Category: Allan’s Journey (Page 24 of 31)

To The Hoosegow!

May 5, 2010 / Allan / 3 Comments

I’m going to jail. The pen. The big house. The clink. The cooler. The crossbars motel.

I’ve been informed that officials are coming here to the Legacy church offices at noon on Thursday May 13 and hauling me away to a cell in Bedford. And they will hold me there until I raise $1,480 in bail.

Actually this is all part of an MDA fundraiser. The bail money I (we) raise will fund Muscular Dystrophy research, repair medical equipment, fund clinics and therapy and treatment, and send local DFW kids to a summer camp.

Don’t just laugh at my predicament. Don’t just forward emails and blog comments full of lame puns and weak jokes about my plight. I need help! I’m asking you to please bail me out, knowing that your donation doesn’t just get me out of jail. The money goes to all kinds of wonderful causes.

a $300 donation is enough to provide a diagnostic workup at an MDA clinic
$150 pays for a therapy consultation
$74 funds one minute of vital research
$30 pays for a flu/H1N1 shot
The full $1,480 funds 20-minutes of Muscular Dystrophy research

MDA funds six clinics in DFW, including the one at Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth.

Please click here to get to my MDA donation page. Or you can click the link on my blog role there to the right. Next to the funny little video is a “donate” button that allows you to donate any amount toward my bail. Plug in $25. Donate $50. You can choose to have your name and the amount you donate displayed on my MDA page or you can remain anonymous. You can use any credit or debit card or you can choose the “bill me later” option. You can also write me a check or give me cash in person. They’ve provided me with receipts to make sure you get full tax credit.

It would be great to hit the $1,480 goal before they actually show up to arrest me next Thursday. I’ll keep you posted on the progress we’re making between now and then. Please do this for me. I don’t need to stay there all day. I’ve got sermons to write!

If you can’t donate money, maybe you can bake us a helpful cake.

Thanks so much,

Allan

What Am I Called To Say?

May 4, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

God is not finished with me yet. Praise the Lord, he’s not done! He’s still working on me. And, by the power of his Holy Spirit, he uses people and circumstances and books and friends and strangers and situations to shape me more into the image of his great Son.

Right now our Father is using Kipi’s class on conflict resolution and a little book recommended by my great friend Jim Martin to show me how to better manage myself as a preacher. I especially want to share one wonderful insight and recent conclusion that has greatly reduced my burden and given me great comfort and peace. And freedom.

I’m afraid my private conversations with friends and church shepherds — those inside and outside our congregation at Legacy — involve some form of the question, “How can I get these people to….?” I’m afraid that’s my mindset. When seeking advice from others or when wrestling with our God in prayer, I often ask, “How can I get these people to listen? How can I get these elders to understand? How can I get these volunteers to act? How can I get these church members to think? How can I get these brothers and sisters to see?”

That kind of thinking and acting, that sort of mindset, would easily lead to frustration, don’t you suppose?

In her book Leaders Who Last, Margaret Marcuson says preachers should stop asking those kinds of questions and, instead, ask, “What am I called to say to them this week?”

I am responsible to do my best to preach God’s Word as I understand it to my congregation every week. I am responsible for challenging our church family and calling them to repent and live their lives worthy of our calling. I’m ordained to provoke them by God’s Word to do more and to be more. And that’s about it. These people are responsible before God for what they do with that Word each week. I can’t make anybody do anything.

It’s not, “How can I get them to…?” It’s, “What am I called to say?”

That takes the pressure off. That brings me great relief and peace of mind. It helps me trust more completely in God. Less of self and more of thee. Because if my faith really is in my Lord, if I really do believe he’s working through me in this church to transform all of us, I can relax. I don’t have to worry about taking care of everybody because I know the results of my preaching don’t depend on me. They depend wholly on God.

Marcuson says a church needs to be led, not driven.

“The concept is clear: people are not acquitted of the responsibility for their own souls. Personal decisions are still decisions, personal judgments are still judgments, free will is still free will. Being in a family does not relieve a child of the responsibility to grow up. The function of twenty-one-year-olds is not to do life’s tasks as their parents told them to when they were six-years-old. The function of twenty-one-year-olds is simply to do the same tasks well and to take accountability themselves for having done them… The role of leadership is not to make lackeys or foot soldiers or broken children out of adult Christians.”

Probably the best thing I can do as a preacher is to teach the Word of God, to communicate my understanding as clearly as I can, challenge my hearers, and then give them room — and time! — to respond.

Look at Jesus. He preaches and teaches out of this amazing position of relaxed trust. Trust in God and trust in people. He simply says, “Your sins are forgiven. Go and sin no more.” If Jesus can give that kind of room and time to others, without chasing after them and hounding them for their own good, maybe I should give more effort to doing the same thing.

Peace,

Allan

Seeking Peace

April 23, 2010 / Allan / 3 Comments

“So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” ~1 Corinthians 10:31

We’re studying conflict management and peace-making in a Wednesday night class here at Legacy. I’m not teaching it. Kipi is. And, man, I’m learning a lot.

I’m learning that the way we handle conflict is greatly influenced by all kinds of different factors such as personality, age, gender, upbringing, and even socio-economic status. I’m learning that until I understand my own conflict management style, I’ll never adequately understand yours enough to resolve our issues. I’m being reminded that I can only change myself, I’ll never change you. And it’s being reaffirmed in here that, yes, there is a big difference between peace-keeping and peace-making.

I’ve learned that my “conflict style” is to try to build relationship and consensus by getting everyone’s thoughts out on the table for open and honest discussion and evaluation. But it seems I’m just as likely to “give and take” as I am to “compete” in a conflict situation. Oops. That’s not good. I’ve also had it confirmed in interviews with co-workers here in the church offices that Carrie-Anne’s been absolutely right about me in a lot of ways for many years. That’s not all good either.

I’m learning. At least I’m more aware of my strengths and shortcomings now and am working to be a better communicator and conflict resolver. Mostly, though, I think we could all benefit from what Kipi shared with us this week:

Conflict is NEVER an opportunity to force my will on others.
Conflict is NEVER an inconvenience.
Conflict is ALWAYS an opportunity to demonstrate God’s love and power.

I believe our God uses our conflicts with each other to shape us more into the image of his Son. The ways we treat others, especially in times of stress or disagreement, reveal exactly what kind of a person we are. Our motivations in those conflicts say a lot about our continuing transformation by the Spirit. It’s not easy when you ask a hundred people — or a thousand — to get intimately involved in each other’s lives. It’s messy. We’re all different. We’re all fearfully and wonderfully made to be different. Our great diversity is intentional. It’s God-ordained. Getting along with each other is the goal. It’s what molds us into the image of our Creator.

Conflict is ALWAYS an opportunity.

Thanks, Kipi. I like that. And I’m trying to see it that way now.

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When the Soviet Union collapsed 20-years ago, we flooded Russia with Christian missionaries. In that time, several churches have been established and Christianity is flourishing there. Slowly but surely, I suppose. One of the great works and proof of our God’s activity in Russia is the Institute of Theology and Christian Ministry in St. Petersburg. Several of our Church of Christ University Bible professors, including my brother, Keith, at Harding, volunteer to teach there for a quick semester on their own dime. Igor Egirev, President of ITCM will be speaking at the Prestoncrest Church of Christ in Dallas Tuesday evening May 18th. The Psalom Quartet, also from St. Petersburg, will be singing at the event. They’ve edified us before at an Austin Grad Sermon Seminar. It’s beautiful. It should be a wonderful evening. I recommend it.

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I’m hearing today that Cowboys’ number-one pick Dez Bryant is going to wear #88 in Dallas. I’m wondering if it’s because of Jerry Wayne’s outrageous debt and that mortgage on the Dome. You know, he still had a bunch of Antonio Bryant’s old #88s in a closet downstairs and figured, yeah, let’s do it. You think there’s any six-or-seven-year-old Bryant souvenirs in a Cowboys warehouse somewhere that they’re digging out today? I’m concerned that this Bryant is going to remind us more of Michael Irvin than Drew Pearson. You know, there are reasons he slipped down to 24th overall. His best friend and unofficial agent, Deion Sanders, is probably somewhere on that list.

Go Mavs,

Allan

Do You See It?

April 1, 2010 / Allan / 3 Comments

“God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.” ~Romans 4:17

Our Father doesn’t see Sarah’s barren womb; he sees the birth of a great nation. God doesn’t see a drowning prophet; he sees 120,000 Ninevites calling on his name. He doesn’t see a rejected Samaritan woman on her sixth husband; he see a powerful evangelist who converts an entire village. Our God doesn’t see a dark grave in a garden outside the streets of Jerusalem; he sees the light of eternal life walking out of that tomb to eternally defeat the powers of sin and death.

“God gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”

I see our worship center at Legacy this Sunday with more than 1,600 people in it. Maybe 1,700. It depends. I see Doug Crowell and Steve Fleming scrambling to grab chairs and line the aisles as people just keep coming in. I see people who haven’t been to Legacy in months singing and worshiping God with tears in their eyes. I see visitors, our friends and neighbors, who don’t know our Risen Lord being confronted with the truth of the Gospel of salvation and being moved by our God to respond in faith. I see wet people climbing out of a baptistry, saved by the blood of the Lamb. I see the North Richland Hills fire marshal writing us warning citations for violating occupancy codes. I see our God exceeding our wildest expectations for Easter Sunday and our Resurrection Renewal.

Do you see it?

I know you’re praying about it. But, do you see it?

Invite those people you haven’t seen here in a while. Reach out to that man across the street. Hand a flyer to your dry cleaning guy or the lady who cuts your hair. And this weekend, let us call on our God who gives life to the dead to “call things that are not as though they were.”

I can’t wait to meet your friends!

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One of our teens at Legacy is doing some kind of a school project that involved me giving her my list of the top ten most important books of all time. It was fun. I thought I’d share. These are the books that have had a dramatic impact on my life and have served to shape my mindset and worldview. In no particular order:

The Bible (OK, the first one’s in a particular order…)
The Screwtape Letters by C. S. Lewis
Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman
The Reason for God by Timothy Keller
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Animal Farm by George Orwell
Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain
Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
Tending the Heart of Virtue by Vigen Guroian
The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon

Looking back at this list now, I wish I had put H. G. Bissinger’s Friday Night Lights in there. I guess I’d take out Grapes of Wrath or the Decline and Fall.

Peace,

Allan

Avoiding the Call

March 10, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

As is often the case, my posts on this blog are things I’ve thought about and studied about and prayed about in relation to Legacy’s Sunday sermon but didn’t actually preach. Sometimes these posts are things I wanted to say on Sunday — intended to say — but, for a variety of reasons, didn’t.

This is one of those posts.

We’re immersing ourselves in the story of Jonah here at Legacy this month as we build towards our annual Missions Sunday on March 28. This past week we considered God’s call to take the good news of his salvation to all peoples, specifically our enemies.

God wants all the people of Nineveh saved. He wants them to repent and come into a relationship with him. And God intends to use Jonah to make it happen. But Jonah doesn’t want to participate in the redemption of this particular people. So the prophet runs to get lost in another culture. He heads west to Tarshish, the farthest point west known in Jonah’s day. Yhwh is not honored in Tarshish. He’s not even known there.

Jonah knows he can’t run away from God. But he can go to another place, another world, where maybe he can escape God’s call. Jonah maybe can immerse himself in worldly things. He can become overly occupied with possessions and status and busy-ness and career and sports and home ownership. Maybe a wife and kids. If he can just get away from the temple and from a lot of church people trying to tell him what to do, maybe Jonah can find some peace.

Of course, Jonah never got that chance.

God’s call on your life is unmistakable. It’s clear. You understand exactly what it is. But are you avoiding it?

I felt my God’s call to preach for years. And for years I said ‘no.’ I rationalized my rejection of the call. I was working at KRLD! I was the Sports Director at the Texas Rangers flagship station in a top-ten market! I was already doing enough. I was being a good influence there. I was shining like a light. Don’t talk to me about preaching the gospel, I’ve got work to do! God needs me here at the Ballpark!

Turns out I was just hiding at the Ballpark. Running away from the call. I’m sure God could have used me in radio. I’m sure he wanted to. But I wasn’t letting him. I was afraid. Or maybe I just wasn’t that interested. I was preoccupied with chasing my own dreams to insure my own comfort. Jonah tried to hide in the hull of a pagan ship. I was hiding in the tunnels at a stadium in Arlington.

In what ways are you avoiding God’s call on your life? What is God wanting to do with you and through you that you’re not letting him do? What are you running away from? Where are you hiding? In your job? In your recreation activities? In your family?

Why don’t you come on out? It’s beautiful up here. Getting involved in people. Getting into the middle of their broken lives. Talking to them about the miracle of salvation, the power of the empty tomb, the promise of the Resurrection, the glory we share in our risen Lord. Helping people. Encouraging people. Guiding people. Sharing their burdens. It’s the hardest work I’ve ever done. And, by far, the most rewarding. You might not be called to preach. But I’m certain our God is calling you to something big for the Kingdom. Something really big. Something he’s equipped you for and empowered you to do. And maybe you’re scared. Or uninterested.

Stop hiding. Commit right now, today, to doing exactly what our God is calling you to do. Act now and avoid the hungry fish!

Peace,

Allan

Hearers of the Word

February 24, 2010 / Allan / 3 Comments

I realize every time I get up in the pulpit on Sunday mornings I’m preaching between 900-1,000 different sermons. Everybody within earshot hears something a little differently. The people in our churches arrive in the assembly and bring to our sermon different experiences, different worldviews, different backgrounds. They come from different family dynamics, different geographical locations, and different economic circumstances. These different contexts shape the sermon; what they hear; how they respond.

I’m also aware that what’s happening in the room also impacts the way I preach. I feel that I’m much more bold when I’m preaching in Arkansas or California to people I’ve never met. It’s not that I don’t want to be bold at Legacy. It’s just that it’s much more difficult to say hard things to people I’ve grown to love. I love these people and I think I speak differently to them. Obviously, it’s much, much easier to preach following an uplifting service of praise in which the entire assembly has together raised the roof in joyful song than following a half-hearted robotic effort to trudge through songs nobody likes or nobody knows. The songs are intended to edify the congregation, to uplift the people of God. And they do. They uplift the preacher, too.

The great theologian Reinhold Niebuhr knew that his Sunday morning sermons were better than his Sunday evening sermons. He realized that cicumstances do affect the quality of the message. And a lot of that, according to Niebuhr in Leaves from the Notebook of a Tamed Cynic, has to do with how many people are in the room.

“A full church gives me a sense of fighting with a victorious host in the battles of the Lord. A half empty church immediately symbolizes the fact that Christianity is very much a minority movement in a pagan world and that it can be victorious only by snatching victory out of defeat.”

Yes, the preacher is impacted by the mood of the crowd, the lighting in the room, the events of the past week, and by the anticipated, yet strangely unexpected, moving of the Spirit. All those things, and many more, affect the sermon.

My faith is in the divine promise that God’s Word never returns to him empty. He puts his truth directly into the hearts of our hearers. Despite our shortcomings and inadequacies, despite our human tendencies to be swayed by temporal distractions, our Father uses preaching to reveal himself to the world.

That’s still pretty cool.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Allan’s Journey (Page 24 of 31)

To The Hoosegow!

What Am I Called To Say?

Seeking Peace

Do You See It?

Avoiding the Call

Hearers of the Word

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