The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Page 432 of 493

The Way Of The Kingdom

January 15, 2009 / / 0 Comments

The Way of the KingdomJerry Plemons and I met for about an hour Tuesday with the principal and a couple of counselors at Thomas elementary school less than three miles south of our church building. They had contacted us first, asking if there were anything we could do to help them and the children in their school. Sixty-five percent of these children are on free and reduced lunch, economically-disadvantaged kids with only one parent, barely one pair of shoes, and no sense of community beyond their 8:00 to 3:00 school day behind the bricks. The school is lacking adequate funds for playground equipment, day planners, uniforms and underwear and socks. They need scholarships for field trips and science camps.

Can we help them? You bet!

And we are. Legacy is committed to giving every penny of our Sunday night contribution for the next 12 weeks—hopefully over $6000—to Thomas Elementary. We’re going to organize a rotation of volunteers to greet kids at the door in the mornings and read with the children in the afternoons. We’re going to adopt this school in much the same way we’ve adopted Walker Creek Elementary across the street. It’s a no-brainer.

I’m reminded of N. T. Wright’s comments about how to live in the Kingdom of God. In his book The Way of the Lord: Christian Pilgrimage Today, Wright says the royal decree of our King, the Christ, is “an invitation to a Kingdom-spirituality, invoking the power of the King to liberate those held in Satan’s bondage.” So, living in the Kingdom looks like this: a life of complete submission to the King, a life marked with loyalty and love and total commitment to his cause. It means taking up his cause and planting the flag of his Kingdom in territory currently occupied by enemy forces. Territory like Thomas Elementary.

“You commit yourself to the work of healing and liberation, both actual and symbolic. You commit yourself to freeing slaves, to loosening the bonds of debt, to bringing good news to the poor. And you commit yourself to doing these things, not as a grand social action which you will implement by your own energy and ingenuity, but in the power, and with the weapons, of the Kingdom of God: by prayer and fasting, by truth and righteousness, by the gospel of peace, by faith, by salvation, by the Word of God.”

Where Are The Kids?

January 13, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Where are the kids?Where are the kids? The local TV stations used to ask us at 10:00 every night. It’s the question I ask Carrie-Anne when I come home after work. Thirty minutes after church when I’m ready to get in the car. In a crowded mall. At the park. When it’s especially quiet in the house. When the bikes are left on the lawn. Where are the kids?

If we ask that question as we’re reading Scripture—where are the kids?—the answer always comes back, “right in the big middle of everything.” Right where God put ’em. Right where God wants ’em.

Matthew 21 – Jesus enters the temple in the last week of his life. The children are there shouting “Hosanna to the Son of CaddellsDavid!” The religious leaders in the temple are indignant. Maybe the kids were clapping, I don’t know. Maybe just the fact that the kids were in the middle of the temple being loud was enough to upset these teachers and priests. Jesus answers their indignation by quoting Scripture. “From the lips of children and infants you have ordained praise.”

Exodus 10 – Before the plague of locusts, God tells Moses he’s doing this “that you may tell your children and grandchildren…”

Exodus 12 – God insitutes the formational Passover Supper with everyone’s kids right there around the table. “When your children ask you…then tell them.”

WrightsExodus 13 – God explains the dedication of the first-born. “On that day, tell your son, ‘I do this because of what the Lord did for me.'” Also, “when your son asks you…,” tell him the great story.

Deuteronomy 4 – God’s giving the Law to his people. “Teach them to your children and to their children after them.”

Deuteronomy 6 – Same thing. “Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” And again, when your son asks you, tell him the stories.

Joshua 4 – Setting up the stones to mark the spot where they crossed the Jordan River. When your children ask you, tell them.

Matthew 18 & 19, Mark 10, Luke 18 – Parents bring their children to Jesus. And he welcomed them gladly. They brought their kids to Jesus so he could touch them and bless them and teach them. And he did. Jesus took little kids in his arms, he placed his hands on their heads, he prayed for them. He warns us not to ignore them or neglect them or discourage them in any way because the Kingdom of Heaven belongs to our little children and he’s not willing that any of them should be lost.

In our Scriptures, the kids are always right in the big middle of everything. Exactly where God put ’em. In our Bibles, the Matt&Elizabethchildren are never on the edges, they’re not peripheral participants in the community of faith. They’re not sent to the other room. They don’t eat at a different table. They’re not placed in an “age-appropriate educational environment.” They are critical components. They are integral to God’s plan for his people. They are the centerpiece to our sacred conversations and the core of our holy gatherings.

Where are the kids?

When you’re praying. When you’re reading the Word. When you’re singing praises to God. When you’re at the common table with your brothers and sisters in Christ. When you’re talking about our Savior and the Gospel’s impact on your life.

Where are the kids?

Making The Exchange

January 12, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us; we will not hide them from the children; we will tell the next generation.” ~Psalm 78:3-4.

The apostle Paul calls life in Christ a race. He tells us to run the race in order to win. And we have to understand that this race we’re running is a relay. None of us is running this race alone. We’re all in it together. Someone passed the baton to you. And you are charged with passing the baton to others. Today we are standing on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before. At the same time, we’re paving the way for those who are coming after.

Nobody runs the race alone.

Notice these boys who are receiving the baton. Looking back. Eyes on the runners who are racing toward them. Stretching back with their hands open to receive the baton. Measuring their steps so they match up with their teammates.

Making the Exchange

Look at this girl who’s passing the baton. She’s running her fastest right here at the exchange. She’s given it all she has. Her part of the race is almost over. But she’s running faster and working harder now than she was at the beginning. Look at how she’s stretching and straining and lunging forward to pass this baton to the one who will run after her. Look how they’re both concentrating on this critical task.

Making the exchange

Now look at the point of exchange. This is my favorite moment of a good relay. Notice how, for a time, these two are actually running together. Step by step. Side by side. In perfect rhythm. One finishing her assignment, one just getting started. Running. Cooperating. Sprinting. Enduring. Together at the point of exchange. Side by side.

Making the Exchange

We appealed to the older members of our Legacy church family last night to embrace their God-ordained mission of passing on the faith to the younger generations. And I want to repeat and reinforce that plea here today, specifically to those 50-years-old and older in our Legacy family, and generally to any of our older brothers and sisters who might be reading this today.

Passing the BatonWe believe the most effective way for us to pass on the Christian faith is through our deeply-rooted relationships with one another. And we believe those powerful relationships are best formed in our Sunday night Small Groups. These meaningful relationships are forged on living room couches and around kitchen tables. These bonds are strengthened in our homes and in our shared meals. And we need you older members of this body of believers to jump in with us.

We need you. We need your wisdom. We need your experience. We need your example of someone who’s seen it all, endured it all, and kept the faith. Our children need to see it in you. They need older people to look up to. We need your love.

You’re running the race. You’ve been running it a long time. But you’re not done. Now’s the time to pass the baton. It’s Passing the batontime to understand that we’re not running this race alone. As the younger lean back and strain with open hands to receive your love and concern and stories and faith, we need you to run faster and stretch out with everything you have to pass it on to us. You’re not finished. We need you.

Where else are you going to be able to have the impact on those younger than you? Not in our church assemblies where we sit in rows of pews and look through the backs of each other’s heads to a single person up on a stage and then go to lunch with people our own age. Certainly not in Bible class where, again, we naturally (and usually intentionally) segregate by age. It doesn’t happen there. It happens in our homes.

Please join us. Please work with us in forming intergenerational Small Groups where you can be energized by our kids and our energy and our relative youth, where you can be served by us and loved and appreciated by us as we get to know you in ways we never will otherwise.

Passing the batonAnd as we make the exchange, as you stretch out and we lean back, as we lock eyes and match our steps, as the faith is being passed in these Christ-centered relationships, we’ll soon discover that we’re actually running together. Side by side. Step by step. In perfect rhythm.

Amen.

KK&C Top 20

January 9, 2009 / / 0 Comments

KK&C Top 20 Logo 

January 9, 2009

The votes have been cast and counted. The misspellings have all been corrected. And the final “KK&C Top 20″ college football poll of the 2008 season is ready for your review. Twelve of our 20 panelists were able to drag themselves to a keyboard and put forth the three-and-a-half minutes of effort it takes to make good on their word to vote each week. (Wait…I don’t mean for that to sound as harsh as it does) And eleven of those twelve first-place votes go to the University of Florida, crowning the Gators the KK&C national champions. That should clear up any controversy and allow Mr. Obama to concentrate more on fixing the war and the economy than in proposing playoff systems

The lone dissenting first place vote comes from Mark Hooper. And he gives it to UT, claiming the Longhorns “would have beaten Florida; no doubt Texas is the best team in the country!”

Oh, yes. It’s just that kind of fire and passion and blind loyalty and incoherence that make this poll what it is. Thank you.

And bias. Unabashed, unashamed bias. Like Jason Skelton proclaiming that Texas Tech’s loss to Ole Miss in the Cotton Bowl wasn’t any worse than OU’s defeat to Florida. Or Jim Gardner placing Ohio State at #20 in his list, declaring the Buckeyes “THE most overrated program in the history of college football!” SEC and BIG 12 apologies abound throughout the comments.

In Gardner’s email, he proposes a Poetic Justice Bowl to be played annually between teams who’ve lost at least three consecutive BCS games in order to get “these consistently under-performing teams out of the mix, so as not to clog up new and worthy teams from a spot.” OU versus Ohio State. Somebody would have to win, right?

And in commenting on Penn State’s loss, Charlie Johanson observes that he’s “never watched a more predictable bowl game.” Charlie’s a Texas A&M fan, so he’s probably only seen one or two in his lifetime.

While I’m getting in a few final shots, I held onto a couple of pictures this year that I was ready to use in an emergency. I never needed them. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t enjoy them now. So, here’s Mark Hooper as a high school quarterback back in the 60s. Here’s Janie Royse as a high school cheerleader back in her day. Here’s David Byrnes getting ready to go out. Here’s Kevin Welch and Jason Skelton. Here’s Aaron Green in his winter pajamas. And here’s Darryn Pope just because.

Thank you for participating. I had a great time reading your emails and comments and watching it all from the sidelines. I hope you had fun and, as Dan Miller put it, were able to get reacquainted with college football again. I also hope you made some closer friends. Thanks, also, to Scott Beard for designing the KK&C Top 20 logo. Excellent work, brother.

You can get to the final poll by clicking on the green “KK&C Top 20” tab in the upper right hand corner of this page or by clicking here. I’ll keep it up for a while. Enjoy.

Passing The Baton

January 9, 2009 / / 0 Comments

Raising kids, not grass!In his 1984 Hall of Fame induction speech, Harmon Killebrew recounted the days when his father taught his brother and him how to play baseball out in the front yard. One afternoon Killebrew’s mother admonished his dad from the porch, “Y’all are ruining the lawn!” To which his dad replied, “We’re raising kids—not grass!” 

At the Legacy Church of Christ, we’re raising kids—not grass. We’re raising kids—not immaculate buildings and well-oiled programs. We’re raising kids—not perfect worship services and effective curricula.  We’re raising kids.  

We’re passing on the faith to the children our Lord has entrusted to us. We’re teaching them from a context of grace and love and support and respect and encouragement. We’re attending to the material and emotional needs of our children. And we’re showing them what it means to live a full life in Christ Jesus, as genuine disciples of the Savior, with all the loving instruction, enlightening, warning, and disciplining that goes along with that.  It’s a serious commitment at Legacy; not a casual obligation or an afterthought. The Christian training of our children is not attained by irregular and isolated efforts, but by regular and unceasing repetition in meaningful relationship, as commanded by our God through Moses:  

“These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up.” ~Deuteronomy 6:6-7 PassingTheBatonMay our Father bless us as we pass on the faith to our children. And may we experience the thrill of the Apostle John who rejoiced in the knowledge that his “children are walking in the truth.” 

Peace,   Allan 

The Peace of God

January 8, 2009 / / 0 Comments

“The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” ~Philippians 4:7

PeaceShalom. Peace. It’s the perfect state of harmony and communion between God and man; between man and man; throughout all creation. It was promised to the patriarchs. The psalmists wrote about it. The prophets foretold the deliverance of this ultimate peace in the Messiah. For centuries, every generation of God’s people longed for that peace. They sang about it. They preached about it. They looked for it. They waited for it.

That peace of God, that perfect shalom, has come to God’s people in Christ Jesus!

Now that Jesus has won the great victory at the cross; now that he’s defeated death and sin and Satan; now that he’s been raised and exalted; now that he reigns in all glory and power from his heavenly throne, we possess the peace of God.

Paul says Jesus himself is our peace. He tells the Ephesians that Christ has destroyed the barriers, he’s abolished the wall of hostility. Jesus has eliminated the things that separated man from God, the things that divided man from man. All those things are nailed to the cross! Dead! Gone! Obliterated!

“He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.” ~Ephesians 2:17-18

May we dwell in the joy of the Lord. And may the peace of Christ rule in our hearts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

footballThe BCS Championship Game is tonight. So is the elders meeting. D’oh! Next to air-conditioning, I firmly believe that DVR is the greatest single invention in the past 200 years. Hands down. Thank you.

The final “KK&C Top 20” college football poll will be posted before I go to bed Friday night. I’m very much looking forward to most of our 20 pollsters checking in for this last time. And I’m anxious to see the comments from the die-hard SEC fans and the hard-core Big 12 followers.

I’ll DVR the game. So it’ll kickoff between 10:00 and 10:30 tonight at Stanglin Manor. That means I won’t be answering my cell phone or checking any emails or text messages after 7:00.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑