The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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March Gladness

March 29, 2011 / / 0 Comments

“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ~ Philippians 4:19-20

We are still riding the incredible wave of Spirit energy and enthusiasm generated by our God’s kind and gracious actions with his people at Legacy on Sunday. It was our annual Missions Sunday. We had prayerfully set a pretty lofty goal of collecting $250,702 to fund our entire local and foreign missions budget for 2011. And on Sunday, our Lord blew that number right out of the water. And he blew us all away with many powerful reminders of his great love and faithfulness.

Our God came through big time on Sunday: $273,327!! And the money is still coming in!! Give him all the glory and praise!!

But that doesn’t even begin to tell half the story of our Sunday with God and his people at Legacy.

Our assembly time began with our kids. All our precious kids, from two-years-old through sixth grade, inspired us with their dramatic offerings and bold proclamations of what God is doing through them. The congregation burst out with audible gasps as each class announced their total offerings. $64! $298! $101. The second grade brought in more than $900! And they gave with such joy. God showed us through our children what cheerful giving looks like.

David and Olivia Nelson shared the Word with us from the middle of their evening assembly in Kharkov, Ukraine. As we listened to the words from Acts 2:42-47, the camera panned around the Nelsons’ living room to show us that they were packed to the gills. Standing room only. In fact, the Father’s provision is forcing them to begin planning for a second congregation due to the sheer numbers of people who are coming to study the Bible. God showed us through David and Olivia what faithfulness to his mission call looks like.

Then, my great friend Manuel Calderon captivated us with stories about what our God is doing in the Hispanic communities of the Rosemont area of South Fort Worth. Melissa brought tears to the eyes of everyone who heard her stirring testimony to God’s transforming power that has changed her from a lost and lonely lesbian to a saved sister in the Lord’s Kingdom. Then, Irvin moved us with his undeniable witness to the Spirit’s work that has rescued him from a life of alcohol and drug abuse and gang violence to one of eternal salvation and peace in Christ Jesus. God showed us through these two disciples what “new creation” really looks like.

All of this is further proof to our church family that our God is alive and working with his people. It’s further testimony to our God’s faithfulness to his children. It’s lasting evidence that his Holy Spirit is convicting and transforming the world.

We are at our best on Missions Sunday. We are thinking about others instead of ourselves. We are sacrificing and giving of ourselves and our resources for the higher causes of Christ. We arrive at the building with great expectations and we are unified in our communion and worship. And blessings just seem to pile on top of blessings.

Our Father is keeping his covenant promises to Legacy and to all of his creation. May he be glorified and may his Son be exalted for ever and ever. Amen.

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Allright, all you facebook fanatics who keep telling me to get an account, watch this video. It’s an Onion parody that presents facebook as a CIA enterprise meant to collect and compile information on everybody in the world. One of the funniest lines in the video is about the government’s disappointment with Twitter, another of their attempts at spying on the public: “400 billion tweets, and not one useful bit of data has ever been transmitted.”

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Finally, March Gladness of a different strain. I have reclaimed my crown as the college basketball king at Stanglin Manor. It wasn’t pretty. Nobody in the house picked a single Final Four team. So, the final results are in and, for the first time in four years, I’m back on top. I finished with 58 points by correctly selecting five of the Elite Eight, barely edging Carley who finished with 57. Whitney came in third place with 53 points, followed by Carrie-Anne’s 52 and Valerie’s 31. This means I get to pick where we dine when we break our Missions Month fast from eating out. I can smell and taste those buffalo chicken strips at Cheddar’s right now.

Go VCU. Whatever.

Peace,

Allan

Traditional Church

March 22, 2011 / / 0 Comments

N. T. Wright says the problem with traditional church is that usually “there’s too much tradition and not enough church.” Put another way, there is a big difference between doing church and being church, right?

When the church is seen by the world as moving straight from the worship of God into making a difference in the community; when it’s clear that the people who feast at Christ’s table are also the ones working to eliminate hunger and famine; when people realize that those who pray for the Spirit to work through them are the same ones who seem to have extra measures of patience and grace; when the world really experiences the love of God in the children of God, it becomes natural for people to recognize that something is going on they want to be a part of.

In a lot of cases, I think, genuine forgiveness and/or a hot meal do much better evangelism than a church service or a sermon. When the church is living out the mission of God —say, like in Acts 2:42-47 — the Word of God will spread powerfully and do its own salvation work in the world.

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I would recommend a brand new banana pudding milkshake at Chick-Fil-A. Right now.

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Before we leave for the annual Tulsa Workshop, I’ll leave you with a George Burns line that was forwarded to me today by a kind and sweet but wholly misguided brother in the Lord. “The secret to a good sermon is to have a good beginning and a good ending…and to have the two as close together as possible.”

Tulsa Time,

Allan

Whitney’s Milestone Moment

March 21, 2011 / / 3 Comments

She did it. Friday afternoon at the DPS office in Lake Worth. Whitney expertly whipped the truck in between the two yellow poles like she’d been parallel parking for years. Then she took off with the trooper in the passenger seat and returned fifteen minutes later with her real State of Texas issued driver license. A banner day for the Whitster! And a weird day for her parents.

Our oldest child is driving now. A glorious day of freedom for us, right?

Well, yes. Absolutely. There’s tremendous freedom for us in that I didn’t have to get out at 10:45 Friday night to pick Whitney and Valerie up from the youth group movie thing at the church. Whitney drove them home. Yesterday afternoon, when it was time for LTC practice, Whitney drove Val and Carley to the church; not me. So, yes, freedom.

It’s just not perfect freedom.

When Whitney took off for the movie thing Friday night she had explicit instructions to text me the moment she arrived. Nine minutes. Ten minutes. Eleven minutes passed. Carrie-Anne and I just stared at my cell phone. We just stared at it. Why hasn’t she texted yet? Shouldn’t they be there by now? It usually only takes me eight or nine minutes. Should we have followed them? Why aren’t they there yet?

And then it came. “We made it. We’re here.”

I was in the yard yesterday Miracle-Growing our flowerbeds when all three girls took off for LTC. Once they turned out of sight, Carrie-Anne observed, “You realize all three of our children are in the same car at the same time. And Whitney’s driving!” She shouldn’t think that way. But I know I never fully relaxed until Whitney was safe at home 25 minutes later. I piddled around outside, right by the street, until she returned.

I’m sure this will get better. But, wow, it’s hard letting her just take off like that.

Of course, we’re very proud of Whitney. She’s overly careful and cautious behind the wheel which is far better than being underly careful and cautious. She has lane-change issues and still has a hard time maintaining a steady speed. But she’s an excellent observer and a master on the blinker. And she has a terrific sense of direction. She’s going to be great.

As for her mom and me: our cell phones just became a lot more important.

Peace,

Allan

A Little Child Will Lead Them

March 18, 2011 / / 1 Comment

“…and a little child will lead them.” ~Isaiah 11:6

Maddie Thompson purchased the ingredients to bake oatmeal-raisin cookies. Kendra Morgan bought colorful pipe cleaners to make exotic rings and bracelets. Mason Mallory stocked up on hair gel in order to spike Legacy’s lids.

Our little kids here at church have taken the lesson of Jesus’ talents parable in Matthew 25 and they’re running with it!

As part of our Missions Month kickoff at Legacy two weeks ago our elementary aged children were each given a five dollar bill with instructions to put the money to work. They were told to multiply their money, just like the servants in Jesus’ story, and then to present the totals as their offering on Missions Sunday.

So, at our Small Group, Kendra unveiled a black velvet display of her amazing jewelry ($1 each piece). Maddie was taking cookie orders before and after Bible class Wednesday night ($1 for 3 cookies, $2 to have them dipped in chocolate). And by the time I made my way from the worship center down to the gym after class, every man between the ages of 25 and 45 had his hair standing straight up, spiked to the max ($2).

Our kids are washing cars and hosting garage sales, making buttons and bookmarks and coasters; babysitting, cooking, creating. They’re multiplying those five dollar bills by, in some cases, over two thousand percent! And they’re giving one hundred percent of the money to Legacy’s missions efforts at the end of the month.

Here’s where you and I come in:

Perhaps one of the most important things you can do over the next two weeks is hand one of these kids a buck for a cookie or a bracelet. You will be partnering with our Father in increasing the faith of our children. You’ll be showing them that God always provides, that God always honors our efforts to serve him, that God always gives the increase and multiplies our works done in his name. You’ll be communicating to them that they are a valuable part of what this church family is all about. The kids will think you’re really cool. You might be sowing the seeds of a really special relationship.

Our children are on fire right now for joining God in his mission of redeeming the world. They’re experiencing what it’s like to engage in something that’s bigger than themselves, to really give of themselves for a greater cause. And it thrills me. It’s one of the neatest things I’ve experienced here at Legacy. They’re leading us. They’re showing us what it looks like to be enthusiastic for our Lord. They’re showing us what it feels like to depend on God to bless our heart-felt efforts and then experience those blessings in outrageous measure. They’re proving to us that if we had the faith of a child, our God would work through us to blow that measly little $250,702 goal out of the water!

Let’s encourage them. Let’s fan those gifts into flame. Let’s all bring one dollar bills to church Sunday, ready to pass our faith on to our kids.

The hair gel is temporary; it washes out. The dollar you give and the encouragement you share may very well last forever.

Peace,

Allan

Correcting Our Views On Miracles

March 17, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Right after the Sermon on the Mount in which Jesus preaches and teaches about turning the world upside down, he begins healing people. Right out of the gate. “When he came down from the mountainside…” (Matt. 8:1), the first thing he did was heal a man with leprosy. “Be clean!” The very next story has Jesus healing the Centurion’s servant. He heals Peter’s mother-in-law in the very next passage. And Matthew tells us, look, this is what God’s been building toward all along: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases” (Matt. 8:17).

Still in the same chapter, Jesus calms the raging sea. The wind and the waves are tearing up the boat. The storm is threatening to destroy the people in it. And Jesus stops everything. With a word, all is calm. Peace is restored.

A few chapters later we find more than 5,000 hungry people out in the wilderness. No food. No Kroger. They’re going to starve. And Jesus provides the food. Fish and bread. Everybody eats until they’re full. They collected twelve baskets of leftovers.

We look at Jesus’ miracles and we think, wow, Jesus goes against the laws of nature! Jesus does the supernatural! He suspends reality! We say Jesus overrides the natural order. But that’s not correct. When Jesus does a miracle, he’s actually restoring the natural order. Jesus is restoring things to the way they were always created and intended to be.

The wind and the waves were not created by God to kill. People are not made to be sick or hungry.

We need to change the way we view Jesus’ miracles. He’s not going against the norm. He’s tapping into and restoring the norm. Calm seas are normal. Satisfied bellies are normal.

Jesus shows up and says, “I’m fixing things!” When Jesus finishes a miracle, I think he steps back and says, “Now that’s the way it’s supposed to be.” Jesus’ miracles are not abnormal. He’s just showing us and reminding us of what normal is. It’s been so long, a lot of us forget. We look around at all the problems in this world and we start to think that things have always been this way and they’re always going to be this way. No! That’s wrong on both counts!

I think this has a lot to say to God’s people groaning today in Japan. It’s a powerful message for God’s people groaning in India. And in North Texas.

Hunger and disease and divorce are not normal. They are abnormalities. Aberrations. Addiction and homelessness and broken families are not regular. They are irregular. Out of order. So are tsunamis and tornadoes and hurricanes. And nuclear meltdowns and crime and war. These are the very things our Lord came to fix. And, praise God, with his coming, the fixing’s already begun.

And if we really believe it…

…then we’ll jump into that exact same kind of “fixing” work with everything we have.

Jesus’ miracles are not abnormal. He’s just reminding us of what normal really is.

Peace,

Allan

Upside Down

March 15, 2011 / / 1 Comment

Holy Scripture gives us a pretty clear image of what our God is doing in this world. From Genesis to Revelation we see the motif of changing places. Switching roles. The rich and powerful are being brought down and the poor and weak are being raised up. God is turning things upside down. It’s Freaky Friday to the max. It’s Eddie Murphy and Dan Akroyd in Trading Places without the gorilla costume and the one dollar bet.

The way the world is right now — all the power structures, all the people in charge; all the people in the streets, all the oppressed; people without a care in the world, people who are trapped in hopeless cycles of despair — our God is working to totally flip it around. He’s working even now toward a great big ultimate opposite day.

The Psalmist can sense it: “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes.” ~Psalm 113:7-8

Hannah feels it: “The bows of the warriors are broken, but those who stumbled are armed with strength. Those who were full hire themselves out for food, but those who were hungry hunger no more.” ~1 Samuel 2:4-8

Mary, the mother of Jesus, knows what the coming of the Christ means: “He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” ~Luke 1:52-53

And when the Messiah does finally arrive, we find him preaching and teachig the same thing. Trading places. Switching spots: The poor in spirit get the kingdom of heaven, those who mourn will be comforted, the meek get the whole earth, those who hunger and thirst will be filled.

He traded places with you, you know. He pulled you down off the cross and climbed up there in your place. The ultimate Freaky Friday. It was your cross, not his. It was your sins, not his. And he switched with you. You were dead, but now you’re alive. You were lost, but now you’re saved. You were bound for an eternity without God, but now you’ve been re-routed to an eternity in his holy presence. You were God’s enemy, but now you’re his friend. By God’s grace and the power of the Holy Spirit, you have been lifted from the ash heap and raised to reign at the right hand of the Father forever. A never-ending opposite day!

Hallelujah!

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The Chuck Greenberg news out of Rangers spring training was a bombshell to me. Totally out of left field. I had no idea. How surprising. And how disappointing.

I really thought the Rangers had the best of both worlds: Nolan Ryan as the most respected baseball man in the state of Texas, probably the entire southewest region, and perhaps even in the country, giving the Rangers concrete credibility in all matters baseball; and Greenberg as super fan-friendly, media-savvy, wonderfully likeable, perfect sound bite, get things done money man.

It’s all ego, right? It’s definitely not on the Jimmy-Jerry scale. But this is still all about ego, isn’t it?

Either way, it’s still better than what we had.

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Erasmus ridiculed the group in society he labled “praisers of all things old.” I admit I’m generally in danger of falling head first into that category. Especially when it comes to sports. I despised the play-in game on Wednesday night that a few years ago tainted the sanctity of the 64-team NCAA basketball tournament. We completely ignored it at Stanglin Manor, refusing to even acknowledge it in our brackets. But what am I supposed to do now with this First Four stuff?!? We can easily put an “X” under Ohio State and Pitt as the top seeds will destroy either of those 16s in the mix. But we have to do something now with those elevens and twelves. USC probably has a chance against Georgetown. Clemson can probably give West Virginia a good game. We can no longer just pretend it’s still a 64-team field. It’s not! Have you counted the number of 14-loss teams in the tournament? It’s ridiculous. It’s as bad as taking four teams to the high school football playoffs out of six team districts. It’s like having 35-bowl games. When does it stop?

I’ve got Carolina, Duke, Purdue, and Florida in my Final Four. The Tarheels beat the streaking Gators to capture their one shining moment.

Just don’t bet on it.

Peace,

Allan

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