The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Church (Page 2 of 60)

In Christ Alone

June 12, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Last night was our annual GCR night at the Midland RockHounds game. More than 280 of us enjoyed the perfect weather, all-you-can-eat dinner and snacks, and a tightly-played pitchers duel. Cory and our worship team sang the national anthem, Bob Judkins threw out the first pitch, and Cullen Landry shattered all the stadium’s speakers with his exuberant “Play Ball!” A dozen of our kids participated in the between-innings promotional events, including our own Doug Cochran who won a 50-dollar HEB gift card for rolling around the dirt in front of the first base dugout in a giant tortilla. We celebrated Rex Henderson’s 70th birthday, ate one or two too many hotdogs, and marveled at how the RockHounds P.A. guy sounds exactly like our VBS mascot, Davy Wavy.

 

 

The highlight of the whole evening for me was getting to hold  Griffin McGraw for about an inning. This little guy was only born last Thursday–less than a week ago!–and I got to hold him while he took in his very first baseball game! I think he understands the bases and foul balls and the concept of three outs. But his eyes glazed over when I tried to explain balks and the infield fly rule.

Several people asked if I was practicing for our two grandsons who are going to be born in the next couple of weeks. If “practicing” means handing the baby back to his mom the moment the diaper gets warm, then yes.

 

 

 

 

You can click on these thumbnails to get the full size pictures. Thanks to Joey Gennusa and the RockHounds for another terrific night at the ballpark!

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I’ve been clear this week in this space in my conviction that it is wrong to say your kind of church is God’s true church and demand that others belong to your kind of church to find the truth. It’s wrong to criticize other churches because they do things differently. That is sectarian denominationalism and it’s a perversion of the Gospel of Jesus. We cannot ever try to make people join a specific group in order to be acceptable to God.

However, don’t hear me say that I think all churches are alike. Because they’re not. Not all churches are the same; I want to be just as clear about that.

Some churches are more biblical than others. Some are more orthodox in their beliefs and practice than others. Some churches are more lively and healthy, some churches are more on God’s mission than others. Some churches are better than others. But nobody can make those judgments by looking at the name on the sign out front.

Now, I’m biased, but I believe the Golf Course Road Church of Christ is a pretty great church. We mostly uphold most of the historical Church of Christ understandings and traditions. We teach and practice believer’s baptism by immersion for the forgiveness of sin, we eat and drink the communion meal every Lord’s Day, we believe and practice the priesthood of all believers–pretty standard Church of Christ stuff. At Golf Course Road, those things are deeply held Gospel convictions. But our shepherds and ministers, our church leadership, is committed to this: if any of our CofC traditions ever come into conflict with the Gospel, the Gospel is going to win every time. We’re going to go with the Gospel all the way. Every time. We’re doing our very best, by God’s grace, to always act “in line with the truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 2:14).

At GCR, we know that some of the best ways we we’re formed and some of the more significant ways we minister are in partnership with Christians from other denominations. Our “4 Midland” worship services and service projects are so important. What an undeniable testimony to the saving and uniting power of the Gospel! Our elders and ministers eat dinner and pray with the elders and ministers from those other churches. Our unity and fellowship with them allows us to both experience and express just how big God’s Church really is. It drives us to our knees in gratitude to God for the greatness of his salvation activity throughout our city in hundreds of different ways.

We know that GCR is just one small way God is drawing people to himself. We know the Churches of Christ are just a tiny part of God’s enormous salvation plans.

We believe that God’s power saves us and his grace calls us to teach and practice our Christian understandings, to stick to our Gospel convictions, but to operate under a big tent, where all baptized believers who confess Jesus as Lord are equal brothers and sisters in Christ around our Father’s table.

So, what about our distinctives? What about our identities? Where do we get our sense of who we are?

Well, not in our groups. Not in our distinctive cultures and customs. Our identity is found where our salvation is found: in Christ alone.

“I have been crucified with Christ, and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ~Galatians 2:20

To be crucified with Christ means all your other identities are irrelevant. Race, language, color, zip code, tax bracket, nationality, church tribe–forget all that! You are not defined by the law or by any customs or traditions or circumstances that divide people. We belong to Jesus, and his life is at work in us and through us. And since the main thing about Jesus is his loving faithfulness, may the main thing about us, the main thing that defines us, is our own loving faithfulness for him and for all who confess Jesus as Lord.

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Whataburger has brought back its awesome Pico Burger, hopefully for much longer than a limited time. Finally! I indulged this tasty delight for lunch today while reading my newly-arrived Texas Monthly barbecue edition. On the way out, I picked up the first of what’s going to be 16 different collectors cups, celebrating the 75th anniversary of this iconic Texas establishment. That’s a pretty good lunch break.

Peace,

Allan

Either / Or

June 11, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Kara Alaimo, a communications professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University, has written an article that was published this week in the American Psychological Journal about kids and screen time. Based on a “meta-analysis” of 117 different studies on children younger than eleven-years-old, Alaimo shows that the more time kids spend looking at a screen, the more likely their feelings and actions don’t meet expectations for their stage of development. The more time a child spends with screens, the more likely that child is to experience and express above normal anxiety, depression, hyperactivity, and aggression. You can find the article by clicking here. 

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“I died to the law so that I might live for God.”  ~Galatians 3:19

By refusing to eat with uncircumcised Christians, the apostle Peter was saying that God’s salvation and the unity of God’s people was based on both grace and faith and circumcision and law. By refusing to worship and fellowship with Christians in other denominations, we’re saying that God’s salvation and the unity of God’s people is based on both grace and faith and interpretation and method.

It has to be one or the other; it can’t be both. This is an either/or; not a both/and.

As a way to be saved, as a way to gain righteousness, Paul writes that he gave up the law in order to live for God (Galatians 3:19). And we can’t go back. The law has been fulfilled in Christ Jesus. The law is history. We’re dead to the law so we can be alive to our God. Being saved by obeying the law and being saved by faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus are mutually exclusive things. It can’t be both. If Peter and Barnabas in Antioch or the Jewish Christians in Galatia are saying that circumcision or any part of the law plays a role in the good news of the Gospel, then they’re making a mockery of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus.

Paul knows it’s an either / or, he knows it can’t be both. If he chooses law, he must reject grace. So, he makes his choice crystal clear:

“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing.” ~Galatians 2:21

We can’t go back. Paul writes that if he goes back to trying to get right with God by means of the law, then he proves he’s a sinner (Galatians 2:18). In other words, if the law is what saves you, then look out! You’ve already broken it!

Do you see why it can’t be both? If the law is the method, then all Christians are sinners. But if the perfect faithfulness of Jesus is the means, then all Christians are righteous. And any behavior or attitude that separates groups of Christians or draws lines of acceptance or fellowship between different kinds of Christians, distorts that good news.

We are not saved by our own merits or works, we’re not saved by being in the right group; we are saved by the faith of Jesus. That was true when Peter was differentiating between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians back then, and it’s just as true today when we’re differentiating between Church of Christ Christians and Presbyterian Christians and Baptist Christians and Methodist Christians. We are all saved by the exact same thing in the exact same way, but putting our faith in God through Christ.

That means we all belong at the same table. That means we accept all Christians with a different history, different traditions, a different story to tell. And, no, it’s not easy. I’m not saying it is. It’s actually very difficult for us. It’s almost offensive. Because God’s matchless grace totally disregards our human merit, his mercy and love completely breaks down even our socially acceptable barriers and brings together very different kinds of people. That sort of unity is tough to swallow.

Jonah got ticked off at God’s grace because God showed favor to Jonah’s national enemies. The older brother refused to come to the feast because the Father had invited the runaway son. The Pharisee thanks God that he’s not like the tax collector.

But this is God’s way: he unites as he saves and he saves as he unites.

Peace,

Allan

It Can’t Be Both

June 10, 2025 / / 0 Comments

We went to Houston last weekend for Carrie-Anne’s annual follow-up at M.D. Anderson and she got another perfect report. She’s great. No signs of cancer anywhere. Perfect picture of health. The doctors and oncologists refer to Carrie-Anne’s breast cancer as “history,” something in her past. Just walking the halls of M.D. Anderson, you’re reminded that not everyone gets that outcome. And we are eternally grateful. Two more years, two more of these annual appointments, and they don’t ever want to see us again. As wonderful as they are at that place and as beautifully as we’ve been treated, we’re good with that.

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“When Peter came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he was clearly in the wrong… he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group.” ~Galatians 3:11-12

Peter is refusing to share meals with Christians who have not been circumcised. He’s drawing back and separating himself from the Gentile Christians because some of the other Jewish Christians have started to talk.

Evidently, the Jewish and Gentile Christians in Antioch were all eating together. They were all experiencing and expressing their Christian unity together at these communion meals, these fellowship feasts. They weren’t worried about the Law of Moses because they’re all one in Christ. They ate together all the time. And when Peter came to Antioch, he joined in. He’s good. He’s participating in these church meals, these symbols of Christian unity. But then these Jewish Christians from Jerusalem show up and Peter excuses himself from the table. Either the presence of these men or their message–something–shook Peter up. The text says he was afraid. And he stopped eating with the Gentile Christians. His actions were so public and so influential that even Barnabas and some others also stopped attending the meals.

What Peter is saying by his actions is that Gentile Christians are only second-class Christians. Peter and these Jews are claiming to be better Christians. They are more saved, more correct, closer to God’s will, because of their Jewish culture.

If they want to eat with Peter and the other Jewish Christians, if they want the full benefits of God’s salvation, then they have to belong to a certain group: MY group. You have to conform to OUR rules. You have to adopt OUR customs. You have to embrace OUR traditions. Peter is saying, in essence, that salvation and the unity of God’s people is based on both grace and faith and circumcision and the law.

It’s got to be one or the other; it can’t be both.

This is not just a minor disagreement over a technical theological point; this is the very heart of the Gospel. It’s not a little squabble over a biblical interpretation; this is about our identity in Christ. Peter is “not acting in line with the truth of the Gospel” (Galatians 3:14).

When I was young–3rd, 4th, 5th grade, probably–I remember having conversations with Terry Brence, a friend of mine who lived around the corner. We played together nearly every day and I remember talking to him several times about “church.” I told him on many occasions he was not going to heaven because he didn’t go to church. I also remember telling Sherry Taylor, the girl who lived across the street, that she was not going to heaven because she was not going to the right church. She didn’t go to my church.

This is the way I was raised. I could invite my friends to VBS at our church, but I couldn’t attend VBS at their churches when they invited me. It’s not the right kind of church. They don’t do things the way we do things. My parents would invite my dad’s friends from work to attend our Gospel meetings, but we wouldn’t go to their churches when they invited us to their revivals. We were withdrawing and separating. And it wasn’t just our practice; it was our vision and mission!

We were so focused on our Church of Christ distinctives. We were obsessed with what makes Churches of Christ different from everybody else. We took pride in it.

We call it a “Gospel meeting,” not a “revival.” Because “revival” is not a biblical word. Although, it is.

It’s “preacher,” not “pastor.” Because “pastors” are really “elders.” But we don’t call our elders “pastors,” either, because that’s what the denominations say.

And we are NOT a denomination! Denomination is not a biblical word! We are different from everybody else!

We baptize by immersion, we do it the right way. And, yeah, we know some denominations baptize the right way, but they do it for the wrong reasons. 

We call it an “offering,” not a “tithe.” It’s an “invitation song,” not an “altar call.”

I heard Ian Fair say one time that if we were so bent on being different from everybody else, why don’t we just put bars on all the church doors and go in and out through the windows.

Well, no, that would be silly. Just make sure you call it an “auditorium,” not a “sanctuary.” 

Our focus on our distinctives, our obsession with what separates us from the rest of the Christian world, has resulted in several generations of us referring to the Churches of Christ as “The Church.”

She was raised in The Church. Are they members of The Church?

We say “The Church” and we’re only talking about us!

We’ll admit that folks in other churches are Christians, we’ll acknowledge that they’re saved. But some of us are reluctant to call them brothers and sisters in Christ. We hesitate to fellowship with them.

That kind of thinking and talking and acting  is the very definition of drawing lines, drawing back and separating. We’re claiming to be better Christians, more saved, more correct, closer to God’s will, because of our Church of Christ culture.

If you want me to call you a brother or sister in Christ, then you have to belong to MY group. You have to conform to OUR rules, you have to adopt OUR customs, you have to embrace OUR traditions. What we’re saying is that salvation and the unity of God’s people is based both on grace and faith and interpretations and methods.

It’s got to be one or the other; it can’t be both.

Peace,

Allan

Re-Thinking What You Believe

April 15, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Happy April 15. The day of the year we realize that taxation with representation ain’t that great, either.     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We believe that Jesus is raised from the dead and is reigning right now at the right hand of God. We believe that salvation comes by no other name than Jesus. We’re very clear on the things we believe. But a lot of us have stopped talking. We haven’t stopped believing, we’ve just stopped talking. But in the Bible, believing IS talking. Why don’t we talk about Jesus with the people around us?

What’s happened? We sincerely believe all the right things. But I wonder if we also believe some wrong things. I wonder if there are some things we need to stop believing. Are there things in our heads and our hearts that we believe to be true, that really aren’t? And do these false things we believe contribute to a church culture in which we don’t talk about Jesus with others the way we used to? I think some of the false things we believe have the potential to shut us down as Gospel proclaiming followers of the risen Christ.

Allow me to present a short list of some things we need to stop believing so we can be more effective witnesses to the Good News.

We need to stop believing that the Church is in decline, that it’s getting smaller and weaker. That’s not true. We hear it, we read it, and we repeat it. But it’s just not true. Yes, the Church in America and in Texas is declining in membership and attendance. The Churches of Christ in this country are losing numbers at an alarming rate–that’s undeniable. But I wouldn’t call it smaller and weaker. I believe the Church is getting smarter and stronger.

Fewer people are going to church. But the ones who are going, generally speaking, seem to be deeply committed to our Lord and his cause. As the numbers go down, the dedicated disciples of Jesus are gearing up. They’re giving more, they’re volunteering and serving more. The Church is not getting smaller and weaker, the Church is getting leaner and meaner for the mission. We’re becoming better equipped and prepared and motivated to do what we are ordained by God to do.

Remember, this has always been our God’s preferred method. Gideon brought 32,000 men to God and said, “We’re ready to fight!” But God wouldn’t give Gideon the battle plans until he had trimmed his numbers down to 300. It was David, not Saul, who defeated Goliath. God told his kings not to count the numbers of people, not to measure the size of the armies. When the kings counted, everybody got in trouble. God’s preferred method is to use five little rolls and two fish to feed the multitudes. God likes to use a tiny mustard seed to shade all the birds.

The Church is not in decline. God is weeding us, sifting us, pruning us–he’s getting us ready for something truly spectacular in his Kingdom.

We also need to stop believing that the Church is irrelevant. We hear that the Church doesn’t know what’s going on in the world, the Church is out of touch, the Church doesn’t have a genuine impact on real people’s lives. That’s just not true. Don’t ever believe it.

The churches right now today are rebuilding Asheville, North Carolina and all those towns in the Carolinas that were devastated by Hurricane Helene. Not the government, not the Red Cross, not the insurance companies–they all left a long time ago. The churches are rebuilding those homes and restoring hope to those families. Same thing with the wildfires in California and the wildfires in the Texas panhandle. God’s Church is always first on the scene and God’s Church is always the last to leave.

Disciples of Jesus are the ones who provide free health care to the poor. God’s Church provides shelter for the homeless. Followers of Christ feed the hungry kids and furnish the transitional housing, and train the unwed mothers. God’s Church advocates for the immigrants and refugees and defends the wrongfully imprisoned. Christians build the schools in Kenya and run the clinics in Honduras.

Christians understand the physical, incarnational aspects of salvation–we always have. In the early days of the Church, the apostles healed the blind and crippled and fed the poor. In the first 150 years of American history, God’s Church established 90% of the colleges and universities and built 100% of the hospitals. Don’t let anybody ever tell you the Church is irrelevant or out of touch. It’s not true.

I’ll add three more things to this list tomorrow.

The point is that if we believe these false ideas about the Church then, yes, we can start believing that we’re hanging on to a dying idea, that our message has no power, that the world has passed us by, and that God’s not as interested in saving people as he used to be. We’ll stop talking. It’s time to re-think what we believe.

Peace,

Allan

Resurrection Community

April 2, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Not one person experienced the resurrection of Jesus alone. Nobody encountered the risen Jesus by themselves. The people who saw the empty tomb and the angels, the ones who ate dinner with Jesus that evening–they were all with their friends. Most of them, we know their names. We know their stories. We know about their relationships with one another.

The resurrection of Jesus creates togetherness. It creates community. It forms us together as one people today, just like it did then.

“Because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive together with Christ.” ~Ephesians 2:4-5

I still think the best picture of this is in Acts 2. Those first disciples who witnessed the risen Lord, those first 120 followers of Jesus who were gifted by the indwelling of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost, are living resurrection life together in community.

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the community, to the breaking of bread and to prayer… All the believers were together and had everything in community. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts.” ~ Acts 2:42-46

They didn’t have a whole lot in common other than the resurrection. But they acted like family. Every day. In each other’s homes. Loving each other. Serving each other. Ministering to one another. Taking care of each other. Eating together. Praying and singing together. They devoted themselves to the community.

The resurrection community is like a neighborhood, but it’s more personal. It’s like a family, but it’s more diverse. It can be like a football team or a civic club, but it’s much stronger. Your resurrection community, your church family, is brought together and held together by something much bigger than you. But some of you just aren’t around enough to be changed by it. Some of you–seriously–we hardly ever see you.

We need each other. None of us can do this by ourselves. It’s impossible. We were raised by Christ and with Christ to be together. I need you. And whether you admit it or not, and whether you like it or not, you need me.

You need me to love you. I need you to encourage me.

You need me to challenge you. I need you to correct me.

I need your strength when I’m tired. You need my support when you’re down.

I need your patience when I’m out. You need my joy when you don’t have any.

We all need to remind each other about the resurrection and our parts in it. We all need to be able to look around and see clearly that we’re not in this new resurrection lives by ourselves.

Peace,

Allan

Proclaiming in Community

December 15, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The New Testament shows us the Holy Spirit of God creating a brand new community of people – all people, all languages, all nations – brought to perfect unity under the lordship of the risen Jesus. On the Day of Pentecost, those filled with the Holy Spirit quote from the prophet Joel to explain what’s happening: “I will pour  out my Spirit on all people and everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off – for all whom the Lord our God will call.” ~Acts 2:38-39

The Holy Spirit breaks down barriers between people, he destroys the walls between all people, and brings us together in Christ. In Ephesians 2, it’s mainly about the hard feelings and the differences that keep Jews and Gentiles separate and divided. But those hard feelings and differences have all been demolished by God in Christ.

“In Christ Jesus, you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. He himself is our peace… [He] has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility… His purpose was to create peace… to reconcile all of us to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we all have access to the Father by one Spirit.” ~Ephesians 2:13-18

The Berlin Wall was erected by the Soviets to separate East and West Berlin. In Bethlehem, there’s a 27-foot high wall that divides the Palestinians from the Israelis. There’s a wall on the Texas border intended to keep Mexicans and Central Americans out of the United States. We know all about walls. Not all of them are physical. There are social walls and racial walls. There are gender barriers and economic barriers. We’re divided by politics and language, we’re segregated by ethnicity and education. But the blood of Jesus brings all of us together and the Spirit of God holds us together so that our unity in all the diversity becomes an undeniable proclamation of the power of the Prince of Peace.

“You are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” ~Galatians 3:26-28

We have to practice this tearing down of walls, we must be dedicated to demolishing the things that separate us. We must do the very, very hard work of reconciliation because it’s such a vital component of the Church’s proclamation. 2 Corinthians 5 says God has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Peter slipped up one time in Antioch, remember? He was under some social pressures there and he stopped eating with the Gentile Christians. He wouldn’t associate with Gentiles in public. And Paul called him on it. He told him he wasn’t acting “in line with the truth of the Gospel.” He wasn’t living the Story.

If the biggest and most imposing barriers in history have all been eliminated by Jesus – national / ethnic, social / class, gender – then what other barriers can be justified? If all the walls have been abolished at the cross, who are we to erect new ones? Or to maintain the ones others have erected? If all people are created in the image of God, if God’s purpose is reconciliation and unity, if we are to love even our enemies, if Jesus took all  the world’s hostility into himself to destroy it, on what grounds can we justify any walls at all?

Peace,

Allan

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