The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Brueggemann’s First Blush

September 20, 2012 / / 8 Comments

Walter Brueggemann looks and acts like a cartoon character. A tiny little man with white hair and eyeglasses that hang way too close to the end of his nose, this most respected of Old Testament scholars and expert on the ancient prophets, was in Abilene as a guest speaker at this week’s annual ACU Summit. The headliner, so to speak, wowed us with his deep insights and wisdom. He moved effortlessly from difficult text to even more difficult application. He seemed to whisper and shout at the same time, raising his eyebrows, cocking his head to one side, dragging the last words of key sentences for almost half a minute in a whiny, yet authoritative, rasp, and all the while wringing his oversized hands in an exaggerated fashion in front of his face. It would be very easy to imitate Brueggemann’s style. It’s hilarious. And fascinating.

But it would be impossible to duplicate his substance.

The old professor reminded us that our God has a high regard for his people but our God also has a high self-regard for God. Both. Brueggemann pointed out that our therapeutic culture mostly thinks God is only in it for us. He loves us, he forgives us, he restores us, he’s patient with us, he saves us because, afterall, that’s what God does. It’s his job. We would do good, however, to wake up. It would benefit us greatly to become like the child who wakes up one day to discover that her mom has a life of her own. Our God is a free agent. He chooses. He wills. He decides. And he changes his mind. His eternal holiness trumps everything else about him. Therefore, he is both a passionate and punishing God. Both.

I hope to write a little more about Summit, particularly Brueggeman’s brilliant insights, in the following couple of days. (Anybody who can drop cuss words from the pulpit in both ACU’s chapel on the hill and Moody Coliseum merits more than just a couple of paragraphs in this space. We were all shocked when Mark Hamilton prayed before Brueggemann’s afternoon keynote that God would “loosen his tongue.” Had Brother Hamilton not attended any of the earlier sessions?)

But, here’s what I really want to write about today. That was all just an introduction.

I have a tendency, personally, to think and talk about the Churches of Christ in apologetic terms. In my defense, most of the negative things I think and say about my faith heritage are in the past tense: we used to be this, we’re trying to get away from that, we’ve always thought this way, we’re changing the way we do that, etc., But, still, the truth is, when somebody brings up the Church of Christ in a conversation, my gut instinct is to apologize. We used to think we were the only ones going to heaven, but we’re moving away from that. We used to abstain from working with other Christian denominations, but we’re getting better. We’ve traditionally taught and practiced a works-based salvation, but our understanding is much better now. We used to ignore the Holy Spirit, but not anymore.

You know what I mean? Do you do that, too? There’s so much good going on in our particular branch of God’s Kingdom, we have so much to offer the Christian community and the world. And I know that. I talk about it all the time with our own people. I see so much good, I experience so much joy, I hear so many wonderful things. But, still, my default is to apologize first.

After his morning keynote at ACU, Brueggemann was asked by moderator Brady Bryce to share his first impressions of the Church of Christ. And it wasn’t a fair question. Up until the moment he arrived on campus Sunday, I’m not sure Brueggemann had ever seen a Church of Christ member in person. I wouldn’t bet he’d ever heard of the Church of Christ before Brady called him last year. It wasn’t right to ask this Episcopalian and UCC scholar to share his thoughts on our movement in front of all of us. He begged out, but Brady pushed.

And Brueggemann said he was very impressed with the immediacy and the urgency with which we approach Scripture. He said our interpretation of the Bible was simple and fresh. He said our teachings and approach to faith and life in Christ were not complicated. And, again, “fresh.”

Fresh? Did you ever think you would live to hear a world renowned scholar refer to anything related to the Churches of Christ as “fresh?”

Now, to be fair, Brueggemann had spent a couple of days by this time listening to our best speakers and worshiping with our best singers. I know he was paying attention because he referred to and quoted from several of the sermons we had heard since Sunday night. And he specifically cited the immediacy and urgency with which we approach Scripture as fresh.

This outsider who has a keen eye for what’s faithful and good, this alien scholar who thinks so well and only says what he really thinks — this esteemed man of God had a first impression of us. And it was good. It was very good.

When am I, a lifelong CofC insider, going to fully get over the past so I can wholeheartedly embrace the present and the future of our denomination? Our present is exciting and our future is promising. Brueggemann’s first blush reminded me that we are brimming with holy potential for the great cause of our Christ. We are important in the Kingdom of God. We do have a lot to offer. I knew this already, I’ve known it for a long time. But it’s good to hear it from an outsider, to be reminded by someone who’s not nearly as concerned about our past as I am.

As of today, thanks to Walter, I’m done apologizing. I’m through with qualifying the wonderful attributes of our movement with backward glances at our struggles. I’m not ever going to shrink back from my CofC heritage again. And I may even take up hand-wringing during my sermons.

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

I started writing this blog when I began my first full-time congregational preaching with the Legacy Church of Christ in June 2007. Today’s post is #985. I’m thinking that post #1,000 will happen before the end of October. And on that day, I’d like to celebrate by giving away brand new copies of some of the books that have radically shaped my thinking, my preaching, and my writing. Now, this is not going to be like Oprah — I’m not giving away any cars or houses — but I do want to distribute some excellent books.

Everyone who posts a comment on my blog between now and that 1,000th writing will automatically be entered in a drawing for the books. You can only be entered once per post during that time. You can only be entered a maximum of 14 times. You’ll only get credit for one entry per post regardless of how many comments you write per post. But it does start today. I’ll reveal the titles of the books tomorrow. The judge’s decisions (mine) are final. Good luck.

Peace,

Allan

Passing the Baton

July 26, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“What we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us, we will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation.” ~Psalm 78:3-4

The apostle Paul calls life in Christ a race. He tells us to run the race to win. And I believe it’s critical that we understand this race that we’re running is a relay. There’s not a single one of us running this race alone. Someone passed the baton to us. And we are now passing that baton to others. We are today standing on the shoulders of those who’ve gone before and, at the same time, paving the way for those coming after. It’s a relay. And something really special happens as the baton is passed.

Notice the boys in this picture who are receiving the baton. See how they are looking back at the runners who’ve gone before. They’re stretching back with open arms, open hands, to receive the baton. They’re measuring their steps so they match up with those who are passing the baton to them, trying to match their stride.

Now look at the one passing the baton. Notice how she is running her fastest right here at the exchange. She’s giving it all she’s got. Her part of the race is almost over. She’s near the end of her leg. But look at how she’s running harder and faster now and working harder now than she was at the beginning. Look at how she’s stretching and straining and lunging to pass this baton on to the one who will run after her. Notice how she’s concentrating on the task.

Now, see how for a time these two are actually running together. For just a brief moment, right at the point of the exchange, the two are running perfectly together. Step by step. Stride for stride. In perfect rhythm. One finishing her assignment, one just getting started. Running together. Cooperating together. Sprinting together. Enduring, persevering, working together. Side by side.

I love that image. I think it’s divinely-ordained. And I believe this is where God’s Church needs to dwell. We need to live in that really cool moment of exchange.

You older Christians, we need you to be actively involved in raising our kids. We need you. We need your wisdom. We need your experience. We need your advice. We need your examples of someone who’s seen it all and endured it all and kept the faith. Our children need to see it in you. They need older people to look up to. You’re running the race, you’ve been running it a long time. But you’re not done. Now’s the time to pass the baton. It’s time to understand you’re not running your race alone. We need you to run faster, to work harder, to reach out to us and pass the baton.

You younger Christians, we need you to be fully engaged with those who are running ahead of you. Look to them. Make eye contact with them. Measure your steps to match theirs. Reach back to them. And be in a spirit to accept from them. Strain with everything you’ve got to accept their love. Their concern. Concentrate on receiving their stories. On accepting their faith.

As we exchange the baton, as the older people stretch and the younger people reach back, as the Christian faith is being passed along in our Christ-centered relationships with one another, we’ll discover that we really are running side by side, step by step.

“He commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.” ~Psalm 78:5-7

Peace,

Allan

When The Sermon’s Over

July 10, 2012 / / 2 Comments

If my honeymoon here at Central is supposed to last one year — I’m not assuming anything here; it may last another two or three years or, without my knowledge, it may have ended months ago — then I’ve got only about six more weeks of this wonderful bliss. So, please indulge me with your love and grace and allow me to encourage you in a way that, I hope, provokes some honest self assessment and reflection.

It ain’t over when the sermon is over.

In fact, I would argue — get ready, I’m about to! — that the best and most important part of our Sunday morning assemblies occurs after the sermon is finished. Church is not over when the sermon is over; it’s just getting started. If you’re heading for the doors and out into the parking lot the moment I close my Bible, you’re missing out on the best stuff that happens during our assemblies. If the last thing you see or hear, experience or participate in, during our weekly gatherings in that worship center is my voice, here’s what you’re missing.

1) Self-Reflection – the song that we sing together right after the sermon is chosen in order to promote some healthy and much needed self-assessment. The song is connected to the just-presented Word in a way that should lead to personal and congregational reflection. It’s hard enough in this noisy world with our hectic pace and our short attention spans to find time to reflect on God’s Word and our response to it. Whether you hit the parking lot one minute after the sermon’s done or 30-minutes later, the honest truth is that, by that time, you’ve already forgotten every bit of it. You’re on to the next thing. What sermon? What Word of God? We believe that the Word preached has a life-transforming power. We believe that God’s Spirit uses that Word to change us, to shape us, to form us more into the image of Christ. Those moments immediately following the proclamation of that Word are much better spent thinking and reflecting, meditating and contemplating application, than in gathering up purses and papers and rushing up the aisles. What’s the hurry?

2) Baptisms – yes, it still happens occasionally. Somebody will be so moved by the proclaimed Word of God, he will walk down to the front of the worship center right after the sermon and be baptized on the spot. A previously unsaved child of God will declare her allegiance to her Creator, submit fully to the Lordship of our Christ, participate in the death and burial and resurrection of Jesus, and be delivered from her sins into eternal life in glory. Why would you want to miss that? It’s the thing we teach and preach, it’s the thing we uphold as vital to salvation, it’s the very thing we’ve fought to defend. It’s baptism! It’s the chance to witness up close and personal our Almighty God snatching an eternal soul from the clutches of Satan and redirecting him or her to heaven. It’s the opportunity to physically watch God keep his centuries-old promises. It’s a holy occasion to participate in God’s salvation, to witness a birth, to be present when a child of God is reclaimed and restored to righteousness. Why in the world would you miss that in order to get to Arby’s or to the lake fifteen minutes earlier? To me, it’s like a football player who has given his life to football saying “no, thank you” to starting at quarterback in the Super Bowl in order to go home and watch a hair-clip infomercial on a 13-inch black-and-white TV. It’s that crazy.

3) Bearing Burdens – two or three times a month, it seems, somebody in our church family or somebody from the Amarillo community is taking that time right after the sermon to ask our church for their prayers. A brother in Christ comes down to the front to confess sin and ask forgiveness; a sister comes to reveal her broken heart over a family matter; or, as was the case this past Sunday, three ladies from the downtown women’s abuse center come forward and beg us to pray for God’s mercy and strength. To me, this is our fully-involved God saying to us, “You want to be more like Christ? You want to become more like my Son? Here, minister to these hurting people.” Encouraging the downtrodden, giving strength to the weak, forgiving the sinner, loving the unlovable — these are all very Christ-like things to do. Jesus lives to intercede for us; interceding on behalf of others makes us more like him. Bearing the burdens of others is about as Christ-like as it gets. It’s incomprehensible that while your brother is mustering up all the courage in his body and soul and mind to walk down that aisle to throw himself upon the mercy of God and his church, you’re skipping up the opposite direction to get to the ballgame or to your enchiladas and rice. With only a little prompting, forty or fifty people got out of their seats to embrace those three women Sunday, to put their arms around them and pray with them as they bared their hearts to God and to us. I praise God for that physical, tangible, see-able outpouring of his grace. It was the best thing, the most powerful thing, that’s happened in our worship center in months. I pray you didn’t miss it because you were in a hurry to mow your lawn.

4) Exhortation – at the end of every assembly, one of our shepherds stands up to bless us. One of our elders, one of our spiritual fathers (to use a New Testament term), reads to us from the Holy Word of God. He challenges us to live in the coming week for Christ. He blesses us. And he prays for us. I don’t understand why anybody would walk out on that. You know it’s coming. We do it every week. One of the men this church family has ordained as the most Christ-like among us, one of the men we’ve said we will follow because he is so obviously following our Lord, one of the men we believe God has placed among us to shepherd us is going to get up and bless us! He’s going to read Holy Scripture to us! He’s going to pray! It’s incredibly important. It’s huge. I can’t understand why anybody would walk out on that blessing.

It ain’t over when the sermon is over. Usually it’s just getting started, the best part of our Christian assemblies together is still to come. God still has plenty of work to do — on you, on me, on our church. I lovingly encourage you to stick around.

Peace,

Allan

Desperately Needing Exercise

July 8, 2012 / / 0 Comments

“…to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.” ~Ephesians 4:12-13

We wrapped up our quarterly Central Orientation for visitors and new members to our congregation this morning by talking about works of service. We read the above passage from Ephesians 4 — it’s quickly becoming a bit of a theme passage for us around here — and reminded one another that these works are prepared in advance by God for us to do. If we really are the body of Christ, it’s vital that each member of the body function according to the gifts he or she has been given by the Holy Spirit to do the works that have prepared for that member by God. We stress this all the time at Central. A member of the Central Church of Christ doesn’t just show up on Sundays and sit there.

Legendary Oklahoma football coach Bud Wilkinson was asked one time if professional sports contributed at all to the physical fitness of Americans. He surprised most everybody in the room when he said, “No.”

“A professional football game is a happening where thousands of spectators desperately needing exercise sit in the stands watching twenty-two men on the field desperately needing rest.”

I hope that doesn’t describe your church: a handful of participants and a whole bunch of spectators.

All of us — you and me, everybody in your church and everybody in mine —desperately need exercise. The passage in Ephesians tells us clearly that working for the sake of others builds up the body. Works of service result in unity. Selflessly serving others causes us to be mature in Christ. Using our divinely ordained gifts to benefit others is part of attaining to that whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Paul goes on to say that these works of service keep us from acting like babies, from being tricked by lies and false teachings. Working hard for our Lord and his church is part of “growing up into Christ.”

“…as each part does its work.”

If you’re in God’s Church, you’re in a work zone. You’re not just sitting there, right?

Peace,

Allan

God Bless the Duprees

July 7, 2012 / / 4 Comments

Sunday, April 25, 2010. The date means a lot to me. I’ll never forget it. That was the day Don Dupree came up to me following our morning assembly at Legacy, shook my hand, looked me in the eye, and said, “Allan, you are my brother; and you are my preacher.”

Don was a crusty old dude. Very opinionated. Always friendly. But he could be loud and, sometimes, very blunt. He always smiled; he always asked me how I was doing; he was always very pleasant and warm. But I felt like he kept me at arm’s length. I don’t think Don trusted me. He had a lot of old school CofC in him. He was very “rules” oriented. He was very concerned about the “pattern.”

In 2008, Don’s son and daughter-in-law, Rick and Vicki, migrated to our small group. And we loved them. I think our mutual love for all things Van Halen is where Rick and I first connected. And, initially, that was about it. Rick has super long hair, he rides a Harley, he goes to heavy metal concerts, and he doesn’t care at all what anybody thinks. Vicki’s the same way. They don’t exactly fit in with the Legacy church scene. They always felt like outsiders. But I’ve never met a more generous pair. Vicki wouldn’t sing; but she showed up early to small groups and she stayed late washing dishes, cleaning up the kitchen, putting up chairs. Rick wouldn’t lead a discussion; but he read and prayed and sang with everything he had. They cooked for us all the time. They brought our girls gifts all the time. They hosted our small group at their home all the time. The best catfish I’ve ever eaten are at the hole-in-the-wall joints in Fort Worth that Rick and Vicki know best.

Rick and Vicki Dupree needed our small group. And our small group needed Rick and Vicki. They caused us to reconsider what a Christian looks like. They forced us to re-evaluate our judgments, to see the Kingdom of God in bigger ways than we ever had, to pay more attention to people than to patterns of predictability.

In the meantime, Don was still in the minority at Legacy who was holding out on small groups. He kept going faithfully to the little assemblies at the building on Sunday nights. Small groups in people’s homes was new to Don. It didn’t fit with his experience or with his idea of church. So, I think he eyed us with suspicion. He was grateful for what we were doing to help Rick and Vicki get back into church. He was glad Rick and Vicki were worshiping God and serving others with some Christian friends. But he still wasn’t completely sold on me or on our small groups.

In August of that same year, Don baptized Rick & Vicki’s son, Dustin. In November, their daughter Whitney had a baby without a husband. We were all there together at HEB hospital when Mariah was born. In December, our small group hosted a shower for Whitney and Mariah at our house. And then, two weeks later, another one at the Legacy church building.

It was during this time that Don became too sick and too stiff in his bones to get to the church building on Sunday nights. Rick and Vicki were not willing to miss our small group assemblies to get him to Legacy and back. In fact, Rick and Vicki were not willing to miss our small group for anything in the world. So they dragged Don to our house.

And he loved it.

It took some time. But he grew to love it. He’d sit there in our living room with that huge Bible propped up on his lap and in that really, really, really long drawn out drawl, he’d read and he’d talk and he’d pray. He held hands with us when we sang. He shared the bread and the cup when we communed. He laughed when the kids were being funny. And he cried when we all needed to cry.

He loved it.

He loved it when I baptized Whitney, his granddaughter on Sunday February 1, 2009.

We loved Don. We took care of Don. We fixed his plate and snuck him that second dessert. We helped Rick & Vicki get him in and out of the car. We made sure to always sing a song or two that he would enjoy. And he grew to love us. We had to explain to him why we shared communion every Sunday night; we argued occasionally about “patterns” and “decency and order;” we always disagreed about worship styles and women’s roles. But we loved Don. And he loved us.

On April 25, 2010 I preached a sermon from Mark 2:23 – 3:6 called “Which is Lawful?” It was based on Jesus’ question to the religious leaders in the synagogue who were criticizing him for healing on the Sabbath. I pointed out that Jesus didn’t do away with all the rules and regulations of religion, he didn’t throw everything out the window. Rules and regulations will always be a vital facet of life in God’s Kingdom. Our Lord boldly presented two ways of following God’s rules and regulations. “Which is lawful on the Sabbath, to good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” Jesus says there are two ways to follow the rules. One is good and one is evil. One way gives life to people and one way kills people. One way frees people from burdens and one way places more burdens. One way liberates people from their chains and one way locks people up in prisons.

God’s law is never about the pattern; it’s about people. God’s Church is never about the institution; it’s about people. The priority of human need always outweighs the need for human conformity to rituals. And if we’re partnering with God and his plan to redeem the world, we take care of people first!

It was a tough sermon. It addressed head-on some of the problems we were having at Legacy. It confronted some of the issues that were being debated and it criticized those who were doing the judging and debating. And afterward, as I greeted people in the foyer, here came Don Dupree. I wasn’t sure which way this was going to go. But he grabbed my hand and said, “Allan, you are my brother; and you are my preacher. Thank you!”

I like to think that it wasn’t the sermon that one Sunday morning in the worship center; it was the small group over a whole bunch of Sunday nights in our living rooms and around our dining room tables. It wasn’t the gospel preacher; it was the community of faith. Words didn’t mean nearly as much to Don, I like to think, as our actions with and for one another in our homes. Wasn’t it Francis of Assisi who said, “Preach the Gospel; use words if you must.” Don’s outlook was changed by the way our small group embraced him and his family. His whole attitude was changed forever.

I knew his words to me that day were significant. Those words meant something coming from Don. I wrote them down in my calendar and in my journal. I kept them on my desk where I could see them, rewriting them every month in a different place, a constant reminder that our lives and our actions mean so much more than our sermons and assemblies. And that the toughest hearts can be softened in a loving community of faith.

I got the call from Rick this past Monday night at 6:00. Don had died. Rick’s sister Lisa, the calmer of the Dupree kids who did Carrie-Anne’s and the girls’ hair and nails for four years, had found him on the floor of his house. A blood clot in his leg had gotten to him, possibly a result of a knee replacement surgery he had endured a couple of weeks before. Rick and Vicki were driving in from a vacation in Galveston, and he was a wreck. Carrie-Anne called Lisa.

I love Rick and Vicki Dupree. And I love Don. The Duprees are an eternal part of so many wonderful things that happened for my family while we were at Legacy. I can’t think about those four-plus years without thinking about the Duprees. Three years ago I cringed every time I saw Don approaching me. When we left Legacy to move to Amarillo, I wanted to take Don and his whole family with me. As I’m writing this post, the Legacy church is celebrating his life together and praising God. They are comforting Rick and Vicki, Dustin and Whitney and Mariah and Lisa. And I wish I were there with them.

God bless the Duprees.

Allan

Particularly Poised

May 18, 2012 / / 0 Comments

Allow me to be very clear about what I wrote at the end of the last post. Allow me this time today to elaborate on the idea that Churches of Christ are uniquely positioned to be at the front of a spiritual revival in the United States. Despite our obvious sins, despite our many shortcomings and almost comedic failures to hold to the most basic of biblical principles, I do believe the Churches of Christ are particularly poised to actually lead a fiery Kingdom renewal in this country.

Here’s why:

We’ve always aimed for the ideal. By no means have we ever attained it. In fact, our historic insistence on shooting for the ideal, coupled with our consistent and extreme failures to reach it, are what make our story as a movement so ironic and interesting. But, truly, we and our Church of Christ forefathers have spent a great deal of time and energy preaching and teaching that we are to restore things to the way they once were or, much better, to the way things ought to be. I don’t mean restore the first century church; that’s impossible. Besides, the first century church had many problems and issues that make some of ours seem silly by comparison. I mean restore the Christian ideals of Jesus as Lord. I mean restoring our belief that the life, death, and resurrection of our Lord has signaled the breaking into this world of the eternal Kingdom of God. I mean restoring our lives as subjects of our Holy King to be in complete submission to him, to reject the ways of the world and embrace the ways of Jesus. I mean restoring the understanding that the church is to go into the world, but that the world is not to ever come into the church.

And we’re particularly poised in this most perfect of times to be the leaders of this Kingdom revolution.

It’s in our DNA to resist the hundreds of forms of compromise and erosion and domestication that corrupt the Christian faith in new ways in every generation. It’s in our DNA to be cynical about partnering with the new and the modern just for the sake of being contemporary and hip.

See how this fits?

Today in America — finally! — people are beginning to rebel against the culture. The most popular leaders of churches and civic organizations and service clubs are begging their followers to say ‘no’ to the culture, to actually become havens of counter-cultural resistance. People are growing weary of the culture. It’s in vogue now to do something different, to become a part of something else, to belong to and participate in something much bigger and more important than ourselves. People are wanting to give. People are wanting to change. People are wanting to matter.

At our very best and most clear, the Stone-Campbell Movement and the Churches of Christ are all about this kind of thinking and living. For most of the past two hundred years, we in the Churches of Christ have proclaimed forcefully that America is certainly not the Kingdom of God or even its messenger or example. We have preached against the idolatry of formalized church hierarchies and binding man-made creeds. We’ve taught that wealth and worldly fashion  generally pervert the demanding religion of Jesus. We’ve maintained that Christians do not fight Caesar’s wars, that division along denominational lines or over church practices is sin, and that the Church is the people — it’s not the building or the meetings or the rules.

In Things Unseen — I highly recommend this book for those of you who really want to understand why we think and act the way we do — Leonard Allen is very optimistic about our place at the front of the next great religious awakening in America:

The restorationist vision is fundamentally a means of critique and dissent. For this reason it will never fit comfortably with mainline or establishment forms of Christianity. Its sins tend to be those of severity rather than laxity, blind obstinancy rather than easy compromise, too-quick exclusion rather than too-ready inclusion, irrelevance rather than trendiness. Restorationists are constantly putting burrs under the seats of the sleepy and comfortable. They work from the conviction that accomodation and compromise are far easier and subtler than most suppose and that the call of Christ is higher, more serious, and more demanding than most care to entertain. That restorationists often fail to embody their own ideals should not obscure to our eyes the truth and power of the ideals themselves.

We are particularly poised. It’s in our DNA, it’s in our blood, to call people to something bigger, something higher, something more important, something eternal, something beyond us, something else, something that will outlive us, something that will matter for ever and ever. And Americans today — your neighbors! — are ready now to listen, to pay attention. If we will ever decide as a “movement” to return to our roots, to embrace again those clear ideals, to live them and practice them without compromise and share it with our neighbors, Christ will be honored and God will be praised. And I believe we’ll be, as a people, at the very front of his righteous and eternal will for this world.

Peace,

Allan

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