Category: Prayer (Page 21 of 29)

Where Two or Three Are Gathered

September 16, 2010 / Allan / 7 Comments

“Where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” ~Matthew 18:20

I had always heard and understood that verse to mean that anytime Christians get together for any reason, Jesus is there. Generally, we use that verse to justify skipping church. Going camping or fishing or staying home to watch the Cowboys is OK if we’re doing it with other Christians. “Where two or three are gathered…” Right?

Over the past few years, I’ve come to see the full context of that Matthew 18 passage. It’s about putting aside differences. It’s about making peace with one another. Forgiving each other. Making right the things that are wrong between people. In light of all the bickering and arguing and debating and dividing and judging and pettiness among Christ’s disciples today, I’ve come to hear that verse 20 as Jesus saying, “Man, if two of y’all can agree on ANYTHING, I’ll show up just to see it!”

The passage is really about prayer.

“If two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father heaven. For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” ~Matthew 18:19-20

Jesus is talking about prayer. He’s talking about people being of one heart and one spirit, coming together to pray about common concerns, to praise God for common blessings, to ask with one voice for his holy will to be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Praying together bonds us to one another. It eliminates the boundaries between us. It destroys the walls. It obliterates the divisions. Praying together allows us to see past the exterior differences between us and stare right into one another’s hearts. Sometimes the only times we really get to see and hear and feel what one another is all about is when we pray together. There are no divisions in a prayer circle. There are no false distinctions. No one is better than anybody else when we come together to pray. We’re all equals in the throne room of God.

When Christians pray together, the Spirit is at work. When we come together to reach for God’s will, his presence is with us.

Our annual 24 Hours of Prayer here at Legacy begins at 8:00 tomorrow morning. It’s a men’s ministry thing, although it looks like it’s going to be a church-wide thing next year. Open and honest and humble prayer before God and one another. More than 80-men. Close to 3,000 different prayer requests. Continuously, in one-hour shifts, through the day and night, into Saturday morning. It makes us put aside our differences. It forces us to focus on God’s will, not mine or yours. It pushes us to see the world and the people in it through God’s eyes.

I’m meeting my brothers Greg and Jerry and Larry in the worship center at 8:00 tomorrow morning. Herb and Dennis and Gary and James are showing up at 9:00. Elvin and Sam and Jimmy arrive at 10:00. On and on in our worship center. Brothers in Christ crying out to our Father. I’ll be back at 5:00 tomorrow afternoon to pray with Glenn and Bob and Gary. Again at midnight with Bo and Greg and Brian and Larry and Wes. We’re going to pray together.

And Jesus has promised he’s going to meet us there.

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

David and Olivia Nelson, Legacy’s wonderful missionaries in Kharkov, Ukraine, have finally had that little baby. Caleb James was born last week, September 8. For a very interesting story about what it’s like to deliver a baby in Ukraine, check out their blog by clicking here. Lots of awesome pictures there, too. Congratulations you two. You three! We love you. And we can’t wait to see you here at Legacy in November!

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The Rangers have won seven straight. The A’s have thrown in the towel. The magic number is down to eight. And our baseball team is about to clinch it’s fourth division title, it’s first since 1999. The shame of it is that they’re going to clinch it either in Anaheim or Oakland at 12:15 or 12:30am on a weekday.

The Rangers leave today for a ten-game road trip to the West Coast, their last road trip of the season. All of the games except Sunday’s begin at 9:05pm Texas time. It’s so disappointing to me. When the Rangers record that last out on that magical night (morning), and they dogpile one another on the pitcher’s mound and they pop the champagne and they cry and laugh and celebrate this great achievement, most Rangers fans under the age of 15 will have already been in bed asleep for a couple of hours. I hate that. I’ll let Whitney stay up that night. But Carley and Valerie will be long gone. So will Carrie-Anne.

The Rangers’ placement in the AL West division does this team no favors. To be the only team in a West Coast division located two time zones away is a killer. I have to believe it’s really difficult to build up a super strong and loyal fan base when nearly a third of all your games every season begin just as most fans and potential fans in your time zone are setting their alarm clocks and brushing their teeth.

Just as the Dallas Cowboys have benefitted all these years from being in the NFC East with the Giants and Redskins and Eagles, the Rangers have been handicapped by playing in California and Washington with the Angels, M’s, and A’s.

Rangers playoff tickets go on sale Saturday. Daily afternoon naps begin this Monday.

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.

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

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

Fertilize Somebody

February 10, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” ~John 1:14

Eugene Peterson translates this well-known verse as “The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.”

What does it mean for the Holy Son of God to become flesh and live with us? What does it mean for God himself to walk our streets, to eat our food, to breathe our air, to hug our kids, so suffer and die for us — suffer and die with us?

It means everything! The Incarnation of God means everything in that it shows the lengths he goes to redeem us and provide for us what we cannot provide ourselves. It means everything in that he was not content to save us from his throne in heaven. Our Father came here, where we are, to experience everything we experience. He brought heaven down to us.

And we’re commissioned by our baptisms into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus to do the same thing. We walk the streets with our neighbors. We share meals with the homeless. We breathe the air in the government housing apartments. We hug the kids at Fortress and Walker Creek Elementary. We suffer with those in the hospitals. And we die everyday for and with the orphan, the widow, and the stranger in the gate.

Luis Palau says the Church is like manure: Pile it up together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world.

~~~~~~~~~~

Jenny Bizaillion is doing so much better today. She’s down to just one blood pressure medicine now and her numbers are doing OK. Her breathing is better. Her color is better. In fact, they are actually going to take her off the ventilator at 8:00 tomorrow morning. They’re going to wake her up. The doctors have told David and Rick and Beverly that they really can’t explain Jenny’s improvement over the past 48 hours but whatever the family’s doing, keep it up.

The family. That’s all of us. You, too. And we’re not doing anything. Our God is doing it all. Give him praise for Jenny’s improved health. And keep praying that our merciful Father will fully restore her with strength and healing.

“Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies [flu, pneumonia, disease, fear, death] cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing praise to your name.’
Come and see what God has done,
how awesome his works in [Jenny’s] behalf.”
~Psalm 66:3-5

Peace,

Allan

God, Heal Jenny Biz!

February 9, 2010 / Allan / 5 Comments

Jenny Bizaillion, a dear friend of ours from our days in Mesquite, is fighting for her life today at Baylor Grapevine. Please join Carrie-Anne and me in begging our great God to heal her.

Jenny is the daughter of Rick and Beverly Ross. Rick was the preacher at the Mesquite Church of Christ in those days and now proclaims the gospel in Decatur. He is a godly man beyond reproach. Dedicated. Determined. Reflective. Solid. He’s one of the reasons I went into preaching. Beverly is his amazing wife. A renowned speaker on the women’s ministry front. Positively optimistic. Outgoing. Spiritual. Inspirational. Jenny’s brother, Josh, is the preacher at the Sycamore View CofC in Memphis. Dynamic. A completely sold-out disciple of our Lord. Jenny’s other brother, Jonathan, is the worship leader at the Bammel Church in Houston. He regularly takes huge groups of people directly into the presence of God. It’s easy for him because, obviously, Jonathan lives there. In the presence of God.

Jenny and her husband, David, have a nine-year-old daughter, Malaya. She’s just a few months younger than our Carley. Jenny and David are both such sweet-spirited followers of Jesus. Sensitive. Compassionate. Selfless. Sacrificial. Open hearts and confessing spirits. We shared many meals together during our nearly four years in Mesquite. We also shared prayers. And Bible studies. Theological discussions into the night. Planning church programs. Feeding the poor.

David and I planned the very first “24 Hours of Prayer” event together there in Mesquite. We planned the men’s advance at Camp Carter in Fort Worth where we both got lit up by Jason Reeves on the paintball fields. (If you’re dividing up paintball teams, don’t put the career police officer and SWAT team member on the other side!) David and I took in several forgettable Rangers games together in those days. We were also together in my pickup truck on I-45 on September 11, 2001. We were heading to Houston to watch Barry Bonds against the Astros. We were talking during the trip, not listening to the radio. And we didn’t realize anything had happened in New York and D.C. until we saw all the flags in Houston at half-staff and made a phone call.

I’ll never forget that day with David. Taking turns calling Carrie-Anne and Jenny on the one cell phone we had between us. Watching the news reports on the TVs in the bar at Chili’s. Praying. Waiting in David’s sister’s living room until Bud Selig cancelled the baseball game. Driving back to Mesquite, listening to news radio, talking to our wives. Meeting together at the Mesquite church building for a prayer service.

We sort of fell out of contact with David and Jenny six or seven years ago after we moved to Arlington to be closer to KRLD and the Ballpark. We kept up with them through Rick and Beverly and mutual friends from Mesquite. But, until last Friday, I don’t think I’d actually seen David since 2004.

Friday.

In the ICU waiting room at Baylor hospital in Grapevine, just ten minutes northeast of our house. Jenny, a beautiful, funny, competitive, stubborn, loving 31-year-old wife and mother and daughter and sister — a wonderful child of our God — was on life support. David had taken her to the hospital Thursday after she just wasn’t able to shake the flu. By Friday her kidneys had both shut down, her lungs had quit, her liver had failed, and her blood pressure had fallen to almost nothing. It’s a Strep-A infection. It’s in her blood and organs. It’s eating her up. By late Friday night, doctors were giving Jenny a 50-50 chance of survival.

Today, Jenny is still fighting. And, today, our God is still good. Very, very, very good.

It’s been a relentless roller coaster for this precious family. Jenny is making slow progress. Very slow. But we are getting tiny bits of good news. The numbers, as bad as they are, are heading in the right direction. Her condition, as bad as it is, is getting better. And our merciful God is to be praised.

Please join us in praying for Jenny and David and Malaya and Rick and Beverly and Josh and Jonathan and all of their family and friends. You can keep up with her progres by clicking here. This CarePages site will ask you to enter your name and email address and create a personal password. When you do it, you’ll be able to monitor what’s happening with Jenny and you’ll be able to send the family encouraging notes. I know they are reading these notes constantly. They’re even reading them to Jenny in her room. And they’re regularly updating the page with very specific prayer requests.

Please, I’m begging you to stop what you’re doing right now and ask our God in the name of his Holy Son, Christ Jesus, our crucified and resurrected King, to heal Jenny. Ask God to take everything out of her body that is doing her harm. Ask God to bring her blood pressure up and to obliterate this infection from hell. My brothers and sisters here at Legacy, the family of God in Marble Falls, in Benton, out in Fresno. The community of faith at Austin Grad. My brothers in ministry in Waco and Temple and Robinson and McGregor. Everybody reading this blog, please pray today for Jenny Biz.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day, in our time make them known.”
~Habakkuk 3:2

Awakening the Depths

February 4, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

Church business is busy. Kingdom busy-ness can be overwhelming. Sermons and classes. Emails and texts and blogs. Counseling. Programs and people and prayers and planning. Reports and committees and meetings and talks in the foyer. Hospital visits.

Ministry is never-ending. I never once get home at the end of the day and feel like I accomplished every thing I had intended. It doesn’t stop.

And I have to be very, very, very careful to maintain my focus. I have to be disciplined. Deliberate. I must continually guard against being driven and motivated by people’s expectations and my own sense of worth. I have to be driven and motivated by the Holy Spirit of God who resides inside me. I must be moved by my Father’s love for me, by his plans for me. It’s bigger than me. It’s higher than me. I can’t be directed by what I want to do. I must be directed by what God wants me to do.

Romano Guardini (1885-1968), a long-time professor of philosophy and theology at the University of Munich, wrote about this focused-following in his book Power and Responsibility:

“All around us we see activity, organization, operations of every possible type; but what directs them? An inwardness no longer really at home within itself: which thinks, judges, acts from the surface, guided by mere intellect, utility, and the impulses of power, property, and pleasure.

Man’s depths must be reawakened. His life must again include times, his day moments of stillness in which he collects himself, spreads out before his heart the problems which have stirred him during the day. In a word, man must learn again to meditate and to pray.”

It’s said that John Wesley spent the first five minutes of every single waking hour deliberately reflecting on the hour just passed — what opportunity did God give me, did I respond in a Christ-like manner, what should I have done differently to better reflect his glory?

Spending the first hour of every morning in Scripture and prayer, communing with our Triune God in holy relationship, is the most important thing I do. It reawakens my depths. It compels me to spread my heart out to my Father in confession and dependence. It convicts me. It challenges me. It reminds me that I’m not in any of this for myself. Not even for my family or my church. Not even for others. Not as much as I’m in it for the God who calls me and saves me and equips me to join him in redeeming the world.

Peace,

Allan

In Praise of Elders

January 21, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

All of the really great preachers in Churches of Christ from the really great congregations in our fellowship — the churches that are really dynamic and moving and making a difference in the world and in the Kingdom — all tell a similar story. Jeff Walling, Terry Rush, Patrick Mead, Rick Atchley, Lynn Anderson, Don McLaughlin, Mike Cope and others all say the same thing.

“The day our elders decided to let go, to stop focusing on administration and decision-making and start working on prayer and teaching and relationships, is the day our church really took off. Our church just exploded the day our elders changed the way they lead.”

They all say the same thing.

That’s when churches thrive. That’s when churches begin to breathe and grow and mature. When the elders decide to equip and release.

Let the deacons handle coke machines and paint colors and display stands in the foyer. Let the staff deal with bulletins and office supplies and rules for the gym. Let ministry leaders take care of programs and mission trips, casseroles and camps. Free the members to worship and serve and evangelize and work and fellowship.

Our elders here at Legacy are doing that. In what has been termed a “transition” year for us, our shepherds have decided that their leadership must be re-envisioned from within. Their role as shepherds is not primarily to make decisions. Their role is to spiritually guide our people. To pray. To study. To serve. To walk alongside us. To mentor. To lead from a relational standpoint, not a positional standpoint.

Our Legacy shepherds have been taking bigger steps in this direction for a while now. And the congregation’s been blessed. Our elders and ministers are up here every weekday morning from 7:00 – 8:00 praying over the needs of this church and this community, praying with people, consoling people, loving people. They’re attending and shepherding our Sunday evening Small Groups Churches, getting in the living rooms and kitchens of our brothers and sisters, holding babies and making peanut butter sandwiches and hugging the hurting. There are more Bible studies, more benevolent works, and more counseling.

And now this:

Our shepherds have been meeting twice a month for as long as anybody can remember. For the past two-and-a-half years it’s been the first and third Thursday evenings. Not anymore. Starting this month, our elders are meeting on that first Thursday to vote and make decisions and do whatever else they absolutely have to do. Yes, we’ll still pray and attend to the needs of the flock as they come up in that first meeting. But on that third Thursday, beginning tonight, we’ll gather only to get our visitation assignments. And then we’ll hit the streets.

Two-by-two. We’re going to visit those in our church who are sick. In the hospital. Brand new members. Those who’ve recently been baptized. Shut-ins. Families with brand new babies. The goal is to be inside the homes and holding the hands of 30 of our families during that night. No meeting. No decisions. No administrative matters. No motions and seconds. No votes. One of our meetings a month is going to be completely dedicated to praying with our people. Consoling them. Praising God with them. Listening to them. Helping them. Walking alongside them.

The elders here have promised this year to intentionally let go of some things and zero in with greater focus on other things. This is one of those things.

Our shepherds are not divorcing themselves from the administrative needs of the church, but they don’t see them as their primary function, either. They’re working toward a relational leadership style and model that demonstrates holy shepherding. This move communicates clearly that they view visits and prayer and study — spiritual guidance — as more important than the board meetings.

Tonight’s the first night. Pray for our shepherds and ministers as we take this step together. Encourage them as they pursue a more biblical approach to servant-leadership. Thank them for their dedication to the people of this flock. I’m so proud of them. This is huge. I’m honored to serve with them. I can’t wait.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Prayer (Page 21 of 29)

Where Two or Three Are Gathered

Living Sacrifice

Fertilize Somebody

God, Heal Jenny Biz!

Awakening the Depths

In Praise of Elders

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