Tom Allen

OK, you may have yawned through the past 3 weeks, but MARGIN: Spending the Time of Your Life , has been one of the most personally challenging series I've ever been a part of.  As usual, when I speak on parenting, my family goes crazy...when I speak on money, my finances get out of whack.  Marriage...you can figure it out. So, do a series on MARGIN  and, surprise, guess what happens...you suddenly realize your calendar is crammed and your schedule is all out of whack.  Life is running you, rather than vice-versa.  You didn't do it all at once.  In fact, you didn't even realize you were doing it at all.  Six months ago you committed to that wedding, a month ago you scheduled the next elders meeting, those folks could only meet with you after hours, the banquet is for a ministry you support and love, Singles have a place in my heart.  All good stuff.  But, when they all fall into those boxes with numbers on them, and they fall into sequential...

Read my blog yesterday?  Nope.  It didn't happen.  Reason?  Technical difficulties.  My device jungle now includes an iPad.  I was simply going to write my blog from it.  Nope again.  I couldn't figure it out. (this is not earth-shattering).  When I sought help from my 20-something technobots who know everything, they had problems as well.  (much to my delight)  So, let's talk about technology.  I know we've broached the subject before, but it seems in the Allen household I'm feeling a technological explosion...or implosion...I'm not quite certain. Got the new iPad (don't have iPad envy), and my goal, because all my Bible-reading is done on some electronic device, is to begin using it whenever I speak.  I'm sure there will be some kick-back ( "Shouldn't a preacher hold a Bible when he preaches?!  I mean really, that can't be biblical preaching if he doesn't even have a Bible!!!!!)   Problem is, the Bible is not...

From time to time I hear someone say of our church or, more specifically, of my preaching, "It's just not DEEP enough for me".   Problem is, I've never figured out what that means.  Maybe that proves they're all correct.  If you're not deep enough to understand what people who want DEEPER  mean, then you just might have proved their point.  Maybe I'm just exactly what they say...shallow. However, I have my own opinion. ( there's a shocker!!!)   Personally, I think I deal with some pretty deep stuff.  Who Jesus was.  How he expects us to live.  How the Bible speaks to our purpose, our money, our marriages, our kids, our time, our service, our priorities, our attitudes...to me that's pretty deep stuff. So, the question remains...if that's not deep, what is?  My conclusions are the following:      1.   Deep is confusing rather than clear .  In other words, if I can explain it in a way that can be    ...

Lots of pastors take off on Mondays.  I adhere to the same philosophy as Rick Warren who once said, " I don't want to feel that bad on my day off" .  I concur.  So, I try to schedule everything on Monday I really don't want to do any other day.  Usually a meeting, followed by a meeting, taking you up to lunch, a trip to the gym, random appointments, afternoon meetings, and like today, rounded off with an evening meeting with the elders and staff.  Uuuuummmmm.  Sounds like fun.  Sounds like MONDAY! In reality, I really don't look forward to Mondays.  I'm usually pretty beat-up from the week-end and a Sunday that started way too early and ended way too late.  But, I know the things I do on Monday, although not always fun, are important.   They set the tone for the rest of the week.  They make TUESDAY possible. What's your MONDAY ?  That thing you dread?  That thing you kind of wish would just go away?  That you coul...

At Crosspoint, one of the things that makes us run is that we want to be a Church Unchurced People want to Attend.   Sounds great.  We work hard at that.  We track that.  According to what we've found..Working Hard..A-...Results of Tracking...F+.  Not good.  Seriously, we're trying hard.  We're just not being very successful.  So, what's the key?  What do we need to do differently to reach unchurched people?  Well, I ran across an article this week, and thought I'd share part of it with you: "Crawl underneath the hood of any growing church that is actually growing from the unchurched, and you will find that the number one reason newcomers attend is that they were invited by a friend. Churches grow from the unchurched because their members and attendees talk about it to their unchurched friends. It comes up in their conversations like the mention of a good movie, a favorite restaurant, or a treasured vacation spot. There is a ...

OK, yesterday I wrote about SOME of the things that make pastors want to cuss.  So, today I need to look at the flip-side, the other side of the coin.  What gets a pastor all stoked and makes him want to shout: 1.  Undeniably authentic life transformation by the power of God's Holy Spirit 2.  When people genuinely love people that are totally different than themselves 3.  Generosity 4.  Legalists who get set free to live by grace 5.  People who live by faith (always risky business) and not by sight 6.  Things that get healed buy the power of God (bodies, marriages, relationships, lives, etc.) 7.  People that are honest and real (in the good an the bad...politically correct or not) 8.  People that "get it" (that moment when the light bulb goes on) 9.  People that laugh loud and often, especially at themselves 10.  People that are so busy working on getting the log out of their own eye that they don't have time to worr...

Have you ever wondered that?  Maybe not.  Or, maybe you thought that since we only work one day a week, we really didn't have any reason to complain.  Well, we do.  There are certain things that REALLY get under our skin.  Thought I'd list a few just for your entertainment: 1.  People who take up an hour seeking your counsel, then do the opposite of what you told them. 2.  Gossip 3.  People who want to remake your church in the image of the one that was so bad they left it to come to yours 4.  People who make their kids go to school, play Little League and take dance lessons, even though they don't want to, but would never think of forcing them to go to church 5.  People who say, "God told me to do _______",  which just happens to be the thing they wanted to do all along. 6.  People who treat pastors more like insurance salesmen than professionals.  They would take whatever appointment time their doctor, lawy...

In case you've been living under a rock...let me let you in on a little news you may have missed...there's a Presidential election upcoming.  As a result, we're in full campaign mode.  Yesterday, someone released some secretly recorded tapes of one of the candidates speaking at a fundraiser.  He made some unbelievable statements.  Statements that he seems to be backing off of...distancing himself from...maybe even running away from. What are these scurrilous words that the news is reporting have the candidate's campaign in crisis mode?  That at least 47% of the American people consider themselves VICTIMS.   They pay no taxes.  They feel they are entitled to free healthcare, free food, free housing, free education...the list goes on.  And, if 47% of the American population are VICTIMS , who need...who expect the government to take care of them, then our electoral process has become somewhat of a joke, because those 47% will automatically vote for...

Recently, Muslims around the world have rioted, burned American flags, attacked Embassies and killed diplomats and American soldiers.  They have done so under the guise of blasphemous activities of some totally unknown film producer who, has to this point only produced a Grade D (that's kind) trailer  of a supposed film that speaks unkindly of Islam in general and Mohammed in particular.  Somehow, this religion, this peace-loving and forward-thinking religion, is so sensitive and fragile, that if anyone dares even question anything about its validity or scrutinizes its leader, it will fall like a house of cards, and therefore any such attempts must be stopped at any cost. My thoughts are, if your tenets are that fragile, that they can't stand up to any attack or scrutiny, it only proves that the rock on which you've built your life is only a bunch of sand, at best, and possibly, a paper tiger. As Christians, we've seen The Last Temptation of Christ, a movie depictin...

I am a dinosaur.  I remember when I got my first iPhone.  I wasn't sure why I got an iPhone.  Seemed like a waste of perfectly good money.  All I needed was something that made calls and took them.  Like those giant original cell phones with the huge antenna sticking out, only smaller.  But, I work with 20-somethings, so we got iPhones.  They do lots of things.  Things I didn't want to do.  Things I had no intention of doing.  Things I swore I would never, ever do....like sending a text message.  And I was committed not to...until Hurricane Rita came and we left and there was no way to talk to people back in Pearland except by text.  I was slow...but I was hooked. Then there was Facebook.  I fought that forever...now I'm on.  Next was Twitter.  I didn't even understand what Twitter was.  When I did find out, I thought it was stupid.  Remember, I'm a dinosaur. When I claimed I didn't know how to set up...

Yesterday I got a bug.  You know, one of those things that lasts for 24 hours, but makes you feel like death is imminent.  Head, stomach, body aches.  Wanna curl up in a ball and have someone tell you when tomorrow has arrived...and all is, hopefully, all better. I'm not one of those germaphobes who looks for a germ under every rock and refuses to shake hands, but I do know enough to know that I got this from somebody I came in contact with who had it themselves.  They, in some way, passed it on to me, and it went to work in me.  Shortly, I had all the symptoms they exhibited.  Not sure who was kind enough to pass it along to me, but I'd love to know so I could properly " thank them". We Christ-followers carry a germ as well.  It's called the gospel, the Good News, the euangelion .  Once it penetrates us, we should start seeing the the symptoms begin.  Furthermore, we should be contagious.   When people come in contact with us they s...

This morning, I read an article about MOMENTUM.  It stated Sir Isaac Newton's theory regarding momentum.  In case you've somehow forgotten them (like anyone would!), here's a refresher: First law : Every object continues in its state of rest, or of uniform motion in a straight line unless compelled to change that state by external forces acted upon it . Second law : The acceleration (a) of a body is parallel and directly proportional to the net force (F) acting on the body, is in the direction of the net force, and is inversely proportional to the mass (m) of the body. Awesome, right!  I know, unless you're a physics geek (do any physics geeks read this blog?), you're probably asking right now, "What in the heck does that have to do with me?"   Well, let me restate it another way that might make a little more sense for you and your life, "If you do the same things, you can expect the same results".   Or, let's try one more, ...

Today is September 11.  9/11.  That date...those numbers, will never be the same again, will they?  Just mention the term 9-11 to anyone in America and their demeanor changes.  Two little numbers that changed our lives forever.  The day we realized we had an enemy.  Oh, we kind of knew it before...but it wasn't anything that caused us fear.  It was something that was a world away from us.  But, that day it became personal.  That day it became real.  That day it landed on our shore.  That day people, not in military garb, who volunteered, who trained, who were in the middle of a desert...not people who wanted to fight, but people just like you and me were brought into the fray.  Just regular Americans going about their lives, heading to work, just like they'd done the day before and would do the day after...people just like you and me were killed.  On our soil.  In our home.  And suddenly, everything changed and n...

Being single can be great.  You're free to do what you want, make major course directions in life with little drama, go wherever God sends you on a moment's notice, and be free of some of the responsibilities married people have. Some people are single by choice.  Others are single by the choice of others.  Still others are single by no one's choice, especially their own. Some are single after 25 great years of marriage.  Some are single after 6 crappy marriages.  Some can't wait to get married, some can't wait to get married again, and some have sworn never to get married or married again. Some love their singleness.  Others agree with Three Dog Night that, "One is the loneliest number you can ever do". Bottom line:  Singles come in all shapes, sizes, packages and purposes.  One thing for sure though, their numbers are growing.  More and more people are delaying marriage.  The divorce rate continues to climb.  And many peo...

Airports are interesting places.  I'm sitting in one for the next hour, so, I'm considering airports.  So far, we attempted to turn in our rental car without filling up the tank.  They graciously offered to do that for us...for a mere $9.45 per gallon!   We declined and found a local gas station (the gas pump was playing Jethro Tull...very cool!). Then I was patted down by the nicest TSA agent ever.  It's a lot harder to dislike TSA agents in the South.  They smile and talk with a drawl and say, "Excuse me" and are just so nice while they're groping you (I almost enjoyed it...but I didn't.  I want that to be clear). I'm a people guy, so I love to just watch people and wonder where they come from and where they're going.  It's what I do.  It's how I'm wired.  Honestly, I sometimes form ideas in my mind as to what their stories are.  Yea, it's a sickness, but there's a lot worse I could be afflicted with. Do you ever wonder ...

     OK, so the next time you complain when I go a few minutes long, I'll just remind you of my day today.  I spent the day in Anderson, SC at the NewSpring Leadership Conference.  What that translates into is an 8-hour Preach-a-thon.  The head can only contain what the buttocks can endure.      I listened to more preaching than most of you do in two months....in ONE DAY!  It was great...mostly.  Hey, there's good preaching and bad preaching.  Some is better than others.  But, I managed to learn something from every speaker.      More importantly than that, I learned so much from the church where it was held.  NewSpring is one of the fastest growing churches in America.  What's interesting about that is that it's main campus is in Anderson, SC.  Anderson is not a booming metropolis.  It's somewhat the middle of nowhere.  Down a little two-lane road you find this sprawling church th...

Are you a seafood lover?  Sorry, that sounds a little too much like a Red Lobster commercial (which, I'm not sure qualifies as seafood...no offense).  If you eat fish, which, by the way, is my favorite thing to do...eating wise, that is, then you're always going to come up with a bone every now and then.  So, what do you do when that happens?  Do you just swallow the bones?  Do you give up on eating seafood?  Hopefully, you take things in stride and simply spit out the bones and eat the fish. This is not just a principle for eating fish.  It is also a principle for life.  I'm headed to a conference today, hoping to learn something that will equip me to be a better pastor.  Some people, go to conferences or listen to pastors or read a book and think they just have to swallow everything hook, line and sinker. (pardon the obvious fishing reference)  They feel compelled to believe everything they hear.    They just swallow everyt...

Habits get a bad rap.  When we think of habits, we tend to think of things like biting your fingernails, leaving your clothes on the floor, leaving the toilet seat up (guys!!!), etc.  All bad things.  That's my point, all habits aren't necessarily bad. For instance, if you're in the habit of taking your vitamins every morning, you probably take them.  If you're in the habit of heading to the mailbox in the afternoon when you come home, that helps keep the mailbox from overflowing before the end of the week. BOTTOM LINE:  You are a complex combination of the habits, good and bad, of your life.  They make up who you are and how you live.  They, oftentimes without even thinking, regulate your life.  For instance, I'm writing this blog right now because it's become one of the habits of my life.  I no longer have to think about it.  I just do it.  It's a habit...a good one. They say, (whoever they is) that you can establish a habi...

I won't go into all the history of LABOR DAY.  Let's all face it, LABOR DAY has become something very special...a 4-day weekend.  Bingo!  It's call LABOR DAY.  And you can do anything you want to with it....except LABOR.  A little odd, but no one seems to care.  I'm excited about the day off.  But, as a pastor, I simply realize what it actually means...I have to do in 3 days what I usually do in 4.  Yeah, that's a rather pessimistic way of looking at it...but, I'm a realist.  I tend to think of it as realism. OK, so am I the only person in the world with a To-Do List for my LABOR DAY?  I gotta get some stuff done.  Need a map.  Need a plan.  Go here, do this, do that.  Saturday I relaxed.  I really relaxed.  It rained.  I watched football.  Susan decided she wanted to cook.  Out came Pioneer Woman.  BUTTER!  EAT!  WATCH MORE FOOTBALL! I have a phobia.  It's resting, rel...