The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: Evangelism (Page 11 of 20)

Traditional Church

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

N. T. Wright says the problem with traditional church is that usually “there’s too much tradition and not enough church.” Put another way, there is a big difference between doing church and being church, right?

When the church is seen by the world as moving straight from the worship of God into making a difference in the community; when it’s clear that the people who feast at Christ’s table are also the ones working to eliminate hunger and famine; when people realize that those who pray for the Spirit to work through them are the same ones who seem to have extra measures of patience and grace; when the world really experiences the love of God in the children of God, it becomes natural for people to recognize that something is going on they want to be a part of.

In a lot of cases, I think, genuine forgiveness and/or a hot meal do much better evangelism than a church service or a sermon. When the church is living out the mission of God —say, like in Acts 2:42-47 — the Word of God will spread powerfully and do its own salvation work in the world.

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

I would recommend a brand new banana pudding milkshake at Chick-Fil-A. Right now.

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

Before we leave for the annual Tulsa Workshop, I’ll leave you with a George Burns line that was forwarded to me today by a kind and sweet but wholly misguided brother in the Lord. “The secret to a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending…and to have the two as close together as possible.”

Tulsa Time,

Allan

A Little Child Will Lead Them

March 18, 2011 / / 1 Comment

“…and a little child will lead them.” ~Isaiah 11:6

Maddie Thompson purchased the ingredients to bake oatmeal-raisin cookies. Kendra Morgan bought colorful pipe cleaners to make exotic rings and bracelets. Mason Mallory stocked up on hair gel in order to spike Legacy’s lids.

Our little kids here at church have taken the lesson of Jesus’ talents parable in Matthew 25 and they’re running with it!

As part of our Missions Month kickoff at Legacy two weeks ago our elementary aged children were each given a five dollar bill with instructions to put the money to work. They were told to multiply their money, just like the servants in Jesus’ story, and then to present the totals as their offering on Missions Sunday.

So, at our Small Group, Kendra unveiled a black velvet display of her amazing jewelry ($1 each piece). Maddie was taking cookie orders before and after Bible class Wednesday night ($1 for 3 cookies, $2 to have them dipped in chocolate). And by the time I made my way from the worship center down to the gym after class, every man between the ages of 25 and 45 had his hair standing straight up, spiked to the max ($2).

Our kids are washing cars and hosting garage sales, making buttons and bookmarks and coasters; babysitting, cooking, creating. They’re multiplying those five dollar bills by, in some cases, over two thousand percent! And they’re giving one hundred percent of the money to Legacy’s missions efforts at the end of the month.

Here’s where you and I come in:

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do over the next two weeks is hand one of these kids a buck for a cookie or a bracelet. You will be partnering with our Father in increasing the faith of our children. You’ll be showing them that God always provides, that God always honors our efforts to serve him, that God always gives the increase and multiplies our works done in his name. You’ll be communicating to them that they are a valuable part of what this church family is all about. The kids will think you’re really cool. You might be sowing the seeds of a really special relationship.

Our children are on fire right now for joining God in his mission of redeeming the world. They’re experiencing what it’s like to engage in something that’s bigger than themselves, to really give of themselves for a greater cause. And it thrills me. It’s one of the neatest things I’ve experienced here at Legacy. They’re leading us. They’re showing us what it looks like to be enthusiastic for our Lord. They’re showing us what it feels like to depend on God to bless our heart-felt efforts and then experience those blessings in outrageous measure. They’re proving to us that if we had the faith of a child, our God would work through us to blow that measly little $250,702 goal out of the water!

Let’s encourage them. Let’s fan those gifts into flame. Let’s all bring one dollar bills to church Sunday, ready to pass our faith on to our kids.

The hair gel is temporary; it washes out. The dollar you give and the encouragement you share may very well last forever.

Peace,

Allan

We Need an Encounter

March 8, 2011 / / 2 Comments

So my great friend Jason Reeves calls me at about 10:15 this morning. He’s the preacher at the Grayston Church in New Diana, Texas. East Texas. On Lazy Daisy Lane. Seriously, that’s the name of the street. It’s out there, man. I call it Green Acres. When Jason says he’s going to town, he means he’s going to Gilmer. Yeah. So he tells me, “Stanglin, I just got a phone call that you’ve never ever had before in the history of your ministry.”

A woman at his church had called Jason to please come over and shoot a raccoon out of her tree.

He was on his way.

I’m curious as to how it went.

Ah, congregational ministry.

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

The priests and Levites are interrogating John the Baptist in the opening chapter of the Fourth Gospel. And the focus of the questioning is John himself. “Who are you? What are you doing?” And John’s answers are “I am not the Christ. I am not Elijah. I am not the prophet.”

“I’m just a voice,” he says, “making the way for the Lord.” And he points to Jesus. “He is the one…”

And this powerful preacher, this amazing proclaimer in the desert who’s drawing all these crowds and getting all this attention, keeps pointing others to Jesus. He deflects the spotlight. He doesn’t seek it and he doesn’t want it. “Look! The Lamb of God!”

He points two of his own disciples in Jesus’ direction. One of those men, Andrew, has an encounter with Jesus and is changed forever. He runs to get his brother. “We have found the Messiah! We have found the Christ!”

Philip has an encounter with Jesus and he’s changed forever. He runs to get his friend. “We have found the one Moses wrote about! We have found the one about whom the prophets wrote!”

These men come face to face with Jesus and they recognize immediately who he is. And they witness. They testify. They declare that Jesus is “Christ.” “The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” “Rabbi.” “Messiah.” “Son of God.” “King of Israel.” And they cannot be stopped from sharing this revelation with their friends.

I wonder why we don’t grab our friends to share the Good News. Why aren’t we pointing people to Jesus? Well, when’s the last time you had an encounter with him? I’m not talking about a particularly inspirational church service. This is not about participating in a dynamic church program. When’s the last time you really opened yourself up to his leading? When’s the last time you spent an hour in the Gospels with him? When’s the last time you poured your heart out to him in prayer? When’s the last time you allowed him to change you?

In the New Testament, an encounter with the Christ naturally resulted in evangelism. We need an encounter. We need a face to face meeting with our Lord. We need to put aside our inhibitions and give ourselves freely to his transforming power. We need to allow him to change us. To move us. To compel us. We need to be awed again to be in his presence. We need to be blown away again by the fact that he’s rescued us. We need to grasp all over again just how much he loves us. We need to understand who he really is. Because, once we do, our lives will point everyone we know to Jesus.

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

The knot on the back of Mark Hooper’s head is good for distracting people during Bible class. It’s a good conversation piece. It’s a physical wonder and a medical curiosity. And today it’s a reminder that hope springs eternal in Surprise, Arizona.

That’s really sick, Mark.

Peace,

Allan

Forgetting the Point

January 27, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Dietrich Bonhoeffer inspires me. I’ve been fascinated by Bonhoeffer since the day Michael Weed introduced me to the Christian author, theologian, and martyr in a theology class at Austin Grad a little over five years ago. Bonhoeffer moves me. Not just because he wrote about true discipleship to Jesus, not just because he preached against the cheap grace he saw accepted and practiced in the Church, and not just because he talked all the time about the ultimate lordship and reign of Christ. Bonhoeffer moves me because he so truly lived it. He embodied it. He gave his life for it.

So I pay attention to Bonhoeffer. He was real. He put his very life on the line for what he preached and wrote about commitment to Jesus and God’s salvation mission in the world. As Paschal once noted, “I tend to believe the witnesses who get their throats cut.” Me, too.

It’s been almost three weeks since I finished reading Eric Metaxas’ hefty biography, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy. I’ve spent several hours since going back over the things I’ve highlighted, re-reading the pages I’ve marked up, trying desperately to will the words and the passion of this great man into my very soul.

There’s so much I want to share with you from this book. His writings about the Church sound as if they were penned yesterday. His understanding of the Gospel is as clear as if he were at those resurrection meals with Jesus. His call for true discipleship to our Lord is challenging. Convicting.

Personal.

Allow me to give you a taste.

Bonhoeffer was greatly troubled by the secularization he saw in the Church. The focus, as he saw it, wasn’t as much on the central Christian doctrines of forgiveness and grace, sanctification and discipleship, resurrection and justice as it was on progress and success, relevancy and status. Note how his observations about the big churches in New York City, written when he was at Union Theological Seminary in 1930, ring just as true today.

“In the place of the church as the congregation of believers in Christ there stands the church as a social corporation. Anyone who has seen the weekly program of one of the large New York churches, with their daily, indeed almost hourly events, teas, lectures, concerts, charity events, opportunities for sports, games, bowling, dancing for every age group, anyone who has heard how they try to persuade a new resident to join the church, insisting that you’ll get into society quite differently by doing so, anyone who has become acquainted with the embarrassing nervousness with which the pastor lobbies for membership — that person can well assess the character of such a church. All these things, of course, take place with varying degrees of tactfulness, taste, and seriousness; some churches are basically ‘charitable’ churches; others have primarily a social identity. One cannot avoid the impression, however, that in both cases they have forgotten what the real point is.”

Ah, the point. What is the point? What is God’s mission for his Church? What do we aim for? What do we live for? What’s the goal? What’s the point?

To seek and to save the lost. To bind up the injured and strengthen the weak. To release the captives and set the prisoners free. To proclaim and to live in the truth that God in Christ has defeated the dark forces of sin and death and Satan and is right now making his dwelling place among us, renewing and restoring all of creation, reconciling the world to himself in righteous relationship so that we will be his people and he will eternally be our God.

It’s hard work. It’s dirty work. It’s grimy and messy. It requires muscle and sweat and blood and tears. It takes great sacrifice. It takes every ounce of everything you’ve got.

But that is the point. Let’s not ever forget the point.

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

Today is my great friend Dan Miller’s 50th birthday. In honor of Dan, let’s all repair our cars with duct tape and twistie ties and order extra cheese. On everything.

Happy birthday, Dan. I love you, brother. You mean the world to me.

Allan

Of Elders Meetings, Atheists, and Huskers

December 3, 2010 / / 2 Comments

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Steve Pelluer…

At the beginning of last night’s elders / ministers  meeting, one of our saintly-est members walked in out of the blue to pray for us. He told us he appreciated us, that he prays for us every day, and that he believes we’re all doing the right things. He prayed for us. He thanked God for us. He asked God to bless us and our families. He asked God to protect us. And this wonderful man thanked us again for allowing him the privilege of working for the Lord at this congregation. Then he begged us to use him even more. As he walked out, he patted a few of us on the back. We had been blessed.

A similar thing happened at the beginning of last month’s meeting. A couple who have only been Legacy members for about eight weeks popped in to meet everybody. They shook our  hands, and expressed a desire to pray for us. They told us they loved this church, they supported the leadership, and they had every intention of getting busy in God’s work here. And we prayed. And we were blessed.

What a breath of fresh air. What a shot in the arm. What a glorious gift of affirmation and encouragement from our Father through these dear brothers and sisters. And what a carry-over effect it seems to have throughout our meeting! Both of our past two meetings have gone really, really well. I think we’re happier, more confident, more willing to step up and do the right things, less willing to get bogged down in unimportant matters.

We always open up our time together in those Thursday meetings with a passage from Scripture and prayer. I’ve always thought that’s the best way to begin any elders’ meeting — the only way. Now, I’m re-thinking it. The past two meetings have started off really nicely.

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

By now you’ve seen the stories and heard the news about the four city of Fort Worth buses that will be sporting atheist advertising on their sides beginning next week. The DFW Coalition of Reason purchased the ads for a little over $2,480 to run for 30 days. They say the slogan on the boards, “Millions of Americans are good without God,” is intended to encourage people who don’t believe in God during the Christmas season when they can feel so left out and isolated. The Christians who are being interviewed for the stories, however, see the billboards as offensive and insulting.

Yeah, the ads are insulting to Christian disciples. To suggest that one must abandon all reason to accept God as Almighty Creator or Christ as Lord is terribly offensive to me.

Now there are groups of church leaders and pastors and ministers who are pushing for a boycott of the Fort Worth Public Transit system as long as the ads are displayed on the sides of these four buses. One local preacher I saw on TV last night declared something along the lines of “If the signs go up, we will walk!” He added that their Christian boycott will “force” the city to remove these ads that “don’t agree with what we believe!” The premise of a boycott is that the offenders will be pressured by money, the potential loss of money, and bow to the boycotters’ demands. It’s an economic battle. A fight fought with weapons of money and commerce.

I know that Christ Jesus never forced his way onto anybody. He never imposed his will on anybody. He never used a position of strength to get his way. He never gathered up large groups of disciples to subdue by power those who opposed him. He never tried to influence with money. He never threatened. He never intimidated or bullied. What in the world makes Christians today think that’s the best way to handle these kinds of situations?

I imagine actually riding the buses would be a much better idea for Christians who really do want to be more like their King. I imagine the billboards would provide the perfect starter for spiritual conversations. I imagine perfect strangers on these buses — especially on one of the four buses — will be talking about the ads. “Hey, we’re actually riding one of the buses that’s causing all the uproar!”

“I don’t think it’s that big a deal. What do you think?”

And there it is. Your opportunity to share your faith. Your opening to profess your belief in a Sovereign God and his crucified and resurrected Son. Your platform to declare your hope and your peace and the heavenly source of your eternal life.

Every day we’re met with moments in which we can act like Christ or act in a way that denies Christ. I don’t believe there’s such a thing as a “christian boycott.”

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

Nebraska plays OU for the Big XII title tomorrow night. And I’m torn.

On the one hand, everything in my very, very Texas bones cries out against Zero-U. My four years at Oklahoma Christian and exposure to Sooners fans there only solidified my inherited bias against the Crimson and Cream. I can’t root for OU.

But, Nebraska? I can’t cheer for them either. I’ve never personally held anything agaisnt Nebraska. I always thought Tom Osbourn versus Barry Switzer was an easy call. But Bo Pelini is a different story. Hard to root for a guy who seemingly treats players and officials and his own coaches as less than human. But the bigger issue at hand is Nebraska’s pending Big XII defection. They’re leaving the conference, abandoning the league because they feel they’re mistreated by a Texas bias. We can’t have the Huskers leave the Big XII with the championship trophy!

It should be a fantastic game. The bitter hatred between these two teams goes back more than a hundred years. This is one of the greatest rivalries in college football. And there hasn’t been this much riding on a Nebraska-Oklahoma game in decades. It’ll be nuts inside Jerry’s Stadium. And I’m going to be blessed to enjoy the game wtih one of my greatest friends, good ol’ Dan Miller, and his family. Dan is a Husker to the core. Life long. He grew up just outside Lincoln. Went to school at Nebraska. He’s been foaming at the mouth for a month.

You won’t catch me wearing red. And I’ll never sing that most banal and tiresome of fight songs, Boomer Sooner. But I’m cheering for Zero-U tomorrow.

Don’t tell anybody.

Peace,

Allan

Give Away Day Still Going

November 9, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Right at 160 total families, including more than 500 children, were given blue jeans and sweaters and coats and pillows and shirts this past Saturday as Legacy took Give Away Day to Siempre Familia and the Rosemont neighborhoods of South Fort Worth. Estimates range from 150 to 200 actual volunteers who worked the event. Of course, the numbers of those who built racks, transported equipment, served food, sorted clothes, and cleaned up afterward go way beyond even that.

People were served in the name of Christ. God was praised. Our Lord was given glory and honor. People who don’t know Jesus were shown his love and mercy.

And then Give Away Day ended.

But God’s work and the work of his church at Siempre Familia did not.

At least seven families who received assistance at Give Away Day showed up for Sunday night’s combination Spanish/English song service where they received even more compassion and grace; where they received an even bigger sense of community; where they made even more connections. The names and contact information for each of the families who were served were tacked up on a cross at the front of the worship center. The congregation was asked to take one of those cards, to adopt one of those families, to make phone calls and visits, to commit to taking care of these families through the rest of the year.

And by the end of the service, all the cards were taken. By the end of this week, every family will be contacted by phone or personal visit. By the end of this month, I anticipate sharing with you stories of Bible studies and baptisms.

There’s something very powerful about reaching out to people in our own zip codes, about jumping in to our own communities with the truth of salvation from God in our risen Savior. Those of us who were there Saturday understand that much better now. There were connections being made in every conversation. There were friendships being formed and fostered with every interaction.

I walked a few people to their cars with a Christian volunteer named Raul. I don’t know how long Raul’s been a part of that Siempre Familia church. I have no idea. I’d never met Raul before. But Raul asked every person he met where they lived. Where do you work? Where do your kids go to school? How long have you lived here? And with every answer, Raul would exclaim, “I know somebody who lives on that street!” or “My cousin works there!” or “Do your children know so-and-so? Their kids go to that school, too!”

See, that kind of thing never could happen with Give Away Day here at Legacy. The people who came to Give Away Day didn’t live here. The people who live here don’t come to Give Away Day. But it’s different now at Siempre Familia. There’s already a level of trust between the church and the people. There’s already a bond there. There’s already a strong sense of community there. And our God is using it to expand his Kingdom in those parks and streets around Rosemont.

Thank you to all who gave of their time and energy and money and emotion. May our God continue to use Give Away Day to his eternal glory and praise.

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

I feel sorry today for Wade Phillips. I feel sorry for Jason Garrett. I feel sorry for Paul Pasqualoni. I feel sorry for Chan Gailey and Dave Campo. I feel sorry for every head coach and coordinator who has had to work for an owner who is also the general manager. It’s not fair.

I’m not sure how Jerry Wayne can keep going the way he’s going. I don’t know how he can break from a meeting about the boxing match at Cowboys Stadium to run to the coach’s offices to mandate a lineup change to answer a phone call about a merchandizing deal with an auto parts chain to sprint down to the film room to evaluate the upcoming draft. It just doesn’t work. This 51st season of Cowboys football will go down as the most bitterly disappointing in franchise history. Does Jerry Wayne need more proof that his way won’t cut it?

One playoff win in 14 years. They’ve missed the playoffs seven times in eleven seasons. How does that make the Cowboys any different than Seattle or Carolina or the Cardinals? Oh, yeah. Those teams have all been to Super Bowls since Dallas.

I feel sorry for Wade and Garrett. And Bill Cowher or Jon Gruden. Or whoever’s going to coach this team next. It’s not fair.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2025 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑