Category: Ministry (Page 30 of 35)

Convenient Sacrifice

January 27, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

While reading a commentary on 2 Samuel last night, I came across this prayer written by Joe Seremane in 1998 in his book Celebrating One World. Seremane is a social justice activist (so is God). Unlike God, Seremane is an African.

I tell you that only to disclose that, yes, I understand the context of this prayer. But I understand this plea to our Father as also completely appropriate in the context of our church families here in America. Maybe, specifically, in our suburban, upper-middle class churches in America.

The call from our Savior is to a life of sacrificial service to others. Be like Jesus. Give up everything I have and give it to other people. And that’s hard. It’s harder for some of us than it is for others. But our adherence or lack of adherence to that command doesn’t lessen its preeminence for us as disciples of Christ. The call is to a constant sacrifice, not to a convenient sacrifice. It’s not to an act of service when it’s convenient.

The call is to sacrifice for and serve others when it’s not convenient. When it’s hard. When the very last thing you want to do is forget about your self and your own needs and give everything to the needs of those around us. There was nothing convenient about Jesus’ suffering and death for me. Gospel evidence shows me he was looking for a Plan B, for another way. But he did it. Because it is the only way.

Apply this prayer to the way you live in your church. The way you act within your Small Group. The kind of wife you are. The kind of son you are. The kind of co-worker you are. The sort of neighbor you are in your community, your school, your subdivision. Pray this prayer. Be challenged by it. Be changed by it. Be blessed by your renewed commitment to our Father to be shaped by it.

You asked for my hands
that you might use them for your purpose.
I gave them for a moment,
then withdrew them, for the work was hard.

You asked for my mouth
to speak out against injustice;
I gave you a whisper that I might not be accused.

You asked for my eyes
to see the pain of poverty;
I closed them, for I did not want to see.

You asked for my life
that you might work through me.
I gave you a small part, that I might not get too involved.

Lord, forgive me for my calculated efforts to serve you
only when it is convenient for me to do so,
only in those places where it is safe to do so and
only with those who make it easy to do so.

Father, forgive me,
renew me,
send me out
as a usable instrument
that I might take seriously
the meaning of the cross!

The Way Of The Kingdom

January 15, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Jerry Plemons and I met for about an hour Tuesday with the principal and a couple of counselors at Thomas elementary school less than three miles south of our church building. They had contacted us first, asking if there were anything we could do to help them and the children in their school. Sixty-five percent of these children are on free and reduced lunch, economically-disadvantaged kids with only one parent, barely one pair of shoes, and no sense of community beyond their 8:00 to 3:00 school day behind the bricks. The school is lacking adequate funds for playground equipment, day planners, uniforms and underwear and socks. They need scholarships for field trips and science camps.

Can we help them? You bet!

And we are. Legacy is committed to giving every penny of our Sunday night contribution for the next 12 weeks—hopefully over $6000—to Thomas Elementary. We’re going to organize a rotation of volunteers to greet kids at the door in the mornings and read with the children in the afternoons. We’re going to adopt this school in much the same way we’ve adopted Walker Creek Elementary across the street. It’s a no-brainer.

I’m reminded of N. T. Wright’s comments about how to live in the Kingdom of God. In his book The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage Today, Wright says the royal decree of our King, the Christ, is “an invitation to a Kingdom-spirituality, invoking the power of the King to liberate those held in Satan’s bondage.” So, living in the Kingdom looks like this: a life of complete submission to the King, a life marked with loyalty and love and total commitment to his cause. It means taking up his cause and planting the flag of his Kingdom in territory currently occupied by enemy forces. Territory like Thomas Elementary.

“You commit yourself to the work of healing and liberation, both actual and symbolic. You commit yourself to freeing slaves, to loosening the bonds of debt, to bringing good news to the poor. And you commit yourself to doing these things, not as a grand social action which you will implement by your own energy and ingenuity, but in the power, and with the weapons, of the Kingdom of God: by prayer and fasting, by truth and righteousness, by the gospel of peace, by faith, by salvation, by the Word of God.”

Messy Sunday Nights

December 9, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

I look around the circle in my living room Sunday night. What a mess! Wow, what a mess!

A divorced single mom, struggling to make ends meet, dealing with fatigue and a teenage son. She’s cancer-free now for three years, but fighting other battles that just won’t go away. A couple who’ve just come back to the Lord after several years of living for themselves. Two teenaged children next to them. One was just baptized. One just gave birth to a baby girl last week. A single woman who just moved here from West Texas a couple of months ago for a job that now appears to be heading south. She’s stressed like you wouldn’t believe. And confused. A single dad with two teenagers. He’s dealing with all kinds of physical ailments like diabetes and bone and joint problems. A recently blended family, the product of infidelity and deceit. Four kids. All of them scarred by rejection and hurt. An older guy, a veteran soldier of Christ, struggling with his own arthritis and pain problems. An Hispanic couple from Puerto Rico with two young daughters; he’s burned out at work, she’s home-schooling the kids.

And I see myself in the mirror over the antique stereo in my living room. A new preacher filled with self-doubt. Overwhelmed by the enormity of his circumstance. Battling insecurities. Inadequacies. Ego. Sin.

In that circle on Sunday nights, we give our messes to our God and to each other. We carry each other. We serve each other. We encourage one another and affirm that our Father is holding our hands and walking with us on our journeys. We go around the circle and pray for each other. We go around the circle and tell our stories. We go around the circle and admit shortcomings and pledge to do better. We buy a baby stroller together and shower the new child-mother with the love of Christ. And we show that God forgives. We go out to dinners with the families struggling to renew their faith. And we show that God protects. We raise money for the single mom and present it to her as a gift of God’s grace. And we show that God provides. We visit hospitals and even a mental health facility once to help bear one another’s burdens. And we show that God cares.

And a week doesn’t go by that tears are not shed. Tears of gratitude. Tears of sorrow. Tears of joy. Tears of astonishment that our God can be so good.

I’m not sure what’s happening in the other 36 Small Groups at Legacy. I hear stories almost every week about members of our church family who are being carried and served by their Small Groups. A single dad in the hospital with emergency gall bladder surgery. A young police officer injured in a motorcycle accident. A neighbor displaced by a house fire. Small Groups providing meals and prayers and rides and support and money and strength to the kinds of people who would normally slip through the cracks in a church as big as ours. Without Small Groups, these folks have no connection, they have no one to call, no one to take care of them in a crunch, much less day-to-day and week-to-week. With Small Groups, they have everything. And more.

Our God put us in community. He calls us to be together. It’s his plan. It’s his purpose for his people. To minister to one another. To provide and protect and defend and lift up one another in the name of our Christ. We are, afterall, a Kingdom of Priests. Sacrifice and service. Giving up everything and dying for others. Being transformed. Becoming more like him.

We’ve got a wreck of a group in our house on Sunday nights. All kinds of problems and issues. Tons of baggage. But we’ve all seen, we’ve all experienced, every one of us without exception, our God working in us and through us together to draw us closer to him and to a realization of his divine purposes for our lives. We are not inadequate. We are not insecure. We are not weak or unable. We have our powerful God, the Creator of the Universe. And we have each other. Just the way he intends.

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

December 9, 2008

The final regular season “KK&C Top 20″ college football poll reflects not only the standings in most other highly respected lists, but also the national outcry (again) against the system that determines the national champion. OU receives four first place votes to leap into the top spot, followed by their title tilt opponent Florida. At just one point back, Texas falls to third, out of the only game that matters. In fact, a total of just four points separates our top three teams with Alabama and USC rounding out the top five.

Our die-hard regulars contributed their same great, entertaining comments to go with their votes. Familiar themes such as Mike Gundy’s manly boasts and Joe Pateno’s decaying hip make expected appearances. David Byrnes reacts typically to the postseason matchups: “Alabama vs. Utah? There’s no BCS computer! Someone’s just drawing names from a hat!” Charlie Johanson finishes strong with one final (for now) Oregon Duck crack. But his comment about Cincinnati and WKRP shows little knowledge of what a real TV sitcom should look like; or a pre-plasticized Loni Anderson.

Ball State fell out (nobody loses to Bufallo and stays in our poll) along with Boston College and Missouri, replaced by Virginia Tech, Pittsburgh, and Michigan State.

The final, final, final “KK&C Top 20″ will be released Friday night, January 9 after the coaches have voted the winner of the national championship game national champion, as per the arrangement.

As always, click on the green “KK&C Top 20” tab in the upper right hand corner of this screen to get the full poll, all the comments, and complete profiles of all the voters.

Peace,

Allan

Beware The Shadows

December 5, 2008 / Allan / 3 Comments

We spent a lot of time in San Antonio Tuesday talking with Lynn Anderson about the mission of God’s Church. If we understand the teachings of Jesus and the apostles, Scripture shows us clearly that God’s people are to live their lives in such a way as to be lights of truth and salvation to the world. Our unity, our common love, our sacrifice and service should be so obvious to others they can’t help but wonder about the Savior who empowers us to live so differently from the rest of society. That’s God vision. That’s his purpose for his Church.

And that’s our vision as preachers and teachers and shepherds. Living like Jesus. Acting like the Christ. Being transformed more and more into his image. That’s what we proclaim. That’s what we profess.

But if we’re not careful, especially in moments of crisis, we can become driven by other things. Lynn calls those things our “shadow missions.”

When things get tough or shaky or uncertain, when things aren’t happening the way we planned or as quickly as we’d like—in other words, when Satan attacks—we have a human tendency to fall back on our human plans and human needs to meet our human expectations and defeat our human fears.

We often measure success in human terms. And those needs for numbers and applause and buildings and affirmation and contribution cause us to react in one of two ways: we either go into “success mode” or “survival mode.”

Church decisions made and policies produced in success mode are focused on new programs and perceived excitement and manufactured enthusiasm. Generally it’s done for the sake of the buzz it creates and the accompanying noise and bright lights. We become more “like the nations around us.” That’s not the Jesus Way.

Survival mode decisions and actions focus on the numbers; not offending anyone for fear they’ll leave; not upsetting anyone for fear they’ll stop giving money; not challenging anyone to grow for fear we won’t be able to pay the mortgage or the bills. That’s not the Jesus Way.

Lynn calls those our “shadow missions.” These kinds of things are always there, always lurking in the background, always a temptation. And a crisis will often cause these motives and these goals to overtake God’s vision. Our personal mission becomes a higher priority than God’s vision. It’s actually in contradiction with God’s vision.

We all have these shadow missons. We all have needs and wants that don’t necessarily jive with God’s vision. Close inspection reveals that most of our shadow missions are exactly the opposite of what Jesus teaches it means to be like him. Our Savior never knew success or money or buildings or prestige or applause. He didn’t seek it. He didn’t want it. Our challenge is to determine, in everything we do, that God’s vision for his people will never become second to our own missions for ourselves.

Jesus came to earth with absolutely no desire for success and certainly no intention to survive.

Peace,

Allan

Legacy To The World

October 15, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

Between 60-70 of us turned out for a quick breakfast here at Legacy this morning and a send off of our missionaries to Ukraine, David & Olivia Nelson. David’s from New Zealand. Liv’s from Lubbock. They met in the AIM program at LCU. They’ve been married for a little over two years. And they’re committing to a six-year stint as Christian missionaries with a team in Kharkov, Ukraine. They’ve only been with us here at Legacy for about three months. But we’ve all come to love them as our own. And this morning’s send off was pretty neat.

We all told them how much we love them. We charged them with being strong and faithful. We reminded them that they were joining in what God is already doing there in Ukraine, redeeming his creation, his people, back to him. And we recognized that we are joining them, too. We circled close around them, put our hands on them and our arms around them and each other and lifted them up to our Father. We prayed for courage and faith and protection. And we commited them and their work to him. Our hearts and our prayers go with David and Olivia as they head to Europe.

You can keep up with the Nelsons via their blog by clicking here. I’ll also keep it posted on my blog roll on the right hand side of this front page.

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

This Sunday is Friends Day at Legacy. And we’re hoping to break our attendance record of 1,349 we set back on August 17. Last Sunday we made available to the congregation ten thousand bags of microwave popcorn. Several volunteers had spent a few days putting Friends Day invitation stickers on the popcorn that say “Pop in for a visit.” The popcorn bags have our church address, phone number, website, and assembly times on them. And we’re trying to flood all our Northeast Tarrant County neighborhoods with these bags of popcorn. We’re calling it Operation Popcorn. Valerie and I figured out yesterday it takes two Wal-Mart bags full of the popcorn and about 30-minutes to do three streets. We’re going to try to do six streets later today. We still have about four thousand bags left in the concourse here at Legacy. I hope they’re all gone by the end of our worship service tonight.

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

Valerie’s sixth grade choir gave their first public performance of the school year last night at Birdville High School. She was great, of course! Four different choirs sang at least one hymn or spiritual during their times on stage. Really cool. They all did a good job. Before the performance, the choir director pointed us to a list of rules posted on the back of the program the audience is to follow during a formal concert. She went over all the rules with us. All cell phones turned off or on vibrate. Absolutely no texting during the concert. No getting up and moving during songs. If you have to leave your seat, do it inbetween songs. No cheering or yelling or whistling or calling out names. Polite applause at the end of a number only. How is it we can all follow these rules at a middle school choir concert but not in a Sunday morning worship assembly? I need that lady to do our Call to Worship this Sunday. (The two girls with Valerie in this picture are the loud, crazy girls I took to see City of Ember Friday night. They’re great friends to our middle daughter. Good kids. And a lot of fun.)

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

David B points out that Jerry Wayne’s zero-tolerance policy regarding PacMan Jones was obviously a “zero-tolerance-unless-you’re-a-superstar-or-Terrence-Newman-is-hurt” policy. How utterly embarrassing this must be for the Cowboys owner. The commissioner of the NFL has to step in and do what Jerry Wayne would not. Wow.

And Richard A tells me the reason the Cowboys traded for Detroit receiver Roy Williams is because they saw the Lions on the schedule, realized they had no way to cover him, and made a quick deal to get him in a Dallas uni. Look for Tori Holt to become a Cowboy today or tomorrow.

Peace,

Allan

For Christ's Sake, I Delight…

October 1, 2008 / Allan / 3 Comments

“For Christ’s sake I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” ~2 Corinthians 12:10

Terry Rush is good. Man, he’s good. Four out of five of his daily posts on his blog The Morning Rush are written to encourage preachers. They always encourage me. Always. And they always seem to be written especially for me at exactly the time I need it the most. Yesterday’s post by Terry, “A Tough Lesson To Learn,” couldn’t have been timed any better.

I’m beginning to understand that most, if not all, the things that hinder me or slow me down or rattle me or depress me or derail me or anger me or otherwise get in my way of serving our God and preaching his Word and ministering to his people are from Satan. He doesn’t want me to preach. He definitely wants me to get upset and cynical and angry and depressed. He wants me to feel ineffective. The devil wants me to be defensive and suspicious. He would much rather me withdraw than reach out.

So I’m trying to see all these things as positive signs that God’s Holy Spirit is empowering me and Christ Jesus is ruling me and the Father is loving me and Satan can’t stand it. I’m trying to, like Paul, delight in these things. Because God through my crucified and resurrected Lord gives me strength.

Here’s Terry’s post from yesterday:

Years ago Memorial was going through some tough stuff. Conflict was in the air. I watched as one of the families passed letters out to a few on a Wednesday night. They handed one to me. I didn’t need to read it. This family and a few of their friends had been on the elders’ case for quite some time. I didn’t open the letter. In disgust I tossed it on my desk and went home. I did go home and call a couple of friends of the elders asking them to give them a call as I knew letters were being handed out against them. I knew they must be hurting. I felt sorry and defensive for my men.

Well, I went into the office the next morning and there was that danged letter. So I opened it to see what they had to say this time about our guys. Oh, boy! It was about me! They handed out a letter voicing there dissatisfaction with me! While things like that hurt, I just had to laugh because I was so worried about the elders….and they had gotten the letter and were worried about me.

Some of you get that treatment. I don’t anymore from within the congregation. For those who are treated this way, I encourage you that everything will be all right. Don’t fight this kind of person. And, don’t fold up believing you are notoriously no good. Leave it up to God. He will take care of these matters. He will.

Insults aren’t easy for sensitive leaders like us. Yet, God says to be thankful for them; to brag about them (II Cor. 12:10). He is telling us the truth. Yes, they really hurt. And yes, we have it coming because we are walking in Jesus’ footsteps. The cross is not convenient and some will try to kill us….and we have it coming. If the church has real authentic hope, one of the reasons will be when the leaders refuse to retreat when injured. We often play the game hurt.

And while we do, God works! It is a tough lesson to learn; but surely worth applying each day. Keep your spirit smiling….even in the midst of pain. I feel sure somebody needed this right now.

Don’t quit.

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

John Danks! Wow! Eight shutout innings in a critical do-or-die game for the White Sox! He dominated! Wow! Wouldn’t it be great if the Rangers could ever—I mean ever!!!— come across a kid like this? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the Rangers could ever find a pitcher like this? What could happen if the Rangers could ever be so fortunate as to sign a guy like John Danks?

Oh, yeah.

Nevermind.

Crud.

Category: Ministry (Page 30 of 35)

Convenient Sacrifice

The Way Of The Kingdom

Messy Sunday Nights

Beware The Shadows

Legacy To The World

For Christ's Sake, I Delight…

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links