Category: Legacy Construction (Page 4 of 6)

A Kingdom of Priests

October 10, 2007 / Allan / 0 Comments

One of the things I tend to emphasize in my preaching and teaching is that we are all, every one of us, ordained ministers. We’re ordained at our baptisms to minister to each other and to our neighbors in the name of Jesus Christ. I love that imagery. I love the way it shapes us as a church family, sharing and meeting each other’s needs and having all things in common. We minister when we put the interests of others ahead of our own.

During last night’s congregational informational Small Groups meeting here at Legacy a different, but related, thought came to mind. We claim to be a Kingdom of Priests. We’re a priesthood of believers. But what does that mean? Does the priest image communicate to us a different concept than the image of Christians as ministers? Is it deeper? How is a priest different from a minister? Have I been using the wrong image to communicate the way we, as believers, are to act with one another and within the community?

I think the “priesthood of all believers,” which actually comes straight from Martin Luther and the Reformation, has probably been distorted by a lot of us. As a concept, I think we see this “priesthood” in terms of individuals functioning as our own priests. We assume — or even worse, insist — that, “I don’t need a priest. Jesus is my priest. It’s just him and me. I can do OK on my own.”

That distorts the true nature of the Biblical concept. “Kingdom of Priests” (Biblical term) and “Priesthood of all Believers” (Reformation term) means that we are all priests, not for ourselves, but for one another. The idea should be more like, “I need you for my priest. And while we’re at it, I’m available to you as your priest, too.”

Eugene Peterson puts it this way in his latest theological work, The Jesus Way:

“The priesthood of all believers is not an arrogant individualism that, at least in matters dealing with God, doesn’t need anyone. It is a confession of mutuality, a willingness to guide one another in following in the way of Jesus, to assist and encourage, to speak and act in Jesus’ name. In the community of the baptized, there is no one, absolutely no one, who is not involved in this priestly function of leading and being led.”

Oh, man, does that work well with what we’re trying to do here with Legacy Small Groups Church.

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***Legacy Construction Update***

The steel beams are going up. Two floors on the new youth and benevolence center are clearly established. It looks like this may be the quickest part of the construction process. Or it may just be that it’s the most visible.

Peace,

Allan

Blue Jean Sunday!

September 28, 2007 / Allan / 1 Comment

This coming Sunday at Legacy we continue a tradition associated with our 21 year old Give Away Day. It’s been called Blue Jean Sunday, but it’s really just a work day to set everything up for Give Away Day. Everyone’s encouraged to wear their work clothes to the assembly Sunday morning, stay for a congregational meal together, and then work together all afternoon setting up the tables and racks and shelves, sorting clothes and shoes and appliances, and stacking chairs. Usually we’ll be done right around 3:00 or so. But there are plenty of folks who stick around until our 5:30 afternoon assembly.

Calling it Blue Jean Sunday doesn’t really have the impact it once had. Just about everybody wears their blue jeans to church now anyway. But I will be preaching in my blue jeans Sunday (not blue jean shorts, Chris!!). And I’m afraid I’ll experience a constant dread of being struck by lightning. Or, worse than that, I’m afraid my dad will find out.

At 5:30 we’re going to explore this whole Give Away Day thing that’s such a big part of the Gospel story of the Pipeline / Legacy Church of Christ. We’ll look at old pictures and slides. And we’ll hear from three or four of our members about their Give Away Day experiences and stories, including Charley Potter’s recollections of that very first Give Away Day 21 years ago. The focus of our time together will be on our church family acting as the hands and feet of Jesus in this community. And going after the folks in our neighborhoods with love and peace just as hard as our God does.

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By the time Paul sat down to pen his great letter to the church in Thessalonica, the term “Day of the Lord” carried great weight and baggage. The earliest account we have of that term is the prophet Amos, 700 years before Paul and the establishment of that church at Jason’s house.

The Hebrew Scriptures’ use of the term explicitly reference the day when God actively intervenes in history, usually with terrible wrath and judgment. It was a day marked by gloom and darkness. Mountains melt on the “Day of the Lord.” The moon turns to blood. Stars fall out of the sky. It was a day to be dreaded. The term and the images that accompanied the term struck fear in the hearts of God’s people. Nobody looked forward to the “Day of the Lord.” They were actually instructed to dread it because, when it came, it would be awful. It was the day all the world, including God’s chosen nation, would be judged and punished for its sins.

But every New Testament reference to the “Day of the Lord” is positive. God’s people are told to anticipate the “Day of the Lord” with great enthusiasm and to greet it with rejoicing. Paul writes to the Corinthians and the Philippians to tell them that they will be pure and blameless on that Day. Spirits will be saved on that Day. Paul will boast on that Day, for others and for himself.

What changed?

1 Thessalonians is the very first, very earliest, book in the New Testament, written in 50-52 AD. And Paul provides for us there the very first written connection between the death of Jesus and our salvation (5:10).

Jesus died. That’s what changed. It changed everything. And disciples of Jesus look forward now to the “Day of the Lord” with tremendous anticipation knowing that he died for us “that we may live together with him.”

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***Legacy Church of Christ Construction Update***

The concrete trucks have been out here all week, pouring the foundation trenches (is that what you call those?) and all the new parking areas. I’m told we won’t be able to park in the new spaces this weekend. But next Sunday, the 7th, it’s wide open. Right now, in between our two morning services during Bible class time, our parking lot resembles a shopping mall in December. No spaces and lots of cars in long lines driving up and down the packed aisles.

Notice Kent right in the smack dab middle of all of it. Insert your own comment or smart aleck remark here: ________.

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No time this week to break down the Cowboys, how impressed I finally am with Tony Romo, Patrick Crayton’s Jackie Smith moment, Mark Cuban’s moves, or Nolan Ryan’s falling a half-notch from the lofty pedestal on which I’ve placed him. No time. Go Rams.

My truck turned over 100,000 miles on the way in Tuesday morning. Remember when that used to be a big deal? Was it because the numbers all flipped back to zeroes? I don’t think cars used to be built to drive that long. It’s not as uncommon as it once was. I think Doug Deere’s truck has over 260,000 miles on it right now. I still thought it was pretty cool. Dad, the picture’s for you.

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Carrie-Anne and I are leaving at noon today for Austin where I’m one of the speakers at Austin Grad’s big fundraising dinner tonight at the Austin Country Club. They’re in the middle of a huge fundraising and building project. And I’m honored they think anything I say might make a difference for them. I’m hoping it does. I love that school. I love everything about every minute I spent with the people there. And I highly recommend it to anyone who’s wanting to upgrade their understanding of God’s Word and Christian Ministry.

Earlier this week, I was going through the notes of a speech I made to some Austin Grad donors (is that what you call them?) back in April 2006. And towards the end of my speech I said this:

“I have no idea where I’m going to be 13-months from now. But we’re giddy with anticipation. In May 2007 I hope and pray to find a community that desperately needs God and a church family willing to roll up its sleeves to take our God to that community. I want God to use me and that church to turn that town upside down for him. I want our Father to completely use us up in service to him. I want him to work through me and that church to fulfill his mission. I want to be the catalyst in that community for revival among his children and for the saving of many souls. I want to bring God’s people closer to him and closer to each other.”

My prayers have been answered far beyond my expectations. Legacy and North Richland Hills. A situation like this never one time crossed my mind. Our God is always dreaming bigger than we are. We can’t ever out-vision him.

But let’s try. Let’s join our Father in reclaiming creation and reconciling all of it back to him.

Have a great weekend.

Peace,

Allan

Revive Us Again

August 24, 2007 / Allan / 9 Comments

“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”

~Psalm 85:6

The prayers of Scripture, just like the promises of Scripture, never grow old. They don’t deal with the changing surface or the shifting circumstances of life. They deal with the living heart and the constant needs of mankind. And so God’s people pray for revival. And the Lord promises revival.

Revival has come to represent extraordinary religious activities marked by large numbers of dramatic conversions. We think of tents and loud preachers and all-night singings.

All it really means is a strengthening and elevating of life. And since God is the creator of all life, the one who gives life and sustains life, revival is God’s work. Revival is a gift from God.

As much as we may try with worship technologies and preaching philosophies and the arrangement of chairs and programs, we can’t manipulate it or manufacture it. Revival comes from God.

And when it comes, it is recognized by a deeper consciousness of sin and need and weakness and dependence on our Father. It’s characterized by an increased spirit of prayer — more urgent, more intentional, more frequent prayer. And it shows itself in a growing love of God’s truth. The Bible will be dearer to us and his love for us through Christ will be sensed more deeply.

Pray for revival at the Lord’s Church at Legacy. Prepare for revival. The God we serve is able to do more through us and for us than we can ever ask or imagine.

“Blessed is the people whose God is the Lord!”

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Legacy Worship Center Construction Update

They’ve actually put down the stakes outlining the outside walls of the new worship center and the zig zag pattern they’re going to have. It’s hard to tell from the pictures. I’ve tried to put them side by side here so you can kind of see the whole thing in one shot. Sort of.

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Just six days until football season. And the all-time greatest #6 is a punter, for crying out loud! Sean Landeta, who wore #6 at Towson State, played for 22 years in the NFL and is the league’s all-time leader in punts (1,401) and punts downed inside the 20 (381). His 43.3 yards per punt career average is fifth best all-time and his 42 yards playoff average is third best in history. Four different times he led the NFL in punting, finishing in the top three eight more times. He only went one season in his pro career without at least one 60 yard punt. And of all his 1,401 career punts, only six were ever blocked. He won two Super Bowl rings with the Giants where he spent over half his career. He’s the Rams all-time leader in punts. He once kicked a 74 yard punt while playing for the Buccaneers. And in ’98 he downed 30 inside the 20-yard line as a Green Bay Packer. Landeta also won two titles with the old Baltimore Stars of the USFL. And he kicked a 57 yard field goal in 1980 with Towson State.

Tomorrow’s #5 is The Golden Boy, Paul Hornung. Hornung did it all for the championship Packers of the late ’50s and mid-60s. He could run, he could pass, he could punt, and apparantly he could even fly. He led the Pack to NFL Championships in 1961, ’62, and ’65, leading the league in scoring three times and winning the NFL MVP award twice. He scored an NFL record 176 points in 1960. And he made it to two Pro Bowls.

The blight on Hornung’s record is the gambling. He was suspended by the league for one season in 1963 for gambling on his own team and then wound up playing three more years after that, finishing his nine year pro career with 760 total points, 62 TDs, 66 field goals, and 190 PATs. He’s in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

And here’s the cool trivia: while at Notre Dame, Hornung became — and still is — the only Heisman Trophy winner to ever come from a losing team. The Fighting Irish went 2-8 in 1956. But the Golden Boy, who did it all, was good enough to be named the best player in college football.

Ladanian Tomlinson gets honorable mention at #5, the number he wore at TCU. But let’s give him a little more time.

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The Four Horsemen ride again this afternoon. I thank God for the times he allows us to meet together and encourage one another and pray for each other and our families. I’m not sure where I’d be if it weren’t for the influence of these godly men. But I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be preaching. Thanks, guys. Looking forward to this afternoon.

Peace,

Allan

The Question of Sacred Space

August 21, 2007 / Allan / 10 Comments

This may be a long one.

This blog contains another Legacy Worship Center Construction Update with new, never-before-seen photos; a Mark Teixeira reference; and the number nine. Hang with me.

My family and I had the pleasure of attending the Celese Courtney – Randall Roseberry wedding at TCU’s Robert Carr Chapel Saturday. (It’s always seemed to me that everybody here at Legacy was related to somebody else at Legacy. And that wedding made it official. Now we are all truly a church family.) Yes, the girls love attending weddings. And Carrie-Anne and I always try to use opportunities like that to teach them about marriage and commitment and love, even though sometimes it seems they’re only interested in the wedding mints and throwing birdseed.

But I was struck by a couple of things at that wedding that I’ve been wrestling with since Saturday. And it may take a full week of blogging and your comments and suggestions to work them through.

The chapel, built in 1953 on the TCU campus, is gorgeous. Simple, but elegant. And it just feels holy. It just feels sacred. As soon as you walk into the place, you know without a doubt you are in a house of worship. You feel like you’re in the presence of God and people who belong to God. It looks and feels like a church. Not like a gym or a performance hall. You know what I mean?

The Carr Chapel is sacred space. It is holy. It is set apart. And it’s done intentionally.

Because it is designated, holy, set apart space, they’re very picky about what happens and what doesn’t happen at the Carr Chapel. And how it happens. Check out some of their rules and regulations for those using the chapel for wedding services:

“Chapel furniture, including the communion table, the kneeling bench, and the cross may not be moved or have decorations placed on them. A floral arrangement may be placed in front of the cross if it doesn’t exceed 40-inches in height.”

“All weddings held in Robert Carr Chapel are religious services and as such certain protocol is expected.”

“Professional photography and video may only be conducted from the balcony. Guests are not allowed to take pictures from the sanctuary during the ceremony.”

“Only music that is of a religious or sacred nature may be used in the chapel. The mention of God or Jesus does not necessarily make a song religious. Love songs are not appropriate.”

“Electronic amplifiers, recorded music, and electronic keyboards are prohibited.”

I think we in the Church of Christ have rightly taught that the Church is not the building, it’s the people. We rightly hold that we worship in spirit the One who is Spirit and that wherever two or three are gathered in his Name, the Lord is present. We teach and believe — again, rightly so — that God is no more present with me in a Christian assembly of a thousand disciples on a Sunday morning than he is with me in my closet at home.

But I’m afraid we’ve taught that and held that and pushed that to the extent that we’ve lost the Biblical concept of sacred space.

Bethel. Mount Sinai. The burning bush. The Ark of the Covenant. The Holy of Holies. Shechem. All holy. All sacred places set apart from the other places because that’s where God meets with his people. Can you imagine the Israelites ever holding a garage sale inside the Temple? Can you imagine Carr Chapel bringing in a big screen and showing the Super Bowl?

Robert E. Webber, in a chapter on the environmental setting of worship in his book Worship Old and New, says that our worship space is the “stage on which the redemption of the world is acted out.” And that truth is expressed in the signs of redemption all around the worship area such as the table, the pulpit, the baptistry, and the arrangement of the chairs for the congregants who also enact the Gospel. According to Webber, this tells us that all material things belong to God and can be used to communicate truth about God. The repeated emphasis in our Scriptures that God dwells in the tabernacle or the temple also shows us that we can symbolically communicate the presence of God in the Church and in the world. And the dozens of references to “God’s glory” filling the space acknowledges God’s real presence in that space with his people. Webber points to Solomon’s dedication of the temple as providing the model for consecration of sacred space, “not to be regarded as an exercise associated with magic, but as an act that sets apart a particular place for the community to publicly meet God. The Christian church has continued to use the practice of consecration and recognized that the place where people gather to worship is special.”

Again, I think you can get carried away with that.

But I’m afraid we sometimes plan worship space and use worship space in theological error and, worse, with theological indifference. We don’t think about these things. Or we think these things don’t matter.

I think we’re hurt here at Legacy by being forced to assemble together for the expressed purpose of meeting God and worshiping God in a place that’s also used as a basketball gym and a dining hall and a variety of other activities that have very little, if anything, to do with the holy presence of our holy God. Our gym / fellowship hall doesn’t have a look or a feel that’s any different from a recreation center or cafeteria or exercise space or school auditorium you could find in any part of our city. I may be overstating this, but I’m not sure there’s an overwhelming sense of a separation between the sacred and the profane in our current setup. And that certainly creeps into our view of worship, our view of God, and our view of what’s really happening on Sundays: God’s holy people meeting with their holy God.

Having said that, I’m so excited about our new Worship Center, currently in the beginning stages of construction here at Legacy. I’m thrilled for this body of believers to have a space set apart, a sacred space, a holy place, where we can meet our God. And I’m interested in your thoughts and your experiences as they relate to this question of sacred space.

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Legacy Worship Center Construction Update

The mountains are gone. They’ve either been smoothed out, hauled out, or a whole lot of both. It’s very clear now where the additional parking spaces are going to be. And the ground where the new Worship Center and the Youth and Benevolent Centers are going to be is smooth and flat.

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Only nine more days until football season. And the all-time greatest #9 is old Redskins quarterback Sonny Jurgensen. He started with the Eagles as a fourth round pick out of Duke University in 1957 and peaked with them in 1962 with 32 touchdown passes. But he went to Washington in 1964 in a trade for Norm Snead and went on to lead the NFL in passing three times over the next ten seasons.

As a Redskin, Jurgensen threw for over 3,000 yards five times, he had 25 games with over 300 yards passing, and five more games with at least 400 yards. He went to five Pro Bowls and finished his 18 year NFL career with a QB rating of 82.63 and as the 9th all-time leader in passing TDs. Jurgensen was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1983. Don’t give me Tony Romo. Sonny Jurgensen was the best to ever wear #9.

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What else would you expect from a superstar traded away from the Texas Rangers? He’s killing! Mark Teixeira hit two more homeruns yesterday, giving him nine HRs and 25 RBIs in his 18 games with the Atlanta Braves. They’re still five games behind the Mets in the NL East. But he’s killing! Good for him.

Peace,

Allan

Running Late

August 14, 2007 / Allan / 3 Comments

I’m so sorry it’s after 2:00 in the afternoon and I’m just now getting to the blog. It’s been one of those wonderfully rewarding mornings — into the afternoon now — of visiting with people and counseling and ministering. This post will be a quick hit-and-run. My apologies.

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Legacy Worship Center Construction Update

I have no idea what this huge piece of machinary is called or exactly what it does. But it’s massive and it’s digging some pretty impressive holes out here today.

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There are 16 days until football season. And while some truly great football players such as GeorgeBlanda, Frank Gifford, and LenDawson have worn the #16, the all-time greatest is 49ers QB Joe Montana. He was great at Notre Dame. But he made his mark as the championship signal-caller in San Francisco. He accounted for 40,551 yards passing and almost another 1,700 yards rushing during his NFL career, and he’s still in the top four all-time in the NFL record books for attempts, completions, yards, TDs, passing percentage, and pass-to-interception ratio. He won four Super Bowls and three Super Bowl MVPs and played in eight Pro Bowls. He and Jerry Rice hooked up for 68 TDs, the most prolific points scoring tandem in NFL history at the time of his retirement. Montana pulled off 31 4th quarter comeback victories in his 15 year career. In 1981, “The Catch” completely reversed the fortunes of two franchises in Dallas and San Francisco and ruined the career of one of my favorite quarterbacks, Danny White. Cowboys apologists will always say that pass to Dwight Clark over Everson Walls in the end zone at Candlestick was a lucky play. It wasn’t. It was truly heartbreaking. But it was a great play. And Montana’s the greatest player to ever wear #16.

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I don’t know what to make of the news that Van Halen is kicking off a concert tour and planning to record another album. I’m nervous about Diamond Dave re-joining the group, troubled by the absence of Michael Anthony, and skeptical about Eddie’s 16-year-old son, Wolfgang, not only playing bass but also picking all the songs. I’ve been burned by Van Halen concerts many times. A last minute cancellation in OKC. Sammy Hagar losing his voice at the Cotton Bowl two songs into the show and Anthony singing Led Zeppelin’s “Rock and Roll” as they left the stage. David Lee Roth forgetting the words to “Beautiful Girl.” Will any of that keep me away? Doubt it.

Peace,

Allan

Lives Worthy of God

August 10, 2007 / Allan / 3 Comments

As the Texas sun begins to crest over the majestic Legacy Mountains…..

Legacy Worship Center Construction Update!

A brand new eight foot chain link fence around the entire west half of the church campus, more heavy equipment being brought in, and much more digging. If they can finish the building as quickly as they put up the fence, they ought to be done in about three weeks.

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I think the Cowboys went 4-0 in the 1989 preseason. I think the Colts have gone 1-8 in the past two preseasons. I think Jerry Wayne’s blue suit was hideous at best. I fiddled with the color and contrast on my TV for 15 minutes before I figured out he was wearing those colors on purpose. I think Buck and Aikman make a very good football announcing team. I think Marion Barber runs like he’s angry, which I like. I also think I’d like to see him cut his hair. I think Romo’s in for a long season. I think Leonard Davis is huge. I think pre-season football only makes me wish it were real. I think if there’s anything more lame than pre-season football, it’s a locally produced 30-minute preseason football pre-game show. I think Wade Phillips has the personality of a cardboard box. He makes Chan Gailey look like Jimmy Johnson in the fire and personality department. I think we’re still 20 days away from any football that really counts.

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Today’s #20 in the countdown to football season is The Tyler Rose, Earl Campbell. Nobody ran harder or stronger or tougher. Nobody broke more tackles or carried more men across goal lines with him than Campbell. Nobody’s tear-away jersey ever tore away more often than Campbell’s.

A two-time All-America running back at the University of Texas, Campbell won the Heisman Trophy in 1977 with 1,744 yards rushing — he ran for more than a hundred yards ten times that season. He racked up 4,443 yards rushing during his Longhorns career and was elected to the College Football Hall of Fame in 1990.

Campbell was the #1 overall pick of the Houston Oilers and won NFL Rookie of the Year honors in 1978. He was the NFL rushing champ in 1980 and the NFL MVP that season with 1,934 yards rushing — four games that year with over 200 yards. He finished up his career with the Saints in ’84 and ’85.

In total, Earl Campbell played nine years in the NFL, ran for 9,407 yards, made it to five Pro Bowls, and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1991.

I’ll give honorable mention to Mel Renfro and Barry Sanders. But Earl Campbell is the greatest to ever wear the #20.

Bum Phillips ran him too much and too hard. He carried those old Oilers teams that were “knocking on the door” during the late ’70s and early ’80s. And he’s paying for it now. Campbell can barely get around. He can’t stand up for more than a couple of minutes at a time.

But he makes a mean sausage.

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There was a minor outcry last night that I hadn’t even mentioned LaDanian Tomlinson with yesterday’s #21. OK. Here’s the mention. Give him a little more time before I can put him in the same class with Jim Thorpe. But he is extremely talented and he does seem like a nice kid. I had the privilege of calling a couple of his games on the radio back in the day when he and the Waco University Trojans were running around and over and through Marble Falls. And I know a young man who just went through LT’s football camp last month and said he couldn’t have been a nicer, more engaging person.

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“…encouraging, comforting, and urging you to live lives worthy of God.” 1 Thess 2:12

Paul, Silas, and Timothy were courageous Christian leaders for the new church in Thessalonica. They led with integrity and love for their brothers and sisters. And the goal of their work in that fellowship of believers was that they would live their lives worthy of God.

The greek word translated “live lives” or “live a life” is actually peripateo, which literally means “to walk,” which implies that living your life in a way that’s worthy of God means being worthy in every step, every action, every word, and everything you do in the course of your every day. Every part of our lives should reflect the character of our God and bring honor to him. That means both attitudes and behavior. Throughout all of Holy Scripture what happens in a religious context is never separated from what happens in a worldly context. The very concept of having two ways to talk or two ways to act or two ways of thinking based on when one is at church or with church people and when one is somewhere else doesn’t even exist in the Bible. Living a life worthy of God is a 24-hour, around the clock commitment.

It’s important to note that when Paul tells the Thessalonian Christians to live their lives worthy of God, he doesn’t direct them to some list of commandments or some directory of prescribed behaviors. He points them to the character of God. Internal motivation, not simply external actions, is of critical importance.

And keep in mind, Paul doesn’t see any of this activity as earning points with God or generating his favor. He writes to “live lives worthy of God, who calls you into his kingdom and glory.” Our lives are clearly a response to God who, on his own initiative, continually calls us into his presence and under his rule. The life Paul urges us to live is one of thanksgiving, a life that acknowledges and accepts with gratitude what God through Jesus has already done for us.

May our Lord bless us as we continue to be shaped by the words and teachings of Paul and the Holy Spirit in 1 Thessalonians.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Legacy Construction (Page 4 of 6)

A Kingdom of Priests

Blue Jean Sunday!

Revive Us Again

The Question of Sacred Space

Running Late

Lives Worthy of God

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