The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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John Denver Would Have Been Proud

July 6, 2011 / / 2 Comments

After a little over a week in colorful, and much cooler, Colorado, I’m back in my study today. You know, a guy could really get used to 90-degrees at 5:00 in the afternoon instead of 90-degrees at 5:00 in the morning like it is here. So we came back home as fast as we could. We didn’t want to get spoiled.

Please indulge me while I post a few vacation pictures. These are mostly for my mom in Liberty City and my sister, Rhonda, in Edmond.

We spent the whole first day at Royal Gorge. We took the tram across the canyon and the inclined railroad to the bottom. We walked the length of the bridge — Carrie-Anne took baby steps and never ventured on either side of the yellow line down the middle — and even drove the mini-van across and back. But the highlight was the SkyCoaster: a giant rubber band that drops its riders in a 200 foot free fall and then swings them out over the canyon, suspending them more than 1,100 feet above the Arkansas River below. Whitney and I did it together. What a rush! I made myself hoarse from screaming. She almost passed out. No pictures of the SkyCoaster ride. I’m trying to figure out how to post the video. Stand by.

We climbed all 224-steps to the top of Seven Falls and did some hiking on the trails above. We took in the Air Force Academy, spending a lot of time flipping through the song books in the beautiful chapel and listening to the grunting of new cadets being trained to kill just on the other side of the stained glass. Weird juxtaposition. The Manitou Cliff Dwellings were a bit of a disappointment. There seemed to be a lot more of it in the brochure.

But the drive up and down Pikes Peak exceeded expectations. It rained on us the whole way up, some of it freezing on the windshield wipers. And the Town and Country did us right, hairpin turn after hairpin turn on the edge of oblivion. Most of it paved. No guardrails. Hundreds of feet straight down. Very cool. Of course, Carrie-Anne needs to have the passenger seat arm rest surgically removed from her hand. She doesn’t do Colorado very well. Carley and I built a tiny little snowman near the top. It was 41-degrees up there. And I got dizzy. I couldn’t tell if it was the altitude or the money we spent on cold burgers and flat fries.

Garden of the Gods was beautiful. We climbed those huge red rocks together for half a day. We all agreed that Cave of the Winds was boring. But the ropes course that extended over the cliff of the canyon was really great. An extra bonus we hadn’t really counted on. Valerie negotiated every level with no hands. It’s amazing what confidence you have and the things you can do when you have a safety harness. I think there’s probably a sermon in there somewhere.

On the way home we stopped in Amarillo to take in the July 4th “Texas” show at the Palo Duro Canyon (that’s your cue, Ro!) and didn’t leave Tuesday until we had made our marks at Cadillac Ranch.

We experienced a couple of thunderstorms, ate some questionable Mexican food, ignored “No Climbing” signs, and saw more squirrels and chipmunks than we could possibly count. We bought 85-octane gas instead of 87; we chose Karen as the voice of choice for our new GPS; we were forced to place a one-night “Your Face!” moratorium on the girls; and our hotel in Amarillo smelled like Schlitterbahn. We sang and we laughed and we talked and we prayed. We played silly games. We ate every meal together and fell asleep in the same room at the same time every night. I’m not sure how many more of these we’re going to be blessed to do as a family. I always hope for at least one more.

Peace,

Allan

Sabbatical

June 29, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Hello, from Colorful Colorado. We’re on the summer family vacation and I’ve promised I won’t blog until we return to the Great State of Texas on July 6.

Grace and Peace,

Allan

Filled With the Spirit

June 23, 2011 / / 1 Comment

“Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make 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.” ~Ephesians 5:18-21

We worship in the Spirit. We submit to one another and sing and speak to one another in the Spirit. The Holy Spirit of God is who gives the Christian life its energy and enthusiasm. Its endurance. Its power!

Be filled with the Spirit.

This is an imperative. It’s a command. So we do take some responsibility here. This singing together and submitting to one another is either the means by which we pursue this filling of the Spirit or the result of being filled with the Spirit. Or both. Either way, Paul says when we sing together, when we pray together, 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 gather for worship. Audience of one? No way! God is not the audience of our worship. Our God is an active participant with us — inside us — when we worship him together. God is not just sitting on his throne in heaven 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 our Sunday morning worship assemblies, Wednesday night Bible classes, Sunday evening small groups — 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 that we participate in and experience together.

See you Sunday,

Allan

Party Practice

June 21, 2011 / / 0 Comments

Jesus is at a fancy dinner party in Luke 14. He’s dining in the home of a “prominent Pharisee.” Fancy people in their fancy clothes telling fancy stories about their sophisticated lives. Scripture says Jesus is “being carefully watched.” Jesus notices and heals a sick man. Then he uses the sick man as sort of a sermon illustration:

“When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed.”

And then, I’m assuming, there was a long period of some really awkward silence. You don’t just walk into a fancy dinner party with lots of fancy people and tell the host and the guests that they’re doing it all wrong. “Why would Jesus tell us to invite losers to our parties?” You can almost hear a nervous cough. Imagine the sound of a lonely fork scraping against a dinner plate. Things are really awkward.

Finally, in order the break the tense silence, some guy blurts out, “Blessed is the man who will eat at the feast in the Kingdom of God!”

And Jesus immediately begins telling another story about another feast, but with the same guest list: the poor, crippled, blind, and lame.

Jesus is making the point — and he made this same point every day of his ministry — that the Kingdom of God is a big party with a bunch of losers you wouldn’t be caught dead with on a Saturday night. This is God’s idea of a great time. God takes a bunch of losers, he fixes them, and then he breaks out the roast beef and wine. Revelation says we’re all going to eat and drink with Jesus forever. We’re going to take our places around the table with him at the wedding supper of the Lamb.

What we do when we come together on Sundays is a warm up. It’s party practice. It’s like the chips and hot sauce before the fajitas and enchiladas. It’s at these dinner parties in the Gospels where Jesus shows us what the world looks like when it’s fully healed. When everything is finished, when the Kingdom has finally come in all its fullness, when all of creation is finally redeemed and restored to its original Garden of Eden intentions, it’ll be like this. Our Christian gatherings on Sundays anticipate that huge wedding bash. We’re getting ready for the massive celebration, not just on Sundays, but for all eternity. For all of us.

Isn’t it cool that the Church’s number-one liturgical act is practiced around a supper table? The Lord’s Supper. His meal. And we’re all invited. All us losers have a seat at the head table with the risen Lord of the Universe. A salvation party with a bunch of sickos. Again, that’s God’s idea of a really good time. And Jesus showed it to us all the time.

Peace,

Allan

You Are Christ’s Masterpiece

June 17, 2011 / / 0 Comments

‘You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God.” ~2 Corinthians 3:4

Jesus’ greatest gift to us as we wait for his triumphant return is the power of his presence through the Holy Spirit. God’s Holy Spirit is alive and powerful and real. And he lives inside all who confess Jesus as Lord and put their faith for salvation in God through Christ.

He lives inside us.

Did you catch that part? The Spirit is within us, a holy being inside unholy humans. It’s amazing. It’s like science fiction. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to comprehend. The presence of God is not given to us in the clouds somewhere. It’s not at the top of a shaking and smoking mountain. It’s not hidden away in a chapel or a church building. God’s Spirit is not above us or beside us. He’s within us. He dwells inside us.

And he’s authoring a masterpiece. He’s writing a classic for the ages. In fact, what he’s writing is going to be read by everybody you know. They won’t find this great literary achievement at Barnes and Noble. They can’t download it off Amazon. They read this work of art when they come in contact with you.

You are that Holy Spirit masterpiece, authored by the true and living God! Yes, it’s you! Look in the mirror. Don’t get distracted by the funny ears or the blemished skin. Don’t allow your height or your weight to keep you from recognizing it. Do not dare minimize what God is doing in your life. It’s not about you and me. It’s about the Spirit of God changing you — changing us! — into his majestic handiwork. It’s about us living by his Spirit as a display, a massive banner, proclaiming his power and love to all we meet.

Peace,

Allan

Styrofoam Helmets & Roadkill Sheep

June 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

I love summer time at Legacy. Summers at Legacy just seem to be less formal, more relaxed, really fun. That’s not to say the pace is slower. No, no, no. It’s faster, much faster. Maybe even a bit hectic. But it’s really, really fun.

Wednesday night sno-cones. Brand new youth interns to initiate. Mission trips and summer camps. Messy games day. All the college kids back home, roaming the church halls, showing up for morning prayers and Bible studies, crashing our backyard pool, toilet papering our house. Sunday night cookouts and kites. Extra visitors. Faith Builders. Even in the middle of all the vacations and travel and trips, it just seems like summer is when our whole church family is really together. And it’s a lot of fun.

And, of all the special things and times we enjoy during our Legacy summers, VBS is my favorite.

I love Vacation Bible School because I get to see our church family at its best. During VBS, we give of ourselves to little kids. We do things we don’t normally do, for the sake of little kids. We sacrifice. We bend. We stretch. We get down in the floor and pick up washers, we burn our hands on Shrinky Dink ovens, we cut out sheep and sew rock pouches, we build sets and learn songs, we run up and down stairs and make one million trips to the workroom. For the sake of little kids.

I love Vacation Bible School because I get to watch people like Eric Gambill and Charles Barkley (real name) break out of their shells. I’ve never heard more than six words out of either of these guys. But I’m inspired when I watch them sing and dance and act as David and King Saul. For the sake of little kids. And those outgoing people with all the personality and talents? People like Kristen Sharp and Christy Roof, Vic Akers and Bill Crawford? It’s a blast watching them take it to that next level. Over the top! And where else can you see Doug Deere in eight-inch platform shoes, with an accent that sounds like a cross between Foghorn Leghorn and Mr. T, hamming it up as Goliath, and then tearfully pouring his heart out to the church when it’s all over, reminding us that our God is bigger and stronger than anything that might stand against us.

David Watson dressed one of our fifth graders, Elizabeth, as Goliath during our story time last night. He decked her out in a styrofoam ice-chest helmet, bubble wrap armor, a dashboard sun screen for a shield and an industrial sized leaf blower as a sword. Yes, he connects to our kids. Mike and Judy St.Clair and Jennifer Skelton wielded the hot glue guns to help our kids make little flat sheep out of recycled water bottles. They looked like road kill. In a funny way. Daryn Pope played David & Goliath Jeopardy with the kids, carefully making sure all four teams ended up with the same amount of points. And just as carefully making sure we all talked about the strength of our God and David’s great faith.

I love VBS because for four full days we all do things we don’t normally do. For the sake of the little kids. I love VBS because I keep thinking that one of these days it’s going to click that we need to always be doing things we don’t normally do for the sake of others. We need to be willing, even eager, to bend and stretch and run. We need to want to move and grow and serve for the sake of others. We’re quick to sing the songs and do all the hand motions, to throw out our backs moving stage pieces, to get our shirts messy with glitter and paint, and to walk the same little boy to the bathroom three times. For the sake of little kids. But sometimes for the sake of others we won’t budge an inch or move a muscle or give in on a single point or bow to a little request. I keep thinking that if we practice stepping outside our comfort zones for the sake of little kids, we’ll be more able to step outside our comfort zones for the sake of all our other brothers and sisters in Christ.

Peace,

Allan

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