The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Central Church Family (Page 42 of 54)

So Their Work Will Be A Joy

March 19, 2013 / / 1 Comment

“Obey them so that that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no advantage to you.” ~Hebrews 13:17

During our worship assembly this coming Sunday we will join together in acknowledging three godly men who have been ordained by our Lord to serve as additional shepherds here at Central. We will charge these men to accept this calling with humility and compassion, to devote themselves to the Word and to prayer, and to consecrate themselves to the earnest shepherding of this church.

They will pledge to submit to the Lordship of Jesus and to sacrificially serve in the name and manner of Jesus. We will promise to love and honor them, to support them and work with them in unity and good cheer. They will vow to loyally teach and admonish, to lead and protect our church family. We will pledge to obey and submit to these men so their work will be a joy, not a burden.

And we will pray.

Together we praise God for Shelby Stapleton, Warlick Thomas, Jack Vincent, and other men just like them who’ve gone before, on whose shoulders we stand today. They continue to serve as beautiful models of faithfulness and sacrificial service we’re all trying to imitate. We thank God for our current group of shepherds who so steadfastly lead us with a Christ-like blend of courageous boldness and quiet humility. And we praise our Lord for the three we ordain on Sunday: Scott Bentley, Larry Borger, and John Todd Cornett. They add to the leadership their own mix of gentleness and conviction, of joy and love.

May our Father bless our shepherds and their families with his gracious mercy and strength and peace. And may his will be done in us and through us here at Central, just as it is in heaven.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The church staff is scrambling to get our college basketball brackets filled out before the real tournament games begin this Thursday. Mark is probably picking his teams based on his favorite colors. Matthew is ignoring his wedding plans and spending the next 17-straight hours researching his picks on-line. Elaine might be going with the warmer weather city in each matchup. Hannah’s got Todd on speed dial. And Adam should be begging Connie to fill out his bracket for him.

I have paid less attention to college hoops this year than in any other. Ever. Will that work as an excuse when my picks bomb out? I’ve got Duke, Gonzaga, Florida, and Miami in the Final Four with the Gators squeaking by the Blue Devils for the title in Atlanta. Do not — I repeat! — do not copy those picks unless there’s a booby prize for last place

Peace,

Allan

God Bless Jerry Humble

March 11, 2013 / / 0 Comments

I missed out on Jerry Humble. I missed out big time. I didn’t know Jerry hardly at all. I’ve heard a lot about her, especially over the past several months and weeks. But I didn’t know her, certainly not like most of the people here at Central. When we moved here a year and a half ago, Jerry was already to the point where conversations with her were difficult. I had a couple of meaningful visits with her then, but she wouldn’t remember them a week later. And, so, yeah, I really feel like I missed out.

I do know her husband, Bill Humble. I know Bill pretty well. And because of what I know about Bill, I always thought, “He must have a really wonderful wife.” And I’m right about that.

I do know her daughter, Becky Liles. I know Becky pretty well. And because of what I know about Becky, I always thought, “She must have had a really spectacular mom.” And I’m right about that.

I’ve watched most of Jerry’s family and closest friends, especially over the past several months and weeks. I’ve seen the way you took care of Jerry. I’ve seen your great dedication and commitment to her. I’ve seen the love you have for her. And I’m thinking, “She must really be something.” And I’m right about that.

We were all together around Jerry’s bed Thursday night and I was asked to read Proverbs 31. Honestly, I thought, that’s probably a good idea. OK, yeah, a woman of noble character, it makes sense. I really wanted to read Psalm 139, which Becky suggested later. I really, really wanted to read from Isaiah 46, which I managed to squeeze in later. But, yeah, Proverbs 31, why not?

And I started reading. With Bill. And Becky and Ted. And Jan. And Amanda. A few others. With all the ones who know Jerry best and love Jerry most.

“A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value.”

And as I read, I was moved.

“She gets up while it is still dark; she provides food for her family and portions for her servant girls. She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks.”

I was moved by the reactions and the responses  from those in the room to the faithful words of Scripture that so perfectly described this faithful woman of God. It was indescribably special.

“She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy. When it snows, she has no fear for her household; for all of them are clothed in scarlet. Her husband is respected at the city gate where he takes his seat among the elders of the land. She is clothed with strength and dignity; she speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue. She watches over the affairs of her household and does not eat the bread of idleness.”

I felt like this passage was connecting everybody in the room to Jerry, through God, and to one another. We were united by these faithful words to Jerry and to God and to one another. God was doing something really extraordinary in the reading of his Word. It was sacred. It was holy.

“Her children arise and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”

When I finished reading, I felt like I knew Jerry Humble. I knew her. This is Jerry. To everybody who knows her, Jerry truly reflected the glory of God. Jerry revealed God to all her family and friends. She showed them God. And I felt like on Thursday night, our God had turned the tables. God revealed Jerry to me. Through Holy Scripture, God showed me Jerry. And now I know her.

Jerry was a good woman. Everybody who knew her will testify to that. We thank God today for the lessons in kindness and generosity he taught us through Jerry. We thank God today for the way he revealed himself to us through Jerry’s sacrificial nature, her forever giving nature. We thank God for showing us through Jerry how to be strong in the face of sickness, how to persevere when things become difficult, how to keep going when things get tough. Oh, yeah, she was a good woman. We’d all be hard pressed to think of anyone as good as Jerry.

But, praise God, Jerry didn’t put her faith in her own goodness. She did not trust in her own good deeds or exemplary life. Jerry Humble put her faith in God. She put her trust in God. So for Jerry, and for us, death has no sting. Death has no victory. In fact, death is actually swallowed up in the victory of our God in Christ.

“In that day we will say, ‘Surely this is our God; we trusted in him, and he saved us. This is the Lord, we trusted in him; let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation!'” ~Isaiah 25:9

May our gracious God bless Jerry’s sweet family with his merciful comfort and peace. May he grant them joy and strength. And may we be forever grateful for the divine gift of knowing this beautiful daughter of heaven.

Peace,

Allan

Do We Have a History?

March 4, 2013 / / 2 Comments

“Every renewal of the church, every great age in its history, has been grounded on a renewed reading of history.” ~Justo Gonzalez

You know the familiar quotes and the wisdom behind them: Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it; Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves so that we can better face the future.

We’re taking the advice to heart with our current Sunday morning adult Bible class series here at Central. Our curiculum is based on Gary Holloway and Doug Foster’s book “Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ.” With this book as our guide, we’re considering our past, contemplating its relationship to Scripture, and having conversation about the paths ahead. The hope is that we can raise our “historical spiritual consciousness” by gaining a better understanding of how our faith and our churches have been shaped by inside and outside forces we may have never even considered.

In doing so, our aim is to collectively come to a better understanding of the vision and the call that resulted in the beginning of the American Restoration Movement, of which Churches of Christ are a part. They had a dream, right? There’s a reason Stone and Campbell and those founding fathers left their churches to begin our movement, right? Well, what in the world was it? What was so compelling that they left their own faith traditions and family stories?

Secondly, we want to see just where, why, and how we drifted so far away from that initial dream. What happened? What were the influences that got us off track? What role did culture play? History? The American Revolution? The Civil War?

Next, we need to determine if those original dreams and vision were right. Were those ideals on which our movement was founded faithful to the Gospel and to God’s mission for his Church? And, if so, how do we recover the best parts of those ideals for Central today? How do we reclaim the best parts of the Restoration heritage in our local context and setting, time and place?

We started yesterday by discussing the things that make the Churches of Christ different from the rest. What sets us apart? What makes us unique? The response from our class — a diverse group of people who range in age from late 20s to late 70s, some CofC lifers and a couple of people who were just baptized two months ago — was fairly typical. We ran down the list pretty fast: acappella worship, weekly communion, autonomous congregations led by a plurality of elders, believer’s baptism by full immersion, limited role for women, and a high regard for the authority of the Bible and personal knowledge of the Scriptures. After that came the slogans: Speak where the Bible speaks and be silent where the Bible is silent; We do Bible things in Bible ways and call Bible things by Bible names; etc., And then came a little honesty: Somebody mentioned that we’re perceived as thinking we’re the only ones going to heaven, and one of our brand new Christians confessed rather sheepishly that her mom had always told her the Church of Christ was a cult.

For the most part, these distinctives are dearly held by those of us in the Churches of Christ. For a lot of us, these are red flag issues. It’s emotional. Just mention a buzz word or a key phrase related to any one of these things around most of us and you’ll receive an impassioned plea touting the merits of such a practice or belief. Or a fight.

What we learn when we look at church history is that those things are not that unique to us. We didn’t come up with this stuff. It was all handed down to us by the Christians who went before. Martin Luther is the one who pushed for the authority of Scripture alone. John Calvin is the one who caused us to pay more attention to the sovereignty of God. The “anabaptists” of that same era were persecuted and mercilessly killed for their move to believer’s baptism by full immersion. John Knox and the Presbyterians pushed for the autonomy of local congregations led by a plurality of presbyters, or elders.

Any of that sound familiar?

Would it surprise you to learn that a whole mess of these faithful Christians came to America in the 18th century from Germany and Switzerland and Geneva and England and Scotland and brought their peculiar Christian beliefs and practices with them? And that Barton Stone and Alexander Campbell were among them?

We can find traces of us, Churches of Christ, in almost every strand of Christianity. They are our spiritual ancestors, too. They faithfully did the best with what they had at the time and diligently moved the Gospel story forward. We are not the first Christians. Or the only Christians. And we won’t be the last.

Our God is faithful; and very, very good.

Peace,

Allan

Stuck Truck

February 27, 2013 / / 1 Comment

I picked Greg up at about 1:00 yesterday so we could both come up here to the church building for a few hours and get some work done. The main roads between Greg’s house and mine — Bell, 45th, Hillside — were, for the most part, cleared. But the residential streets were all still very tricky. A near-record 19-inches of snow doesn’t just go away in a couple of hours, even in the sunshine and temperatures in the upper 30s. I slowed down to a crawl in the middle of his street so he could jump in as I went by and, dodging stranded vehicles among ten-foot walls of plowed snow, we made it to the church parking lot in pretty good shape.

It was on the way out of the church parking where we got in trouble.

For a couple of guys in a really big truck with a bunch of snow around, a three-foot drift in front of the office doors looked really inviting.  But we weren’t totally certain the truck could make it through. So we eyed the smaller 18-inch drift in the circle drive. Yes, we can get through that.

And we almost did.

We “high-centered” it, according to the terminology used in the warnings I had received from Scott and John Todd as the blizzard approached Sunday night. I was only about six inches away from getting through. But I was stuck. While Greg dug around the church flower beds for some garden mulch and sticks to put under the tires for traction, Mark came out of his office with a shovel. And we dug out. Mark and Greg were laughing; I was upset I couldn’t make it all the way through the snow drift. But now we were running late to pick Whitney up from work. So Greg got in and — good gravy!!! — I proceeded to back right into another snow drift not ten feet away from where we were! Mark hadn’t even walked back to his car to lock up the shovel. This second drift wasn’t even twelve inches, I don’t think. But we were stuck. Again.

This time, while I dug out, Greg snapped a few pictures on his cell phone. And the one you see here wound up on the home page of our church website last night under the heading “Breaking News” and the caption “Our preacher from Dallas took his chances with the snow… Anybody have a shovel?”

I saw it early this morning. Nice, Hannah.

The parking lots are still a mess here, the east side of our building is still packed in ice, and 15th Street isn’t good. So we’re cancelling Bible classes and Wacky Wednesday and our youth group Huddles and Muddles for tonight. Everything should be scraped clean and dry for Sunday morning. But just in case, I’m packing a shovel in the back of my truck.

Peace,

Allan

New Creation Reality

February 7, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“From now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, new creation! The old has gone, the new has come!” ~2 Corinthians 5:16-17

We’ve absolutely got to change the way we look at things. It’s so much bigger than we think.

Christianity is not the statement that God exists and sent Jesus to the earth to save us and, because of that, now makes demands of us. The New Testament is not a systematic approach to ethics or a rational outline of morality. Scripture is not a book of rules that inform us of how we should act in this circumstance or in that situation. Jesus did not come to this earth to bring a new ethic or a new set of morals. Jesus came here to bring us a brand new reality!

If anyone is in Christ… new creation! (The two words “he is” don’t appear in the original Greek text.) In Christ, it’s just “new creation!” Period. Or exclamation point, I suppose. New creation! Everything’s new. All of creation is brand new. Everything looks new. Everything is reinterpreted. Jesus is not an add-on to the story; he IS the story! Jesus is not the missing piece to the puzzle; he is the puzzle! And the box it came in! And the card table and the chairs and the fire in the fireplace! That’s the reality. God through Christ is redeeming this planet, he’s restoring all of creation, and so he rightfully claims every part of us. Everything you do, everything you say, everything you think. From the moment you wake up until the minute you go to sleep, God claims all of it in Jesus. His perfect will is that every bit of it is holy. So we don’t belong to ourselves. Every second of our time and every square inch of our bodies belong to the Creator of Heaven and Earth.

It’s bigger than we think.

When you put on Christ in baptism, when you accept God’s will for your life to be holy and sanctified and exactly like him, everything’s new. It’s panoramic. It’s all inclusive. It’s rich and deep, it gets in to every crack and crevice of your existence. It all belongs to God and he’s claiming it. There’s no room for other gods, there’s no place for selfish behavior, there’s no time to waste in worldly pursuits. There’s no need for anything else.

Christianity is not a verse for this and a passage for that. It’s not. What am I supposed to do in this business situation? What should I say about this family crisis? When I’m confronted with this, how do I act? What are my obligations in this circumstance? Well, let’s go look in the Bible…

I’m sorry, there’s not a verse for everything. You can’t go book, chapter, verse on a whole lot of things. But I don’t want a verse to determine my conduct situation by situation. I want the reality of the new creation. I want the reality of God’s claim on my life in Jesus Christ to be pushed into the room and dominate everything I do and everything I say and everything I think about. It has to. It has to be at the very center of my being and the very reason for my life.

“It is God’s will that you should be sanctified.” ~1 Thessalonians 4:3

I want to be completely wrapped up in God’s claim on my life. I want to be totally dependent on Jesus for my salvation. I want to be thoroughly led by the Spirit inside me to sanctification and holiness. It’s bigger than we think. And I want it.

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

So, our children’s minister here at Central, Mary McNeill, finally had her baby, fifteen days past her due date and and fourteen days past the last date chosen in our office pool. (Congratulations, Connie!) Mary and Todd had decided not to find out beforehand if this fourth child was a boy or a girl, which only added to the considerable interest and anticipation surrounding the whole thing. When we learned that the baby was born yesterday afternoon at just before 4:00, the curiosity became almost unbearable. When 5:30 rolled around and I still didn’t know the gender of this latest little McNeill, I decided to text Mary. After all, I’d been receiving calls and texts all day asking me about the baby. Plus, I’d have to announce the news to our Sneed Hall Bible Class at 7:00. I needed to know. Here’s the whole conversation:

“I’m going to start sending tons of people straight to your hospital room if I don’t get some baby information. STAT!!!”

“Baby born at 3:49, 7lbs. 6oz., 19 inches long. Will tell you the name after my kids get here.”

“Congratulations. Boy or girl? You’re killing me.”

“I can’t tell you until my kids get here and see. They didn’t want us to tell them over the phone, they wanted to find out for themselves.”

“Again, congratulations. I’m not sure what your kids have to do with me. Or why you won’t tell the one person on this earth you know has no facebook, no facetime, no twitter, no skype, no instagram, and no possible other way to communicate with anybody other than a really slow text. Girl, right?”

“Because the man with the least amount of technology also has the biggest mouth.”

“Will I find out before church?”

“Yes, probably in the next 15-25 minutes.”

“Never mind. I’ve lost interest.”

The news we wanted came a few minutes later. Ava Grace (I knew it was a girl!) came into the world, into the McNeill family, and in to the hearts of her Central church family as a perfect little gift from our Father above. She’s beautiful. And she’s a tremendous blessing. Congratulations to Todd and Mary, Kathryn and Ethan and Lauryl. We join you in thanking God for the gift of this precious child. And we can’t wait to see what our faithful Lord does with her and in her to his eternal glory and praise.

Peace,

Allan

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