Author: Allan (Page 472 of 493)

Go Ye Means Stay!

November 16, 2007 / Allan / 2 Comments

I don’t normally read all my favorite blogs every single day. Usually, once a week, I sit down for an hour or so and go through all of them and catch up. Jim Gardner’s blog is packed with insights and usually forces me to look something up in the Bible or in a book on my shelf or somewhere else on line. His blog takes me a while. With Jimmy Mitchell it only takes about three minutes since he only writes about once a month. (I miss you, Jimmy!) Our Youth Minister here at Legacy, Jason Brown, is only in his first month of full-time blogging. But he’s tackling some deep issues and asking some fairly heady questions. His takes me a while, too.

His Wednesday post on missions and mission trips meshed perfectly with my post from yesterday regarding the Rosemont effort in southwest Fort Worth. We had both gone to that kickoff and informational meeting together. So it’s no surprise that our thoughts were focused on the same things.

Our thoughts center on the concept of seeing our own neighborhoods, our own zip codes, as huge mission fields for the Kingdom. The idea of seeing the people all around us as the lost souls that they are, no more and no less important than the lost souls in Africa and South America. Jason’s specific questions deal with the practice of youth mission trips. Why spend all the time and money traveling outside the state or even the country when there’s just as much, if not more, work to be done right across the street?

Here’s what I commented on his blog late last night:

“I was visiting with some brothers and sisters Wednesday about the wonderful work the Rosemont Church of Christ is doing in southwest Fort Worth. They’ve donated their entire campus, all their buildings, and the land it sits on to Continent of Great Cities to plant a huge Spanish-speaking congregation in the middle of what is a huge Hispanic population base in DFW. The discussion turned to our own outreach effort at which point one of our spiritual leaders said, “We don’t have any poor people anywhere near our building. And nobody like that will ever drive to our church.”

That grieves me.

Attitudes and talk like that are nothing less than a writing off of precious people made in the image of our Father. The truth is there are plenty of low-income and/or Spanish-speaking people a stone throw’s away from our building. But we don’t think they’ll fit in. So we don’t even try. And we actively seek to discourage anyone else from trying.

What makes us think that God plants us here, blesses us here, provides for us here, and saves us here — right here in the middle of hundreds of thousands of lost souls — in order to take the Gospel somewhere else?

What makes us think it’s commendable to spend a week or two overseas preaching the Word while we ignore or, worse, write off all our neighbors right here in our own city? What gives us the gall?

I know your post already asks all these same questions. They are real. They are urgent. And they do demand answers.

I think you’re clearly on to something when you speak about our comfort zones. Evangelism is messy. We’d rather create a mess somewhere else and leave, I think, than make one in our own kitchen and have to live with it.”

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It’s sad, very sad, that Major League Baseball’s All-Time Home Run Champion is Barry Bonds.* He’s a lying cheat. But besides that, the holder of the sport’s most sacred record will spend time in federal prison and will never be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Here’s how awful it is: I think it’s the only thing in the world that could ever cause me to root for Alex Rodriguez to keep hitting homers. That shows you how awful the Bonds* thing is. Go Pay-Rod!

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Cowboys-Redskins. The Beautiful Harvey Martin tossing a funeral wreath into the visitors lockerroom at Texas Stadium following a Dallas win over Washington. Diron Talbert calling Roger Staubach a dirty name across the line of scrimmage. George Allen accusing the Cowboys of spying on the Redskins practices with a helicopter. Staubach leaping into the arms of Ron Springs after that game-winning pass to Tony Hill clinched the division in Staubach’s last-ever regular season game. Doomsday versus The Hogs.

Jimmy Johnson’s first Cowboys team getting their only win of the season on the road at RFK—without Aikman. Clint Longley’s mad Thanksgiving Day bomb that sealed his “victory of the uncluttered mind.” Larry Cole’s TD returns. The Texas Stadium crowd singing Happy Birthday to Joe Theisman the night he threw five picks in a blowout loss on the date of his birth. Billy Kilmer. Art Monk. Drew Pearson. Chris Hanberger. Joe Gibbs. Too Tall. Everson Walls. The 1982 NFC Championship Game. Michael Downs and Dennis Thurman breaking up the Smurfs celebration in the Cowboys end zone.

Sunday afternoon will be special. All Cowboys-Redskins games are.

Peace,

Allan

Rosemont Stepping Out Big Time!

November 15, 2007 / Allan / 1 Comment

How about a one thousand member Spanish-speaking congregation in south Fort Worth?

The Rosemont Church of Christ, established in south Fort Worth back in 1952, has donated all of its building, every bit of it, lock, stock, and barrel, and everything inside to Continent of Great Cities to plant a brand new Spanish-speaking congregation. There are over 100,000 Spanish-speaking people within a four-mile radius of that building, which is also right across the street from Rosemont Park. And Continent of Great Cities is raising a spanish-speaking mission team right now to begin work there in January. Their plan is to make the Rosemont plant a pilot program that will be implemented in the cities of our country with the highest Spanish-speaking populations. Los Angeles is the top city. But our DFW area is the second, with over 30% of our population of Hispanic origin.

Praise God for the vision of the Rosemont leaders and the folks at Continent of Great Cities. What a wonderful concept: reaching out as missionaries to the people in our own neighborhoods!

We live in a mission field. You know that. And I’m glad to see others recognizing that and doing something about it. Something big. May our Lord bless their efforts. May he give us his vision so we can see things and people and situations the way he sees them. May we rejoice in the things that bring God joy. May we mourn in the things that grieve God. And may many, many of his children be reconciled to him through the love and care of the Christians in the Rosemont area.

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***Legacy Construction Update***

It’s been a while since I posted pictures. (Click on each picture for the full size.) And there’s been a whole lot of activity lately. The exciting thing this week has been the installation of the steel support columns in the new worship center. And look at the size of these steel trusses. They’re all over the place.

The Youth & Benevolence Center is also coming along quite rapidly. Most of the exterior walls are up and the inside work is progressing quickly.

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“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not covet,’ and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.” ~Romans 13:8-10

Peace,

Allan

Home Sweet Home

November 14, 2007 / Allan / 0 Comments

“…you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household.” ~Ephesians 2:19

It was announced yesterday by the NFL that the number one selling player’s jersey for the first two-and-a-half months of the football season belongs to Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo. Nationally, Romo’s replica jersey is outselling LaDanian Tomlinson, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning. That’s initially surprising to me. But when I consider that the Cowboys — overall, the top selling team in NFL merchandise since April — have always been one of the more popular sports franchises in the country and the Cowboys’ best players have always been among the individual top sellers, it makes perfect sense. Plus, Romo’s such a great kid with such a great story. He’s come from nowhere (in football circles, Eastern Illinois is nowhere). He’s had to work hard for everything he has. He makes gutsy plays. And he’s always smiling. What’s not to like?

And the better the Cowboys’ record, the higher the sales. The Cowboys are always in the top ten among NFL teams in merchandise sales. But just two years ago, they had dropped to sixth. Now they’re back to number one, no doubt due to their 8-1 start.

All of us feel a human need to belong to something, to be a part of some group. We get our identity, in large part, from the groups to which we belong. And that something or some group should be successful and popular. The human drive to identify with someone or some group or some cause — even if it’s only a sports team — is enormous. So we buy the jerseys. We refer to our teams as “us.” These identifications make us feel important. We have a need to belong, to have some sense of fitting in the world. And from that sense of belonging, we have the confidence and ability to relate and accomplish things. Our own families, of course, are foundational in giving us a true sense of belonging.

And the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 2 that we do belong. Christ has brought us home to God. We live in God’s house as members of his family. And at the same time, we are a house in which God lives. We belong with God and are involved in what he is doing. The other people in this same house are family with us. This home defines us. Christ gives us a place in his world. And from that sense of belonging we grow in our abilities to relate to others and accomplish great things for the Kingdom. Ephesians 2 tells us to remember where home is, remember where family is: We are at home with our God.

And our Christian life flows from there.

The church, as a family of faith, ought to feel like a family. Family members care for each other, are committed to each other, confront each other, protect each other, and sustain each other. That same sense of family should shape our worship. Worship should not be like a production we watch. It should have the free and comfortable feeling of being involved in a family experience, joining together to communicate with each other and with our Father. No one should be allowed to feel like an outsider in the church. Everyone needs to know they belong.

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There’s nothing quite like hockey people.

From the players and coaches and GMs down to the trainers and water boys, you’ll never find nicer people anywhere in sports. Hockey people are by far the most accomodating, the friendliest, the most down-to-earth in all of sports. I’m convinced it has a whole lot to do with my theory based on the relationship between job hazards and pay and the way athletes treat other people. I’ll share that with you some other time. The point is that I really hate to see Hicks fire Doug Armstrong.

Maybe he needed to go. The Stars are obviously missing something. Being bounced out of the first round of the playoffs three consecutive years puts the pressure on. But the mediocre start this season along with the two or three total meltdowns we’ve already seen makes it so much worse. I just know that Doug was/is the most open, available, friendly, honest GM I’ve every worked with. He could be clear across the country, in a crowded airport, in-between planes, and still answer my phone call. He could be on Central Expressway or stuck in traffic between Dallas and Frisco and he’d still return my call. That was great and always made my job so much easier. But better than that were the times we’d visit in-between periods up in the AAC pressbox. I don’t have a ton of hockey knowledge. And he knew it. But I don’t think he ever got frustrated with me. He always answered my questions and explained things to me. And he always asked about my girls.

I’m not sure Brett Hull’s the guy to take his place. Hulley’s another one of those hockey players, like most all of them, who are just as down to earth as you and me. I love his candor and his wit. His talent, during his heyday, was unmatched. He owns the signature moment in Stars history—even if his foot was in the crease. I do know Hull will provide the media with many more volatile sound bites than the guarded and laid-back Armstrong ever did. And that’ll be interesting and fun. But this move by Hicks has all the marks of desperation. This is a huge gamble. It’s either going to pay off huge or it’ll be a complete disaster. I don’t know what to compare it to.

I just feel bad for Doug Armstrong today.

Peace,

Allan

The Devil's Schemes

November 13, 2007 / Allan / 2 Comments

“See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.” ~Colossians 2:8

Screwtape’s initial letter to Wormwood sets up a theme that runs throughout C. S. Lewis’ masterpiece: the devil’s genius in using the material to distract us from the eternal. Screwtape speaks of Hell’s “weapons,” the daily newspaper, radio, television, and, I would add, the internet. He tells his nephew that “man has been accustomed, ever since he was a boy, to have a dozen incompatible philosophies dancing about together in his head.” And it’s the devil’s intention to keep man focused on that “stream.” That stream of unchecked information that floods us and consumes us.

Information. Stories. Scores. Quotes. Good news. Bad news. Entertainment news. Business. Politics. The bizarre.

The “real world.” We’re so easily distracted by all of it. Bible study is good and prayer is good and church is good. But that doesn’t pay the bills. That doesn’t fly too far once you get out in the “real world.”

Why is Satan so good at making us feel that only the material things are “real?”

Screwtape explains, “Thanks to processes which we set at work in them centuries ago, they find it all but impossible to believe in the unfamiliar while the familiar is before their eyes.”

Information is not neutral. None of it is. All of it that we see and hear and take into our lives has an impact. It all comes from a certain world view. And most of those views are incompatible with what we profess to believe as children of God.

Satan’s plan is not to teach. It’s to distract and confuse. We are not unaware of the devil’s schemes.

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OK. OK! The Cowboys are good. They’re a good football team. I’ve not denied that since about week five. I still don’t necessarily like it. But I certainly don’t deny it. Your emails and your comments to me about your team are much appreciated, especially the dry sarcastic ones. Rub it in my face. It’s fine. Very nice. I actually appreciate it.

Around here, Lance Parrish, our junior high youth minister, always wears his Tony Romo jersey on Mondays after a Cowboys game. That’s only mildly obnoxious. He’s young. It’s cute. But now the office staff has taken it to a new level of irritation. Bonny, Suzanne, and Jackie—all normally mature, level-headed adults—showed up at the Monday morning staff meeting yesterday in their Cowboys shirts. Rubbing it in. Laughing. Mocking. Enjoying themselves fully. And then when I returned from lunch, I was met in my office by an 8×10 framed glossy of the three of them. Mocking me. A continual reminder of my tragically wrong preseason and week-to-week predictions.

Kipi, thank you for being strong.

Everybody else around here, thank you for being so much fun to work with.

Peace,

Allan

A New Attitude and Mind

November 12, 2007 / Allan / 0 Comments

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with whom you were sealed for the day of your redemption. Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” ~Ephesians 4:29-32.

There’s an old story about Woody Hayes, the volatile Ohio State football coach. In a 1968 rivalry game against the hated Michigan Wolverines, Hayes ordered his team to attempt a two-point conversion in the 4th quarter of a contest the Buckeyes wound up winning 50-14. Asked why he went for two, Hayes replied, “Because I couldn’t go for three.”

That’s bitterness. That’s malice. That’s rage. And I love that story. It’s hilarious. But Hayes never could get rid of it. That bitterness and rage took him over, ate him up, and eventually cost him his job.

Paul tells us that, as disciples of Christ, we’re to put off the old self and “be made new in the attitude of your minds.” We’re to “put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” You can’t excuse rudeness or abrasiveness or mean words or hurtful comments by saying, “Well, that’s just who I am” or “Well, that’s just the way he is.” The apostle says that grieves the Holy Spirit of God. Unwholesome talk is, according to Paul, any talk that doesn’t build others up and meet their needs. One who is not kind and compassionate is, according to Paul, one who is eaten up with rage and malice and bitterness. That grieves our God. And, as God’s people, it ought to grieve us.

Let’s commit today to being “imitators of God…and live a life of love.”

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My thanks to everyone at the At The Cross Church of Christ in Mesquite. My family and I had a wonderful time worshiping with that group of believers, seeing old friends, and meeting brand new Christians whose lives are being changed by the saving grace of God in Jesus. The Allenhurst and Peachtree apartments in Mesquite are home to plenty of abuse and neglect and poverty and lonliness and despair. And At The Cross is reaching out to those places with the love of Christ and making a difference in the Kingdom. I praise God for them. And I thank God for the great people at Highland Oaks, Mesquite, and New Hope who are playing such a significant role in ministering to that church family.

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With the division title on the line, on the road in a hostile environment, against a good team on an unbelieveable hot streak, the Cowboys showed again that they’re pretty stinkin’ good. No Barber. No Witten. No matter. Romo’s great. His throw to the tight end in the corner of the end zone while he was being sacked in the middle of the field was another classic. Romo seems to produce one of those great plays that most quarterbacks have no business even attempting at least once a game. Who can stop them? The Packers?

Please?

Peace,

Allan

"Freeze!"

November 9, 2007 / Allan / 7 Comments

Allright, we can spend all weekend on this one.

During this Sunday’s sermon here at Legacy on the subject of applying the Word of God in our lives, I’m probably — no, definitely — going to say something about the ways we’ve slid into a seemingly casual attitude toward God’s Holy Scriptures. Specifically, I’m referring to the way folks wander up and down the aisles, enter and exit in and out of the main doors, people coming and going and visiting and otherwise not paying attention to the Word of God being read to the assembly of his children.

It’s not like we’re reading the Star Telegram up here or the Rangers box scores or Newsweek. It’s God-breathed Scripture. It’s God revealing himself and his will to his people. It deserves our highest honor and respect. It deserves for us to stand up and pay close attention to every syllable.

I’m not quite sure yet how to address this. I’m thinking it’s going to be difficult to say and communicate to our church family because our culture has apparantly taught us that it’s no big deal. I’ve tried waiting until everyone in the auditorium is still before I read, but as soon as I start, the activity begins again. I’ve been told that at Pipeline/Legacy they used to keep the doors closed whenever the Bible was being read. Entering and exiting and walking around during the reading of Scripture just wasn’t allowed. I remember those days at Pleasant Grove and Marble Falls. It wasn’t that long ago. What happened?

It has to be addressed. But I’m struggling with how.

I’ve shared before on this blog my experience at that 6-man state championship football game in Abilene back in ’96. I was walking up through the crowd to get to the press box just before the game began when an older gentleman grabbed me by the arm and said, “Freeze!” We were right in the middle of the national anthem. Everyone was still. Everyone had their hands on their hearts. Most were singing. And I was walking up through the middle of them with my Frito Pie and Dr Pepper!

I froze.

And when the Star Spangled Banner was over, I turned and thanked the gentleman for reminding me about manners and courtesy and respect.

I’m thinking about using that story in Sunday’s sermon to illustrate this concept of “Freeze” when the Bible is being read. Any other suggestions?

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I can’t tell you how thrilled I am to be preaching this Sunday afternoon for the At The Cross Church of Christ in Mesquite. One of my very best friends, Dan Miller, one of the Four Horsemen, has gone full-bore into an effort to take the saving gospel of Jesus to low-income apartment complexes in Mesquite. Right now they have a group of about 50-60 who are meeting in a little strip center store front on Galloway. They worship God. They sing and they pray. And they preach and teach. And they feed the hungry. And they comfort the afflicted. And they minister to each other in the name of the Christ. I know the Highland Oaks, Mesquite, and New Hope congregations have supported this ministry. But it’s people like Dan and Debbie Miller and Bruce Archer and others who are right there in the middle of it, loving people and sharing with people, fixing cars, finding jobs, keeping kids, crying and laughing with these children of God who inspire me and encourage everyone they meet.

I’ve grown so much since first getting to know Dan at our first Mesquite Men’s Advance in 2001. Following that initial Four Horsemen breakfast at our home when we pledged to each other and to God that we would stop talking and start doing for the Kingdom, we took a trip to downtown Dallas with 400 $1 cheeseburgers from McDonald’s to feed the homeless.

We didn’t know what we were doing. We didn’t know what we were getting into. We didn’t have a clue. But as soon as we pulled into that vacant parking lot between Dallas City Hall and the downtown library in our minivan with those 400 cheeseburgers, we knew we were in way over our heads. There must have been 600 people show up within five minutes! Somehow, by the grace of God, Jason got everybody to line up in an orderly fashion. (He was still a cop at this time) Dan had all the burgers inside the van and was handing them to me to, in turn, be handed to those we were feeding. It was wild and hectic and crazy and loud. I’d never seen that many people. And I knew we were running out of food. After about three or four minutes I noticed that Dan was handing me the burgers without looking at me. He had his head down. He was handing me the burgers, one at a time, in a very methodical, almost mechanical way. Like a robot almost. It was weird. I said, “Dan, what are you doing?” And he said, “I’m saying a prayer over every burger before I give it to you.”

He never ever loses sight of what he’s doing, why he’s doing it, and for whom he’s doing it. Never.

Dan is right there on the front lines of Christian ministry, making a difference in the lives of people who are hurting and down and destitute. He touches people every day with the love of Christ—people who, for the most part, don’t feel much love at all. They’re baptizing people. They’re growing the Kingdom. God is working mightily through them to change lives. And I admire Dan so much. He inspires me. His heart for God’s people is pure gold. And I can’t wait to be with them Sunday afternoon.

Peace,

Allan

Author: Allan (Page 472 of 493)

Go Ye Means Stay!

Rosemont Stepping Out Big Time!

Home Sweet Home

The Devil's Schemes

A New Attitude and Mind

"Freeze!"

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