that culture won’t be easy. We’re up against decades and decades of tradition and policy. But the conversation here at Legacy starts this Sunday.

We’ll examine the relationships and the responsibilities between a church and its elders. Does your relationship with an elder make his job easier or more difficult? After a conversation with you, does an elder have a song in his heart or is he groaning? Elders who are frustrated because administrative matters are crowding out the spiritual duties, why do you allow it to happen?

It’s a two-way street. It’s a mutually encouraging relationship with mutually spiritual responsibilities between a congregation and its elders. And it’s up to the entire church—members and elders alike—to make the work of shepherding a joy and not a burden.

Fill in the blanks.

Now, Mr. Elder, what are you doing to make that dream a reality? Mr. or Ms. Member, what are you doing to make it happen?

Peace,

Allan

Faith In Community

September 5, 2008 / Allan / 5 Comments

“We who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” ~Romans 12:5

Romans 12 deals with the corporate life of the Church. Offering ourselves as a living sacrifice, being transformed, developing the mind of Christ (12:1-2) — all of this takes place in community.

Our Western individualistic traditions can make this a problem. We can very easily, I think, see ourselves as doing what’s necessary to be saved and living together in the community of faith as two different, not necessarily related, things.

But all of Holy Scripture refutes that notion. We are called to be together.

Paul’s teaching in Romans 12 is that we cannot fully renew our minds without the active help of other believers. We can’t fully understand what Scripture teaches apart from dialogue with others who are reading the same Scripture. We cannot live our lives as disciples of Christ outside the nurturing context of a community of believers who encourage us, pray for us, and set examples for us. We can’t always discern the blind spots in our obedience to God without fellow believers to point them out.

Sometimes we think of ourselves “more highly than we ought” (12:3) and conclude we don’t really need anybody’s help.

More directly, we participate in the life of the Church to help others grow. “We have different gifts according to the grace given us” (12:6). Whatever gift you’ve been given, you are under obligation to your Lord to use it to serve his people. Other Christians need what each of us has to offer. As the human body is at a disadvantage without a foot, or an eye, or a kidney, so the Church is harmed when the full array of gifts are not being exercised within it.

So if you’re not involved, GET INVOLVED! If you’re not serving someone, SERVE SOMEONE! If you’re not participating, PARTICIPATE! Not only are you missing out, you’re depriving me of Christian growth if you’re not an active member of the Lord’s Church.

Peace,

Allan

Every Nation, Tribe, People, & Language

August 26, 2008 / Allan / 8 Comments

“The mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.'” ~Isaiah 2:2-3

“There before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb…And they cried out in a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'” ~Revelation 7:9-10

You know my dream is to ultimately see our church body at Legacy accurately reflect the uniting force of the Gospel. My vision is that all our Spanish-speaking members and all our deaf members come together to worship our Lord in the same assembly on Sundays. Full integration. Not segregation. The birth, life, teachings, ministry, death, burial, resurrection, and exaltation of Jesus breaks down all the barriers between us. It destroys the things that separate us. In Christ there are no divisions, no walls. We’re one. We’re equal. We’re all in the same family. And the family should model that.

So, how do we do this? Is it impossible? Do we keep our Spanish-speaking brothers and sisters out in the fellowship hall or tucked away in an upstairs classroom? Or do we sacrifice and bend and give and do whatever it takes to bring them fully into the family?

One of the cover stories in the July Christian Chronicle, “Are Churches Reaching New Americans?” chronicles the efforts of several churches to unite their English and Spanish speaking members into one united body. The trick, it seems, is to realize that language is not a barrier. It’s not easy. It presents challenges. But it’s not impossible.

Daniel Rodriguez, a professor of religion and Hispanic studies at Pepperdine, puts his finger on the fallacy of the language issue. “The fastest growing churches have realized that language is not a barrier. They have recognized how to reach the grandmother who speaks only Spanish and her grandchildren who speak English.”

The Inland Valley Church of Christ in California has about 120 members, 50 of whom speak primarily Spanish. But most everything they do in their assemblies is in English. They provide headsets and live translation. The lyrics to the songs appear on the screens in both languages. One of the Inland Valley ministers, Tom Allen, says, “As we interact, we come to care for each other. When people love each other, they’ll accommodate.”

Wow. That’s the key, right? Instead of focusing on the little differences among us, zeroing in on the huge eternal things we have in common through the blood of Christ Jesus.

I know at the North Davis Church in Arlington, our Lord’s Supper time was bilingual. A prayer and/or Scripture reading in English and in Spanish. Both. Every time. Worshiping together around the common table. Yes.

The foreign-born population in the U.S. is reaching 15-percent. More than one million legal immigrants earn U.S. citizenship every year. Most Hispanic people in Texas my age or younger, and virtually all people the age of my children and younger, speak both English and Spanish. Language is not the barrier.

Is it custom? Is it culture? Is it fear? What is it? I hate to think our schools and our government buildings and our restaurants and our soccer teams and our Wal-Marts and our media can integrate and bring people together better than our Gospel.

Peace,

Allan

Assembly As Gospel

August 25, 2008 / Allan / 7 Comments

If this is what it means to have a daughter in high school, I’m not ready. This is the scene that greeted us when we woke up this morning. I have my suspicions as to the culprits. And even though I can’t write on this blog what they say about paybacks, it doesn’t make it any less true.

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

“…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” ~Ephesians 4:1

“…conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” ~Philippians 1:27

As a response to God’s grace and in imitation of Jesus, we deny our own selfish ambitions and place the interests of others ahead of our own. Jesus emptied himself for our sakes and he became the obedient servant for the Father’s glory. That’s the gospel. And that’s how we live the gospel. The glory of God and the priority of others. Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus says that’s the whole deal. Paul says in Ephesians 4 this is what leads to maturity. This is what leads to “unity in the faith.” Without this mindset, without this focus, we’re still babies.

I’ve tried applying these gospel principles to our Christian assemblies over the past three weeks as we’ve moved together into our new worship center here at Legacy. What this mature mindset means is that, in our assemblies, there’s very little, if anything, that could ever happen that could ever divide us. Our diversity and our differences wouldn’t just be tolerated, they’d be embraced and appreciated, even celebrated.

Whether a person kneels or stands or prostrates himself on the ground in prayer, or adopts the one prayer posture not authorized in Scripture: sitting on one’s rear end…

Whether a person claps his hands or raises his hands or does with his hands the one thing not authorized in Scripture: sits on them…

Whether a person talks and/or sings during the Lord’s Supper or meditates quietly to himself…

Whether a person sings classic hymns that were written 300 years ago or contemporary praise songs that were written three months ago…

Whether a person wears a suit and a tie or shorts and flip-flops…

We are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord and in his death, burial, and resurrection that saves us. We share a common Savior and a common destination. And when we finally and fully grasp that, we will imitate our Lord by making ourselves the least important person in the room.

Planning and conducting and participating in our assemblies is not about finding and conforming to specific regulations found in the New Testament. It’s all about doing what we do in ways that are worthy of the gospel, in ways that proclaim and embody the good news of our Lord and his Kingdom.

John Mark Hicks has written another excellent book about the Christian sacraments. This one, A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Transforming Encounter, is about our time together in our assemblies. This excerpt is from the final chapter, “Contemporary Gatherings: Assembling Worthy of the Gospel.”

“As long as we are regulated by the gospel, we should value diversity as it reaches people beyond the limits of our own settings. But this demands maturity. The gospel calls us to put the interests of others ahead of our own. But this demands mature discipleship. Can we tolerate different tastes and styles even when we do not like them? Can we vary our styles out of respect for what touches the heart of another even if it does not touch ours? Can we appreciate what a particular style does for one even though it is not as meaningful to us? Can we practice what is uncomfortable for us for the sake of the other?

The gospel demands that we do because Jesus himself endured great discomfort—to put it mildly—for our sakes. As disciples of Jesus, we must follow him into that kind of discomfort, even suffering. To say that we must ‘suffer through’ a particular song for the sake of another trivializes the cross of Christ but to deny that song to others simply on the basis of our own comfort and tradition is to reject the cross of Christ for narcissism.”

Wow. The Father certainly poured a whole lot into our laps with these assemblies. It’s almost like he wants us to practice getting along together.

God’s gift of unity means we belong to each other. We are part of each other. Living worthy of the calling, making every effort requires an eagerness to think about one another, to serve one another, to love one another, to build up one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to submit to one another, and encourage one another.

Even in our assemblies.

Especially in our assemblies.

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

School Bells! School Bells! I got to sing the Stanglin’s traditional first day of school song to wake up not three but four girls this morning. Four girls at four different campuses (help me, is it campi?) now. Huge backpacks. Sack lunches. Combination lockers. P.E. New friends. New teachers. And now Carrie-Anne’s right in the middle of it, too. I’m pulling taxi duty two days a week now. I’ve always been the one to haul the kids to school in the mornings. But Carrie-Anne’s always picked them up. Until now. On Mondays and Wednesdays it’s me. This afternoon it took me 65-minutes to leave the church building and make it home with all three. I’m hoping that’s just first day traffic. C-A has her first math, history, and art appreciation classes today. It’s going to be an interesting year. We’ve begun yet another little leg of our journey together.

Peace,

Allan

Heaven On Earth

August 19, 2008 / Allan / 6 Comments

David Hunter’s wife, Denise, died Sunday. The funeral is Thursday morning in Robinson. Our Father tells us through his prophet Isaiah, “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (46:4). May our God carry David and his two children through this dark, dark valley. May he grant them his peace and comfort. And may he use his people—us—to reach out to them with his love and mercies.

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

Further reflections on this past Sunday at Legacy — There was so much anticipation, so much build up, so much expectation going in to that first assembly in the new building, it wouldn’t have mattered what happened in there, most everybody was going to come out feeling great. Everything was going to be positive. Everything was going to be fabulous. It would have been impossible to mess it up, even if we had been trying. Everybody’s expectations were that it was going to be great. Everybody had already decided it was going to be wonderful, months before it ever happened.

And it was. It was wonderful. Microphones were off when they should have been on and they were left on when they should have been off. Communion servers missed rows. The baptistry water was freezing cold. The PowerPoint slides weren’t all up at the times they should have been. I was so totally disoriented, I’m not sure what I said or how I said it. Yet, it was fantastic. It was amazing. And I can’t help but think a ton of that has to do with our mindsets going in. It was going to be wonderful no matter what happened. We had already made up our minds.

Bingo.

Can’t we all, everyone of us, go into this coming Sunday, and the next Sunday, and the Sunday after that, and even the Sundays to come next month and next year and five years from now with the exact same level of anticipation and enthusiasm? Shouldn’t we? Next Sunday there will be more visitors to meet. Next Sunday there will be more Legacy members to greet. Next Sunday our God is going to work in and through our assembly to bless us and shape us into the image of his Son. So why wouldn’t we go into next Sunday the same way we went into this one? No matter what happens during the service, I’m convinced even before it begins that it’s going to be wonderful and I’m going to be blessed by gathering in the presence of God and one another. Why wouldn’t that be the attitude every single week?

Sunday, we looked at how our Christian assemblies transcend time and space. We’re not in this room, we’re not in the worship center. When we’re together, we’re at Mt. Zion, gathered around the throne of our God with all the saints for all time, those who’ve gone before and those who are coming after. We’re in the future. We see the future. We experience the future when we’re together like this. It really is heaven on earth. The singing really is that good.

On Sunday, we joined the future. When we assemble together, we see the future, we experience the future. And we’re strengthened to live in the present because we’ve experienced the future. And we live and act in the present as if the future’s already come. Because for us, it has.

We don’t have to wait for the sweet by and by to experience the transforming presence of God. In the hallowed here and now we enter his throne room together along with all the saints of every age.

May God’s people assemble in our new building in spirit and truth for generations to come. And may our understanding of our assemblies always be shaped by the realities of the eternal Kingdom of our God.

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

I was so disoriented Sunday. I never knew whether I was coming or going. The whole thing was so strange. Nothing normal about any of it. And it was much more than just being in a new building. I’ve certainly preached before in strange new settings. What made it weird was that it was all the people I know and love, but nobody was where they belonged. I’ve become very used to looking in certain places and seeing certain people. I know where to look to find the people who are always paying attention and nodding encouragement to me. And I know where to find the people who are just nodding. I know where my good friends are and where the people are I don’t know that well. I know where each of our elders can be found. I know where Carrie-Anne and the girls are. For 14 months now I’ve been accustomed to knowing where everybody is. Until Sunday. Nobody was where they were supposed to be. Everybody was with different people. In different places. This was my church family. But it was like the room had been turned upside down. Very strange. I never got my bearings. I hope it’s a little different this next Sunday.

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

I’m humbled by all this. I’ve thought it many times before, it was running through my head all day Saturday, and the thought was overwhelming me Sunday morning: what in the world am I doing here? This church has really messed up by ordaining me as their preacher. They have no clue how far in over my head I am. If they only knew how terrified I am by all this. I don’t belong here. It’s too big. It’s too important. I’m too weak. I’m too small. This doesn’t fit. I’ll be exposed any day now for the fraud I really am. And those thoughts drive me to the floor on my knees. God, if you don’t show up, I’m not showing up. Ever. I can’t do this. You have to do this. It’s all on you, Lord; every bit of it.

And he’s there every time. Every single time. He’s never missed. And it never ceases to blow me away.

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

Here it is! Here’s the official logo for The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys Top 20 College Football Poll. We received a grand total of 6 votes. One vote for David Watson’s “Football Pole” design. Of course, that vote shouldn’t really count because the one casting that vote didn’t even get the joke. Brittany Bankhead-Kendall’s entry received no votes. Sorry, girl. I’m not sure why. I appreciate your effort, though, because it seemed to really get the ball rolling. The other five votes went to Scott Beard’s inspirational design. Scott’s imaginative scheme combines the rich imagery of a football player preparing mentally for the physical battle that faces him in the heart of the trenches—where, as we know, all football games are won or lost—with bold lines and striking attention to detail that paint a complete portrait of the paradox of the game: artistic brutality; violent ballet; a symphony of collisions with all the drama of a month’s worth of soap opera Fridays. So, here it is.

Congratulations to Scott Beard!

The KK&C Top 20 Preseason Poll will be released first thing tomorrow morning.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Church (Page 58 of 61)

Obey & Submit

So Their Work Will Be A Joy

Faith In Community

Every Nation, Tribe, People, & Language

Assembly As Gospel

Heaven On Earth

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links