Category: Ephesians (Page 15 of 18)

Expectation #6

February 13, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the Body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” ~Ephesians 4:12-13

Paul makes it very plain in the middle of Ephesians 4 that each of God’s people is to be actively working in service to God and the Body of Christ. If everyone who confesses “Jesus is Lord” is gifted by the Holy Spirit, then every Christian should be using those gifts in selfless service to Christ and his Church.

I think, like Paul, that all works of service, when done in submission to the Savior, are equal. There are no greater gifts and lesser gifts. There are no important works and unimportant works. No act of service is bigger than another. They are all coordinated by God for the benefit of the Church. And I believe that if even one member of Legacy (or your church) is not actively involved in some area of Christian service, we/you are not operating at full strength.

Scripture says these works of service build the Body up, bless us with unity and knowledge, and grow us into mature disciples. It’s this selfless and sacrificial service that is the difference between spiritual infancy and maturity, between being tossed about and being held together, between deception and truth, between things of human origin and things of Christ.

The Church should work harder to equip the saints by giving them more and more opportunities to serve. We should empower all Christians by not throwing wet blankets on their ideas and projects. And we should better educate all disciples of Christ until we all fully understand that our individual talents and abilities and passions, when given over to Christ Jesus and his will and used to his eternal glory, are our spiritual gifts. And they all serve a vital purpose in God’s Kingdom.

Peace,

Allan

Pat Collins on a Jackhammer

February 11, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

We woke up this morning under an incredible blanket of the prettiest snow we’ve seen around here in a long time. Not like the Christmas Eve snow when it was blowing sideways at 50 miles per hour. These are big, fat, fluffy, wet, sticky flakes falling peacefully to earth. The scene here at Legacy today is beautiful. And the mood is playful. Snow like this always seems to put everybody in a great mood. Bonny and Suzanne actually brought snowballs into the building to peg me in the hallway. That was after I had hidden Bonny’s breakfast in her office. Lance is taking tons of pictures. Jason is talking about building a huge snowman out on Mid-Cities Boulevard. The kids down at Circle of Friends seem to have a little more energy and are making a little more noise than normal. And I’m not sure if anybody’s going to get much work done today.

As always, click on the pictures to get the full size. We already have over four inches on the ground here in North Richland Hills. And it’s supposed to keep snowing all day and into the night. I think there will be at least one snowman in our front yard by nightfall. I love the snow. And I love what it does to people here. Praise God for the beauty of his creation and the grace in his blessings.

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Why perform works of service? Why selflessly give to others? Why spend time and energy helping other people? Paul gives us very specific answers: “…so that the Body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:12-13).

Steve Prescott has been suffering with foot and leg and hip problems since long before we arrived here at Legacy. It’s a bone deterioration problem that I don’t fully understand. And neither do his doctors. Steve had one foot amputated almost a year ago. And now, on the heels of another injury and similiar concerns about deterioration in his other foot, he’s in a wheelchair, using a walker, and wearing a bulky protective boot. To make Steve and Pat’s long story short, their home in Watauga just isn’t wheelchair or walker or bulky boot friendly. Narrow doorways. Cramped bathrooms. Wall-to-wall carpet. And not enough time or money or energy to fix things the way they need to be.

That’s where their circle of brothers and sisters here at Legacy has just absolutely taken over. The money has poured in from several Bible classes. Volunteers have been working for the past two weeks on ripping out carpet and toilets and door frames and making things smoother and wider for Steve. New tile. New facilities. New doors. New paint. New wiring.

There’s a great difference between doing church and being church. This, my friends, is being church. Being church to one another. Showing the Prescotts’ neighbors what being church looks like. Expressing Christian love and concern for one another. Sharing resources and strength. Coming together in the name of our Savior to rescue this family.

I know Steve and Pat are blown away. So am I. I’m so grateful to be a part of this body of believers. I’m so thankful to belong to this loving and sacrificial group. They understand that this is the very thing that fosters and proves Christian maturity. This is the kind of thing that reflects real knowledge. This is what it looks like to attain “to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

I also know the real reason you read down this far was to see a picture of Pat Collins on a jackhammer. Well, I don’t want to disappoint.

I’ve read something just this week that fits well here. I can’t remember if it was Eugene Peterson or Marva Dawn or Josh Graves. It was one of those three. (I’ve got to stop reading three books at a time!) He or she said the essence of a thing is in its doing. Not knowing. Not believing.

Doing.

Peace,

Allan

Expectation #3

January 22, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways.
I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your Word.” ~Psalm 119:15-16

When we meditate on the words of God, they become a part of us. These words deal specifically with our souls and they’re written to transform us into people who reflect the glory of God. A daily diet of Scripture allows these holy words to enter our souls just like food enters our stomachs. It spreads through our entire system of blood and air and organs and nerves and functions. We assimilate it. And it becomes holiness and love and wisdom.

The same is true of prayer. It’s a complex act of speaking to and listening to the Creator of heaven and earth. It’s an act of submission. It’s a declaration of faith. It’s basking in the presence of our God, delighting in his love and grace, taking comfort in his mercy and forgiveness.

Reading God’s Word and praying to the Father are not intellectual exercises. It’s not a hobby or a pastime. This is life and death. It’s urgent. It’s right now. It speaks to every facet of our everyday lives. It nourishes us. It transforms us. It gives us the Holy Spirit strength we need to live as mature disciples in a hostile world.

Jesus made a habit of withdrawing “privately to a solitary place.” Our Lord spent much of his time in Scripture and prayer: listening to God, communing with him. As his followers, we too set aside a time every day for prayer and Bible reading. Thirty minutes. An hour. In the morning. During lunch. Before bed. The time and place are not important. Making this meditation time a daily priority is very important. It’s a vital part of attaining to “the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

The focus for baptized believers — those saved by the blood of our Lord — is spiritual growth. Maturity. Discipline. Transformation. Christian accountability to God and to one another. Christian responsibility. The expectation for all our members at Legacy is that they each dedicate a quiet time with God every day in prayer and Bible reading.

It’s a way of being consistently present before the living God. And allowing his Spirit to get inside you, to change you, to move you. To make you more like him.

Peace,

Allan

Freely Give

January 18, 2010 / Allan / 7 Comments

“He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all — how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” ~ Romans 8:32

Scripture says God gave the land to Abraham. The Lord gave success to Joseph. God gave manna to his children in the desert. The Bible says our God gave his people deliverers when they were in trouble. Through Christ, God gave us the right to become his children.

In the Gospels, Jesus says “I give you eternal life.”

I give you my peace. I give you the Spirit. This is my body given for you. The Kingdom of God is given to you. I give you victory.

Paul says God has freely given us of his glorious grace.

God created in order to give. Jesus came to earth in order to give. He lived and died and rose again and reigns at the right hand of the Father in heaven in order to give.

“Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.” ~Ephesians 5:2

That’s the good news. God gave. Now I give. Freely you have received, freely give. God through Christ gave. Everything. Now I give. Everything. That’s the Gospel. Nothing more. Nothing less.

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Don’t blame Romo. He never had a chance.

Blame Marc Columbo. What was that? Blame Jason Garrett for thinking the best way to slow down the Vikings pass rush was to run Marion Barber around the ends. Blame Jerry Wayne for giving up top draft picks and talent for Roy Williams. Blame the owner/GM/vendor for not developing any decent backup offensive linemen.

Tony Romo was running for his life at every snap. Don’t blame him.

Blame Wade Phillips. Is it Wade’s constant pointing to his own stats and numbers and accomplishments that makes this team think they’ve arrived when they’ve made it to a second-round game? Or that they’re entitled to something? Is it this team’s well-documented failures in December and in the post-season that caused them to feel like they had accomplished something of great significance by beating a bad Philly team at home? Why were they so offended by Favre’s late TD toss? Why did they seem so ill-prepared for that Vikings pass rush? Why did they get their heads handed to them 34-3? Did they think that since they were on such a roll, teams would bow in submission as soon as they stepped off the bus? Or does Wade’s personality and demeanor give his players the impression that winning that first playoff game in 13-years, his first ever as a head coach, had already accomplished the mission?

Jerry and Wade are getting in the way. And they’re both going to be in charge of this team in 2010. For Cowboys fans, that must really take the hope out of saying, “Wait ’til next year.”

Peace,

Allan

Be Filled With The Spirit

January 12, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.” ~Ephesians 5:21

The context in Ephesians 5 is in the corporate worship assembly.

“Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.”

Submit to one another. Belong to one another. And, in this corporate worship context, Paul says be filled with the Spirit.

When we come together, it’s the Spirit who not only unites us with one another, he unites us to God. We worship in the Spirit. We submit to one another and speak and sing to one another in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is who gives the Christian life its energy and enthusiasm and endurance and power!

Be filled with the Spirit.

This is an imperative. It’s a command. So we do take some of the responsibility here. This singing together and submitting to one another is either the means by which we pursue this filling of the Spirit or it’s the result of being filled with the Spirit. Or both. Either way, Paul says when we sing together, when we pray together, when we submit to one another, when we really belong to one another, we are filled with the Spirit.

And that tells me that God is not a spectator when we come together to worship. Audience of one? No! God is not an audience of worship. Our God is an active participant with us — inside us — when we worship him together. God is not just sitting on his heavenly throne and soaking up all the hallelujahs and amens. No. Through the Spirit, the Father and Son are engaged with us. Communing with us. Rejoicing with us. Transforming us. Changing us. Growing us. Shaping us more into the image of Christ.

Be filled with the Spirit.

Encountering God together — in the worship assemblies on Sunday mornings, in our Bible classes on Wednesday nights, in our living rooms on Sunday evenings — being in the presence of God together allows us to recognize our own sinfulness and shortcomings. And that always leads to an acute recognition of his marvelous grace. And the power of God’s grace is not just forgiveness. It’s also transformation. New creature. New creation. Christ formed in you. Being saved. It’s a communal sanctification event. We participate in it and we experience it together. We are filled with the Spirit. Together.

Peace,

Allan

Every Family in God's Service

January 4, 2010 / Allan / 4 Comments

At the beginning of December, Legacy’s shepherds and ministers got together for a weekend leadership retreat in Glen Rose. We spent a couple of hours praying, by name, for every single individual and every family in our congregation. And as we discussed God’s purposes for his church and talked about Legacy’s future, our members’ pictures continually scrolled across the screen in front of us.

If you’re a Legacy member, you were at that meeting. You were.

We know that we are called by our God to work for and enjoy the unity we have in Christ. We know that we are to increase in our knowledge of Christ. And we know that we are to grow up spiritually to become more like our Savior every day. Fortunately for us, God’s Word makes it plain as to how a church achieves these holy objectives. By his grace, yes. By the saving blood of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit, yes. And by works of service.

Serving others. Sacrificing for others. Living our lives — giving our lives — for others in the manner of our Lord directly results in Christian unity and spiritual maturity. It’s all connected.

So Ephesians 4:12-13 is the perfect passage of Scripture to guide us as Legacy lives up to and in to the will of our Father.

Special thanks to Ronnie Bates who designed our new church logo that reflects this vision statement. Ronnie and Lance Parrish did a ton of work on this thing in a very short amount of time. Thank you, also, to Lisa Clifton, Suzanne West, and Sandy Hamilton for the beautiful lettering leading into and going out of our worship center. Seeing the three of them together on that lift Saturday night was as entertaining as it was inspiring.

2010 is going to be a year of transition for us here at Legacy. Growth. Maturity. Discipline. Accountability to one another and to our Lord. Some of the change won’t be easy. We’re going to be challenged to be more like Christ. We’re going to intentionally let go of some things and zero in with greater focus on other things. We’re going to be much more active in our community. We’re going to concentrate on completely giving ourselves to God in every imaginable context.

“Every Family in God’s Service” means every family, every member, every body. It means “attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”

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Thanks to everyone who made our Legacy New Year’s Eve party a smashing success. Congratulations to the Simmons/Jones Small Group for winning Family Feud. In defense of the Byrnes/Stanglin Small Group, the integrity of the whole game is in doubt when the question is “Name a movie that had at least two sequels” and the survey does not say “Indiana Jones”

I’m not quite sure how Dillon and Shanna wound up winning our eight rounds of Pit, especially since Brian Gray went corner twice when he didn’t have the necessary cards — once when he was holding the Bear. Everybody was taking advantage of the sweetness of LuRee Proctor. It was brutal. And loud. David has the video. If he were ruthless and mean, he could probably blackmail Carrie-Anne.

Sparklers at midnight for all the kids is always a great idea. Until a couple of boys start lighting them and throwing them up in the air. Nobody died. Happy New Year.

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Thanks to the supreme generosity of Glenn and Karen Branscum, my family and I were able to enjoy Saturday’s Cotton Bowl in his suite at Jerry Wayne’s new stadium. The suite was filled with tons of Oklahoma State Aggies, including the likes of our new children’s minister, Jennifer Gambill, and her family; Larry and Deanna Tolleson and their boys; Ron Frost and his whole family from Stillwater; and our great friends Billy and Shannon Whiteley and their girls. It was quite possibly the worst football game I’ve ever watched. Ever. High school, college, pro. Ever. Twelve turnovers. Dropped passes. Missed tackles. It was ugly. It was so bad I was afraid the officials were going to step out onto the field during the third quarter and just cancel the rest of the game. Up in the suite, though, we had a marvelous time. Great hospitality, wonderful friends, and memories galore.

And, did you notice the new Cotton Bowl trophy is actually a silver and gold plated replica of Jerry Wayne’s stadium? No one’s better at destroying decades of history in a single self-centered moment than the Cowboys owner.

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By the way, I must admit, the Cowboys look great. Wow. Back-to-back shutouts for the first time in the 50-year history of the franchise. NFC East champs. Three-game winning streak heading into Saturday’s playoff opener at home against a team they just demoralized. They look very, very good. Romo’s making perfect decisions. Nobody’s missing tackles. Barber and Felix are both healthy and running strong at the same time, maybe, for the first time this year. Smiles Austin is catching everything. And I think Wade Phillips has gone 15-straight quarters now without spilling ketchup or relish on his shirt.

Wade has never, ever won a playoff game in his NFL head coaching career. Andy Reid has never, ever lost a playoff opener in his NFL head coaching career. The Cowboys have lost every single time they’ve faced a team in the playoffs they had already defeated twice during the regular season.

But the Cowboys look young and athletic and confident while the Eagles look old and slow and uncertain. Saturday’s game should be extremely entertaining. I can’t wait.

Go Frogs!

Allan

Category: Ephesians (Page 15 of 18)

Expectation #6

Pat Collins on a Jackhammer

Expectation #3

Freely Give

Be Filled With The Spirit

Every Family in God's Service

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