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The Medium and the Message

November 28, 2007 / / 5 Comments

Can the message be impacted by the medium used to deliver it? Does a particular medium lend more or less credibility to the message, or does it matter at all?

In the current issue of Community Spirit magazine, in an article titled “Church Technology That Works!” YouTube.com is touted as the “best ministry tool for our generation.” Brant Fricker of Rollins Communications is quoted as saying that YouTube is the “potentially greatest way to reach the masses with the message of Christ.” The article goes on to point out that many churches are now using video clips and movie clips in their assemblies to introduce a theme or to illustrate a sermon.

And then this:

“A church in Eugene, Oregon has gotten so excited about the technology, they have changed the name of their church in honor of it. Formerly known as Bethel Church of the Nazarene, the church name is now YouTube Community Church. They have dropped preaching altogether in favor of video clips.”

The writer acknowledges that this is an extreme example and maybe even considered “highly objectionable” by some (thank you). But since all churches are struggling to reach the 18-35 year olds, and since that’s YouTube’s target audience, why not?

Does the medium matter?

Are you impacted differently by a news headline you see on the front of the National Enquirer and by that same headline on page one of the New York Times? Does it matter if it’s Tom Brokaw bringing you the news or Jack Black?

Does the saving news of the Gospel of Jesus gain credibility or lose it when it’s packaged in a video next to clips of dancing bears, cooking shows, and sports bloopers? Or, better worded maybe, on YouTube, is it presented as counter to the culture and out to change the culture or as conforming to the culture and trying to be like the culture?

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HalfPintToday is Colonial Fair day at Green Valley Elementary. And our own little Vallie is making some kind of presentation to all the visiting parents and classes. Carrie-Anne made the dress and bonnet. And they worked hard together last night making a huge batch of homemade pumpkin bread.

Peace,

Allan

Brought to Jesus

November 27, 2007 / / 1 Comment

She made the team!

WildcatWhitWhitney’s made the junior high basketball team at North Ridge Middle School and she couldn’t be more excited. She’s been working extremely hard over the past four weeks, practicing with the girls after school, running, stretching, all that stuff. And we’re very proud of her and this accomplishment. She’s getting all of her final practice and scrimmage and game schedules today. And I’m pretty sure her first scrimmage is going to be this Thursday afternoon.

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Hey, Jim Gardner: Congrats to your Hogs. Sorry about Nutt. Thanks for the Lampert Construction link.

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The Gospel of Matthew is packed with stories of healing. Stories of Jesus and people. Stories of healing and salvation given freely by our Savior to God’s children. And in a lot of these stories there’s a common theme.

Matthew 4:24 “…people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases…”

Matthew 9:2 “Some men brought to him a paralytic…”

Matthew 9:32 “…a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk was brought to Jesus.”

Matthew 12:22 “Then they brought him a demon-possessed man…”

Matthew 14:35 “People brought all their sick to him…”

Matthew 19:13 “Then little children were brought to Jesus…”

These people Jesus healed, these people Jesus saved, these people who felt the compassionate touch of the Father through the Son were brought to Jesus. They were brought to him.

It’s not “build it and they will come.” Praise the Lord, sometimes that works. But that’s not the deal. We go get them and bring them to the Christ. As his followers, as his subjects, that’s our mission. It’s our charge as his disciples. We don’t sit around and wait on people to come to us. We got get them and bring them to Jesus. And shame on us and may God have mercy on us if we don’t.

We cannot call ourselves disciples of Jesus and have a low view of evangelism. It’s impossible. It’s like calling yourself an American and having a low view of freedom. It’s like calling yourself a carpenter and believing tools are unnecessary. It’s like calling yourself a Cowboys fan and thinking Tom Landry was overrated. You can’t be a Texan and not say “y’all.” And you can’t be a Christian and not evangelize. It doesn’t work.

Let’s be intentional about bringing people to Christ, about bringing people into the community of Christ where they can contact that love of Jesus in the people of Jesus. Let’s bring them to a place where they can experience love and acceptance and healing and forgiveness and salvation. Let’s be fishers of men, not merely keepers of the aquarium.

Peace,

Allan

Red Letter Weekend for the Stanglins!

November 26, 2007 / / 1 Comment

C-ACarrie-Anne and I celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary yesterday. And in a lot of ways it was a typically busy Sunday. In the card I gave her yesterday morning while she was still in bed I wrote, “Happy Anniversary. I love you. Looking forward to the funeral.”

Stan’s memorial service was just one of the ministry duties that we shared together yesterday. In fact, our first “alone” time of the day didn’t come until about 7:00 last night, after we had dropped the girls off with the Byrnes and headed to Grapevine.

And I do love being alone with Carrie-Anne. Carrie-Anne

Part of what keeps me falling deeper in love with her day after day is watching her with other people. I love the way she interacts with young children. I love the way she still lights up when she talks about her bi-lingual students at the Marble Falls pre-K. I love her patience and kindness she shows to our daughters when she’s helping with homework or they’re helping with cooking dinner. I love the way she’s embraced this whole preacher’s wife thing, opening up in ways I’ve never seen before. I love the way she’s right by my side praying with sick people at the hospital, visiting a grieving family before a funeral, or just shaking hands with our brothers and sisters after an assembly. She’s so friendly and funny and warm and considerate. I’m proud of her. And I love her.

WiggedOutBut I really like being alone with her. Like most couples our age we do spend a lot of time talking about our kids and our jobs. But we also like to talk about our past together. Carrie-Anne has a fabulous memory and a wonderful way of recalling the funniest little details of our life together. And we laugh. And we sigh. And we both marvel at how God has worked in our lives to bring us together, to keep us together, and to work through us for his Kingdom.

Carrie-Anne is the most forgiving, most compassionate, most loyal person I know. And I know. I’m the Carrie-Annegrateful recepient of a whole lot of that forgiveness and love and loyalty. I’m blessed with much more than I could ever deserve in my amazing wife.

Thank you, baby.

I do. And I always will.

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Thanksgiving at Aunt Pam’s in Fort Worth. Carrie-Anne’s not asleep in this photo. She just always closes her eyes when a shutter goes off. From right to left on the couch that’s C-A, her mom, Aunt Pam, and the Whitster. The other photo is Valerie with Pam’s new little runt of a dog, Allie.

PopPop’sGirls  Val&Allie

Snow and sleet most of the afternoon. Who knew? Carley (in her tank top!) and Valerie spent a couple of hours outside with the wintry mix. Whitney wasn’t about to be pulled away from the Cowboys blowout win by anything. It could have been raining Oreos and she wouldn’t have left the TV.

CarleyFlakes CatchingSnowflakes ValFlakes

Friday was spent putting up the Christmas tree, decorating the house for the holidays, and installing the lights on the house. Sometimes we even decorate the kids. Goofy.

CarleyAsTree Done

Valerie’s my adventurous daughter who never lets me get on the roof for anything without coming along.

ValRoofShot Dad&Val

WonderfulLifeOne of our holiday traditions is that we put up the tree the day after Thanksgiving, eat a family dinner together, and then watch “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Popcorn and Dr Pepper and eggnog. Don’t knock it ’til you’ve tried it. “A man is no failure who has friends.” “To George Bailey, the richest man in town.” My favorite part of that movie is when George comes home after spending all day looking for the lost $8,000. Mary asks him how his day was and he says, “Another red letter day for the Bailey family!” And then he just totally goes off on his whole family. He yells at his daughter playing the piano. He yells at his son who wants to know how to spell something. He insults Mrs. Welch, Zu-Zu’s teacher, over the phone. But my favorite line is when he and Mary are alone in the kitchen and he looks at her and says, “You call this a happy family? Why’d we have to have all these kids?” The ‘red letter day’ quote gets thrown around at our house a lot. But that line about ‘all these kids’ is my favorite.

Peace,

Allan

Stan's Memorial Service

November 24, 2007 / / 0 Comments

A memorial service for our dear brother Stan Stafford is being held tomorrow afternoon, Sunday, November 25, at 3:00 at the Legacy Church of Christ. Stan passed from this life to the next overnight Monday, at the age of 100, to be with our Father forever. Stan came to the Legacy church early this past summer seeking assistance from our benevolence center. And when Kenny Smith invited him to our assembly the following Sunday, Stan told us it was the first time in his entire life anyone had ever invited him to church. Stan was baptized Sunday morning, October 7,  in a moving ceremony just 16 days before his 100th birthday. What a wonderful testimony to God’s grace and mercy and love. And what a beautiful lesson to all of us about that same mercy and love of our God that knows no limits.

 To the Legacy church family: let’s all do our very best to attend Sunday’s memorial. It gives us a terrific opportunity to honor Stan, to thank God for his life and his inspiring last couple of months with us, and also to encourage his family. I know for certain that at least one of Stan’s sons and one of his daughters will be at the service Sunday. Let’s do all we can to be there for them as an overwhelming witness to the love of Christ as experienced in his Church.

Jesus tells us in John 13 that our love for each other and exposing others to the love we have for each other is our best evangelistic tool. They’ll know we are disciples of the Lord when they see the love we had for Stan.

Peace,

Allan

Thank You, Lord

November 22, 2007 / / 3 Comments

“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.”              ~1 Chronicles 16:34

 As I sit at the computer this morning I hear the sounds of our girls playing in the living room and I smell some wonderful cinnamon bread thing that Carrie-Anne has working in the kitchen. It’s freezing outside, but toasty in here. Sunday’s sermon is finished. At noon today we’ll head over to Aunt Pam’s house for a feast of delicious foods, wonderful fellowship with a loving family, and lots of football.

I’m surrounded by blessing. My cup overflows. Thank you, Lord.

I’m eternally grateful for our God’s providence, for his perfect sense of timing, his foresight. At just the right time, he introduced me to Carrie-Anne. This amazing woman who loves me unconditionally and is patient with me and challenges me and pushes me and makes me laugh. I’m not certain I would be a disciple of Christ if it were not for Carrie-Anne. Oh, I’d be a “Christian.” I’d be in a church somewhere. But I’m not sure I’d be a disciple. And I know without a doubt, without her encouragement and confidence, I would not be a preacher of the Gospel.

We celebrate 18 beautiful years of marriage together this Sunday. More on her then. Thank you, Lord.

I’m grateful for the blessings of our three little girls. So precious. So talented. So sweet. So funny. So fun. They make me laugh. They keep us entertained—Carley with her wild, out of control dancing; Valerie with her outstanding sense of humor and funny faces; Whitney with her enthusiasm and passion for whatever it is she happens to be doing at the moment. They each love life so much. And I’m blessed to be able to experience my Father’s world through their eyes. Thank you, Lord.

I’m thankful for all of my family. My mom and dad who passed on the faith to me. There was never ever any doubt growing up that our Lord was the absolute most important thing to my parents and our family. And I’m grateful for that example that was rooted deep in my being, part of my DNA, even if it did take a while to blossom. I’m thankful for my sister, Rhonda, and for the thousands of happy memories we have growing up together. She never let go of me. And there were times when common sense says she should have. I’m thankful for my sister, Sharon, and for the compassion she has for others. She is a selfless giver, caring for the sick, raising the fallen, encouraging the burdened. She, too, has a passion for life and lives it to its fullest. I’m thankful for my brother, Keith, and for his deep love for God’s Word and for the Church. His wisdom far exceeds mine. His insights are invaluable to me. I find that every phone conversation with him leaves me encouraged and upbeat and confident and ready to tackle anything that comes my way in the name of the Lord. Those conversations need to happen more often, not less. All of my family, all of my aunts and uncles and cousins and grandparents and in-laws, they all serve in wonderful ways to care for me and love me and push me. They’ve all been used by my Father, at different points, to mold me and shape me into the man I am. Thank you, Lord.

And I praise God today for giving me — me! — the opportunity to preach his Word. Are you kidding?!? Me? It’s the most amazing thing of all. Me. He sees something in me I never saw. He has a belief in me I’ve never had in myself. His faith in me is greater than my faith in him. I’m not worthy. I’m not holy. What does he think he’s doing, making me against all human logic the preacher at this huge church at Legacy? None of it makes any sense. He’s pushing me. He’s challenging me. He’s expecting great things out of me. Big things. And I know that he knows that I know it’s all going to have to come from him. And that gives me strength and confidence and courage and boldness. It’s all him. Thank you, Lord.

“Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”   ~Colossians 3:17

Peace,

Allan

About Last Night…

November 21, 2007 / / 1 Comment

My family and I had such a great time at last night’s Pancake Supper and Thanksgiving service here at Legacy. There were less than 150 of us here. But everybody came early for the dinner, had a lot of time to just sit around and visit, we had tons of kids all running around the concourse area, it was loud and light and fun, and then we all moved in to the worship center together for a wonderful time of worship to our heavenly Father who makes all of it possible.

All the young families with kids were down front, singing with high energy and gusto. Inspiring. Most of the church doesn’t get to worship with the children, we don’t see them very much, because they’re generally in the back. It was fantastic. The readings from Scripture calling us to be thankful and to live our lives in gratitude for the gifts from our God were, as Jim pointed out, so simple and so clear and so beautiful. The prayers were worded in such a way that we felt taken straight to the throne of our Father. And when we were finished, it still took almost an hour to clear the building out.

Why did last night feel different? Last night just really felt like a family. What was it? Did everybody else feel that way, or is it just me? I loved it. I’d like to capture the dynamic from last night and figure out some way to duplicate it at every Sunday assembly. Is it a small group thing? I don’t think so. I think last night would have felt the same if we’d had 500 there. What was it? Was it that everyone was so relaxed? Was it because I wasn’t preaching? (Don’t answer that.)

I’d love to get your thoughts on this. How can we work, what can we do, to foster that same kind of atmosphere every time we get together?

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**Legacy Construction Update**

At 1:00 yesterday afternoon they began pouring the slab in the new Worship Center. Click on the pictures to enlarge.

CementTruck Slab SlabCrew

Notice in the lower right hand corner where Jackie, Bonny, and Suzanne couldn’t help themselves and actually stuck their hands in the cement. That’s the bathroom area of the building. Hopefully there will actually be a wall there, definitely some tile or linoleum, to cover it up. Crazy gals. It’s the one think Kent wasn’t paying attention to out there. I threatened to take away his hard hat.

Handprints  CloseUp

They were working under huge floodlights when we left at about 8:30 last night. This is what it looks like this morning. They’ve poured from the back foyer area into the actual auditorium up to the point where the slope begins toward the front. They’re scheduled to finish the entire slab by next Tuesday.

DoneForNow FromTheCorner SlickSlab

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Tonia Beard sent me these Thanksgiving cartoons this morning. Enjoy.

HidingTurkey MooTurkey TanningTurkey

Peace,

Allan

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