The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Central Church Family (Page 39 of 54)

Greetings from Cusco!

June 9, 2013 / / 3 Comments

Carrie-Anne and I are on the first leg of a Great Cities Mission tour of churches in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile with John Todd and Kami, Craig and Donna, and GCM executive director Kelley Grant. There’s no time to be eloquent or overly reflective at this moment. I’m just hammering out a quick post this morning before the worship assembly here in Cusco just to let everybody know we’ve arrived safely and are having an absolute blast.

We arrived at the international airport in Lima at about 1:00 am Saturday morning and had to wait there for our flight to Cusco until 5:30. So far, that’s been the toughest part of the trip. Well, that, and the fact that the altitude sickness medication we’re all on, Diamox, makes Dr Pepper and any carbonated beverage taste like battery acid. Old battery acid. It’s disgusting. That’s a side effect nobody told us about. And it’s killing me. I haven’t had a DDP — none of us has — since Friday morning. Is that the reason for my headache, or is it because we’re at 12,000 feet?

Yesterday, we toured several magnificent cathedrals from the 17th and 18th centuries and then met the missionary / church plant team that’s been here a little over three years. We ate at a really nice restaurant and, yes, guinea pig was on the menu. Last night may have been my shot to try this traditional Peruvian dish. Guinea pig?!? Yeah, I know. We’ve been joking about it for three months. And here it was. I wanted to. I really wanted to. The picture on the menu really didn’t help. And Barton comparing the taste and texture to that of squirrel or rabbit didn’t help either. So, I chickened out. Officially, I changed my mind for, perhaps, another opportunity today or tomorrow. But, really, I think I may have chickened out. I opted instead, to stay with the local taste and be somewhat daring, for the alpaca steak. It’s not really llama… Well, yeah, it really is. I ate a llama steak last night. And it was good.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We’re worshiping with the Cusco Church this morning. And I’m very excited about that. I love worshiping with God’s people in far flung parts of this earth. There will be time for eloquence and reflection on that later.

Happy Sunday!

Peace,

Allan

Always Restoring

June 5, 2013 / / 1 Comment

“We want to be a church that is restored and always restoring. We do not discard our current biblical practices but we also seek to reclaim others we have neglected. We hold on to the best of our tradition but we move forward to what God calls us to be in a new generation. ‘Churches of Christ’ describes both what we are and what we strive to be: churches that fully embody the life and character of our Lord. We are not there yet, but we are on the journey.” ~from Renewing God’s People, by Gary Holloway and Doug Foster

We concluded our study of Renewing God’s People in our adult Bible classes this past Sunday with a time of reflection on the history of our American Restoration Movement and of pointing to the future as Churches of Christ. We asked some tough questions and engaged one another in difficult conversations. In our wimp-free (apologies to Randy Galloway) Jars of Clay class, the mix is about equal between those of us born and raised in and by the CofC and newcomers to our tribe. And the discussion was faithful. And full of hope.

Despite the final few chapters of the book outlining our recent sorry history of division (and divisions within those divisions!), sectarianism, and an over-emphasis on human effort to the neglect of God’s Holy Spirit, we focused our attention on the beautiful parts of our CofC heritage we’re all very interested in retaining. As a group, we really latched on to our movement’s origins. We’re still today moved by the original vision of being Christians only, of breaking down the barriers between disciples of Jesus and churches, of the Scriptural call for the unity of all believers. We’re proud of the way our tradition has always upheld the Bible as God’s holy revelation and will and authority for his people. And, as misguided as it’s been at times, evangelism is clearly in our DNA. We’ve always been very interested in reaching out to others and bringing them in to the Kingdom of God.

Of course, a look back at the past is only worthwhile if we use it to contemplate the future. And we’ve concluded in our Bible class that a reclaiming — some of it might possibly need more of a reworking or tweaking — of the very best parts of our history and heritage is exactly what’s needed to guide us into a more faithful future.

Yes, let’s go back to breaking down the walls between Christians and Christian denominations. Let’s focus on the many things we have in common in our Lord Jesus Christ and not on the few differences. Let’s pray more and dispute less. Let’s become as one so, in the words of our Christ, the world may believe.

Yes, let’s continue to uphold Scripture as the authority for God’s people. But let’s do away once and for all with the three-part “command-example-inference” hermeneutic. Let’s read and apply the Bible as the continuing story of God’s mighty works on behalf of his people and his people’s struggles to live faithfully into the story. Let’s stop pretending that the Bible contains every answer for every particular church problem. Let’s live into it, let’s assimilate it into our lives, let’s taste it and breathe it, let’s glory in it as the mind-blowing good news that it is. Let’s view the Bible as a vivid description of a heavenly feast, not a cookbook full of recipes.

And, yes, let’s get back to evangelizing the lost. I’m not talking about inviting your friends from other CofCs to your congregation or even attempting to get your Baptist or Presbyterian friends to switch. No. I’m talking about your friends, your neighbors, your classmates and co-workers who do not have a relationship with our King. Invest in them. Talk with them. Listen to them. Serve them. Pray with them and for them. Don’t just invite them to visit your church; invite them to be a part of your faith community. Bring them in and allow them to experience what it feels like to be in a group that selflessly serves other people, that considers the needs of others more important than their own, that recognizes a bigger picture and lives into that reality.

When we asked our class what they believed God was calling the Churches of Christ to be in the next twenty years, the answers were beautiful and evidenced some serious theological reflection. A church that is known for loving people and serving others. A church that upholds faithful traditions and doesn’t fight over man-concocted ones. A group that cares less about “Church of Christ” and more about “Kingdom of God.” A church that is intimately involved in redeeming the world. A church built on the holy energy of relationships and testimony that prove the power of our God.

Again, from Renewing God’s People:

“If we could wear our denominational name — Churches of Christ — lightly and could view many of our institutional practices as less fixed, then we could again be a movement for the good of the Church at large. We could invite our fellow pilgrims to journey with us. We could be Christians only, not the only Christians.” 

Is there a spiritual awakening taking place today in the Churches of Christ? How do you know? What evidence do you see? Can you prove it? What’s happening in our churches, in our culture, in the world, that gives you great hope for our movement?

Peace,

Allan

Hail-acious!

May 29, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Yeah, it’s a Skip Bayless headline, but it’s the best I’ve got today on just four-and-a-half hours of sleep.

It was a rock-and-roll night in Amarillo, starting with the 70+ mph winds at 5:00 in the evening that downed a huge billboard on Western Street, to the tornado warnings and funnel clouds spotted at 45th and Soncy, about a mile and a half from our house, to the five or six minutes of intense wind and hail that drove all five of us to the closet with our pillows and cell phones. Neither of last night’s two tornadoes — the one near our house and the one near downtown — actually touched the ground. But the hail and the high winds did plenty of damage to the Sleepy Hollow and Puckett neighborhoods of southwest Amarillo.

The tornado warning was issued for Randall County at just before 11:00 last night. I woke up Carrie-Anne and we started getting the closet ready. I moved Whitney’s truck as close to the northeast corner of the house as I could, locked all the doors, and closed all the shutters. I grabbed the weather radio out of the garage, a flashlight, and one more Diet Dr Pepper, and headed back to the TV in our bedroom to watch the radar. It was definitely coming our way. In fact, John Harris, the guy on channel four, drew the path of the storm and said, “It’s going to travel east right between 45th and 34th.” He may as well have drawn a little house on his map and said, “Right there, the Stanglins’ house, that’s where it’s going to hit!” The sirens started sounding in our neighborhood at about 11:10, prompting us to wake up the girls and herd them down the hall to the closet.

While they were hunkering down, I kept my radar vigil in the bedroom until they announced the tornado at 45th and Soncy. It was dark, of course, and I couldn’t see the sky. I had no feel for what was really happening. So, for the first time in my life, I actually got in the closet with Carrie-Anne and the girls. Whew, it was hot in there. All five of us with our pillows and blankets and more than a little anxiety and stress. Yuk. I left the door cracked just enough so we could get a little bit of air and still listen to the TV. I texted with John Todd, who had experienced the storm first in Bushland and came out OK. I talked briefly to Greg Dowell, whose family had already fled to the safety of Doug Hershey’s basement. Declan called to tell me that he and some friends were determined to stay outside through the storm. (Way to go, Declan!) And the girls were all texting their friends, too.

Then it hit. Hard. Loud. Scary. Five or six minutes of high winds and heavy hail. Almost an inch-and-a-quarter of rain. Our house was just getting pounded. And then, in an instant, it was over. Almost too quickly, it was over. We hesitated to come out. Is it safe? Is it really over? Are we in the middle of something and about to get slammed by the back end of it?

Then I heard John Harris freaking out on the TV. They got a visual of the downtown funnel just down the street from their studios and they were scrambling. The on-air guys were yelling for everybody to get in the bathrooms. They were knocked off the air for about thirty seconds. And I couldn’t stand it anymore. I jumped up to watch and, once I got a look at the radar, realized we were in the clear. It was time to go outside and check the property.

It wasn’t nearly as bad as I thought it was going to be. I assumed our four sky lights were going to be smashed, but somehow they made it OK. The only broken glass was on the north side of the house where the hail broke through two of our game room windows. Thankfully, those windows are double-paned, so all the weather stayed outside. And one fence post was blown down along the driveway in the back. The ping-pong ball sized hail stripped our flowerbeds and scattered leaves and twigs all over the yard and street. The hail was stacked up in big drifts in lots of places and was spread out like snow in others. But, other than that, there’s just going to be a lot of raking and sweeping over the next day or two.

Well, and I may want to think about adding a ceiling fan to that closet.

Peace,

Allan

The New Has Come!

May 28, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” ~2 Corinthians 5:17

We hear the word “new” about thirty-one thousand times a day. All in TV commercials, I think. New this, new that, new everything. Everything’s new. New and improved. New and longer lasting. New and April fresh. No, most of those things aren’t really new. That detergent’s not really new: they just added some blue sprinkles inside the box and a fourth color on the outside of the box. That cereal’s not new; they just replaced the yellow stars with purple ponies. Come on, we’re wise to this scam. The word “new” just means less content, more complicated packaging, at a higher price.

That’s why Paul says “new creation.” Paul says participating in the death and resurrection of Jesus dramatically changes everything. The same God who created the heavens and the earth out of emptiness and darkness takes your emptiness and darkness, he takes your confusion and chaos, and creates a brand new person. You are truly a brand new person, full of God’s Holy Spirit, made to experience all of life in a brand new way. All of this is from God, Paul says.

The same power that was on display when God first said, “Let there be light” is at work in you. The same glory that characterized the forming of the mountains and the seas, the same glory of the making of the sun and the moon and the stars, the same glory that was present in the creation of that very first human being from the dust of the ground in the holy image of Almighty God, that same original and eternal power and glory now characterizes you! And everything around you!

The old has gone; the new has come! He has changed us! He has changed everything! What God has done and is doing in your life is just as magnificent and miraculous as the creation of the world!

I’m glad Paul said, “new creation,” and not just “new.”

“New creation” changes everything.

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

My good friend Matt Richardson’s grandmother died Sunday in Abilene. He and I were exchanging some texts today about her and about the funeral later this week. He described her to me — “a Godly woman with plenty of spunk.” And then he wrote, “You’ll like her when you meet her.”

“You’ll like her when you meet her.”

Yeah, I love that. I am going to meet Matt’s grandmother some day soon. I will get to know her. And I will like her.

I thanked Matt for writing that, for reminding me that his grandmother lives forever and that we will eat and drink together with our risen King around his banquet table in his eternal Kingdom. For reminding me that my grandmother lives, too. For reminding me that he who believes in Jesus will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in Jesus will never die.

When I thanked Matt for writing, “You’ll like her when you meet her,” he texted right back:

“I didn’t mean today…”

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

Carley and the show choir at Bonham Middle School rocked the ’80s last night. If the music from my high school days is considered by today’s kids to be old and nostalgic, what does that make me?

Peace,

Allan

4 Amarillo

May 23, 2013 / / 4 Comments

Four guys walk into a bar: a Baptist, a Methodist, a Church of Christ, and a Presbyterian… that’s a joke.

Four sets of ministers and elders walk into a church building to pray: Baptist, Methodist, Church of Christ, and Presbyterian… that’s not a joke. It’s the holy will of our God and a magnificent witness to our city of the power of Jesus! And it’s happening this evening!

“I pray also for those who will believe in me through [the apostles’] message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one. I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” ~John 17:20-23

We believe that it is God’s will that all his children, all disciples of his Son, be reconciled. We think God’s great desire is for all Christians to be brought together as a powerful witness to the world of his love and peace. You know, this is in our Church of Christ DNA. It was established in the opening lines of Thomas Campbell’s Declaration and Address, the charter document for our Restoration Movement, written in August 1809:

“That it is the grand design and native tendency of our holy religion to reconcile and unite men to God and to each other in truth and love to the glory of God and their own present and eternal good will not, we presume, be denied by any of the genuine subjects of Christianity.”

The whole document is about reconciliation, the kind of reconciliation that drives God’s eternal plans. The very ministry of reconciliation he’s given those of us who profess our faith in him. The words in the document are bold and aggressive. And they ring with undeniable beauty and truth. They call for a swift end to all divisions among those who follow Jesus:

“Has the Captain of Salvation sounded a desist from pursuing this deadly enemy that is sheathing its sword in the very bowels of Christ’s Church, rending and mangling his mystical body to pieces? Has he said to his servants, ‘Let it alone?’ If not, where is the warrant for a  cessation of endeavors to have it removed?”

Campbell claims that tearing down the walls and uniting with all our brothers and sisters in Christ is a matter of universal right, a duty belonging to every citizen of Zion. And while the work will be difficult and the opposition will come mainly from within the church establishment, Campbell says it is God’s will. It is the Church’s will. It is the will of those who’ve gone before us:

“Both the mighty and the many are with us. The Lord himself, and all that are truly his people, are declaredly on our side. The prayers of all the churches, nay, the prayers of Christ himself, and of all that have ascended to his heavenly Kingdom, are with us.”

I thank God for the Campbells and the Stones and the other giants of the faith who latched on to God’s holy will as revealed to us in Scripture and would. not. let. go. I thank God for the ecumenical spirit of the Central Church of Christ toward our brothers and sisters in other Christian churches in our city. I’m grateful for the willingness here — the eagerness! — to unite with other Christ-followers.

This evening, the Central elders and ministers are meeting at Polk Street Methodist Church with their elders and ministers and with the elders and ministers from First Baptist and First Presbyterian to spend one-and-a-half hours together in prayer. We are forming an alliance, a partnership. We’re calling it “4 Amarillo.” It’s a hopefully obvious play on words. Four churches breaking down our walls, putting aside our differences to unite for the sake of our city.

We’re not 100% sure what this looks like yet. This August, we want to join together to serve our downtown area elementary schools. We’d like to serve and worship together during the Thanksgiving and Easter holidays. We’re going to swap pulpits with one another. We’re thinking we’d like to build some Habitat for Humanity houses together.

We do believe that this partnership between denominations will be a powerful witness to our city that Jesus really is the Prince of Peace, that he really does possess the power to reconcile and unite. Jesus says in the middle of Matthew 18 that if two or three people will come together and agree on anything, he’ll show up just to see that! And we believe he will.

Whatever good comes from this alliance, we know it must begin in prayer. So that’s what we’re doing tonight at Polk Street Methodist. We’re going to pray. We’re going to commit to one another — all four churches — as brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re going to pledge in prayer that we will not be competitive, that we will not be territorial, that we will see our downtown area as the part of the Kingdom of God we’ve been given to serve together. And we’re going to submit the whole thing to our God. In prayer, we’re going to give our partnership, our efforts, our projects, all of it to our merciful Father for his purposes and to his eternal glory and praise.

It starts tonight. I have only hopes and dreams of where it might be going. But it starts tonight.

Peace,

Allan

Seated With Princes

May 13, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes.” ~Psalm 113:7-8

Holy Scripture gives us a pretty clear picture of what our God is doing in this world. From Genesis to Revelation, we the motif of changing places. Switching roles. The rich and powerful being brought down and the poor and weak being raised up. God is turning things upside down.

The way the world is right now — all the power structures, all the people in charge; all the people in the streets, all the oppressed; the people without a care in the world, the people trapped in hopeless cycles of despair — our God is working to totally flip it around. He’s working even now toward a great big ultimate opposite day.

What a joy to partner with our God yesterday and personally participate in his great program of everlasting reversal! When yesterday began, there were 77 orphaned children at our Alara school in Kenya who were not sponsored. Following a call for pledges, which included a threat from me to keep preaching until we had all 77 commitments and a well-timed video from our own Jake Reeves with an emotional “Happy Mother’s Day” at the end, our church family responded in gratitude and with godly grace and love to commit to those 77 children and more.

All four of the sign-up booths were jam packed with people clamoring to register for one of these orphaned students. More than ninety pledges were received! We actually have a waiting list now!

Praise God; to him belongs all the glory. Every single student at our Alara school will now receive adequate food and clothing, supplies and an education, protection and provision because of this mighty demonstration of generosity. Those children now have hope. Because of these monthly gifts, those kids believe they, too, will be lifted from the ashes to sit in places of honor.

Thank you, Central. I really do belong to a pretty great church. You are faithful. You always come through. Always.

Peace,

Allan

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