Page 392 of 497

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

Truly Belonging

May 3, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

“In Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.” ~Romans 12:5

We belong to each other because we belong to Christ!

This was our theme here at Legacy last night. These are the words we said together during our call to worship. We repeated the words together a couple of times during our lesson from Romans 12. And we said the words to one another as we shared the communion meal of our risen Lord.

We belong to each other because we belong to Christ!

What if we really did belong to each other? What would that look like? What if we really functioned, not as a group of individual Christians with individual ministries but together as a whole? What if we thought in terms of the whole? Not what’s best for my age group or what’s going to benefit my kids or how this is going to meet my needs. What if we thought and acted like members of something bigger than ourselves? What if our thinking was community-oriented? What if the whole really were greater than the individual? What if we took the inspired apostle Paul seriously? What if we really belonged to each other? What would that look like?

We belong to each other because we belong to Christ!

What if we were truly community? Not just community like the people in your neighborhood or the guy across the street. Not like the people you see two or three times a week and say ‘hello’ to when you run into them at Wal-Mart. What if were community, a body, belonging to one another like, maybe, an army platoon?

Now that’s a community! An army platoon! United by a shared purpose and goal. Working together to achieve something great. A community formed under pressure, shaped by great difficulty. Not just church membership, but a sacred covenant with one another in order to serve the Kingdom for which Christ died. A community of faith inseparably bonded in order to do something together that eternally matters.

We belong to each other because we belong to Christ!

What would that look like?

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Two Saturdays ago we went to the Rangers game with 20 of our Legacy brothers and sisters and wound up in the big middle of 175 Austin Jackson fans in the left field bleachers. Austin Jackson is the Detroit Tigers’ rookie centerfielder who grew up and played his High School ball at Denton Ryan. And when Jim Knox did his man-in-the-stands interview on Fox Sports Southwest in the bottom of the fourth inning, Carrie-Anne, Valerie, Carley, and Carley’s friend, Victoria all got in the pictures. They actually helped this “A.J.” fan club hold up their big banner for the interview.

We had a great time at the Third Day concert before the game, hanging with the Ashlock boys who ate for the cycle during the game, and rooting the home team to an 8-4 loss. Base-running and fielding errors are killing this team, huh? Hopefully Kinsler’s return will spark some offense and shore up that middle part of the defense. And while the Rangers are technically in first place today, I’m worried about this team.

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I’ve been convinced for ten years now that the Mavericks will never win a title as long as Dirk is their best player. I hope he’s not finished as a Mav. I can’t stand the thought of our DFW sports scene losing Mike Modano and Nowitski, two wonderful human beings and pillars of the community, two Hall of Famers (and media friendly to boot!), in the same year. Cuban just needs to find a way to pair Dirk up with a transcendent LeBron-esque superstar to cover his weaknesses on both ends of the floor. Somebody the other 12 guys on the roster will respond to in a crisis. I love Dirk. But he’s never been enough.

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The Legacy Prime-Timers held their annual Hobo Stew this past Saturday night. Valerie and Sarah and Maddie (The Three Amigas) were on hand to entertain and inspire with their beautiful voices. Kent drew the catcalls and hoots everytime he drew his own number for door prizes. Vic did Elvis. And Mack and Shirley blew us all away with their costumes. What a great night. Carrie-Anne and I were honored to be a part of it.

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

Watching Closely

April 22, 2010 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely.” ~Mark 3:2

“One Sabbath, when Jesus went to eat in the house of a prominent Pharisee, he was being carefully watched.” ~Luke 14:1

Jesus was constantly being watched. He was always under the microscope. The religious leaders carefully watched Jesus so they could pounce on him the minute he broke one of their rules. These synagogue sheriffs kept their eyes on him so they could jump on Jesus the moment he violated one of their traditions.

Jesus heard the whispers. He knew what was going on.

I wonder what he hears in our places of worship…

“Did you see what he’s wearing?” “Did you hear what she said in class?” “He’s raising his hands.” “She’s closing her eyes.” “He’s clapping.” “She’s kneeling.” “He won’t stand.” “She won’t sing.”

And our Savior asks, “Which is lawful on Sunday, to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?”

Which is lawful?

To watch for those who might stray from my tradition and call them on it? Or to praise God with them with the understanding that we’re both redeemed by the blood of the Lamb?

To watch closely for someone who might violate my regulation and talk to them about it? Or to encourage them and be thankful you both share salvation from God in Christ?

To remove the barriers or burdens or hurdles from my brothers and sisters or to weigh them down with my rules and boundaries and preferences that act as chains and prison bars to those who’ve been freed?

If our God and his Church and his plan is all about people — much more so than laws — and if people always trump rules with our God, why is it that we bicker and argue so much about the laws and rules? Why are we sometimes worried about the laws and the rules, even at the expense of the people?

Who are you watching closely?

Now stop.

Peace,

Allan

God Is Using You

April 21, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

Paul writes his letter to the Philippians from prison. He’s chained to the guards in Rome. He’s awaiting a trial that could result in his execution. He doesn’t know if he’s going to live or die. On top of all that, there are other preachers in Rome who are bad-mouthing him. Paul’s brothers and sisters in Philippi are worried about him. They’ve sent money and supplies to him in Rome. They’ve sent Epaphroditus there to check on him. They want to know, “Paul, how are you doing?”

And Paul says, “I’m great!”

“Now I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the Gospel.” ~Philippians 1:12

Paul’s identity is in Christ and his focus is on the Gospel. That’s what shapes and informs Paul’s perspective. Paul comes at everything — EVERYTHING! — from the perspective of what God is doing to redeem the world. Paul sees everything — EVERYTHING! — from the perspective of how God’s using him to accomplish that redemption. And because of this, Paul’s able to rejoice. He sees things the way the Lord sees things. He thinks about things the way God thinks about things.

So Paul has a joyful perspective that radically impacts the way he thinks, the way he talks, the way he reacts, the way he sees everything.

Paul knows that the same same God who used Moses’ rod and David’s sling and Gideon’s pitchers and Joshua’s trumpets and a Roman cross and an empty tomb is now using Paul’s chains. And our God is doing the same thing today in your life, too. He’s using your chains. He’s using your weakness. He’s using your circumstance. Your illness. Your financial situation. Your house. Your relationships with others. God’s using all of those things to redeem those around you.

God is using the very things that right now may have you feeling trapped. God is very aware of those things that make you feel stuck or imprisoned. And he’s using them. He’s using you right now to advance the Gospel!

You do see that, right?

Peace,

Allan

The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Page 392 of 497

To The Hoosegow!

What Am I Called To Say?

Truly Belonging

Seeking Peace

Watching Closely

God Is Using You

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