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Category: Legacy Church Family (Page 5 of 37)

Saving a Seat for Paul

September 16, 2011 / / 8 Comments

Going into our shepherds meeting this past Wednesday, I wasn’t really sure who would be praying with me at 8:00 Sunday morning. I assumed I would invite all of our shepherds and ministers to join me in the chapel early Sunday morning so we could pray together for the day and that several of them would commit to showing up.

That’s always been my habit.

Since my earliest days as a minister in Marble Falls, 8:00 on Sunday morning has been a sacred time for me. Jim Gardner and Jimmy Mitchell and I prayed together in Jim’s office at 8:00 every Sunday. Jim would have his Red Bull, Jimmy would have his Muscle Milk (gross!) and I’d be working on my second or third Diet Dr Pepper. And we would pray together. For one another. For God’s Church. For the day.

It continued at Legacy. First, with the worship leaders, Howard and Gordon, during my transition months between Austin Grad and moving to NRH. On my first official day there, every single one of the shepherds showed up. Then after that, six or seven guys committed to praying with me in the church library every Sunday morning. That lasted a few months. And then it began to dwindle. Four guys. Then three. Two for a while. And then there was one.

Paul Brightwell.

Every single Sunday morning. 8:00. Paul would walk into my study. “What’s going on?” And we would shake hands, small talk while we strolled into the library, and then pray. Every single Sunday morning. 8:00. Paul and me. For four years. Praying.

We prayed together for the people at Legacy. We prayed in anticipation of the events of the day. We asked God to bless our assembly, to be present in every interaction among his people, to encourage those who were looking for a word of grace and to convict those who needed a push. We asked God to work on us, to change us more into the image of his Son. We prayed our thanksgivings and our laments together. We prayed through the health problems of Paul’s parents and, eventually, through the death of Paul’s dad. We prayed together through my struggles and triumphs as Legacy’s preacher, all the ups and downs of life in congregational ministry. Paul knew when I was nervous or worried about that day’s message. And we prayed about it. He knew instinctively when I was really excited about what God was going to say through me that day. And we praised God for it. We prayed about our kids and our wives. We thanked God for our friendship.

Sometimes we prayed for ten minutes; sometimes we were in there together for nearly an hour. Sometimes I’d be running around like crazy — updating some sermon slides on the S Drive, re-printing some Small Groups Church study guides, moving some chairs around in a classroom — and Paul would find me. “Stop!” he would say. “Stop! Let’s pray.” And I’d drop whatever I was doing, wherever we happened to be, we’d put our arms around each other, and Paul would pray for God to calm me down, to get me focused, and to use me to his eternal glory in the next couple of hours.

I’m going to need a Paul Brightwell here at Central.

So, Wednesday night, heading into our elders meeting, I’m ready to invite the shepherds and ministers to pray with me at 8:00 Sunday morning. But everything got away from me. Man, when Tim decides the meeting’s over, it’s over! Boom! We went from the middle of a fairly important discussion to a beautiful conclusion with assigned action items to our closing prayer before I even knew what was happening. And the meeting was over. I hadn’t offered my invitation for Sunday morning prayer. I figured I would just have to send out an email the next day. I’m not going to pray alone at 8:00 Sunday morning.

So I got in my truck. Pulled out onto 14th Street on my way home and checked my phone. Two missed calls. From Paul Brightwell. One voice mail. “Call me.”

I’ve only talked to Paul once since we moved. So I called.

“Hey,” he says. “What are you doing at 8:00 Sunday morning?”

“I’m going to be praying in the Central chapel,” I answered him. “It’s Central’s original worship center, a stunning 82-year-old chapel that’s right next to my office here. I’ll be praying in there, hopefully, with a bunch of our shepherds and ministers.”

And Paul says, “Save me a seat.”

He and Andrea are coming up Saturday night. Paul wants to pray with me on my first official day at Central. At 8:00 Sunday morning.

And I am humbled. And I’m typing through tears even now, at 9:00 Friday morning, thinking about it. I praise God for the people he’s put in my life, people like Paul Brightwell, who have given themselves to encouraging me in my ministry. To praying for me and with me. To paying attention to me and lifting me up when I’m down and bringing me down a few notches when I get too high. For knowing me. And caring.

Thank you, God, for Paul Brightwell.

And, thank you, Paul.

Our Sunday mornings together in prayer have, more times than you know, gotten me through the day. You have always said the exact right thing to me at the exact right time. I believe that God pushed you directly into my path to speak through you to me, to help me do what God has called me to do. Those Sunday mornings with you are precious to me. Thank you for allowing our Father to use you in that way. Thank you for the selfless way you gave yourself to God, to me, and to our church on those Sunday mornings.

God will give me a Sunday morning prayer partner here at Central. He knows how badly I need it. It may happen this month or it may take a while. I have no idea who it’s going to be; but God’s going to make sure I’m not praying alone on Sundays. This Sunday, I’ll be in a group of elders and ministers, these church leaders who are going to become some of my very best friends. There may be twenty of us in that chapel day after tomorrow.

But I’m saving a seat for Paul.

Peace,

Allan

On The Church Directory

August 24, 2011 / / 3 Comments

We were sitting together that afternoon on a third-or-fourth-hand couch in my office behind the fellowship hall at the Marble Falls church. Jim Gardner had just announced he was leaving to begin preaching at the Woodward Park congregation in Fresno. I had just taken the preaching position at Legacy. And we both had just received copies of our new churches’ pictorial directories. We were flipping through the pages together, checking out the pictures of the good brothers and sisters to whom we would soon be ministering. Among the pages and rows of young families and widow ladies and old men and babies, Quincy’s picture jumped out at me.

Now look at Quincy. Look at him. That’s a face that has a story. There’s some pain there. Something happened. And the evidence is right there. This man deals with things most people never endure. He suffers.

My very first thought upon seeing Quincy’s picture — and I’ll never forget it — was to wonder in what ways I would be able to minister to this man. How am I going to serve him? How am I going to comfort and encourage him? How is God going to use me to help this guy?

As most readers of this space know, Quincy, of course, wound up ministering to me. He served me. He comforted me and encouraged me. He helped me more than I can possibly put into words.

Quincy’s faithful trust in God strengthened my own faith. His selfless, sacrificial attitude matured my own outlook on congregational life and the world. His prayers delivered me straight to God’s throne for healing and forgiveness, mercy and grace. His phone calls lifted me up and kept me going strong. Quincy’s love for me sustained me in many ways. When I needed a minister, when I needed a faithful friend, when I needed affirmation, Quincy was my guy.

Quincy and I would talk all the time about Legacy Morning Prayers. We lamented the lack of congregational participation. We prayed together that God would bring more people to our prayer time, that God would fill the prayer room with our brothers and sisters so we would all be changed to become more like Christ. Why won’t people come to pray? We couldn’t understand it.

And then at the end of May, it happened. Teenagers!  High school seniors and college freshmen. Young people from our church and young people from the NRH community. Fifteen-year-old, 17-year-old, 20-year-old boys and girls. Kids with faithful Christian parents and kids who are spiritually on their own. They started showing up this summer. Four and five and sometimes six or seven at a time. Teenagers! Praying with Quincy. Talking with Quincy. Being formed and shaped by God through Quincy. Being changed by Quincy’s prayers. Being matured by God’s Word through Quincy’s reading.

Quincy and I had prayed and prayed that the prayer room would be full. But we never once thought God would bring us teenagers!

Every morning this summer Quincy and the teenagers prayed together for an hour. He ministered to them. He helped them. He encouraged them. He loved them. I would show up to work in the mornings and listen at the prayer room door as I put my Diet Dr Peppers for the day in the staff refrigerator. Quincy ministering to a room full of teenagers. More than I could ever possibly ask or imagine. God’s always doing weird and wonderful things like that.

For the past four weeks I’ve been thumbing through and praying over the pictures in my new Central directory. Well, it’s not really new; it’s four-years-old. I might be praying for and studying the names of people who died a long time ago or who don’t even belong to Central anymore. But my experience with Quincy has forever changed the ways I look at these pictures and names.

I still wonder about the ways God is going to use me to minister to this man in a wheelchair or to that single mom with four kids. I still pray that God will bless this widow lady and that guy with cancer. But, mostly, I wonder how these people are going to minister to me. How is God going to use this person to encourage me? How is our faithful Father going to use that lady to mature me in my faith? What’s this man in this picture going to do that’s going to change my life and make me a better disciple of Christ?

There are people in these 48 pages of pictures who are going to have an eternal impact on me. Some more than others. Yes, a few of them are going to make me crazy. But many more will become my greatest friends. I know I’m here to help them. But I’m just as certain our God is going to use these people to help me. And that gives me great confidence.

Peace,

Allan

Secretary Ministers

August 22, 2011 / / 2 Comments

One of our shepherds at Legacy took me to lunch three weeks ago as sort of an informal exit interview. Once the sandwiches arrived at our table and the thanksgiving prayer had been offered, he got right down to business.

“Allan, if I don’t accomplish anything else today,” he began, “I need to talk to you about the ladies in the church office. They really love you. They are very loyal to you. They would do anything for you. They defend you, they protect you, they say wonderful things about you, they really enjoy working with you. Your relationship with them is uncommonly good. And it’s not like that at all churches. Sometimes the preacher and the secretaries don’t get along at all. There’s usually some kind of tension. Sometimes they don’t even like each other. But Jackie and Suzanne and Bonny all think you’re the best thing ever and they’re absolutely devastated that you’re leaving.”

“Now,” he continued, “that’s something we want to keep going with the next preacher. We want to keep that same dynamic between these ladies and the next minister here. So, tell me…

…what’s your secret?”

What’s my secret? I was a little surprised by the question. My secret?

There’s no secret.

I tried to explain that we had always openly and honestly shared our lives together in that office. We were completely transparent with one another. We knew one another’s strengths and offered constant support and encouragement. We knew one another’s weaknesses and practiced patience and understanding. We laughed and we cried together. We talked about our children, we went to each other’s family funerals, we played practical jokes on one another. We prayed together. We read God’s Word together. For over four years we worked together side by side, day after day, in a difficult environment. We depended on one another. We genuinely needed one another. There’s no secret. We really just grew to love one another.

But the elder persisted. He wanted more.

“What was your strategy, though? How did you make that happen? How do we make sure the next guy we bring in here is going to make it happen?”

I struggled to give him what he was looking for. What is it about honest respect and genuine trust and mutual encouragement and selfless sacrifice within a team that I could put into a nuts-and-bolts plan or formula? For some reason my explanations sounded abstract. He wanted practical. So I tried again.

I always treated the church secretaries as equals.

Always.

I recognized around the table at staff meetings, in the hallways, and in our offices that the church secretaries are Christian ministers, too. Absolutely. In fact, in many ways they are more on the front lines of congregational ministry than the preachers in the back offices and the elders in the board rooms. These are the ladies who answer the door, answer the phone, schedule the building, make the appointments, collect and compile all the information and communicate it to the church. They have the most daily contact with the members of our church. They have more opportunity to show God’s grace. They have more chances to extend God’s mercy and forgiveness, more times to share God’s eternal perspective on daily matters, more occasions to reach others with our Father’s great love. They are often the first point of contact with our church members and with people in our community who are hurting or grieving or doubting or depressed or seeking our Lord. Those ladies do more Christian ministry in a day than some of our “ordained” ministers do in a month! And I know that. I acknowledge that. And I treat them with the great respect that deserves. I value their input. I treasure their opinions. I depend on their evaluations and advice. I trust their judgment. I need them.

I told this shepherd that day that I really believe Jackie and Suzanne and Bonny and I would all four run through brick walls for each other. We would move heaven and earth to do anything for each other. And I think it’s because I always treated them as equals.

(And then I added that in a lot of churches there is tension between the ministers and the elders. Unfortunately, it seems to be unusual for elders and ministers to really get along, to really trust one another, to really love one another and be on the same page together. And if a board of elders really wanted that to happen, they might consider treating ministers the same way I treated those ladies in the office. As equals. Treat your ministers as equals. Show them respect. Value their input. Weigh seriously their opinions. Depend on their evaluations and advice. Trust their judgment. Whatever you do, don’t kick them out of your meetings. Don’t ever send the message to them that, when it comes time to discuss really important matters or make really big decisions, they don’t have much of anything to offer)

Suzanne, you showed me every day how to be compassionate. You treated everyone with dignity and respect. You constantly reminded me that, even when people are being rude on the phone or demanding in the office, our job is to show them the love of Christ. You modeled that perfectly. And I’ve never met anyone with a bigger heart for the weak and the marginalized. You inspire me.

Jackie, you always kept me grounded in the big-picture view of God’s Kingdom. You taught me great balance. You never allowed me to get too caught up in the specifics of temporary issues or too bogged down by temporary trials. You modeled for me a faithful trust in the sovereignty of our good and holy Father.

Bonny, you made me a better preacher. You equipped me by telling me what works and what doesn’t. You empowered me by your constant encouragement. You told me when I said or did something that helped you or changed your outlook. And you never held back when I said or did something that maybe I shouldn’t have. You didn’t let me get away with anything. And you challenged me to be everything God has called me to be. Because of you, the Gospel of Christ was proclaimed more clearly at Legacy.

Now, there’s a whole new set of ladies in my life who are “breaking me in.” Connie, Gail, Elaine, and Vickie. And I don’t know them yet. I don’t hardly know them at all. I don’t know their stories. I don’t know their strengths and weaknesses, their triumphs and trials. I don’t know what makes them tick. And I’m certain they’re wondering about me, too. I’m secretly terrified that Bonny, Jackie, and Suzanne might try to contact them in some way to give them some advice. Or warning.

But I expect us to become close friends. I expect us to grow to love one another. I expect God to work with us and through us together. I anticipate marvelous relationship. And why not? We’re all ministers.

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

We were so blessed to take Tessa to lunch on Friday and eat watermelon with her house parents and housemates at High Plains Children’s Home. We were also privileged to meet Tessa’s pig, Wilbur. It’s part of her FFA project. For those of you who know Tessa, you’ll be thrilled to hear that she’s doing great. Her life has changed. It’s been turned completely around. Thank God. And thank Legacy.

Jack and Charlotte Chambers were here at Central yesterday. I also finally met Stephanie’s Aunt Suzanne.

I rejoice in the baptism of Marshall. And Hayleigh. Our God is still saving and rescuing. He is still robbing hell. What a joy to witness it up close!

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

The girls started school today. Carley is a 6th grader at Bonham Middle School. She stepped out of the van this morning and right into a sea of what looked like a million middle schoolers. She just disappeared. Valerie is a lowly fish at Amarillo High, and Whitney is a Senior Sandie. Yeah, they’re Sandies. Amarillo High School is the home of the Golden Sandstorm. I’ve told the girls that you have to be pretty good to get away with a mascot like that. We’ll see beginning this Friday night when AHS takes on Midland in the football season opener.

Go, Sandies!

Allan

Last Sunday

July 24, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Dearest Legacy Family,

I do not possess the eloquence necessary to convey today my deep love for each of you. As I write this, I’m typing through tears because of my strong affection for you and this church and also because I’m certain that what is in my heart will not be communicated well enough to you today.

Five years ago you placed a faith in me that I didn’t even have in myself. You welcomed my family and me with calls and emails, letters and cards, hugs and casseroles. You honored me by giving me your platform from which to speak to you a faithful word from our God. In time, you grew to love me. And you showed it so well.

I thank our God for my brothers and sisters at Legacy — for you! — who have supported my family and me while we have ministered in this place. You have loved us and encouraged us. You have treated my children as your own. You have challenged me and prayed with me. You have taught me and matured me. You have shown tremendous patience and understanding with me. You have forgiven me. We have grown together. A lot. And you have given and given and given to me more than I could ever possibly ask or imagine.

And we love you, too. Oh, my word. We love you all so much.

Thank you.

Your many expressions of kindness and generosity over the past two weeks have just blown us away. You’ve overwhelmed us again with calls and emails, letters and cards, hugs and casseroles. Thank you for loving us more than we could ever deserve.

“The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.”           ~Numbers 6:24-26

We will always consider you our dear family. Please always consider us your servants in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, to the eternal praise and glory of our Father in heaven.

Peace,

Allan

To Legacy

July 11, 2011 / / 9 Comments

My family and I will always listen for God’s voice. We will always follow his way. We will always answer his call. Through prayer and study and meditation and reflection and conversation, we will always be receptive to our Father’s leading.

Over the past several months it has become very clear to me that I cannot remain as the preaching minister at the Legacy Church of Christ. God has made it evident in some very surprising ways and in some ways that have been building for quite some time. So, again, after many weeks and months of difficult discernment, we have made the hard decision to leave our family at Legacy.

At the same time, our faithful Father has opened a door of tremendous opportunity for us in Amarillo. I have accepted the role of preaching minister at the Central Church of Christ and will begin my work there in September. Central is a downtown church with a downtown mindset, determined to reach its downtown community with the love of our Savior. They are driven by the mission to take Jesus to all peoples, all cultures, all languages, all tax brackets. That church seems to be defined by sacrificial service to others in the name of Jesus. They are committed to the arduous task of making their congregation reflect the Gospel nature of the all-inclusive table of our Lord. And most of you reading this blog know how attractive that is to me.

Of course, we leave Legacy with a great deal of sadness. My heart is heavy. I’ll forever be indebted to Legacy for showing such a tremendous faith in our God in bringing me here in the first place. Five years ago, you had absolutely no reason to have any faith in me. Your faith was obviously in our Father. And I thank you. You have nurtured me. You have supported me, encouraged me, and walked with me. You’ve shown great patience with me. And understanding. You’ve helped me.  Since day one, you’ve lovingly embraced my whole family. There are hundreds of you who have touched Carrie-Anne and me and our girls in profound and eternal ways. I have never felt for one minute that I was not loved at Legacy. We love you, too. A bunch.

Now, this is not the end of the world for me or for Legacy. It’s not like I’m leaving ministry. I’m not going back into radio. We are all still involved together in the great work of the Kingdom of our God. We still belong to the same Church of God. We’re still on the same board, working for the same mission and goals; I’m just moving to a different square.

As for Legacy, I’m convinced that this is the right move. I did not establish this church. And neither did you. This church was cruising along for almost fifty years before I got here and it’ll be just fine for fifty or five-hundred years after I’m gone. God established this congregation and he put it right here on Mid-Cities Boulevard for his specific purposes. He placed Legacy right where it is to be a light to this community. He placed it here so people in Northeast Tarrant County will find forgiveness and mercy and grace and love. He put Legacy right here in order to reach the lost, in order to comfort and bless and save. I firmly believe that our Father already knows the next Legacy preacher. This guy is a devoted man of God. And he will, by God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, take Legacy to places I wouldn’t be able to. My prayer is that, with this man, my brothers and sisters here will embrace God’s vision and identify God’s holy mission for Legacy and jump into it with everything you’ve got. And turn everything rightside up for Christ.

I’m leaving Saturday for a four-day speaking engagement at the Northside Church in Benton, Arkansas where my great friend Jim Gardner preaches. So I won’t be here this Sunday. My shepherds here at Legacy have graciously allowed me a last opportunity to preach here at Legacy on July 24. I wanted the final chance to encourage you, to bless you, to affirm my great love for you, and to remind you of God’s marvelous plans for you.

You and each of your families and the entire Legacy family are in my constant prayers. Please keep us in yours.

May our God’s will be done at Legacy just as it is in heaven.

I love you,

Allan

Styrofoam Helmets & Roadkill Sheep

June 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I love summer time at Legacy. Summers at Legacy just seem to be less formal, more relaxed, really fun. That’s not to say the pace is slower. No, no, no. It’s faster, much faster. Maybe even a bit hectic. But it’s really, really fun.

Wednesday night sno-cones. Brand new youth interns to initiate. Mission trips and summer camps. Messy games day. All the college kids back home, roaming the church halls, showing up for morning prayers and Bible studies, crashing our backyard pool, toilet papering our house. Sunday night cookouts and kites. Extra visitors. Faith Builders. Even in the middle of all the vacations and travel and trips, it just seems like summer is when our whole church family is really together. And it’s a lot of fun.

And, of all the special things and times we enjoy during our Legacy summers, VBS is my favorite.

I love Vacation Bible School because I get to see our church family at its best. During VBS, we give of ourselves to little kids. We do things we don’t normally do, for the sake of little kids. We sacrifice. We bend. We stretch. We get down in the floor and pick up washers, we burn our hands on Shrinky Dink ovens, we cut out sheep and sew rock pouches, we build sets and learn songs, we run up and down stairs and make one million trips to the workroom. For the sake of little kids.

I love Vacation Bible School because I get to watch people like Eric Gambill and Charles Barkley (real name) break out of their shells. I’ve never heard more than six words out of either of these guys. But I’m inspired when I watch them sing and dance and act as David and King Saul. For the sake of little kids. And those outgoing people with all the personality and talents? People like Kristen Sharp and Christy Roof, Vic Akers and Bill Crawford? It’s a blast watching them take it to that next level. Over the top! And where else can you see Doug Deere in eight-inch platform shoes, with an accent that sounds like a cross between Foghorn Leghorn and Mr. T, hamming it up as Goliath, and then tearfully pouring his heart out to the church when it’s all over, reminding us that our God is bigger and stronger than anything that might stand against us.

David Watson dressed one of our fifth graders, Elizabeth, as Goliath during our story time last night. He decked her out in a styrofoam ice-chest helmet, bubble wrap armor, a dashboard sun screen for a shield and an industrial sized leaf blower as a sword. Yes, he connects to our kids. Mike and Judy St.Clair and Jennifer Skelton wielded the hot glue guns to help our kids make little flat sheep out of recycled water bottles. They looked like road kill. In a funny way. Daryn Pope played David & Goliath Jeopardy with the kids, carefully making sure all four teams ended up with the same amount of points. And just as carefully making sure we all talked about the strength of our God and David’s great faith.

I love VBS because for four full days we all do things we don’t normally do. For the sake of the little kids. I love VBS because I keep thinking that one of these days it’s going to click that we need to always be doing things we don’t normally do for the sake of others. We need to be willing, even eager, to bend and stretch and run. We need to want to move and grow and serve for the sake of others. We’re quick to sing the songs and do all the hand motions, to throw out our backs moving stage pieces, to get our shirts messy with glitter and paint, and to walk the same little boy to the bathroom three times. For the sake of little kids. But sometimes for the sake of others we won’t budge an inch or move a muscle or give in on a single point or bow to a little request. I keep thinking that if we practice stepping outside our comfort zones for the sake of little kids, we’ll be more able to step outside our comfort zones for the sake of all our other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Peace,

Allan

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