Category: Cowboys (Page 32 of 54)

I Owe You a Post

April 12, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

It’s been a full eleven days since my last post. Sorry. Thank you. Let’s get caught up.

(As always, click on the images to get the full size)

We had a fantastic couple of days at LTC over the April 2-3 weekend. Lots of gold, silver, and bronze brought back to Legacy from the DFW Hyatt. My favorite part of Leadership Training for Christ is going to as many of the events as possible and cheering on all our kids. Encouraging them. Telling them what a great job they did. Recognizing in them the great gifts they have from God and seeing in them all the wonderful ways our Father will use them to his eternal glory. I love laughing with them and patting them on the back and hugging them after a job well done. Our teachers and volunteers do a great job with LTC here at Legacy. And the kids always respond with award-winning performances.

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Our four-day Resurrection Renewal was a God-glorifying, Church-edifying, Gospel-verifying event that started Easter Sunday morning with 1,200 men, women, and children lifting our hearts and voices to God in praise and thanksgiving for the empty tomb. Four days of participating in the Resurrection accounts from Holy Scripture. Four days of basking in the power of the Resurrection and gaining new strength in our Resurrection hope.

Two brand new souls experienced their own resurrections Wednesday evening as they were buried with Christ and raised to walk in newness of eternal life. Five of our brothers and sisters publicly confessed their sins and asked for the prayers of their church family as they declared their own new beginnings.

I’m so proud of my Legacy family. We baked cookies and served refreshments. We greeted visitors and held doors. We organized and taught fun interactive children’s classes. We invited our friends. We wore empty tomb T-shirts and passed out flyers. We were/are the kind of church family — the kind of Resurrection Community — to which anyone would want to belong.

And it’s not over.

I’m so encouraged by the conversations I’m overhearing in the hallways during and following our Resurrection Renewal. We’re thinking and talking about the right things. Our attention at Legacy is shifting from an inward to an outward focus, from one of being served to one of serving others. This is just the start. We’re going to keep inviting our friends to Legacy. We’re going to keep talking about the Resurrection. We’re going to keep paying more attention to the lost than to the saved. And we’re going to remember that the Resurrection is not simply something we sing about or teach. It’s not something we merely believe. The Resurrection is who we are.

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By the way, many of you have been asking about the three-minute video we showed at the end of the sermon Easter Sunday morning. The audio was from a sermon preached by S. M. Lockridge called “The Seven-Way King.” The video images were produced and edited by Albert Martin. Jeff Walling has used the video on several ocassions at WinterFest and the Tulsa Workshop. You can check out the video again by clicking here.

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For the second time in three years, Whitney wound up winning the annual Stanglin Bracket Racket. She correctly picked Duke to win it all and edged me out by a total of six points in our family college basketball pool.

I kept hoping and waiting for the Hoosiers miracle. I kept wishing for Shooter to show up and coach the Butler Bulldogs into a picket fence play with Jimmy Chitwood / Gordon Hayward hitting the game-winner at the buzzer. Only in the movies, I guess.

Whitney also, last January, correctly predicted the winner and the final score of the Super Bowl. Seriously! She not only chose the double-digit underdog Saints to beat the Colts, she picked the exact final score! We’re taking her to Vegas tomorrow. Or maybe to the QT to at least buy a couple of lottery tickets.

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We got to see lots of old friends this past Saturday night at the annual Oklahoma Christian University Alumni and Fundraising dinner here at Legacy. It was the biggest North Texas dinner to date. Tons of money raised and pledged for the new Bobby Murcer Athletics center and for scholarships to deserving DFW kids. The highlight for me was catching up with my old Delta buddies and reliving our quests for All-Sports trophies and Spring Sing laughs. What OC event would be complete without a Delta Alumni photo?

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Whitney and Valerie were in Glenrose for a youth retreat. Carrie-Anne stayed in bed. So Carley accompanied me early, early, early Sunday morning to the Red Lot on the northeast side of Texas Stadium to witness in person the implosion of that iconic landmark. We woke up at 4:00am, got there at 5:15, (we handed the parking lot attendant $25, he handed us four boxes of Kraft macaroni and cheese) and worked our way to the front of the barricades to hear — and feel — the concussions of the dynamite and suck the concrete and steel dust into our lungs.

I still can’t really imagine that Texas Stadium doesn’t exist anymore. My aunt LouAnn took me to my first ever Cowboys game in that building when I was twelve. I saw Drew Pearson’s consecutive-games-with-a-catch streak end in a close win over the Patriots there with Paul Barron. I wore my blue Roger Staubach jersey. Paul politely asked me to stop yelling so much through my Cowboys popcorn container which doubled as an effective megaphone. I think the people in front of us were giving us looks. When I was 15, Mike Cunningham and I got thrown out of an SMU-Texas Tech game there for dropping ice cubes off the second deck. When I was 16, Todd Johnson and I froze to death there in a miserable January Cowboys playoff loss to the Rams. I remember a two-touchdown fourth quarter performance by Chuck McSwain there in a pre-season win over the Dolphins. I remember a wild Sunday night shootout with the Raiders with five other high school friends. We jeered Marc Wilson and I ate too many bugles. And I was in the stands when a rookie Troy Aikman outpassed Dan Marino in a close loss in ’89.

I was also blessed to roam the sidelines, pressboxes, and underground tunnels at Texas Stadium for four seasons as a radio reporter for KRLD and AM 990. I ate my meals across the hall from the locker room. I ticked off Bill Parcells and made Terrence Newman laugh. I squeezed through the crowds to interview quarterbacks and linebackers and enjoyed leisurely conversations with offensive linemen and kickers. I rode elevators with movie stars and singers. I met Tex Schramm there. I shared work space with the giants in the sports media industry, some of them my heroes of the past and present. I was there when a Thanksgiving Day halftime performer caught on fire. And I was part of the standing ovation when Emmitt Smith passed Walter Payton.

Even after watching it completely collapse into a pile of debris yesterday, I still can’t really imagine that Texas Stadium is gone. I saw Tom Landry coach there. I saw Staubach throw and Tony run. I can still see the end zone scoreboard flash “Martinized!” after a huge Harvey Martin sack. I can still hear Tanya Tucker’s “When I Die” after every Cowboys touchdown. And I can still hear Tommy Loy’s trumpet playing the national anthem.

Thank you, Carley, for going with me and for screaming, “That was awesome!” at the top of your lungs when Texas Stadium was demolished. Forgive your dad for not feeling the same way.

Peace,

Allan

The Aroma of Christ

February 3, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

“We are to God the aroma of Christ…” 2 Corinthians 2:15

I know there are people in our congregation at Legacy who regularly listen to preachers who are a thousand times better than me. Through the internet, seminars and workshops, DVDs, podcasts, and a variety of other ways, our members hear preachers better than me all the time. Actually, forget all that. There are at least a dozen preachers within our own congregation who are better than me! Smarter. Wiser. More eloquent. Better speakers. Better exegetes. I see them every Sunday. And I think, good gravy, why did they hire me? Why would anyone here listen to me?

I go to these workshops and seminars and get to enjoy some of the greatest preaching and teaching in our tradition. Important preachers. Book-writers and highly-paid speakers. These guys criss-cross the nation speaking to huge crowds who hang on their every words. And I think, wow, how do you get to be so important? How does one become a really great preacher?

I sit down in any room or at any table with any other preachers and I instantly feel wholly inadequate. Intimidated even. I don’t know anything. They know everything. I think about my failures. They don’t have any. My successes seem so small compared to theirs. My best ideas and sermons seem so trite and old compared to theirs. And I think, man, I’m not sure I even know how to do this.

I have a need to feel important. And that’s a sin.

Un-Christ-like. Un-Christ-like. Un-Christ-like.

The good news for me is that I am very, very important to God. Whether I realize it or acknowledge it or not, God says I’m important to him. I don’t need other people to validate me or the work I’m doing for the Kingdom. I am validated by my merciful Father who says I’m the very aroma of his holy and perfect Son.

And that’s good news for you, too. You don’t need to feel important. You certainly ARE important to our God. And so is the work you’re doing for the Kingdom. It’s all very important to him.

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In light of current events, isn’t Toyota’s current logo and ad campaign ironic?

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Good to see the Dallas Cowboys going into full off-season mode so early. Usually the first Cowboys player arrest happens sometime in the days and weeks following the Super Bowl. Not this year.

Peace,

Allan

God Was With ______.

January 19, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

Pete Gent, the wise-cracking wide receiver of the early Dallas Cowboys teams, once walked by a rookie, slumped over at his locker, studying Tom Landry‘s overly thick and complicated playbook. “Don’t bother reading it, kid,” Gent said. “Everybody gets killed in the end.”

Cynical. Funny. OK, brilliant!

In Andrew Lloyd Weber’s Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, the narrarator actually encourages Joseph while he’s in prison. He tells Joseph not to despair. Don’t give up. He says, “I’ve read the book and you come out on top!”

We don’t have that benefit. Our books aren’t finished yet. The chapters of our lives are written as we live them out every day. And nobody knows exactly what our endings will look like. But the call from our God is to run the race with endurance and faithfulness. Wherever we are. Whatever our circumstance. In great confidence that he is with us.

God is with you. In your place. In your situation. He’s right there with you. Joseph gets thrown into a pit and sold into slavery by his own brothers. Scripture says God was with Joseph. Joseph is made head over Potiphar’s house. The Bible says God was with Joseph. He’s thrown in prison by Potiphar’s wife. He’s rescued by a forgetful cupbearer. He’s put in charge of all of Egypt. And throughout the story we’re told that God was with Joseph. I’ve counted 27 times, through all the dramatic ups and downs of Joseph’s life, from Genesis 37 through Genesis 50, when it’s made clear that God was with Joseph.

The end of the story makes it crystal clear. It looks like Joseph is being made by Pharaoh. The king of Egypt gives Joseph his new office, his new status, his new robes, his power, his authority, his new name, his new wife. It all comes from Pharaoh. But from the standpoint of the biblical author — and in the view of Joseph himself — it all comes from God.

God sent Joseph. God was with Joseph. God raised up Joseph.

Joseph is not Pharaoh’s man. He’s God’s man. He’s not Pharaoh’s instrument of economic survival. He’s God instrument of salvation.

I don’t know how your story turns out, friend. I have no idea what you’re going through right now. But I do know God is with you.

“It is very sweet as life passes by, to be able to look back on dark and mysterious events, and to trace the hand of God where once we saw only the malice and cruelty of man.” ~F. B. Meyer

Peace,

Allan

Freely Give

January 18, 2010 / Allan / 7 Comments

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” ~ Romans 8:32

Scripture says God gave the land to Abraham. The Lord gave success to Joseph. God gave manna to his children in the desert. The Bible says our God gave his people deliverers when they were in trouble. Through Christ, God gave us the right to become his children.

In the Gospels, Jesus says “I give you eternal life.”

I give you my peace. I give you the Spirit. This is my body given for you. The Kingdom of God is given to you. I give you victory.

Paul says God has freely given us of his glorious grace.

God created in order to give. Jesus came to earth in order to give. He lived and died and rose again and reigns at the right hand of the Father in heaven in order to give.

“Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” ~Ephesians 5:2

That’s the good news. God gave. Now I give. Freely you have received, freely give. God through Christ gave. Everything. Now I give. Everything. That’s the Gospel. Nothing more. Nothing less.

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Don’t blame Romo. He never had a chance.

Blame Marc Columbo. What was that? Blame Jason Garrett for thinking the best way to slow down the Vikings pass rush was to run Marion Barber around the ends. Blame Jerry Wayne for giving up top draft picks and talent for Roy Williams. Blame the owner/GM/vendor for not developing any decent backup offensive linemen.

Tony Romo was running for his life at every snap. Don’t blame him.

Blame Wade Phillips. Is it Wade’s constant pointing to his own stats and numbers and accomplishments that makes this team think they’ve arrived when they’ve made it to a second-round game? Or that they’re entitled to something? Is it this team’s well-documented failures in December and in the post-season that caused them to feel like they had accomplished something of great significance by beating a bad Philly team at home? Why were they so offended by Favre’s late TD toss? Why did they seem so ill-prepared for that Vikings pass rush? Why did they get their heads handed to them 34-3? Did they think that since they were on such a roll, teams would bow in submission as soon as they stepped off the bus? Or does Wade’s personality and demeanor give his players the impression that winning that first playoff game in 13-years, his first ever as a head coach, had already accomplished the mission?

Jerry and Wade are getting in the way. And they’re both going to be in charge of this team in 2010. For Cowboys fans, that must really take the hope out of saying, “Wait ’til next year.”

Peace,

Allan

Expectation #2

January 15, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

“Just as you excel in everything — in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness, and in your love for us — see that you also excel in this grace of giving.” ~ 2 Corinthians 8:7

Consistent and sacrificial giving is an act of Christian gratitude. It reveals a true grasp of the magnitude of God’s salvation gifts to us through Christ.

Our giving is also an act of Christian faith. It declares that God is the giver of all things. And it declares a confidence that our gracious Father will always keep his promises to provide for his children. It’s an act of dependence on him. To withhold our money or to give it grudgingly or with hesitation reflects an insecurity that denies the very thing the Church teaches.

I also believe that real giving serves to sanctify us — to shape us and mold us more into the image of Jesus — which is the whole point of our “being saved.” When we give away our money, we’re becoming like Christ as we act in our context the same way our Lord acted in his. We give up our physical resources for others because of our spiritual riches in God. When we give, we’re considering the needs of others more important than our own. That’s what it means to attain to the “whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

And this kind of giving applies equally to all baptized disciples of Jesus. It’s not the size of the weekly gift; it’s the size of the heart to give. It’s not the amount of the money; it’s the amount of the willingness and eagerness to give it. Regardless of economic status or income or employment or unemployment, these principles are for all of us. No exceptions.

The focus at Legacy is spiritual growth and maturity and discipline. Christian accountability to God and one another. Christian responsibility. Salvation and transformation. Becoming more like Christ. And the expectation for all our members is to consistently and sacrificially give of their incomes.

Excelling in giving has nothing to do with personal resources. Or even a job. It’s all about experiencing and participating in God’s mercy and grace.

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So, have the Cowboys mowed through the Eagles twice because the Eagles just aren’t very good? Or are the Cowboys really, really, really as good as they’ve looked?

It’s not that Philly’s bad. My word, they were averaging over 26-points per game. And the Cowboys, in two straight games, made them look older and slower and less athletic. Dallas just looks super fast, super young, super athletic. They look long and strong and quick. They’re making all their tackles. They’re finishing drives. They’re making field goals when they don’t finish drives. No turnovers; they’re forcing teams to go a full 80-yards. Felix Jones is healthy. Romo’s making smart throws. I think I even saw Bobby Carpenter make a play Saturday night. The Cowboys are playing with a focus that we haven’t seen in years. They celebrate with each other and for each other in ways that haven’t been experienced in a decade-and-a-half. Winning breeds confidence. And they’re playing with a boatload of it right now. They really seem to be on a mission. They’re focused. They don’t act like they’re finished yet. I saw Wade pump his fist Saturday night and mouth the words as Kool and the Gang blared “Celebrate good times, come on!” over the speakers at Jerry Wayne’s World. But they don’t seem as if they’ve accomplished yet what they’re going to.

I wonder, though, about the Vikings inside that dome up there. Brett Favre and that whole franchise have a lot of demons to exorcise against the Cowboys. Playoff demons. Last-second heart-breaking demons. Herschel Walker trade demons. Hail Mary demons. 99-yard-run on Monday Night Football demons. The Vikings were the last team to lose to Dallas in a playoff game. At Texas Stadium in December 1996. There’s a whole lot of pent-up frustration there. Serenity now – insanity later. Minnesota went undefeated at home this year. They’ve won their past five home games by more than 17 points. The past three times the Cowboys have flown into the Metrodome they’ve left as losers.

It’ll be loud up there Sunday. Really loud. Crazy people dressed up in fur wraps and viking horns. Hostile. Minnesota will feed off that for a while. It’ll be crazy. I imagine that Vikings front four will be rabid on those first two or three Cowboys drives. I assume Favre will take a couple of deep shots early to get a lead to drive the crowd to absolute delirium. I can see Flozell Adams picking up seven false start penalties — in the first quarter alone. I can also see Favre having no open receivers and forcing balls into double and triple coverage. I can see him throwing two or three picks. I can also imagine Romo getting blindsided by Jared Allen and coughing up the ball a couple of times. Has Roy Williams ever played in this kind of NFL playoff atmosphere or pressure? Isn’t the over-under on Williams’ catches at “one?” Won’t they double Miles Austin all day?

It’s going to come down to Adrian Peterson versus Felix Jones. With all the talk of Favre and Romo, it’s going to come down to the two running games. Minnesota has held nine opponents this year to under a hundred yards rushing. Running on Philly at home is one thing. Running against the Vikings at their place is another.

Vikings 27, Cowboys 20.

Peace,

Allan

"What the Ted?!?"

January 11, 2010 / Allan / 4 Comments

In the summer of 1985, I was a high school graduate a couple of months away from college. I was working for Don Cobler at Dallas Christian with my best friend, Todd Adkins. And we decided, almost on a whim, to attend the annual Texxas Jam at the Cotton Bowl.

I had never been to a real rock-and-roll concert, certainly not a festival-style rock show like this yearly event. In fact, my only concert experience had been a Huey Lewis and the News show at Six Flags the previous spring. Doesn’t really count, I know.

So, Todd and I geared up for the Texxas Jam. Saturday, August 24. We drank a lot of water and Gatorade. Todd’s mom packed us peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. My mom prayed. I was wearing Texas flag themed shorts and a 98-KZEW “The Zoo” T-shirt. We parked my 1974 Monte Carlo under the bridge at I-30 and 2nd Street and walked into Fair Park and the Cotton Bowl. Todd and me and 135,000 other idiots.

Deep Purple had just released a comeback album (Perfect Strangers), and they were the headliners. The Scorpions were playing. Bon Jovi was there, a little known band at the time, touring the country on the strength of their first, and at that time, only, hit, “Runaway”. They were so new and unknown, Bon Jovi actually played at noon that day.

And Ted Nugent.

3:00 that afternoon. Hottest part of the day. It must have been 130-degrees on the floor of the Cotton Bowl. Security personnel were spraying down the crowd with giant fire hoses from the stage. I saw at least four or five people pass out from heat exhaustion. Or heat stroke. Man, it was hot. And crowded. Todd and I had gone into survival mode. Over the course of the four or five hours we had already put in, we had managed to make our way to about ten or eleven rows from the front of the stage. I was trying to manuever closer for the Scorpions who were set to take the stage at 5:00.

But then the Motor City Madmad took the stage, swinging down on a rope from the rafters, wearing nothing but a loin cloth and cowboy boots. And he started yelling and screaming like a maniac. He told us all how glad he was to be in Texas. He told us all how friendly we were and how pretty the girls were here. He told us just how loud he was going to play and just how much of his heart and soul he was going to give to us and just how much he really expected us to participate with him. And for two solid hours he did. And we did. He was loud. He was over-the-top and in-your-face. Crazy. Amazing.

And two out of every three words out of his mouth were filthy curse words. Profanity like I’d never before heard in my life. Ever. And I’d been roofing houses for three years. I’d heard dirty language. I was familiar with the genre. But I’d never heard anything like this. Seriously, every other word.

I had no idea a person could really talk like that. He played an amazing guitar. He put on a show that rivals the best I’ve ever seen since. But I couldn’t get past the language. It was too much.

Following that show, Todd and I began referring to cursing and profanity as “pulling a Ted.” We called people who cussed all the time, Ted. It evolved over the next several months as a way to substitute Ted’s name for actual curse words. It became our catch-all by-word or euphemism. Other people have “Crud!” or “Gosh!” or “Holy Smokes!” or “Shoot!” or “Hannah Marie!” (That’s what my dad says.)

Todd and I had “Ted!”

An exclamation used when one realizes things are not going well or when something suddenly goes very wrong.

You’re in a hurry and the traffic light turns red. “Ted.”

Ken Griffy, Jr. hits three home-runs against the Rangers. “Ted!”

You hit your thumb with a hammer. “Ted!!!”

Some guy pulls out in front of you on LBJ and causes you to hit a guardrail at 60 miles-per-hour. “Ted Nugent!!!”

For 25 years now I’ve been using Ted Nugent’s name in vain. My family says “Ted.” My co-workers — back in radio and even in the Church — have all heard me say “Ted” and have even said it themselves in rare moments of surprise and carelessness. I use the expression on the basketball court. I use it when I’m working on my truck and when I’m putting up Christmas lights. We had a fish named “Ted” in my dorm room in college. I tried to get Valerie to name her hamster “Ted.”

So, Saturday night, I’m in Glenn Branscum’s suite again for the Cowboys playoff game against the Eagles. (Thank you, Glenn. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.) We’d been there a little over an hour when all the servicemen and military personnel brought the huge American flag onto the field for the National Anthem. And the P.A. announced that, here to perform the Star Spangled Banner…please welcome…Ted Nugent!

“What the Ted?!?”

And there he was. In all his maniacal in-your-face glory. Hunting jacket. Cowboy boots. Camo hat. Pony tail. And — no offense and no disrespect intended — he absolutely ripped the snot out of the national anthem! He nailed it. Jimi Hendrix style. Wow. I was blown away. He had all 92-thousand-plus on their feet and cheering throughout, especially as he built up to and then held those last few notes. Man! What a rush.

And as I settled back into my black leather chair (Thank you, Glenn. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.) and reviewed the horrible video and audio I had just barely captured on my cell phone, Trent Podsednik leaned over to me and said, “You know Ted Nugent is just three or four suites over from this one.”

And he was.

I grabbed my camera, a program, and a Sharpie, and bolted to the door. Karen and Stacy and I waited at the elevator for between ten and fifteen minutes and, finally, here he came. Ted Nugent! I gave my camera to Karen and approached him with great boldness. I introduced myself and he acted genuinely pleased to meet me. (Of course he was; how could he not be?) He stopped long enough for me to talk to him about that Texxas Jam in ’85. He said I was about the 30th person to mention that show to him that night. He paused for a couple of pictures. He autographed the fronts of all our Cowboys programs, said “God bless you” twice, and ducked into his suite.

My heart was pounding. I could barely breathe. It took me most of the first quarter to calm down.

There were a lot of famous people there at Cowboys Stadium Saturday night. Someone pointed out George W. Bush. Yeah, I thought, I’ve interviewed him one-on-one two or three times. Roger Staubach was there. I sat next to him at Tex Schramm’s Ring of Honor press conference. Emmitt Smith? I was there with him before and after his record-setting day at Texas Stadium. I’ve spoken to him hundreds of times. Same with almost everybody else in the building. Preston Pearson. Dan Reeves. Michael Irvin. I’ve done shows with those guys. But walking up to Ted Nugent and speaking with the Motor City Madman in person had me shaking like a little girl. I was downright giddy. Floating. Grinning like a fool for the rest of the night.

I didn’t tell Ted that three generations of my friends and family regularly take his name in vain. It’s too long a story and I’m not sure he would understand. But meeting this rock legend Saturday night and sharing a brief Texxas Jam memory with him in the hallway at Cowboys Stadium was cool. Very, very cool.

Don’t tell anybody you read this. It’s kinda weird.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Cowboys (Page 32 of 54)

I Owe You a Post

The Aroma of Christ

God Was With ______.

Freely Give

Expectation #2

"What the Ted?!?"

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