Page 398 of 497

White, Green, and Bright Pink

February 15, 2010 / Allan / 2 Comments

I’ve been alive for a little over 43 years. And not once, ever, never has it even occurred to me that it might be a potential possibility — ever! — that I might have to shovel snow. I’ve never even entertained it as a possibility. Never! But there I was Friday morning: an inclined driveway covered with nearly a foot of snow, one car in the garage, and one truck stuck. I just stared at the mess. What in the world am I going to do? And I looked three doors down and saw my neighbor shoveling his driveway.

The backs of my legs are still sore.

We measured anywhere from nine inches to eleven-and-a-half inches in various places around our yard Friday. So beautiful. So crazy. The biggest single snowfall in DFW history. It started at about 3:00am Thursday morning and didn’t stop until a little over 24 hours later. The girls and I built three snowmen, made six snow angels, threw 300 snowballs, and soaked through twelve total pairs of jeans.

And, true to form, most of it had completely melted by Sunday morning.

What an amazing couple of days, though, it was. So beautiful. So crazy. So unexpected. So thoroughly enjoyed by all of us. Thank God for his gracious and unforeseen blessings. Thank God for these marvelous displays of his power and love. And give him praise for the opportunities to bask in those blessings through the eyes and the energy and the joy of our children.

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School district websites were busy Thursday morning as most every parent of a school-aged child was checking to see if classes were going to be disrupted by the weather. It so happens that, at the time, the Hurst-Euless-Bedford I.S.D.’s website was featuring a front-page story about an elementary school fundraiser at an area McDonald’s a couple of weeks earlier. C-A and the girls and I had gone to that MickeyD’s that night to support (rag) Cori Brown. And I wound up in the background of the picture on the school’s website. Lots of Legacy folks emailed me that morning, commenting on the picture with their own personal brand of humor.

The funniest comment though came from Jason Wolfe who observed that the employee actually featured in the photo looks like the bizarro Aaron Green.

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Here’s a picture that’s been floating around various Facebook pages recently. (I don’t do Facebook; I’m going to be the very last person in this country to join Facebook.) See if you can pick out Carrie-Anne and Shanna (Corley) Byrnes. They’re standing right next to each other in this 20-year-old photo, wearing almost the exact same dress. They were both at Oklahoma Christian at the same time. Same club. Even dated the same guy. Now we’re co-leading a Small Group together here at Legacy. Cooking together. Praying together. Raising kids together.

Thank God for family and friends, for holy relationships that encourage and build-up, for Christian love that supports and sustains.

And for giving us all the ability to enjoy life and laugh.

Peace,

Allan

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

Fertilize Somebody

February 10, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.” ~John 1:14

Eugene Peterson translates this well-known verse as “The Word became flesh and moved into the neighborhood.”

What does it mean for the Holy Son of God to become flesh and live with us? What does it mean for God himself to walk our streets, to eat our food, to breathe our air, to hug our kids, so suffer and die for us — suffer and die with us?

It means everything! The Incarnation of God means everything in that it shows the lengths he goes to redeem us and provide for us what we cannot provide ourselves. It means everything in that he was not content to save us from his throne in heaven. Our Father came here, where we are, to experience everything we experience. He brought heaven down to us.

And we’re commissioned by our baptisms into the death and resurrection of Christ Jesus to do the same thing. We walk the streets with our neighbors. We share meals with the homeless. We breathe the air in the government housing apartments. We hug the kids at Fortress and Walker Creek Elementary. We suffer with those in the hospitals. And we die everyday for and with the orphan, the widow, and the stranger in the gate.

Luis Palau says the Church is like manure: Pile it up together and it stinks up the neighborhood; spread it out and it enriches the world.

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Jenny Bizaillion is doing so much better today. She’s down to just one blood pressure medicine now and her numbers are doing OK. Her breathing is better. Her color is better. In fact, they are actually going to take her off the ventilator at 8:00 tomorrow morning. They’re going to wake her up. The doctors have told David and Rick and Beverly that they really can’t explain Jenny’s improvement over the past 48 hours but whatever the family’s doing, keep it up.

The family. That’s all of us. You, too. And we’re not doing anything. Our God is doing it all. Give him praise for Jenny’s improved health. And keep praying that our merciful Father will fully restore her with strength and healing.

“Say to God, ‘How awesome are your deeds!
So great is your power that your enemies [flu, pneumonia, disease, fear, death] cringe before you.
All the earth bows down to you;
they sing praise to you,
they sing praise to your name.’
Come and see what God has done,
how awesome his works in [Jenny’s] behalf.”
~Psalm 66:3-5

Peace,

Allan

God, Heal Jenny Biz!

February 9, 2010 / Allan / 5 Comments

Jenny Bizaillion, a dear friend of ours from our days in Mesquite, is fighting for her life today at Baylor Grapevine. Please join Carrie-Anne and me in begging our great God to heal her.

Jenny is the daughter of Rick and Beverly Ross. Rick was the preacher at the Mesquite Church of Christ in those days and now proclaims the gospel in Decatur. He is a godly man beyond reproach. Dedicated. Determined. Reflective. Solid. He’s one of the reasons I went into preaching. Beverly is his amazing wife. A renowned speaker on the women’s ministry front. Positively optimistic. Outgoing. Spiritual. Inspirational. Jenny’s brother, Josh, is the preacher at the Sycamore View CofC in Memphis. Dynamic. A completely sold-out disciple of our Lord. Jenny’s other brother, Jonathan, is the worship leader at the Bammel Church in Houston. He regularly takes huge groups of people directly into the presence of God. It’s easy for him because, obviously, Jonathan lives there. In the presence of God.

Jenny and her husband, David, have a nine-year-old daughter, Malaya. She’s just a few months younger than our Carley. Jenny and David are both such sweet-spirited followers of Jesus. Sensitive. Compassionate. Selfless. Sacrificial. Open hearts and confessing spirits. We shared many meals together during our nearly four years in Mesquite. We also shared prayers. And Bible studies. Theological discussions into the night. Planning church programs. Feeding the poor.

David and I planned the very first “24 Hours of Prayer” event together there in Mesquite. We planned the men’s advance at Camp Carter in Fort Worth where we both got lit up by Jason Reeves on the paintball fields. (If you’re dividing up paintball teams, don’t put the career police officer and SWAT team member on the other side!) David and I took in several forgettable Rangers games together in those days. We were also together in my pickup truck on I-45 on September 11, 2001. We were heading to Houston to watch Barry Bonds against the Astros. We were talking during the trip, not listening to the radio. And we didn’t realize anything had happened in New York and D.C. until we saw all the flags in Houston at half-staff and made a phone call.

I’ll never forget that day with David. Taking turns calling Carrie-Anne and Jenny on the one cell phone we had between us. Watching the news reports on the TVs in the bar at Chili’s. Praying. Waiting in David’s sister’s living room until Bud Selig cancelled the baseball game. Driving back to Mesquite, listening to news radio, talking to our wives. Meeting together at the Mesquite church building for a prayer service.

We sort of fell out of contact with David and Jenny six or seven years ago after we moved to Arlington to be closer to KRLD and the Ballpark. We kept up with them through Rick and Beverly and mutual friends from Mesquite. But, until last Friday, I don’t think I’d actually seen David since 2004.

Friday.

In the ICU waiting room at Baylor hospital in Grapevine, just ten minutes northeast of our house. Jenny, a beautiful, funny, competitive, stubborn, loving 31-year-old wife and mother and daughter and sister — a wonderful child of our God — was on life support. David had taken her to the hospital Thursday after she just wasn’t able to shake the flu. By Friday her kidneys had both shut down, her lungs had quit, her liver had failed, and her blood pressure had fallen to almost nothing. It’s a Strep-A infection. It’s in her blood and organs. It’s eating her up. By late Friday night, doctors were giving Jenny a 50-50 chance of survival.

Today, Jenny is still fighting. And, today, our God is still good. Very, very, very good.

It’s been a relentless roller coaster for this precious family. Jenny is making slow progress. Very slow. But we are getting tiny bits of good news. The numbers, as bad as they are, are heading in the right direction. Her condition, as bad as it is, is getting better. And our merciful God is to be praised.

Please join us in praying for Jenny and David and Malaya and Rick and Beverly and Josh and Jonathan and all of their family and friends. You can keep up with her progres by clicking here. This CarePages site will ask you to enter your name and email address and create a personal password. When you do it, you’ll be able to monitor what’s happening with Jenny and you’ll be able to send the family encouraging notes. I know they are reading these notes constantly. They’re even reading them to Jenny in her room. And they’re regularly updating the page with very specific prayer requests.

Please, I’m begging you to stop what you’re doing right now and ask our God in the name of his Holy Son, Christ Jesus, our crucified and resurrected King, to heal Jenny. Ask God to take everything out of her body that is doing her harm. Ask God to bring her blood pressure up and to obliterate this infection from hell. My brothers and sisters here at Legacy, the family of God in Marble Falls, in Benton, out in Fresno. The community of faith at Austin Grad. My brothers in ministry in Waco and Temple and Robinson and McGregor. Everybody reading this blog, please pray today for Jenny Biz.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O Lord.
Renew them in our day, in our time make them known.”
~Habakkuk 3:2

Expectation #5

February 5, 2010 / Allan / 0 Comments

“Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” ~Matthew 5:16

We’re called to evangelize the same way Jesus evangelized: in deep, personal, loving, and giving relationship. We watch our Lord proclaim the Gospel and we follow his lead.

Jesus eats dinner with his friends. He teaches in Capernaum and preaches at the lake. He throws a picnic for five thousand and he spends the night in the mountains praying with his disciples. He hugs mourners at funerals. He touches lepers. He weeps for the city. He embraces strangers and stays with tax collectors. Jesus protects the adulterous woman at the temple and he blesses the children. He forgives his enemies from the cross. He dies for me. And he walks out of the tomb and breathes into us his resurrection life.

The Way of Jesus is always in creating and saving and blessing. He invites and he forgives. He seeks the lost and heals the sick. He turns the other cheek. He embodies the Good News in submissive love and sacrificial service.

According to Acts 2:42-47, this is how the first church evangelized. This is how you let your light shine. This is how you share your faith and redeem the world. By delivering a casserole or mowing a yard. By inviting somebody over for ice-cream. By praying for enemies and forgiving people who do you harm.

The world sees that and can’t resist.

Peace,

Allan

The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Page 398 of 497

White, Green, and Bright Pink

Expectation #6

Pat Collins on a Jackhammer

Fertilize Somebody

God, Heal Jenny Biz!

Expectation #5

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