Category: Legacy Church Family (Page 21 of 37)

wbAP RadIo LiFe is cOOL

wbAPRadIoLiFeiscOOLBack in the summer of 2005 when Carrie-Anne and I were making the decision to leave sports radio and enter the preaching ministry full-time, I sought out several trusted sources of wisdom and advice. I talked to preachers and elders and family members and even a couple of people in radio. A great source of encouragement was Ron Rose, at the time the preaching minister at the Woodland West Church of Christ in Arlington.

Ron had been in radio for many years before making the switch to preaching. But he never completely made the switch full-time. He kept up a daily devotional on the air and even hosted a three-hour Christian talk show on the weekends. In ’05 he told me he was in the middle of putting together a full weekend of religious programming, getting the funding and the sponsorships and the on-air talent, and that maybe by the time I got my Master’s at Austin Grad, he’d have a place for me.

Truthfully, once radio gets into your blood you can’t get it out. It’s a sickness. It’s a disease. Every now and then I miss being behind the microphone, answering the calls, engaging the listeners in earnest debate.

Well, Ron called me a couple of months ago with an opportunity I just can’t pass up. Starting in May, I’m going to be hosting a three-hour religious call in show on Sunday mornings on WBAP. Yes, the home of the Dallas Stars and Hal Jay and Ted Sorrells and even Legacy’s own J Bailey. In fact, J’s been very instrumental in making this happen for me. And I couldn’t be more grateful.

There’s a bit of a conflict with our Sunday morning assemblies here at Legacy. But we think we have it worked out pretty well. With our tremendous recent success in hooking up live with our missionaries in Ukraine and Australia via the miracle of the internet skype, it seems the next logical step would be to utilize that technology on a full-time basis in our regular worship assemblies. Imagine, the Legacy church family gathering on a Sunday morning to sing and pray and worship our God. And then at straight down 10:30am, we go live to the WBAP studios for a simulcasted sermon / religious talk show. For 30-minutes I can preach and/or discuss the passage and topic of the day. It can be interactive with callers and with our people in the pews. Our own members could call in or text questions and comments via their cell phones. A true 21st century multi-media worship experience!

I’ll be right there on the screens, so it’ll be fine. In fact, it’ll be even better. Allan-Enhanced. Allan-HD. Legacy-To The Max!

Tim Sharpe’s working on some brand new 3-D technology that we might could implement soon. We could make our 5th Sundays our Legacy 3-D Sundays and all wear the glasses together and watch the sermon. The possibilities are endless.

We wanted to kick this off in APRIL but FOOLish dragging of our feet on a few of the technological issues has slowed us down. We’re targeting Sunday May 3, the week after our Legacy 50th Anniversary.

I hope you’re as excited about this new opportunity as I am. Stay tuned for more. I’ll keep you informed as more details become available.

Peace,

Allan

On Stream, the Team, a Faulty Scheme, and a Magazine

Stream DFW

Ken Young and Hallal are finally bringing “Stream” to Dallas – Fort Worth! “Stream in the Desert,” out in Midland, has for years been the annual worship and spiritual formation highlight for thousands of disciples. I’ve never been to a “Stream” weekend. But I’ve always been envious of those who have. They always come back talking about it the way I talk about Tulsa. They come back from “Stream” energized, on fire for our Master and his Kingdom. They rave about the singing. They gush over the preaching. Most “Stream” regulars claim it’s the one thing that keeps them going. “Stream” expanded to Tennessee a few years ago. And now they’re bringing it to North Texas.

The dates are August 28-30. It’ll be held at the South MacArthur Church of Christ in Irving. Grady King and the great people over there hosted a bunch of us preachers and worship leaders yesterday for a kick-off lunch. And I’m excited about this.

From what I understand, it’s tons of singing. Lots of singing. Joyful praise and worship. Singing. And then Session One with Jeff Walling. That’s followed by more singing. Lots more singing. Ken Young and Hallal leading us in exhuberant singing. And then more Jeff Walling. I think it runs like this from Friday evening, all day Saturday, and through Sunday morning: singing and Walling, singing and Walling, singing and Walling. I think five or six different inspirational sessions. What’s not to like? Singing and Walling? Two-thousand saints raising the roof? One of the best preachers — ever — challenging us with the Word? I’m in!

And I’m hoping you will be, too. We’ve thrown Legacy’s support fully behind this thing. I hope we can all be a part. Over the next few weeks they’ll be looking for volunteers to work in all kinds of different capacities to help pull this off. They’re especially looking for Small Groups leaders to help facilitate some of the break out sessions. I know we have plenty of those here. Go ahead and put it on your calendar. If you’re reading this from anywhere in the Great Southwest, make plans now to be there. Much more information will be coming in the next few days. And I’ll keep you posted. I’ve also added the “Stream DFW” website to my blog role there on the right hand side of this page.

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We got drove! I’m grateful we don’t have our last names on the backs of our jerseys or “Legacy” on the front. We have real jerseys now with real numbers. But Team Dyniewski didn’t play like a real basketball team last night. We even brought in a ringer to run the point. But once we gave up our lead with six minutes to play in the first half, it was over.

We have plenty of excuses. John had never played with us before. Josh was out of town on business (thankfully, he wasn’t there to berate us). We lost Coker and his Herschel Walker shoes about 90-seconds into the game with a pulled calf. I think I went 0-8 from the field. Aaron was quadruple-teamed every trip down the floor. And we still couldn’t get a rebound or hit an open shot to save our lives. Bad game.

We trailed by nine at the half, 16 with six minutes to play, and wound up losing 50-41.

Whatever momentum we had in this league on the heels of last week’s great come-from-behind win is gone. And we might not get it back. The bad news (yes, it gets much worse) is that the team we’re playing next Monday beat the team that beat us last night 96-32. Oh, yeah. They’re going to hang a hundred on us next week. Josh, you might want to stay in San Antonio.

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Dead BracketsA couple of you have asked about my bracket. I went into this NCAA tournament bound and determined to defeat Whitney who unseated me as undefeated Beast of the Brackets in a tie-breaker last year. The good news is that I’ve defeated Whitney. There’s no way she can catch me. The bad news is that our outcomes are already determined because our two brackets are done. Busted. Blown up. It’s over. Whitney picked none of the Final Four teams. I have one: UNC. And I don’t have Carolina advancing to the title tilt. So I’ve finished with 70 points to Whitney’s 63.

But we’re both on the sidelines now watching a new champion emerge at Stanglin Manor.

Right now, Carrie-Anne has 72 points but can only pick up another potential five because she had Duke winning the whole thing. Valerie‘s sitting at 65. But she has three of the Final Four and could gain another 16 points this weekend if Carolina wins and UConn takes the trophy. Carley‘s racked up 70 points right now and can add another eleven if the Huskies win it all in Detroit. If Carolina beats Villanova AND UConn wins the title, both Valerie and Carley will finish with 81 points. And the winner will be determined by a tie-breaker based on the final score.

How is it that it’s going to come down to the two in our house who care absolutely nothing about the games or the teams or even the sport? I’m rooting for Nova and Michigan State. That way it won’t be a blowout.

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Dawn (Stanley) Shelton has written a nice article about me and my family in the current issue of VISION, the alumni magazine at Oklahoma Christian University. I was surprised when she contacted me a couple of months ago about the piece. I was honored, certainly. Flattered, even. And somewhat hesitant. My years at OC weren’t exactly my greatest moments. In fact, Dawn joked that they thought about headlining the article “Allan Stanglin’s Doing What?!?”

But it’s a very nice article that, hopefully, illustrates by my life that our God is overly-gracious and kind, that he never gives up on his children, and that he keeps calling us to do his will. I hope it also communicates that our Father will use us in his Kingdom to do more than we can ever ask or imagine. All we have to do is submit to him and his will.

We haven’t recieved our copy of the magazine yet. I’m anticipating getting it today. But it started hitting mailboxes on Saturday. Retha Stark, a kind, sweet sister here at Legacy phoned Carrie-Anne upon reading it this weekend. My sister, Rhonda, called me last night from Edmond. She had accidentally stumbled upon it, flipping through the pages to see if any of her old classmates had birthed any more babies. After she read it, she gave it my 12-year-old nephew, Caleb. He carefully studied the article, soaked in every word, and then looked at Rhonda and said, “I still wish Uncle Allan was in sports radio.”

Peace,

Allan

His Glorious Riches

“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:19

I suppose in every single church family in America — maybe the world, but definitely America — there are naysayers. There are people who say it can’t be done. There are others who say it shouldn’t be done. They rarely smile or compliment. They see a negative behind every action. They detect a problem behind every word. They perceive a wrong motive or a false agenda behind every move that’s made.

And I sometimes take that personally. I sometimes try too hard and spend too much time and energy trying to soothe the feelings of this one-percent who are never happy and don’t act like they want to be happy. Sometimes those negative things bog me down. Sometimes they weigh on me. They burden me. Too much, I’m afraid, most of the time.

I suppose, unfortunately, that will always be the case.

And then yesterdays happen.

Yesterday. Wow.

You know, you pray and pray that prayer that Terry Rush teaches: “God, please just do that thing you do.” And God answers in amazing ways that prove he’s already doing that thing he does, he’s been doing it every day since the beginning of time, and he’s going to keep doing it until time ceases to tick.

$251,318 generously given to fund our local and foreign missions budget for 2009, far surpassing our set goal of $200,000. Unprecedented at this place. Two years in a row, now, we’ve blown our goal out of the water.

1,067 men, women, and children came together to praise God and encourage one another. Largest crowd since August. So much energy. So much excitement.

Robert and Angela Brooks gave their lives to our Lord by being baptized into his death, burial, and resurrection. Two hearts convicted by the love of God. Two lives changed — re-created — right before our eyes. An answer to so many prayers.

Six more families placed their membership with Legacy: 15 total newcomers to bless our church family, to impact our dynamic, to serve and sacrifice with us, together, as we work in the Kingdom.

A cross-cultural communion service at our Master’s table. Christ as our gracious host. Two peoples. Two cultures. Two languages. United in salvation through the blood of Jesus.

Nearly 600 shared dinner together Sunday night, worshiped together, and encouraged our LTC participants together. Loud. Chaotic. Tons of smiles. Lots of laughter. Tables and tables of food. Fellowship. Sharing. Koinonia.

Another $383.50 given for the Academy at Carrie F. Thomas, reaching our stated goal of $6,000 to purchase much-needed document cameras for this under-funded elementary school in our community.

All of this within a nine-hour time frame yesterday at Legacy. Undeniable proof that our God is alive and working with his people. Indisputable testimony to our God’s faithfulness to his children. Crystal clear evidence that his Holy Spirit is transforming his Church.

As blessings pile on top of blessings we are increasingly convinced that our Father is keeping his covenant promises to Legacy and to all of his creation.  It’s increasingly obvious that our God is blessing Legacy and planning to bless all of North East Tarrant County and every corner of this globe through this body of believers.

The ministers and staff and every last one of our shepherds and everybody who stopped by the church building today are still riding the wave of energy and enthusiasm and blessing generated by our God’s clear actions with his people here yesterday.

And we intend to ride it for quite some time.

I certainly do. 

I intend to smile at the naysayers and love them and hug them and do my Christ-like best to develop relationships with them. But I will not be deterred. We won’t be slowed down. I can point to yesterday and I can point to a dozen things that happen in the life of this congregation every single day. Every day! Stuff like yesterday is happening all around this place. In our Small Groups. In our Morning Prayers. In our Bible studies. In our lunches together. In our conversations in the parking lot. In hospital rooms and high school gyms. In your kitchen and in my office.

God is doing that thing he does at Legacy!

“To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ~Philippians 4:20

Peace,

Allan

A Time To Give

“The Church has nothing to do but to save souls. Therefore, spend and be spent in this work.” ~John Wesley

God saves people. That’s his work. It’s what he does.

God rescues from slavery. He delivers from exile. He provides food and water in the desert. He opposes the oppressor. He champions the weak and defenseless. He stills the storms. He gives sight to the blind and causes the lame to walk again. He protects and defends. He’s our Shield and our very great Reward. He’s the Rock. He’s the Refuge. He provides shelter. He turns turmoil into peace. He transfers sickness into health. He shines light into the darkness and brings life out of death.

That’s God’s work. It’s what he does. And it never stops. God is out there in his world right now today doing these works with his children. He’s out there loving and blessing people, redeeming and reconciling people, and defeating the enemies of his people.

And we join him in that work.

Every time the Gospel is preached, every time a sick person is cured, every time a church is planted, every time a hungry child is fed, every time a woman is baptized, every time a homeless man is given a bed, we are joining God in his work.

Sunday is Missions Sunday at Legacy.

The goal is $200,000 to fund the entire local and foreign missions budget for 2009.

As a church family we’ve studied and preached and prayed and sung about it. We’ve done the math. We’ve read the brochures and pamphlets, hung banners and worn buttons, studied pledge cards and learned a new song. We’ve heard from MITS, LST, BandS, and Fortress. We’ve seen David Nelson’s new haircut and Corey and Emily Mullins’ pajamas. We’ve seen pictures of neglected children, lost souls, and pregnant goats. We’ve been inspired by our missionaries and challenged by our shepherds.

And now it’s time to give.

Legacy to the World!

Allan

Surrounded

I love Missions Month here at Legacy. For 31 days we zero in and focus on God’s call to seek and to save the lost, in our own neighborhoods and in Ukraine and the Philippines, in our own subdivisions and on the streets of downtown Fort Worth and Nairobi. We get to meet and hear our missionaries who are doing Kingdom work all over the globe. We get to see pictures and hear stories about the salvation work of God through Christ. We get to witness the ongoing reconciliation of the world back to its gracious Creator.

And it energizes me. It’s strong. It fills me with a renewed sense of purpose and mission. (It also fills me, in some ways, with envy. These missionaries are on the front lines of the Lord’s battle with Satan. They’re making a real difference in people’s lives, having a genuine eternal impact on the Kingdom. Meanwhile, I sometimes feel like a “religious shopkeeper,” to borrow a Eugene Peterson term. Sometimes I feel like I’m just a chaplain for a local congregation. But that’s a different post for another day. Stay on task! Stay on task!)

David&OliviaNelsonThis past week, through the miracle of the internet skype, our wonderful young missionaries in Kharkov, Ukraine, David & Olivia Nelson, were able to join us live from their bedroom for our Sunday morning worship assembly. There they were, up on the big screens in the worship center, talking to us about life in Eastern Europe. And David kind of poured his heart out to us.

It was unexpected. It was unscripted. It was open and honest and real.

David looked right into the camera, right into our eyes, and thanked us for the prayers and the money and the cards and the calls and the letters. He praised God for our partnership in spreading the great news. And then he told us, point-blank, that the honeymoon’s over. Life as a missionary in Ukraine isn’t nearly as glamorous now as it was when they got there six months ago. It’s hard. Nobody speaks English. It’s dark and cold. It hasn’t stopped snowing. Different language. Different culture. Different habits. Lonliness. Rejection. It’s tough. And David told us. It’s difficult.

And our hearts broke.

David read the passage I had selected from 1 Timothy about being rich in good deeds. And he led us in a beautiful prayer from nearly six-thousand miles away. But I think we were still processing the things David had said earlier.

We were all deeply touched by their honest confession. And divinely inspired and encouraged by their Christ-like resolve. All of us. I know that because apparently most of our church family bombarded the Nelsons with phone calls and emails as soon as our service was over.

Olivia sent out their weekly prayer list on Tuesday and started with this:

“Surrounded. That’s how I feel today as I’m sitting here writing you all. I feel surrounded by so many of you, and most of you are really far away right now! How God can use his Body to give us hugs that seem to reach across oceans is beyond me, but he does and I’m grateful. Yesterday David and I were able to worship with Legacy from our bedroom. David briefly shared with the congregation about how things were going here, then read a scripture and prayed for us all. We spent the next hour sitting on our bed, singing, praying, and glorifying our Lord with our family in Fort Worth. Since then, emails have been popping into our inbox, encouraging us and spurring us on, each one of them touching us in different ways. He is using you all — your prayers, your notes, your emails, your phone calls — to remind us of his love. Thank you! In Him Always, David and Olivia.”

How does God work on both sides of the world at the same time to inspire a thousand people in North Texas and to encourage a lonely missionary couple in Ukraine? I have no idea. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.

Peace,

Allan

The King Is Coming

King Is ComingIn 2 Samuel 19, the king is coming back to Jerusalem to re-establish his sovereign rule over God’s people. He had voluntarily left his throne in order to save his people. He had been mocked and ridiculed, cursed and humiliated on his way out of town. But now he’s coming back. And he’s coming back to set things right.

And Ziba and Shemei are scared.

They’ve spent their lives cursing the king, using the king’s blessings to fatten their own purses, taking advantage of the king’s kindness, deceiving the king. Coming to the king and the king’s people with false motives, impure hearts, seeking personal gain at the expense of the kingdom. Hypocrites. Shemei openly curses the king. Ziba claims allegiance to the king, but lies to him. That’s even worse. The apostle John says we do the exact same thing when we say we love God but we don’t love our brother. When we confess Christ as Lord but live lives that deny him. Those sins are deserving of death. Eternal death.

But look at the mercy of the king. Be amazed at the grace and the love and the compassion of the king. Shemei and Ziba bow down to the ground, they confess their sins before the king — sins that deserve under the law to be punished by death — and the king forgives them. He promises on oath they will not die. And he stops his men from even discussing the possibility.

Is it any wonder that the Almighty God of Heaven and Earth calls David a man after his own heart?

You know the King is coming. And if you have sin in your life, you should be greatly concerned. But if you bow down to the King, if you confess to the King, if you submit fully to the King…the King forgives. And when the King returns, you meet him with joy and gladness, not fear.

The great news for us is that the King WANTS to forgive. He wants full reconciliation. He’s not willing that any should die. He wants desperately to welcome every man and woman he’s ever created into his eternal Kingdom. God sent his Son to “reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.” Through Jesus, God is “reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

God wants you. And he’ll go to whatever lengths necessary to get you.

He died to save you.

And he’s coming back.

He promises us in John 14 he’s coming back. The angels told the apostles in Acts 1 he’s coming back. The closing words of our holy Scriptures assure us the King’s coming: “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming soon.’ Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Are you ready?

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March Madness — The Legacy basketball team (“Team Dyniewski” or, my favorite, “TohuBohu”) made its debut last night in the North Richland Hills recreation center with an impressive 52-49 win over a bunch of guys with real uniforms. Josh Dyniewski and Aaron Green provided the muscle, combining to score at least 40 of our points inside the paint, while the rest of us just tried to stay out of the way.

Several keys to the impressive victory:

1) the decision to play a 2-3 zone defense. The decision was made as the teams were facing off on the court for the opening tip. Nice. Nevermind the fact we had never played anything but a man-to-man defense in our twice-weekly pickup games here at Legacy. Nevermind the fact that we had never even discussed the possibility of playing a zone before. It worked. Mostly.

2) Josh’s six-straight made free throws in the final 90-seconds. Sealed the deal. Clutch.

3) Aaron’s sending two of our opponents to the hospital with leg injuries. OK, I’m exaggerating a bit. But Green was a monster down there.

4) Trey Thornton using all five of his fouls. Coker will be proud.

5) Going with the Carolina blue Champion dri-soft jerseys. Did I mention they were numberless? That’s a problem in this league. So we had to don the city’s junior-high pinis over our shirts. Elastic down. Not flattering. They actually serve to accentuate middle-age girth. I wanted to wear mine upside down. They wouldn’t let me. We looked like a bunch of rejects who’d been bussed in from somewhere far, far away. But apparently they worked like a charm. We didn’t turn in Josh’s pini after the game. We’re going to have it framed and hung up on the wall at the Rufe Snow Chick-Fil-A. Nobody can ever wear #9 again.

1-0, baby! We might have to discuss the construction of a huge Legacy trophy case at Thursday’s elders meeting.

Peace,

Allan

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