Category: 4 Amarillo (Page 4 of 9)

Maundy Means Commands

March 24, 2016 / Allan / 0 Comments

Today is Maundy Thursday, the day Christians all over the world remember the events of the night our Lord Jesus was betrayed by his disciples. Yeah, remember, it wasn’t just Judas who betrayed Jesus; he was just the only one who got paid. They all fled that night when things got hairy. They all abandoned Jesus (Well, the guys did. According to the Gospels, the women were the only ones who did not flee the scene. They stood by their man, as it were, through the trials, the suffering, the crucifixion, and the burial).

The word “Maundy” is from a Latin word that means “commands.” That word has been used by Christians to describe that last night for centuries because Jesus gave his followers several commands during that last meal:

“Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you.” ~John 13:14-15

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” ~John 13:34

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” ~John 15:12

Today is a day of solemn remembrance. Easter Sunday — I can’t wait for Easter, I love Easter, Resurrection! — is a day for exuberant celebration. But Maundy Thursday is for individual and corporate reflection. Inspection. Introspection. How have I betrayed my Lord? Am I keeping his commands? In what ways do I continually deny my Savior?

He told his disciples that night around the table to remain in his love, to obey his commands. At a meal together, he asked them to obey his commands just as he had obeyed the commands of the Father. And then he says it: My command is that you love each other as I have loved you. You’re my friends, he says, if you do what I command (John 15:9-14).

Are we obeying his primary command to love each other? Are we showing Christ Jesus’ sacrificial, servant-hearted, selfless love to other followers? Or do we betray our Lord and disobey his command by judging other disciples and withdrawing from other followers? Are we loving and serving all Christians as Jesus commanded, as he prayed to our Father on that dark night we would, or do we only love and serve Christians who think and behave exactly like we do? Do we reject Jesus’ command by criticizing other churches, even condemning them, because we have different understandings or different practices?

Here at Central, we’re trying to love all Christians in Amarillo the way Jesus showed us during that last meal on that Thursday night. We’re trying to be sacrificial. We’re trying to be servants. We’re trying to come closer together with other Christians. We’re trying to erase the man-made lines of distinction and focus on the many, many things we all have in common in our Lord Jesus. No judgments. No criticisms. More grace. More forgiveness. More service. More love. We’re not perfect at this yet; nobody’s arrived. But we’re trying.

Tonight, our church family joins with our brothers and sisters at First Baptist, First Presbyterian, and Polk Street Methodist for a time of worship and communion with each other and with our risen and coming Lord. We’re going to reflect together. We’re going to inspect our lives together. We’re going to eat and drink together. And we’re going to commit to the Maundy Thursday spirit of paying attention to Jesus’ commands. And obeying them.

Peace,

Allan

Repent and Believe the Gospel

February 10, 2016 / Allan / 2 Comments

This post is mainly for all of us Church of Christ lifers. We know “separate and apart,” we know Acts 2:38, we know “the church is not the building, it’s the people,” we know 728B. We’ve got the stamp on our heels. Three songs and a prayer. “Guide, guard, and direct us.” We know who we are.

And we’re uncomfortable with liturgy.

It’s nothing to be ashamed of. We come by it naturally. Our movement has traditionally and, largely, uncritically rejected almost all forms of Christian liturgy as symbols of religious excess and tools for clerical abuse. As non-scriptural innovations. As rote formulas and meaningless ritual. Most of us can’t help the way a memorized creed or a written prayer makes us feel. We were raised to believe it wasn’t real, it didn’t come from the heart, unless you made it up on the spot.

Let me invite you to participate in an Ash Wednesday service somewhere today.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of Lent, the season of repentance and prayer and fasting before Easter. In the early decades of Christianity, this 40-day period was observed by candidates for baptism, which was typically reserved for Easter Sunday. In the third and fourth centuries, people who were separated from the Church because of their sin observed a season of Lent as they were restored to fellowship. Then, over time, the Church recognized that it would be good for all Christians to enter a time of repentance and prayer and fasting. All Christians need to be reminded that repentance is a daily exercise, not a one time event. All Christians need the assurance of the forgiveness and salvation that is promised in the Good News, that was accomplished in the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.

So, I would encourage you to find an Ash Wednesday service somewhere today and go.

It might be a brand new thing for you. It might be a little strange. It might be really beautiful. You might learn something, you might see something, you might hear something or experience something that might really bless you and increase your faith.

The ashes on your forehead are a physical reminder of the Gospel: God created us out of his great love, we have sinned and fallen short of his glory, we are in desperate need of forgiveness and salvation, he forgives us and restores us through Christ Jesus our Lord. The ashes remind us that we are human — we are made of dust and to dust we will return — and that we need God. They also serve as a symbol of sorrow for sin and repentance. And they acknowledge that the once-for-all sacrifice of Christ Jesus surpasses in glory the burnt offerings made by the priests. That’s why when the pastor puts the ashes on your forehead he says, “Repent and believe the Gospel.”

Go find an Ash Wednesday service. Go with a group of people so you can process it together afterward. Ask God to speak to you during that service, to reveal himself to you, to grow your faith in him, and to strengthen the bond you have with all disciples of Christ throughout all Christian denominations. As you leave the assembly in silence, be resolved to remain in the Word, to continually self-reflect, and to be in constant prayer.

Nothing will be off the cuff. It will all be carefully scripted. And maybe, just maybe, by God’s grace and the power of his Spirit, it might be exactly what you need.

Peace,

Allan

Celebrating our Partnership

November 22, 2015 / Allan / 1 Comment

“Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.” ~Colossians 3:11

Religious barriers, cultural barriers, generational barriers, ethnic barriers — God’s Spirit eradicates all barriers between people in the body of Christ. The Kingdom of God does not clarify people by race or tribe or nationality or class. There’s no “us” and “them” in God’s Church.

By God’s grace, we do a pretty good job with this at Central. Pretty good. We know that all baptized confessors of Jesus as Lord are our brothers and sisters in Christ. We are actively tearing down the walls that divide the Christian denominations in Amarillo. We believe that, in Christ, there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, or Baptist or Presbyterian or Church of Christ or Methodist, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Tonight at First Baptist, all four of our downtown churches are coming together to preach and practice Holy Spirit reconciliation in our third annual Thanksgiving Service. Our theme this year is “Celebrating our Partnership in the Gospel.” All four worship ministers are combining our respective praise teams and choirs to lead us in thanksgiving to our God. We’ll sing together, pray together, and read the Scriptures together. And all of Amarillo will be reminded again that Jesus is Lord, he’s fixing everything that’s broken, and we’ve got to get in on it!

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, around which this event is planned, I am so grateful for the godly leaders of our four churches who recognize the powerful testimony to Christ our partnership offers. I’m thankful for the enthusiastic response of the men and women of our churches who so quickly have entered into the partnership with Gospel vision and energy. I’m thankful for the deep friendships that have been developed between Howard, Howie, Burt, and me. And I praise God for the limitless potential our partnership holds for further reconciliation among the fractured members of our Lord’s Body.

May the walls continue to come down. May the name of our Savior continue to be lifted tonight and forever more by our commitments to him and to one another. And may he continue to work in us and through us, together, to his eternal glory and praise.

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace.” ~Colossians 3:15

Peace,

Allan

When Ho-Hum is OK

August 19, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

If the members of Central Church of Christ find partnering with the downtown Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches in worship and ministry together mundane or even boring, is that a bad thing? Or is it a really wonderful thing?

Two years ago, our very first official “4 Amarillo” event was a combined school supplies drive. The sorting and packing of those school supplies at Polk Street Methodist that week was a chaotic, joyful, surprise-filled, enthusiastic evening as all four of our churches marveled together and praised God that the denominational walls between our churches were coming down. We all expressed how blessed we felt to be able to participate in something so exciting as breaking down the barriers and coming together as one group of disciples of our Lord Jesus. There was a real sense in the gym that night that God was doing something important with this, that we were participating in something unique. Ground-breaking. Significant.

That is not quite the feeling anymore.

Sure, we had more than plenty of volunteers show up to sort and pack the school supplies last night. Yes, all four of our churches collected more than what we were asking in school supplies for our four downtown area elementary schools. And, of course, there’s nobody who doesn’t think what we’re doing together is significant both here locally and in the larger Kingdom scheme of things.

But that initial enthusiasm is gone. It’s kinda become hum-drum. Routine.

Maybe that’s to be expected. It seems we’re increasingly in need of new programs and new initiatives. Maintaining old ministries and faithfully working in established areas isn’t nearly as exciting as something new. And something “new” doesn’t last as long as it used to. Yeah, I should have known the novelty would wear off. The excitement would wane. Good grief, it would be unrealistic to expect us to continue with the same level of energy for three years — it was so high!

I like to think we’re not growing tired of “4 Amarillo” and what it stands for, it’s just become very “normal” for us. And that’s not a bad thing. That our kids see nothing out of the ordinary about worshiping God with Baptists and Presbyterians is definitely a major step or two toward the Kingdom of God. That our folks view Maundy Thursday at First Pres and Good Friday at Polk Street and Thanksgiving worship services at Central through similar lenses is cause to celebrate. That our city sees “4 Amarillo” now as standard is a tremendous victory and a mighty witness to the power of Christ Jesus who died on the cross to break down the walls so that all his people might be one.

That a Church of Christ is cooperating with anybody on anything used to be big news around here. And it was exciting. Now, it’s ho-hum. And that’s OK.

Peace,

Allan

4 the Sake of the Kids

August 17, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

Thank you so much to our Central church family for your faithful participation in our third annual “4 Amarillo” school supplies drive. Due to your generous offerings, we have more than met our goals of 200 three-ring binders, 400 composition notebooks, 800 Ziploc bags, and 6,400 #2 pencils.

The whole congregation is joining the other three downtown churches tomorrow evening to sort and pack the combined school supplies for delivery to our four area elementary schools. We’re all meeting in the Great Hall at Polk Street United Methodist Church for what should be about a one-hour project. What a privilege to continue breaking down our denominational walls to better bless our community in the name and manner of Christ.

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

Cortnie has been safely delivered to her new dorm room on the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. The boxes are unpacked, the pictures are hanging on the walls, and the kitchen dishes and utensils she’ll never use are perfectly stacked. The only thing she lacks is a little footstool to help her get in and out of her bed.

Yes, our home will be much quieter and a little less spontaneous without Cortnie around. It’ll take me a while to get used to not seeing that tiny little yellow car in front of our house. Of course, the Stanglin girls (all four of them!) are having a hard time with this. We had to drag Valerie into the truck last night — never has anybody NOT wanted to leave Wichita Falls like that. I’m much more worried about my family than Cortnie. She’s going to thrive. When we finally pulled away and left her last night, Cortnie was headed to a meet-and-greet barbecue dinner and ready to begin her college career as a proud Mustang.

Congratulations, Cortnie!

Peace,

Allan

4Amarillo 2Night

July 1, 2015 / Allan / 0 Comments

It’s starting to become normal. Routine. Old hat, even. All four of the downtown churches are working together on a couple of Vacation Bible Schools at two elementary campuses? They’re building wheelchair ramps together? Side-by-side, Baptists and Presbyterians and Methodists and Church of Christs? They’re all going to worship together tonight at First Pres?

Yawn.

We’ve only been at this for a little more than two years now, but I can sense the novelty has worn off. Every event was celebrated with great enthusiasm during that first year: each pulpit swap, every service project, the prayer gathering, both combined worship assemblies, the Easter week services. There was wide-eyed amazement that our four congregations were tearing down the denominational walls between us in order to better reach our city for Christ. There was a complete embrace of the concept of Christian unity as the will of the Christ and the work of his Spirit. And we all rushed in to participate.

This is our annual 4 Amarillo week of service projects and worship. Together we are feeding and teaching, loving and playing with more than 400 children at San Jacinto and Wills Elementary Schools. We’re building five wheelchair ramps and installing them at the homes of five families in our downtown neighborhoods. Participation has been high. Enthusiasm has been great. But it just seems so normal now.

And that’s really, really good. Right? Of course, it’s good! That we should regard as perfectly normal Baptists and Presbyterians serving food together, Church of Christers and Methodists teaching Bible stories together, and all four of our churches singing “Victory in Jesus” and praying together is a tremendous accomplishment. It’s beyond my wildest dreams. It far exceeds my biggest hopes when Howie and Burt and Howard and I first committed to regular meals and prayer times together in the fall of 2011.

I just don’t want us to lose the wonder. I don’t want us to ever forget how truly special this is. I want us to be continually aware that only a very few Christians in our country, much less our state or region, ever get to experience what we do here. Let’s not grow indifferent about this. Let’s praise our God and see this as the earth-altering, barrier-breaking work of the Gospel among us that it really is.

Tonight we all gather at First Presbyterian to celebrate God’s work this week in our city. We will sing and pray and read the Holy Scriptures. Howard will talk to us about unity and the unique witness our partnership is to the power of our Lord. We’ll watch a slide-show that re-caps this wonderful week of Christian service. And then we’ll share ice-cream together.

Normal? Yeah, by now, it kinda is.

Old hat? Never!

Peace,

Allan

Category: 4 Amarillo (Page 4 of 9)

Maundy Means Commands

Repent and Believe the Gospel

Celebrating our Partnership

When Ho-Hum is OK

4 the Sake of the Kids

4Amarillo 2Night

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