Category: Ministry (Page 25 of 35)

On The Front Lines

June 8, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Never pity missionaries. Envy them. They are where the real action is; where life and death, sin and grace, heaven and hell converge.” ~R. Shannon

I heard Terry Rush say one time that every single American Christian ought to be required to spend at least one year in a foreign mission field. If everyone spent twelve months of sacrifice and service in a place where the Church is not strong and every soul is regarded as precious and every Christian brother and sister is valued as important, there would be no more arguing or complaining or bickering in our American congregations. We wouldn’t fight about anything. We would understand acutely that the Kingdom of God is so much more important and so much bigger than our small version and definition of it, whatever our small version and definition may be. We would be shaped in such a way as to finally believe that being together in a Body of believers, a family of Christians, is the most wonderful thing in the world. And we would do everything in our power to preserve it.

In a foreign mission field, the battles are against the powers and principalities, the dark rulers of this world, not one another. The smallest physical blessings are giant miracles. That one new soul added to the Kingdom is monumental. The problems of mankind are seen as what they really are: sin and death, not whether a brother isn’t happy with the song selection or a sister has a complaint about the room temperature.

Kingdom community means something in a foreign mission field. Utter dependence on God is real in a foreign mission field. Humility and gratitude and faith and brotherly love are not just empty church words in a foreign mission field. In a foreign mission field — in the middle of all the teaching and preaching and praying and giving and crying and building and compromising and learning — men and women are shaped by God’s Holy Spirit to see everything differently.

Everything.

I’ve been praying that God will use our trip to Ukraine to give me some of that “front lines” perspective. I want him to show me a bigger picture of his Kingdom. I want God to reveal to me exactly what he wants me to see. I want to know. I want to grow.

We’ve been here with David and Olivia for about 18 hours. And just in our brief reconnecting with each other, I’ve seen it. I see all of this big-picture, front-line perspective in them. You know, the things they wrestle with, the things they deal with, the things they have to endure for the mission of Christ in this place put all of our petty problems to shame.

All of them.

Our God is working right now to redeem all of his creation. He’s working in every corner of this huge world. He’s changing people, saving people; he’s healing and forgiving, loving and comforting; he’s giving mankind hope through his Son. And he’s robbing hell. Every day. In every part of this world. Every people, every nation, every tribe, every tongue.

I spend a lot of my time at Legacy worrying about whether so-and-so is happy.

Some of that time, I’m the so-and-so I’m worried about.

And I’m ashamed.

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I want to keep you updated with everything we’re doing, but I’ve already run out of time. It’s been a busy Tuesday (remember, we’re a full eight hours ahead of Texas time) and we’re just minutes away from an English-speaking Bible study here at David and Olivia’s. I’ve got to make up the bed and straighten up in this guest room before Carrie-Anne and Olivia get back from the market. I’ll update one more time before the day is over, hopefully with a few pictures.

Peace,

Allan

Who Do You Say I Am?

May 13, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?” ~Matthew 16:15

Peter answers his Lord by confessing Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God. In similar circumstances — we could argue we live 24 hours a day in that circumstance — we would all make that Christian confession.

And Jesus would respond, “Blessed are you, Allan. Blessed are you, Joe. Blessed are you, Jane. Blessed are you (insert your own name).

And we’d just sit there, together, basking in the quiet moment, reflecting on the eternal implications of that confession.

And then what if you broke that silence by turning the question back on Jesus? What if you asked Jesus, “Who do you say I am?” You ever thought about that? What would Jesus say if you asked him who he says you are? You know he has an opinion. He knows you. He knows everything about you. What you say. What you do. The ways you think. He knows. And you ask him…

“…Who do you say I am?”

Well, what does he say?

I think Jesus would say, “Allan, you are a faithful proclaimer of the Gospel. You are a compassionate minister in the Kingdom.”

See, Jesus would always go to the positives first. That’s the way he operates. Our tendencies are to see the negatives first. Even in our self-evaluations, we look at the negatives and blow them out of proportion. But Jesus would initially attend to the good things about us. It’s called grace.

And then, I’m afraid my Lord would say, “Allan, you have a real lack of trust in me. Your faith isn’t nearly as strong as it should be by now. And you have a real problem with looking at things from a worldly perspective. Even things in my Church. You make judgments and decisions based on worldly principles.”

He would say other things about areas in my life I’m needing to change. But he would probably keep coming back to my lack of faith.

If you were to ask Jesus, “Who do you say I am?” what would he say?

Seriously.

He has an opinion.

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The cops are coming to get me at noon today. No Thursday hoops. I’ll be in jail in Bedford trying to raise the rest of the $1,480 bail money needed for MDA. As of this writing, we’ve raised $950. Thank you, thank you, thank you! If you’d like to contribute to the cause, please click here. Again, thank you.

Peace,

Allan

Pleasing to God

April 19, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

“Offer your bodies as a sacrifice, living and holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” ~Romans 12:1

Have you ever worked for somebody who was never satisfied with your efforts? You could never make this boss happy? It didn’t matter how many hours you worked or how hard you labored or how much you produced, he was not going to be pleased? Maybe you’ve been (or are) married to someone who is never pleased with you. Nothing you do makes her/him happy. Or maybe you have grumpy parents. You never received a blessing from your dad. You never lived up to your mother’s expectations.

Paul says that when we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice, it is pleasing to God.

And that is so wonderful.

God wants us to have a terrific freedom in our relationships with him. How comforting and liberating it is to know that he’s pleased with us! He’s proud of us! The things we try — even the things we try and fail — make our God happy. It has nothing at all to do with our ability to be pleasing. It’s not on us or on the things we’re doing to please God. In fact, it’s just the opposite. God has freed us to do pleasing things by telling us that we are pleasing to him.

God’s love is such a fantastic motivater.

When we know that who we are and what we do is acceptable and pleasing to God, we don’t have to waste a lot of time and energy trying to prove ourselves. And we won’t be paralyzed by fear and doubt. We won’t be constantly looking over our shoulders.

What happens if I start this ministry? What happens if I teach this class? What happens if I reach out to this person in my community? What happens if I begin a new program at church? What if I really mess it up? What if I say the wrong thing? What if I upset God?

No!

Stop it!

God’s not looking at your actions, he’s looking at your heart. He’s looking at your offering.

Go do it! And God bless you! He’s gonna love it!

You are pleasing to him.

Peace,

Allan

Being Church

March 29, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

A year ago we challenged our Legacy Small Groups to act with one another the way they’d like to see the entire congregation act. We believe that what happens in our Small Groups will, eventually, over time, permeate our whole church family. So we started this past Small Groups cycle with this question: What if the whole church acted like my Small Group?

What if everybody at Legacy showed up for assemblies and church functions as consistently as I do for Small Groups? What if everybody at Legacy participated in church events as much as I do Small Groups? What if everybody at Legacy showed the same amount of grace and love to one another as is shared within our Small Group? What if the brothers and sisters at Legacy were as quick to understand and forgive? What if all of us at Legacy placed the same emphasis on hospital visits, delivering meals, helping others financially, and integrating visitors and new members just like we do it in my Small Group? What if Legacy worshiped and studied and prayed just like we do in my Small Group? What if Legacy looked exactly like my Small Group? Would that be a good thing or a bad thing?

In order to keep moving from simply doing church to actually and radically being church, we need to act individually and in small groups the way we’d like the whole congregation to act.

I’m so proud of my Small Group.

One year ago we met in David and Shanna’s living room and gave the upcoming twelve months to our God. We asked him to join us and move us and shape us through our Small Group. Carrie-Anne and I already had a great relationship with David & Shanna. But we really didn’t know anybody else in the room. I’d had only short, casual conversations with Doug & Phyllis. I knew Kirk, but I knew nothing of the great loss he’s suffered in his life. I’d shaken hands with Steve probably seven million times and talked with him about the Rangers for two years. But I didn’t know who he was. I didn’t know Brian and Julie and their five kids or Michael and Christy and their four kids at all. (Why would anybody with all those children sign up for a group that already had so many kids?) But through our shared experiences this year, I have come to love every one of them like family. Like real family.

Our group loved and served and blessed and encouraged one another through two surgeries, an aging parent moving in, Cowboys wins and losses, communion bread that tasted like old pretzels, job changes, birthdays, and the tragic death of a niece. We also worked together to rescue David from a sure trip to the state prison. We sang “Days of Elijah” and “Awesome God” exactly 52 times in our 52 meetings. We shared 52 meals in five different homes and everybody brought something every week. We all took turns holding the kids and fixing plates and cleaning up afterward. We hugged and laughed and cried and wrestled with our God and his will for our lives.

And we brought in and loved and served a middle-school teacher who’s going through an incredibly horrible divorce right now. She’s letting us take care of her and her four children in the name of our Savior. We’re ministering to them through the sufficiency and competency of Christ. She’s become a member at Legacy and is doing her best to trust our God to deliver her through this dark valley.

I’m so proud of our group.

Last night we finalized our plans to become two groups for this next cycle in order to take what we’ve experienced by the grace of God to others at Legacy who haven’t tasted it yet. We’ve become four sets of co-leaders now instead of two. And we’re praying that our Father will use us in mighty ways to benefit his people and his Kingdom.

What if everybody at Legacy looked and acted just like your Small Group?

They will. Eventually.

Peace,

Allan

Living Sacrifice

March 11, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God — this is your spiritual act of worship.” ~Romans 12:1

Think very carefully about the times you have completely abandoned yourself into some act of service for others in the name of Jesus. Think about the times you’ve totally given yourself to God and to others in some act of kindness or mercy.

Recall the joy you feel as you walk a family of five through Give-Away-Day, the way you experience the mercy of God as you hand a brand new toy to a seven-year-old girl who’s never had one. Think about the new life you feel as you pray with your brothers during the 24 Hours of Prayer, the way you bond with your Lord and your Christian friends and the ones for whom you pray. Think about sacking groceries in the church pantry, visiting a sister about to go into surgery at the hospital, delivering a casserole to the family who just lost a loved one. Remember the fullness of life you discovered in that offering. Remember how it feels to put to death your own needs and fears and find a source of peaceful and joyful existence in God. It’s unexplainable.

Scripture calls us to remember those times and to be even more willing to make that total offering, that holy sacrifice, over and over again. That is our act of worship. It’s our act of service that, by the grace of God, he makes holy and pleasing.

Think about those times. Remember and repeat. And find real peace and joy in your Lord.

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A couple of entries in the Legacy “Caps for Tags” contest. Click here for the full scoop.

Keep those pictures coming in. Email them to astanglin@legacychurchofchrist.org

Peace,

Allan

Preaching to our Enemies

March 8, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

The story of Jonah helps us understand how God thinks. It helps us see God’s great love for all of his creation and his will for all men and women of the world to be saved. The apostle Peter finally figured it out after a couple of rooftop visions in Joppa.

“Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” ~Acts 10:15

“God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.” ~Acts 10:28

“I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts men from every nation who fear him and do what is right.” ~Acts 10:34-35

We have enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan. And our God loves them and he wants them to be saved. But sometimes our language and our prayers and our actions and our emails don’t reflect it. How quickly we forget that while we were God’s enemies, Christ died for us.

We have enemies right here in our own communities. Enemies of our property values, enemies of our employment figures and tax rates, enemies of our comfort zones and our decency and order. And our God’s unmistakable call is to take to them the good news of salvation.

See, the deal with Jonah is that he believes in the sovereignty of God in his clear call. Jonah understands it. He just doesn’t want to obey it.

We believe that Jesus meant it when he said love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. But we don’t always practice it.

God is still calling his people to preach, to witness, to testify, on his behalf to other people. We see it with Jonah. We really see it in Jesus. Our Savior crosses all the social and political and cultural and racial and economic boundaries to save violent outcasts, those possessed by demons, warring zealots, traitorous tax collectors, Roman centurions, and thieves on crosses. He broke through the barriers of time and space to save you. And me.

And our God unmistably calls us to reach out to others the same way.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Ministry (Page 25 of 35)

On The Front Lines

Who Do You Say I Am?

Pleasing to God

Being Church

Living Sacrifice

Preaching to our Enemies

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