The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: Central Church Family (Page 50 of 54)

The Hold

January 4, 2012 / / 0 Comments

There’s a Season Three episode of Seinfeld in which Jerry and Elaine are attempting to pick up a rental car. Jerry has made a reservation for a mid-size and the lady behind the counter informs him that they don’t have a mid-size available at the moment.

Jerry says, “I don’t understand; I made a reservation. Do you have my reservation?”

“Yes, we do,” she answers. “But, unfortunately, we ran out of cars.”

Now Jerry’s really confused. And a little agitated. “But the reservation keeps the car here! That’s why you have the reservation!”

“I know why we have reservations.”

“I don’t think you do. If you did, I’d have a car. See, you know how to take the reservation. You just don’t know how to hold the reservation. And that’s really the most important part of the reservation: the hold.”

“…an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade — kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power.” ~1 Peter 1:4-5

The promise of eternal life is guaranteed and kept — held! — by the power of God for his children. And that guarantee inspires us. It moves us. It drives us.

Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, our God has made a reservation in heaven. And the treasures of heaven that are being held for us can never be taken away. They can’t rot or disappear. Nothing can ruin it. It can’t be cheapened or stained in any way. It’s guarded. It’s shielded. It’s protected by God’s power. We will never walk up to the counter and be disappointed because God didn’t know how to “hold.”

What a relief! What great assurance! How liberating! What a blessing to realize we are not kept by our own power. Our eternal destiny does not depend on our own abilities which do disappoint or our own merits which do come up short. We are kept — held! — by the power of the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth.

In this, as Peter writes, we greatly rejoice.

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

I wanted to share a few snow pictures with you, especially if you’re reading this from somewhere outside our greater Amarillo area. It seems the Blizzard Warning on the 19th was six days early. We got just under seven inches of snow on Christmas Day and it was marvelous.

It was still coming down hard when we left our lunch at Steve and Connie’s to head back to town. The Woods live just west of town and we were warned that when they close I-40, they do it at Soncy Road. So we grabbed a handful of Connie’s fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies and followed Craig and Donna back to the highway.

Sunday afternoon, Greg and Mean Jean and I took our kids (all of his, one of mine) and the McNeil urchins out to MediPark Hill for some sledding. They call it MediPark Hill; I think it’s actually just a huge drainage ditch. First time sledding for me. Ever. Valerie accompanied me on the adventure while the other three women in my house stayed inside. High and dry. It’s a good thing that MediPark Hill is right in the middle of the hospital district. I was having to walk up and sled down while, at the same time, dodging Josh’s Kamikaze attacks from the side and Ethan’s slushballs aimed at my earhole. Mark my words: You little guys will get yours!

Here’s a shot of our new backyard on Roxton covered in snow:

We’ve had right at nine-and-a-half inches of snow so far this season. But since Christmas Day, we’ve been mostly sunny and in the 50s and 60s. If this is winter in Amarillo, it’s not nearly as bad as all of you made it out to be.

Peace,

Allan

Speak To One Another

December 19, 2011 / / 1 Comment

“Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.” ~Ephesians 5:19
“There are different kinds of gifts… given for the common good.” ~1 Corinthians 12:4-7

There are times within the context of congregational worship for us to be edified by others. To be lifted up and encouraged by the singing of others. To be taught, to be inspired, to be challenged by the songs of others. There are times when the God-given abilities of one or two of his children should be used in a congregational setting to benefit the entire church body. We do it all the time in Bible readings, in prayer, in preaching, in worship leading, in teaching, and in making talks at the Lord’s Table. But we in our Church of Christ heritage have generally steered clear of that in our singing.

We have always upheld very strongly the concept of a congregational chorus. No choir. No robes. No select group of people standing up in front of the church and singing. Traditionally, that’s been our stand. Our idea is that everybody participates in the worship of God. We’re not gathered to be spectators; we’re here to worship. I, too, applaud that reasoning and support the theology behind it. However, traditionally, (as long as I can remember, and longer) we’ve taken the idea so far as to deny the exercise of God-given talents in God-ordained ways.

We’ve said ‘no’ to all choirs in our congregational settings. We’ve rejected the idea of quartets or duets. We won’t even have a discussion about solos. No one is to sing — ever! — in a congregational worship setting unless everybody is invited to sing. Whether it’s two dozen people in a choir or a trio of three, nobody can sing in church unless the whole church is singing. Traditionally, that’s been our view. If it’s not been our view, it’s certainly been our practice. And that position cannot be defended anywhere in our Scriptures.

If you’re banning choirs or forbidding the use of duets or solos in your church on Sunday mornings, you can’t use the Bible to justify it.

Regarding spiritual gifts such as singing, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians that they are to “edify the church” (14:4). The Christians in Corinth are to be careful with the exercise of their gifts, keeping in mind the number one objective is “so that the church may be edified” (14:5). The apostle claims we should “excel in gifts that build up the church” (14:12) and refrain from practicing things by which “the other man is not edified” (14:17).

What could be more lovely than a young woman who’s been given an amazing voice by our Father using that voice to glorify him and inspire the church? What could be more appropriate than a group of several dozen Christians teaching and encouraging the congregation through their gift of song?

That man was given that talent by our Creator; let him use it to praise God! Let him use it to minister! And let us be ministered to. Let us listen and enjoy. Let the song take us to the throne of God. Let it inspire us to live better lives. Let it remind us of what our Father has done in our lives and in his world. Allow the man with the gift to sacrifice it to God for the sake of God’s glory and for the benefit of the church. Allow us to affirm the goodness of that gift and the greatness of the One who gives it by listening, by appreciating, by applauding the free use of that gift.

We are so blessed here at Central to be led by a group of shepherds who allow and even encourage a great variety of expressions of praise to God. We’re diverse in the ways we encourage one another in our assemblies. When we’re together, we reach for the fullest manifestation of the gifts of God’s Spirit.

A couple of weeks ago, it was a trio during our communion time. Here in a couple of weeks it’ll be a duet as we close. Yesterday it was Kevin, Johnny, Kelley, and Dick in a quartet getting us ready for the sermon. They sang a medley of songs that included “O Holy Night,” “Mary, Did You Know?” and “I Am” to prepare us for the lesson about partnering with God in the mighty salvation deeds he initiated at that little stable in Bethlehem.

And it was fabulous. Spiritually stimulating. Wonderful.

Now, don’t you dare come at me with “But, that might be perceived as entertainment” or “Aren’t you elevating one group of people over another?” Don’t say, “You’re turning it into a show or a performance.”

To quote Paul again from 1 Corinthians: “Brothers, stop thinking like children!” (14:20)

There need to be planned times in our assemblies to “just listen” to song. The same ways we “just listen” to preaching and praying and Bible reading.” Songs are strong. Music has the power to move people, to motivate and inspire, to encourage and comfort. There need to be times when a brother or sister with God-given abilities can use those abilities in a public way to bring glory to the Father and encourage the church. We need to be blown away every now and then by the talents God’s given us.

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

Speaking of singing to one another, Carrie-Anne and I were suprised last night at our new house by a gaggle of Christmas carolers from our Central Youth Group. It seems those gathered at Tanner’s house decided to take the party on the road and wound up stopping by half a dozen houses to sing Christmas songs. We were thoroughly honored. And duly impressed. Not so much with Tanner’s Christmas tie and sweater or Spencer’s reindeer solo or Barrett’s improvised falsetto at the end of “Silent Night.” More so with the idea of sharing their gifts of song and fellowship with others.

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

I have no idea what “Blizzard Warning” means. But we’re in the middle of one right now. No snow yet. But the National Weather Service says it’s coming.

On Friday they issued a “Blizzard Watch” for Monday and Tuesday. So we’ve been on alert. Yesterday while Carley and I were stirring paint together in the dining room, the Police song on our classic rock station was interrupted by the harsh tones of a National Weather Service alert. You know, that noise always makes me think thunderstorm or tornado watch. That was my first reaction. But the computerized voice alerted us that the blizzard watch had been canceled. Carley and I looked at each other with a little bit of disappointment. But the voice went on to let us know that a blizzard warning had now been issued for our parts of Randall and Potter Counties in the panhandle.

We’re expecting 12-16 inches of snow over the next 24 hours. North winds gusting to 45-50 miles per hour. Temperatures in the 20s. Whiteout conditions. Visibilities down to nothing. Four and five foot drifts.

I have no idea what that’s going to look like. I don’t know what it might to do to the city here. I’ve never experienced anything even close to this. But we’re excited about it. It’s brand new for us. So our attitude at Stanglin Manor right now is “Bring it.”

Peace,

Allan

Joy at the Table

November 21, 2011 / / 1 Comment

The Lord’s Supper is the central, communal, corporate act of God’s Church. Instituted by our Savior, passed on by the apostles, and practiced for centuries by God’s people, our communion meal has historically served as the primary reason for Christian gathering and the climax of the Christian assembly. It’s the high point. The pinnacle.

As most of you know by now, my great desire is to see the Lord’s Supper returned in our churches to the rightful place of prominence it has always enjoyed until recently. In our Church of Christ assemblies, our communion time needs to be the highlight. And it’s not. Not always.

And it won’t be — not consistently, anyway — until we return the joy.

When presenting the case for expressions of joy and gladness and celebrations of happiness during our Lord’s Meal, I’m often reminded by well-meaning brothers and sisters that our time at the table is meant for remembering the death of Jesus. It’s inappropriate, they say, to rejoice when thinking about death. Our time at the table is for somber introspection and solemn reflection, not conversation and singing and grinning. Certainly not laughter.

First, I would say our Sunday communion has much, much more to do with the Resurrection than with the Crucifixion. Much more. I would suggest the first Christians didn’t really think about Jesus’ death during their Sunday meals. They were too overcome by the fact that the Christ really was alive. That was the focus of communion.

But if a person insists that the communion meal is about remembering the death — and people will do this by quoting 1 Corinthians 11:26: “proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.” — we’re on solid ground to celebrate in that case, too.

For the writers of Scripture, the death of Jesus was and is good news. It’s great news! And it is more than appropriate at the table of Christ  to express the pleasure and the joy that are caused by his death. To “proclaim” means to announce publicly and clearly what has happened and what it means eternally. It’s not to be whispered through cupped hands into the ears of a just a few disciples in the room. The good news is to be shouted with joy.

The Eucharist (thanksgiving, right?) is the perfect time and place, not to mention the most practical form, for showing and confessing that the death of Jesus is totally different from a natural event or a criminal act or some tragic loss. The death of Jesus gives us no reason to accuse or moan or lament or complain.

Those celebrating the Lord’s Supper know the pain and the shame, the horror and scandal, of Christ’s death. However, we rejoice in the crucifixion and praise the slaughtered Lamb because God has raised him from the dead and accepted his intercession on our behalf. In Paul’s theology and in the message of John, Hebrews, 1 Peter, and Revelation, the Crucified One is always the living and reigning Christ. The One who rules the Church and the world and who will come again is the crucified Christ.

We have abundant reason to rejoice in Christ’s death and praise the crucified yet living Lamb.

And until we recapture that sense of great joy around our living Lord’s table, we will continue to commemorate a solemn service instead of a celebratory feast. It will remain a weekly task to be performed instead of a community meal to be enjoyed. And it will stay in the background. It won’t ever rise past the preacher or the music in terms of proper position and prominence in our Sunday assemblies.

What if our Sunday communion services sounded and felt more like what you’re going to experience around your dining room table this coming Thusday? What if, when we dine with our risen Lord on Sundays, joy were the prevailing mood?

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

More than $7,500 raised for Madison Knebusch and her family at yesterday’s spaghetti lunch. Praise God!

Bad news received just this afternoon regarding the PET scan today on Madison’s right lung. Another round of chemotherapy to begin later this week.

“Yet I will rejoice in the Lord.” ~Habakkuk 3:18

We love you, Madison and Levi and Shannon, Britton, Londen, Gracyn, and Hudson. Our hearts are breaking with yours as you endure this horrible trial. We ache for you and with you. And all of us want so desperately to do something to help. We want so badly to help. And, honestly, sometimes we don’t even know what to say. We don’t have the words. Sometimes we say dumb things and do dumb things out of a deep love for you that is compelling us to try anything to provide you with encouragement and comfort. Please be patient with us and forgive us.

Please know how much we love you.

We trust in our loving Father. We ask for increased faith. And we continually lift you up to our mighty God for his divine purposes.

Grace & Peace,

Allan

Immersed in Prayer

November 17, 2011 / / 2 Comments

I’m so blessed to be here at Central. And so privileged to be serving with a group of church elders who rely so much on our heavenly Father and so little on themselves. What a joy!

The shepherds here at Central are an accomplished bunch. Each of them has enjoyed many levels of success in business, in society, in family, and in church life. I’m serving with men who are retired educators, retired TXDOT roadworkers, and retired CPS social workers. Our elders include a dentist, an opthalmologist, and a pharmaceutical salesman who used to play college football and still looks like he could line up against Demarcus Ware. We’ve got a power plant engineer, an oil and gas engineer who’s achieved at the highest levels of the international energy industry, and a man who’s constructed half the big buildings in Amarillo. There’s a commercial real estate leader, a hospice administrator, and a financial planner. These are competent men. Full of brains and brawn, experts in their fields, offices full of awards and trophies and medals. Well respected leaders of commerce and service and trade. Big thinkers, excellent communicators, magnetic personalities.

And you wouldn’t know any of it by walking into one of our elders meetings.

Because they spend so much time praying.

They don’t rely on their own achievements or gifts. They don’t count on their own cunning or craft. They depend wholly on God. Constantly. Consistently.

Three quick examples that have blown me away recently:

Two weeks ago we were in the middle of a question regarding an issue — a policy, really — that had been implemented some time ago but had been put on hold by the preacher search. Two of our shepherds who stood to benefit the most from re-starting the policy had brought it up and requested that we move forward. Following some very brief discussion, it was decided unanimously to get it going again. To which one of those two elders said, “Hey, I really appreciate the vote; thank you so much for the decision. But, can we not implement it just yet? Can we take the next two weeks and just commit to praying about this? I want to make sure this is really God’s will and not just a decision we’ve made tonight based on anything else. Let’s all promise to pray about this for two weeks and then come together on it one more time. If, after two weeks of prayer, nothing’s changed, then let’s move forward with our God’s blessing.”

Last night we were in the middle of our budget presentation. It’s a two-million-dollar annual budget. Lots of numbers. Lots of decisions. Lots of ministries and buildings and salaries and maintenance and outreach. Lots of detail. And right in the middle of it, one of our shepherds stopped the whole meeting down. “Hey, guys, we’ve really been blessed here by our God. Over 90% of the pledges for our capital campaign, more than 200-thousand dollars in extra giving for extra ministries that aren’t even in our budget, debt-free with emergency money in reserve. Can we just stop for a minute or two and thank our Father?”

And we did. We stopped everything, put our arms around each other, and prayed. This elder confessed his lack of faith, told God in front of all of us that there was a time when he never would have imagined these kinds of blessings for Central. He begged for forgiveness and then poured out his heart and guts in praise and thanksgiving to the faithful Giver of all good gifts.

And then again, at the end of last night’s meeting, another prayer. Of course. It’s what these guys do. “Lord, empower us and enable us to walk with people, to help people and serve people, who won’t serve us back. To walk with people who may not even love us back.”

Whoa.

My spirit is refreshed to be among so many who won’t hardly make a move without immersing it in prayer. I am re-energized by this faithful focus on the One who is the source of all energy. I’m thrilled with the commitment all around me to be in constant communication with the Originator of all joy. And I’m confident and bold, full of courage and strength, as we all depend so completely on the Father who promises to work everything out to his glory and praise.

Preachers, I beg you to pray. Elders, I beg you to immerse your meetings in prayer. Teachers, small group leaders, deacons and ministry leaders and committee chairs, drown your meetings in prayer. There’s not another thing you can do that can produce more peace and courage around the table than to confess to God in the presence of one another that he alone is the instigator and finisher of all the great works of the Kingdom of Heaven.

Peace,

Allan

At That Time…

November 15, 2011 / / 0 Comments

“At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth…” ~Matthew 11:25

The words at the beginning of this passage in Matthew that lead directly to our Lord’s little prayer of thanksgiving refer to that time in Jesus’ life when he’s having to answer questions about his mission and denounce unrepentant cities. John the Baptist is openly questioning the Messiahship of Jesus. His closest family and friends in the fishing villages around Galilee are ignoring his message.

How do you think all this rejection made Jesus feel? How do you think Jesus was doing at that time?

With one word, how would you describe your current situation? Where are you right now? In one word, what’s going on with you at this time?

Content? Frustrated? Happy? Angry? Confused? Overwhelmed? Hectic? Depressed? Worried? Confident? Scared?

Jesus seems pretty confident that his heavenly Father is behind these perceived setbacks and that these disappointments are actually a part of God’s holy will. And he gives thanks. Jesus gives thanks for the problems he’s encountering and praises God for working in them to spread the Word and advance the Kingdom.

The powerful and unstoppable energies of the Kingdom of God are always moving, always growing, always surging just beneath the surface. All around us. Huge rivers of prayer and faith and hope and praise and forgiveness and salvation and rescue and holiness flow right by us every day. In every single nook and cranny, hidden in the shadows, overlooked in the crowds, drowned out sometimes by the noise, are the eternal works of our gracious Redeemer.

So, like our Lord, we give thanks. At that time. At this time. We give thanks.

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

Two Sundays ago Kevin Schaffer, our marvelously talented worship minister, stopped us down right in the middle of song to correct our clapping. We were singing “King of Kings.” You know how it goes: King of kings and Lord of lords, glory (CLAP!) Hallelujah. And our congregation was butchering the clapping. We were clapping before the word, during the word, after the word; it was a mess. Near the end of the first stanza, Kevin had had enough and he stopped us.

“We are going to learn how to clap. And we’re going to start with just one. Just one clap. Do it with me…”

And he proceeded to teach us and show us how to clap. It worked really well. Kevin was very patient with us and we all had a good laugh. After we had practiced together for a few minutes, it actually sounded pretty good the second time around. There’s hope here at Central.

I was reminded of that episode by a blog post written by Jon Acuff. It’s called “Clapping Our Hands: A Step-By-Step Guide to the Death of Rhythm.” A dear friend of mine forwarded it to me this morning. Jon hilariously nails the reasons our churches have a hard time clapping during congregational singing and gets inside the minds of the congregants to show us what everybody’s really thinking as the song begins, why the clapping is all over the place, and why it dies out completely before the song’s even over. It’s a quick, light, funny read about why our church clapping sounds like “somebody lit a box of hand firecrackers.” Click here to read it. And try to click on the downbeat, not the upbeat.

Peace,

Allan

Counter Cultural Jesus

November 11, 2011 / / 3 Comments

Everything about our Savior flies right in the face of what the culture says is important. The values our culture upholds are counter to everything Jesus stands for. The ideas and philosophies our culture exalts are actually opposed to our Christ and his Kingdom.

Our culture says fight for our freedoms and assert your rights; Jesus willingly gave up his rights and his freedoms for the sake of others. The culture says gain more and more wealth and status and power; Jesus left behind all the wealth and status and power he enjoyed at the right hand of the Father to serve others. Culture says defend yourself at all costs, don’t let anybody mistreat you; Jesus walked purposefully into his own torture and to the cross to die. Culture works hard to establish and maintain boundaries between people of different colors, different languages, different backgrounds and zip codes and tax brackets; Jesus invites all the people of every nation, tribe, and tongue to enjoy a common feast at his one table.

Jesus is completely counter-cultural.

I asked our Wednesday night Bible class this week in what ways the Central church is counter cultural, in what ways do we go against what society says is the proper thing to do? One of the first things somebody shouted out was that we feed the poor, we take care of the needy.

But that’s not counter cultural. Our society applauds those who feed the poor. The popular media produce slick feature stories for mass consumption about people who take care of the needy. Fancy buildings are named after those who minister to the less fortunate.

Somebody else said we proclaim God, we believe in God and profess his name. No, that’s not counter cultural, either. Not at all. This society absolutely upholds a belief in God as fundamental. Basic. I asked if any of the 75-80 people in the room had ever even met anybody who claimed there was no God. Only one woman raised her hand. Believing in God is a very cultural thing here. Very cultural.

The conversation went on and on, and I could write several pages about it. The bottom line is that some of the things we’re so proud of as disciples of our radical Lord don’t hardly make any ripples at all in our society. They don’t stick out as different from the crowd. We’re doing what everybody else is doing; we’re just attaching Jesus’ holy name to it.

We can do better. We can do more.

I mean, we’re still, for the most part, segregating our church body from the ones we’re blessing with food and monetary assistance. Some of us are in a huge multi-million dollar building with coffee bars and cushioned chairs and some of us are crammed in a crowded house across the street. We still betray our prejudices when our conversations are sprinkled with “us” and “them.” Some of us are watching Fox News four and five hours a day and listening to political talk radio, filling our hearts and our souls with angry words and malicious thoughts that oppose the very ideals of love and joy and peace for which our Lord died.

In 413 AD, Augustine wrote in “City of God” that Christians were villified by society because they were so different from what the culture expected. You can go back and read for yourself how the earliest Christians were criticized by the culture: Christians are bad citizens; Christians don’t march; they don’t fight; they don’t build; they don’t help govern; Christians are mixing the classes and races at common meals in common living quarters; they’re destroying the social structures of the society; they’re not patriotic; they’re not loyal to the Empire; they say we are to serve one God instead of the State; they advocate forgiveness toward our nation’s enemies.

Those are the teachings of the Church. Those are the apostolic interpretations of Scripture. And those teachings and that way of life is completely counter to the ways and powers and authorities of this world. It got Christians in trouble back then. That kind of living gets Christians in trouble today. Right here in Amarillo.

(When your Bible class is taking prayer requests this coming Sunday morning, try requesting that we pray together for the Iraqi and Afghanistani soldiers, that God would protect them and return them safely to their families. See where that’ll get you.)

We can do better. We can do more.

Someone Wednesday night pointed out that Central decided a dozen years ago to stay right where we are in this downtown location instead of moving away to a nicer, more upscale neighborhood on the outer margins of the city borders. Ah, yes. Very counter cultural.

Culture looks at deteriorating property values and changing demographics and says, “Get out while you can.” Culture sees declining church attendance and lower contribution numbers and says, “You’ve gotta leave.”

Central saw the very same things and said, instead, “We’ve gotta stay.” Central made the very difficult choice to eschew financial and geographical security, to put off any cares and concerns about attendance and buildings and cash, to fight through very real fears and anxieties of the unknown in order to fully embrace Christ’s mission in this zip code.

I praise God for that. Amen.

And I look forward to that great day when all the barriers have been destroyed here on earth just as they are in heaven. I long for that day when we truly worship our one God together as his children, when we truly fellowship together around that one table. Sooner, rather than later. Right here at Central. A clearly counter cultural vision that would get us in trouble with society. It would cause ripples. It would be noticed. It would be criticized. And it would bring glory and honor to our eternal Father.

We can do more. We can do better.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑