The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Matthew (Page 21 of 24)

Carley's Crutches

November 20, 2009 / / 2 Comments

Carley’s CrutchesIt’s Achilles Tendonitis. We’re not sure what’s caused it or even exactly when it happened. X-Rays show us that there’s not a tear or a fracture. But Carley’s achilles tendon is stretched out and even frayed in a couple of places where it connects to her heel. The doctor says it’s probably overuse. She’s been doing gymnastics lately in PE. And she and I have hit tennis balls three or four times over the past couple of weeks. But who would have thought this could be a result? She’s only ten-years-old!

Doctor’s orders Tuesday afternoon were for a pair of crutches. Carley is not to put any weight or pressure of any kind on her right foot for two weeks. Fourteen days. Total rest for quick healing. Every step she might take on it only slows the process down.

We got home from the imaging center at about 2:00 Tuesday afternoon. The appointment to have the crutches fitted was for 5:45. And for those three-and-a-half hours, I carried Carley all over the house. Upstairs. Downstairs. She wanted to hop. I wanted to carry her. She wanted to crawl. I wanted to get things for her. Shoes. Clothes. Snack. Books. Let me do it for you, honey. Let me help you.

She hated it.

“Dad, I’m not helpless!”

“Dad, I don’t like being needy!”

Carley is our most active child. And our most independent. These past three days have been awful for her. She’s always wanted to do everything for himself. Even today with her little foot hanging by a thread. The last thing she wants is to be needy.

Just like all of us. We hate to be needy. We never want to be helpless.

But that’s exactly what our God wants us to be. Needy. Helpless. Actually, that’s what we are in reality. Our God just wants us to recognize it. To acknowledge it. To embrace it.

Having real needs doesn’t reduce our lives. It doesn’t flatten anything. Being helpless allows us to receive from our Father every single wonderful thing he intends for us. Our needs — recognizing those needs — throws wide open the doors to God’s greatest blessings. If we try to live without needs, we’re trying to live without God.

“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; he who seeks, finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” ~Matthew 7:7-8.

This is what it’s like to live in the real world God created. Receiving what is given. Just look at the sky and the seas. Flowers and bees. Husbands and wives. This is life. To gratefully receive. Life is a gift. God so loved the world that he…

…gave.

This is the way our God is. It’s how his world works. It’s how he operates in his world. It’s real.

And I hear my heavenly Father today telling me the same things I’m now telling Carley:

“Relax.”

“Let me get this for you. Let me give this to you. Allow me to take care of this for you. I want to give you every single thing you need. Please, just relax and receive it.”

Peace,

Allan

According To God's Will

September 18, 2009 / / 1 Comment

According to God’s willWhen we pray, we do so in faith that God is always going to give us what we need. We get that. We understand that. But what do we do with the words of our Lord in John 14:13-14?

“I will do whatever you ask in my name…You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

But God doesn’t give me whatever I ask. He’s said “no” to many of my prayers. His words don’t mean the same thing to us that they meant to the apostles.

What if — play along with me here — everytime you asked for something in prayer, God gave you a gift. He blessed you. What if — are you still with me? — sometimes he gives you something different than what you asked, but that something is so much bigger and better? What if God makes substitutions, but those “audibles” are always to your advantage?

He created me. He knows me. He knows every single thing about me. He certainly knows what’s best for me.

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” ~Matthew 7:11

God may not always give you exactly what you ask for. But your faith assures you that God is giving — he’s always giving. And if it’s different, you can trust that it’s better for you than what you think you want. His divine sovereignty will prove out because he knows. He knows much better than you what will best meet your needs and fit into his heavenly plans.

If my kids beg me for Little Debbies and Dr Pepper floats for every meal, three times a day, but I answer those requests by giving them salads and steaks and vegetables and rice and milk and water, does that show that I love them less? Or does it prove I love them more? Giving them what they want all the time would actually be much easier. But wouldn’t it prove that I don’t really have their long term interests at heart?

Jesus says, if you (insert your name), in all your shortcomings and sins and failures; if you (insert your name), in all your inadequacies, in all your evil; if you (insert your name) know how to give good gifts to your children…

How much more!

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24 Hours of PrayerYes, I’ve got prayer on the mind. It’s 6:30 Friday evening and there are seven men in two different rooms upstairs in The Rock here at Legacy, praying for over 130 prayer requests from our church family and the community. We started praying in one-hour shifts up there at 8:00 this morning. And nearly a hundred men are coming and going throughout the night through 8:00 tomorrow morning in our big annual prayer event, Legacy’s 24 Hours of Prayer.

I can’t adequately describe what it’s like to pray for your brothers and sisters, to lift up their deepest fears and concerns and their richest praise and thanksgivings, with four or five other brothers, for over an hour. I learn so much. I didn’t really know Michael until I listened with him this morning as he prayed for Mary and Gene and Betty. Now I know his heart. I had no idea the pain that Stuart and Hope have endured. But after reading their prayer requests form, now I know. I thought I knew Larry until I prayed with him for his children and mine. I thought I knew Steven until I heard him pour his heart out to God about his own sins and failures.

As Oswald Chambers said nearly a hundred years ago, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works; prayer IS the greater work.”

I love the 24 Hours of Prayer. My last time slot comes up at midnight. I’ll be praying with Tracy and David and Paul D. and Paul B. I feel like I know two of them pretty well right now. I know a little about the other guy. One guy I hardly know at all.

Right now, I consider all four of them friends.

At 1:00 am, I’m guaranteed to know more about them, and them about me, and to be closer to them and bonded to them than we would be after a year of going hunting or fishing or watching football games together.

At 1:00 we will be brothers.

Peace,

Allan

According To God's Will

September 18, 2009 / / 0 Comments

According to God’s willWhen we pray, we do so in faith that God is always going to give us what we need. We get that. We understand that. But what do we do with the words of our Lord in John 14:13-14?

“I will do whatever you ask in my name…You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

But God doesn’t give me whatever I ask. He’s said “no” to many of my prayers. His words don’t mean the same thing to us that they meant to the apostles.

What if — play along with me here — everytime you asked for something in prayer, God gave you a gift. He blessed you. What if — are you still with me? — sometimes he gives you something different than what you asked, but that something is so much bigger and better? What if God makes substitutions, but those “audibles” are always to your advantage?

He created me. He knows me. He knows every single thing about me. He certainly knows what’s best for me.

“If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!” ~Matthew 7:11

God may not always give you exactly what you ask for. But your faith assures you that God is giving — he’s always giving. And if it’s different, you can trust that it’s better for you than what you think you want. His divine sovereignty will prove out because he knows. He knows much better than you what will best meet your needs and fit into his heavenly plans.

If my kids beg me for Little Debbies and Dr Pepper floats for every meal, three times a day, but I answer those requests by giving them salads and steaks and vegetables and rice and milk and water, does that show that I love them less? Or does it prove I love them more? Giving them what they want all the time would actually be much easier. But wouldn’t it prove that I don’t really have their long term interests at heart?

Jesus says, if you (insert your name), in all your shortcomings and sins and failures; if you (insert your name), in all your inadequacies, in all your evil; if you (insert your name) know how to give good gifts to your children…

How much more!

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

24 Hours of PrayerYes, I’ve got prayer on the mind. It’s 6:30 Friday evening and there are seven men in two different rooms upstairs in The Rock here at Legacy, praying for over 130 prayer requests from our church family and the community. We started praying in one-hour shifts up there at 8:00 this morning. And nearly a hundred men are coming and going throughout the night through 8:00 tomorrow morning in our big annual prayer event, Legacy’s 24 Hours of Prayer.

I can’t adequately describe what it’s like to pray for your brothers and sisters, to lift up their deepest fears and concerns and their richest praise and thanksgivings, with four or five other brothers, for over an hour. I learn so much. I didn’t really know Michael until I listened with him this morning as he prayed for Mary and Gene and Betty. Now I know his heart. I had no idea the pain that Stuart and Hope have endured. But after reading their prayer requests form, now I know. I thought I knew Larry until I prayed with him for his children and mine. I thought I knew Steven until I heard him pour his heart out to God about his own sins and failures.

As Oswald Chambers said nearly a hundred years ago, “Prayer does not equip us for greater works; prayer IS the greater work.”

I love the 24 Hours of Prayer. My last time slot comes up at midnight. I’ll be praying with Tracy and David and Paul D. and Paul B. I feel like I know two of them pretty well right now. I know a little about the other guy. One guy I hardly know at all.

Right now, I consider all four of them friends.

At 1:00 am, I’m guaranteed to know more about them, and them about me, and to be closer to them and bonded to them than we would be after a year of going hunting or fishing or watching football games together.

At 1:00 we will be brothers.

Peace,

Allan

The Kingdom Of God Is Here!

September 4, 2009 / / 2 Comments

Jesus preaches the Kingdom. “Repent!” he says, “The Kingdom of God is near!” And then what does he do? He frees the prisoner, heals the blind and lame, rescues the oppressed.

Those are the signs of the Kingdom.

John the Baptist sends to find out if Jesus is the Messiah and Jesus says, look, you know what the signs are. “…the blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.”

That’s the Kingdom.

Distressed people being encouraged. Cold people being warmed. Hurting people being comforted. The outcasts being brought in and made family.

The Kingdom of God.

When we talk about the Kingdom strictly in terms of church and the institution and the rules and the order — when that’s our whole idea of Kingdom — we quickly lose sight of the very things that the Kingdom of God what it is. Centuries of church development and decision-making and rule-making can cloud our vision. When we see the Kingdom exclusively as church, we tend to focus only on the features and characteristics of the church.

Our challenge is to insure that our identifying characteristics genuinely correspond to those of the Kingdom Jesus was preaching. Maintaining our institutional status quo is not necessarily the same as being faithful to Jesus and his mission. Being a member in good standing or being a middle-of-the-road church isn’t necessarily the same as living under the reign of God.

Our King came into this world in order to serve and to save. And that is the business of his subjects, as well. May our Lord bless us as we serve and rescue and save in his name.

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Only nine days until the Cowboys kick off their 50th regular NFL season. One week from Sunday, they’ll tee it up against the Bucs down in Tampa Bay. And we’re counting down the days with what we’ve been calling the Red Ribbon Review. These are the second-best players in Cowboys history according to jersey number. The almosts. The also-rans. The not-quites.

Mitch HoopesToday’s #9 is Super Bowl punter Mitch Hoopes. (Doesn’t his picture just scream “Mid-70s”?) He was part of that historic Dirty Dozen draft of 1975, taken by Tom Landry in the eighth round out of Arizona. One of the few, if only, times the Cowboys have ever drafted a kicker. Hoopes was the punter as a rookie that year, posting a pedestrian 39.4 yards per kick average. Dallas made a shocking run to Super Bowl X, a heart-breaking loss to the Steelers in Miami, and then promptly brought in Danny White during the offseason to back up Roger Staubach.

And to punt.

Hoopes was released. And White became, in Staubach’s own words, “America’s Punter.”

Tomorrow’s #8 in the countdown is the only other player in Cowboys history to wear #8 besides the obvious Hall of Famer. Buzz Sawyer. His real name is Robert Meade Sawyer, according to pro football reference guides. But the Cowboys list him as Buzz. He was born in Waxahachie, punted for Texas A&M and Baylor, and wound up playing for the Cowboys scab team during the 1987 players strike. Three games. 16 total punts. 39.9 yards per kick average. And the only exclusively-scabs player to make the Red Ribbon Review.

Peace,

Allan

Redeeming The World The Jesus Way

June 22, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Tempted to Power“Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. ‘All this I will give you,’ he said, ‘if you will bow down and worship me.'” ~Matthew 4:8-9

The world has been trying since day one to redeem the world. The world says if we have power we can redeem the world. We can make it better. But they can’t. For thousands of years they’ve tried. It’s one of the devil’s most effective lies: more power, more education, more wealth, more technology equals a better world. We’ll make the world a better place by imposing our knowledge and our systems on the people around us. Eugene Peterson, in his book The Jesus Way, writes:

“War has always been the classic way of choice to impose our idea of what is good on the people we don’t like or disapprove of. It still is. In the century just completed ‘all the kingdoms of the world,’ led by the most advanced kingdoms economically and educationally, outdid themselves in not getting along. The facts and statistics are indisputable: the smarter we get, the more prosperous we are, the more murderous we become.”

The world has always said ‘might makes right.’ And sometimes the Church falls into that same trap.

Every single Christian believer has an important voice and an important presence in the way this country is run and the way our culture is formed. Yes. It’s critical for the redemption of creation. The world must see us and know where we’re coming from and where we’re going. But, we are being deceived by the devil if we think for one minute we can speak in a way or act in a way other than or counter to the way Jesus spoke and acted.

And we are guilty. Contrary to the clear example of Jesus, the Church of God is guilty of seeking and exerting power.

From Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus:

“One of the greatest ironies of the history of Christianity is that its leaders constantly give in to the temptation of power — political power, military power, economic power, or moral and spiritual power — even though they continue to speak in the name of Jesus, who did not cling to his divine power but emptied himself and became as we are. We keep hearing from others, as well as saying to ourselves, that having power — provided it is used in the service of God and your fellow human beings — is a good thing. With this rationalization, crusades took place; inquisitions were organized; Indians were enslaved; positions of great influence were desired. Every time we see a major crisis in the history of the Church…we always see that a major cause of rupture is the power exercised by those who claim to be followers of the poor and powerless Jesus.”

Love is the method of redeeming the world. Power is the shortcut. Power is easy. Love is hard. It’s easier to be God than to love God. It’s easier to control people than to love people. It’s easier to own the world than to love the world.

Jesus asks his disciples, “Do you love me?” And his disciples ask him, “Can we sit at your right hand in the Kingdom?”

The Way of Jesus is in deep, personal, intimate, loving, and giving relationship. With each other and with our community, for the salvation of the world.

Peace,

Allan

Jumping Off Theological Roofs

June 19, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Allright, last thing on that second temptation.

I think another facet to this desert trial is in the devil tempting Jesus to display to the world his special favor from God. Jesus is God’s Son. He is God’s anointed. God loves Jesus and approves of Jesus and is living in Jesus and doing his will through Jesus. And Satan tells Jesus to go ahead and jump off the temple roof to prove it. Show everybody just how special you are. Exhibit just how close you are to the Father. On the big stage, in front of all these people. Show ’em!

I think the temptation is very real for us, too, to display to the world what we may perceive as special favor from God. Nothing can hurt us. We belong to God. We’ve got baptism figured out. We know about acappella singing. We’re certain of when to take the Lord’s Supper. We’re invincible. We are truly God’s people. We’re in the right!

And we jump off theological roofs with nothing to hang on to but a couple of verses taken grossly out of context, completely ignoring the fact that the grace of God that covers us in our mistakes and misunderstandings covers other groups of disciples in their mistakes and misunderstandings.

But we don’t need his grace for everything. We’ve got this part figured out.

Talk about testing God! I wonder sometimes why he doesn’t just let us hit the bottom of the Kidron Valley floor.

Yes, we are special. But we’re no more special than any other group of Jesus followers who put their faith in our Christ.

Yes, our Father will guard us carefully. Yes, he will lift us up in his hands so that our feet will not strike a stone. We know that. But we never use it as a point of pride with others. The Jesus Way is one of great humility and dependence. We don’t test our God. We trust him.

Peace,

Allan

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