Category: Cowboys (Page 42 of 53)
Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Butch Johnson and the California Quake…
The “Lex Orandi Lex Credendi” post from last week was prompted by a conversation I’d had with one of our elders here at Legacy. He had read an article from another blog by another minister within our Church of Christ stream questioning our worship practices and how they do or do not match up with what we profess to believe. Our conversation centered on this man’s observation that PowerPoint probably does more harm than good in our worship assemblies. He names PowerPoint as something that, while introduced and used with noble intentions, “might form us in unhealthy or even ugly ways.”
I’ve had the chance to read the article now, and I recommend it to you. The young man’s name is Brad East. His blog is called “Resident Theology.” Here’s the link to that particularly provocative post.
It’s long been my contention that using PowerPoint in our worship assemblies actually works to destroy what our assemblies are intended by God and our Scriptures and our church leaders to do. The constantly changing slides projected on to the huge screens demand our undivided attention. We’ve stopped looking at each other. Instead, we stare at the slides.
If a congregation of a thousand were singing “Jesus Loves Me” and the words were up on the screen, we’d all — every one of us — be staring at the screen. Not because we don’t know the words to “Jesus Loves Me.” Of course we do! But because when a screen is on, we look at it. That’s what we do. We’re conditioned by our culture to look at screens. In our homes, at work, in line at Wal-Mart, driving down the road in our cars, we stare at screens. If there’s a TV up in the corner in a restaurant, you and I won’t be looking at each other. We’ll be looking at the screen. Even if we can’t hear the sound. Even if it’s an infomercial. It’s what we do.
As a preacher, I’ve noticed that I can’t make eye contact with anybody during an invitation song. Forget it. Smile at someone? Wink at somebody? Encourage someone? Acknowledge a tough time somebody may be experiencing? Impossible! No chance! Everybody’s looking at the screen!
One of the reasons (among many, I know) that nobody comes forward anymore for confession or prayer is that we’re all too busy looking at the screens. As long as the screens are on, we’re tuned out to anything that’s really happening around us. Or within us. The screens come on and our minds and bodies go into neutral. Just like they do on the couch in front of a ballgame, in a theater in front of a movie, or in line for a ride at Six Flags. Do we honestly expect anything different just because the projected words and images happen to be sacred?
But to question the use of technology and PowerPoint in our worship assemblies is taboo. To suggest a day or a month when we don’t use the screens would be heresy. Unfortunately, our churches are spending so much money on the leading technology, the constant cry is to use it more. So, with seemingly no thought to the obvious messages it sends or the ways it shapes us as a church family, we use it more.
When’s the last time you held the song book for your wife? We don’t do that anymore. When’s the last time you handed your book to a late-arriving brother or sister in front of you? There’s no need. When’s the last time you helped a young child, maybe your young child, find the number in the book? There’s a chance you’ve never done that.
I’m not saying that going back to song books is the answer. I’m not advocating that we rip all the screens out of the walls and pawn off all the projectors. I’m not saying there are not some advantages to using PowerPoint in our assemblies (I can think of one). What I beg of our preachers and worship leaders and elders is that we consider carefully why we do what we do and that we think through the long term effects of those things.
The most encouraging part of Brad’s post is that, by the looks of his picture, he’s probably not even 30-years-old. He’s young. Wow, very young! But he recognizes that something’s wrong, something’s inconsistent and disconnected between our gospel and our technology. At least he’s thinking. Not reacting. Not mindlessly following. He’s thinking.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We sent Corey and Emily Mullins off with a prayer breakfast here Monday morning. The Mullins are spending the holidays with family in East Texas and Tennessee, and then heading out to Australia as part of the first Church of Christ missionary team to go down under in 25 years. Their commitment is to preach the gospel in Australia for at least five years. They’ve only been with us here at Legacy for about six months. But we’ve all come to love them as our own. And Monday’s “goodbye” 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 
are joining what our Father is already doing there in Wollengong, 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 Lord. We prayed for courage and faith and protection. And we committed them and their work to him. Our hearts and our prayers go with Corey and Emily as they head to Australia.
You can keep up with the Mullins by reading their blog here. I’ll also keep the link active on the right hand side of this page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Got this picture from Mark Richardson this week.
Thanks, brother. I’ll see you down front Sunday!
Peace,
Whitney was released from the hospital at 1:00 Saturday afternoon. Wheelchair. Walker. Pain meds. Lots of cards and balloons. By 5:30 I had her in a luxury suite at Texas Stadium, getting ready for the last Cowboys game ever at their historic football home. Thanks to Doug Deere, a good friend here at Legacy, Whitney and I were able to take in the excitement of the game, the history of the evening, and the time spent together doing something we both love: watching the Cowboys.
As most of you know, Whitney’s a huge Cowboys fan. She doesn’t remember any of the Super Bowls of the ’90s — she was born 18 days after Super Bowl XXVII — but she knows enough to be huge fans of Troy, Emmitt, and Michael. Of course, she adores all the current crew (I keep telling her she’ll grow out of it) and knows everything about every one of them. She ate up every moment of our night together. And she made her usual lame excuses for Romo and Terrell Owens and Jerry Wayne throughout.
Glen and Karen and Crystal and Lexi, Doug’s great friends who actually own the suite, were outstanding hosts. What a great family. They pampered Whitney and catered to her every need. 
Plenty of Ruffles and Dr Pepper. A corner seat down front. And somehow Glen even arranged to have two Cowboys cheerleaders come up to the suite during the third quarter and take pictures with Whitney and sign her cast. (She would have been more impressed had it been Brady James or Anthony Henry. I didn’t notice them doing anything on the field that would have kept them from coming up for a quick visit.) With all of that PLUS!!! Dallas getting to within two points twice in the final four minutes and those huge gut-wrenching, record-breaking runs that sealed it at the end, I don’t think Whitney blinked for five hours.
Thank you, Doug! Thank you Glen! Thank you, everybody in the suite.
My interest in the event was in recalling my childhood and early adult memories made at Texas Stadium. My first ever Cowboys game with my Aunt LouAnn against the Saints when I was eleven. Paul Baron taking me there to see Steve Grogan and the Patriots, the man sitting in front of us asking Paul to tell me to stop cheering so loudly. A Sunday night game against the Raiders with my high school friends. A high-profile Thanksgiving Day duel between Glenn Carano and Chicago’s Vince Evans with my whole family. A freezing, sleeting, Saturday afternoon playoff loss to the Rams with Todd Johnson two months after I got my drivers license. A loss to the Dolphins in 1989 with my college buddies, but a free dinner from Mike Osburn because Aikman threw for over 300 yards (the last time I bet on anything).
I’m blessed to have had a mediocre broadcasting career that allowed me for almost five years to be at Texas Stadium for another 30-or-so games. Roaming the sidelines before kickoff. Watching the stadium fill. Visiting with assistant coaches. Hanging out in the locker room before and after games. Being overly rude and sarcastic with other reporters and hosts. Watching up close the drama of what’s said and not said during postgame news conferences. What a privilege to be there the day Emmitt passed Payton. Only time I’ve ever seen a pressbox give anybody a standing ovation. What a blessing to be there for all those games, to make all those memories, from the endzone nosebleeds in 1977 to the sidelines and up and down the players’ tunnel in 2004.
I wanted Whitney to remember this night as much as I will. I kept pointing to all the names in the Ring of Honor and 
telling her about each player. I talked to her about the differences between Tom Landry and every other coach the Cowboys have ever employed. I explained the significance of the hole in the roof. We talked about the championship banners and those Super Bowl teams from the ’70s and ’90s. The white stars that rim the field. The big blue star in the middle. The pressbox where I sat as the Sports Director at KRLD.
She looked up at me at the two-minute warning and said, “Dad, even if they lose, I still had a good time.”
Yes!
So they’re tearing it down. After 37 years, Texas Stadium’s not big enough, not fancy enough, not new enough. In about four months, the only ties the current Cowboys will have to the Clint Murchison-Tex Schramm-Tom Landry beginnings will be at their office headquarters and practice facilities at Valley Ranch. But nobody ever sees that. The offices are being moved to Jerry’s new place in Arlington. So is the little museum and the five Super Bowl trophies. The championship banners are being moved. And it’s only a matter of time, maybe just three or four years, until Valley Ranch is abandoned, too.
That new stadium in Arlington is amazing, no doubt. And for at least two or three generations of Cowboys fans, it’ll become a great place of lifelong memories. For me, though, that new stadium is one more reason not to like the Cowboys.
Peace,
Allan
A little bit of the discussion stemming from Friday’s post, Beware The Shadows, has led me to consider anew how Truth, especially as it applies to God’s vision for his people, is costly. Christianity is risky. Discipleship is costly. Being a follower of Jesus is daring and dangerous. And a good many of us don’t have the stomach for it. Seeking that truth and living it out always comes with a price.
I’m reminded of another Lynn Anderson line in his book Freshness for the Far Journey: “Each of us is as free as all truth-seekers have been from Jeremiah to Sagdluk, provided we, like they, value truth highly enough to maintain the payments.”
Jesus said, “If anyone chooses to do God’s will…” (John 7:17) It’s always a choice. And sometimes it can be a very painful choice. Jesus also said, “How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” (John 5:44) Making that unpopular choice every single day is essential to Christian ministry. It’s paramount to our faith to tread that less-traveled road.
More from Anderson: “Those who most freely pursue God’s truth do so in spite of the fact that the environment does not encourage them. To be able to stand before His smiling countenance means far more to them than their security or their forum or the affirmation of their fellows.”
To apply this thought more directly to preachers and teachers and elders in God’s Church, I’ll pull an illustration from another portion of this same book: “Part of the reason Mozart ended up in a pauper’s grave was, according to legend, because he said, ‘I will not write what they want to buy. I will write what I hear.’ Such was Mozart’s artistic integrity. Question: Can any preacher of the Word do less? Dare we neglect ‘what we hear’ to live and preach only what ‘they will buy’?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Some of the discussion from another recent post made me dig this up again. Enjoy.
Peace,
Allan
What’s the over-under on the date Plaxico Burress becomes a Dallas Cowboy? Put me down for April 23, 2009. That’s a Thursday right before the spring mini-camps, giving the team enough time to get their new receiver on all the Sunday night sports shows.
Have you seen Dallas Stars coach Dave Tippett’s comments regarding his out-of-control winger, Sean Avery? Can you imagine Jerry Wayne ever reacting that way when a Cowboys player gets out of line? Are the Cowboys looking for a weakside linebacker? What’s the over-under on Avery showing up at Valley Ranch?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My time with Lynn Anderson and the “Waco Alliance” this week was truly a blessing. I’m going to write much more tomorrow about some of our conversations in San Antonio. Today I’ll share with you something he said that captures completely the role and the heart of a preacher or an elder—any shepherd of God’s people. What’s our vision? What is our God calling us to be? How is he calling us to act?
At some point Tuesday afternoon, this is what Lynn said. Mostly. This is a paraphrase.
Those driven by success are drawn to people who orchestrate great programs. Those seeking applause are drawn to people who get good press. Those looking for pleasure are drawn to people who show them a good time. Vengeance-oriented people are drawn to angry gangs. God-hungry people are drawn to those who possess and exhibit a spiritual vision of what God is doing in this world.
It’s all summed up in the mission statement for Lynn’s Mentor Network: “A spiritual leader is the kind of person God-hungry people want to be like.”
Do disciples of Jesus want to be like me? Do dedicated Christians look at my life and see something worth imitating? How about you? Are you turning people on or off? Do people look at you and see Jesus?
Peace,
Allan
Texas is not the unanimous #1 team in this week’s poll. After holding off Oklahoma State on Saturday, the Longhorns receive 13 of 14 1st place votes. The lone dissenter is Larry T. He gives his top spot to Alabama stating, “You know where my allegiance lies. Go SEC!” Penn State and Alabama are tied 24 points behind Texas. Texas Tech moved up eight spots to the #4 position. And OU remains at #5. TCU continues to inch up the polls to #12. With Kansas falling out of our Top 20, Charlie J gives us what he promises is his last Mangino crack. I hope not. Then again, it appears Charlie truly is running out of material. Jennifer G gives us a most honest poll, placing Penn State below OU and USC in her rankings. Janie R lets her Tulsa past catch up with her by ranking the Golden Hurricane #7, while Paul D was so impressed by OSU’s performance in Austin, he put the Cowboys at #3. South Florida, Pittsburgh, and Kansas dropped out. Ball State, Minnesota, and Florida State jumped in. To view this week’s poll in its entirety, with all the comments, complete with pictures and bios of all the pollsters, click here or click on the green “KK&C Top 20” tab in the upper right corner of this front page.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jerry Wayne has been involved in many, many cheesy stunts over his 18 years as the owner of your Cowboys, none hokier than awarding the game ball from Sunday’s win over Tampa Bay to coach Wade Phillips. Unless it’s the guy’s 200th career win or something, you don’t give a game ball to a coach. Maybe they do that kind of thing down in Hewitt or over in Gilmer, but not in the NFL. If they felt they had to award a game ball, they should have given it to Roy Williams. No, not the Roy Williams who caught his first ever touchdown pass as a Dallas Cowboy, the only TD of the game. I’m talking about the injured reserve safety Roy Williams who was on the sidelines in street clothes. If it weren’t for that Williams forcing the NFL to adopt a horse-collar tackle rule three years ago, Ronde Barber wouldn’t have been flagged for a 15-yard penalty on a Marion Barber one-yard gain on what was a 3rd and 12 at the Tampa 48 with 40-seconds to play. Instead of punting, Dallas is awarded a first down and a stopped clock at the Bucs’ 33. And they go on to score the TD to the other Williams. Thank you, Roy Williams. *
*original thought by Aaron W at our men’s Bible study this morning.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“A society or a community that is religiously alert will invariably react to whatever may be perceived as a religious innovation because whatever is new is perceived as an implied threat or contradiction to what has already been settled by history and confirmed by tradition. The ‘innovators’ seldom see their new doctrine or practice as innovation but are quite likely to find its justification, or indeed its roots or requirements, in precisely the ‘Old-time Religion’ to which all parties appeal as jus canonicum.”
—C. Eric Lincoln, 1974
Recent Comments