The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: Church (Page 31 of 59)

Repent of Our Sin of Division

April 16, 2012 / / 0 Comments

We’re working our way chapter by chapter through Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?” The book is a compilation of essays he wrote almost twenty years ago, but they remain just as timely and provocative and important today as they were then. The Churches of Christ are declining in numbers of members and congregations at an alarming rate. And Garrett’s essays are concerned with saving our voice, saving our influence, saving our relevance in this increasingly post-modern, post-denominational world. We’ll consider today Garrett’s plea from the third chapter of his book:

Repent of and confess our sin of division.

If we’re going to have any kind of influence for good, if Churches of Christ are going to be taken seriously when it comes to meaningful conversations about eternal matters, we must stop dividing among ourselves. We do violence to the Scriptures and we trample the holy blood of our Lord when we split and divide, bicker and fight, and accuse one another within our own Church of Christ tradition. We’ve made it so that one is not only required to be a “faithful member” of a Church of Christ, it must be the “right” Church of Christ or the “doctrinally sound” Church of Christ. Those are my words. In Garrett’s words we must “repent of and confess our sin of internal bickering, debating, and dividing into sects and sub sects.”

To be saved as a people who can be taken seriously we must show a disdain and an intolerance for our ugly divisions. While it helps, we must do more than preach peace, love, and unity. We must repent of our sins of division and confess that we have been wrong. We would do well to call a convention for the express purpose of confessing our sin of being one of the most divided, sectarian churches in America.

OK, we all know how this works. Just look at any of our “brotherhood” church directories. Most Churches of Christ in our own directories are labeled with little acronymns and funny symbols that stand for our different positions on instruments in worship, Bible classes, premillennialism, non-institutional, and located preachers. There are at least five different symbols that represent the five different ways we observe the communion meal! And we’ll use these symbols as tests of fellowship. You know it and I know it.

I’ve had friends who’ve been asked to appear on Church of Christ TV shows and then been handed a one hundred item questionaire to next judge their “faithfulness” to the Scriptures. (“Do you believe that God created the universe and all that is in it in six literal 24 hour days?” “Do you believe that the church, out of its treasury, can support a home for widows or fatherless children?” “Do you believe it is scriptural to have several house churches under the oversight of one central eldership?” “Must our worship be decent and orderly to be pleasing to God?” “Do you believe that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead?”) I’ve had long, tense, tedious conversations with people in my Church of Christ about what’s wrong with people in other Churches of Christ in which the name of our Lord Jesus was never mentioned. After preaching on unity within our fellowship, I’ve been told to stop preaching unity and start preaching the Gospel.

You know the results of this patternistic type of thinking. This idea that Scripture gives us a concrete blueprint for how a Sunday morning Christian assembly is to be conducted makes it absolutely impossible for us to be unified. It makes it impossible for us to enjoy fellowship with one another. It leads us to believe that we can’t worship together unless we see every single thing exactly alike.

Phooey!

This makes us act like crazy people.

The “mainstream” Oak Grove Church of Christ is within ten miles geographically of the “liberal” Westside Church of Christ and the “conservative” East Side Church of Christ. Oak Grove wants East Side to come to their Fifth Sunday Singing, but East Side can’t fellowship Oak Grove because Oak Grove has a praise team. Westside invites Oak Grove to their weekend seminar, but Oak Grove can’t fellowship Westside because Westside has women deacons. Everybody looks to their right for fellowship, but nobody will look to their left. Nobody wants to be labeled. Nobody wants to be “wrong.” Nobody wants to “compromise the truth.” So, there’s no fellowship. Worse, Westside is forced to find fellowship outside the fellowship, Eastside is then forced to write articles condemning Westside for leaving her “first true love,” and Oak Grove is paralyzed with fear of doing anything that might possibly cause a slippery slide down that great slope toward either of the two “extremes.”

We need to write out a “Proclamation of Repentance” that would say something like, “Whereas, we have sinned against our Lord’s prayer for the unity of all his followers by becoming a factious and divided people; and whereas we have sinned against the mandate of the holy Scriptures and the holy apostles in their plea for unity; and whereas we have sinned against our own heritage as a unity people; we do hereby confess our sin and ask for each other’s forgiveness, the forgiveness of the larger Christian community, and the forgiveness of Almighty God; and we hereby declare that we repudiate our divisive ways, and are resolved to take the following steps to correct the erroneous course taken by our fathers and by ourselves…”

Nothing has to change in regards to our differences. We can have churches that are premillennial and those that are amillennial, along with many that don’t even know what millennialism is about. We can have brethren who support the cooperative radio-TV Herald of Truth program and never watch it and those who are opposed to it but never miss it. We can have Sunday School churches and non-Sunday School churches, as well as those who serve the Supper in ways that differ. We don’t have to be of one mind on all such issues in order to be one in Christ. In fact, we are already one in Christ. That happened when we were baptized into Christ and received the gift of the Holy Spirit which is what makes us one.

It is therefore a matter of realizing our oneness and repudiating our factionalism. It is a matter of loving and accepting each other even as Christ loves and accepts us.

They will know we are disciples of Jesus by our love. They will not know we are disciples of Jesus by our division.

Peace,

Allan

Repent of Sectarianism

April 13, 2012 / / 2 Comments

Chapter two of Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Churches of Christ Do to Be Saved?” seems to be a more focused treatise of one of the main issues in his chapter one call to confess that we have been wrong about a few things. In order to “save” our group of churches, in order to preserve our witness as disciples of Jesus in a troubled world that needs us so badly, in order to maintain our effectiveness as a people of God, Garrett says we must:

Repent of our petty, narrow sectarianism.

We claim to be Christians only, but not the only Christians. That’s our heritage and one of our clarion calls for Christian unity. But my personal experience in the Churches of Christ tells me that’s not always the way we behave.

I want our people to think big — ecumenically — when they think of “the church,” for this is the biblical view. I want them to envision the Church of Christ as consisting of all those everywhere, all around the world, who sincerely follow Jesus Christ.

We can never be saved for a meaningful and viable ministry to the world and to the Church at large so long as we think of “the Church of Christ” in terms of those listed under that name in the Yellow Pages. It is typical for our folk to think of “the church” in a city like Denton, Texas to be only those that have “Church of Christ” on the sign out front. Nobody else. And we limit “the Lord’s people” to our own “Church of Christ” folk. The tragedy of this is compounded by the fact that many of our people really believe this. We are the only Christians!

There are a couple of things to consider here. One, we must re-imagine and re-cast the vision of God’s Church as a universal, eternal, catholic Kingdom of the Lord that knows no boundaries of nation or state. Christ has abolished by his death and resurrection all the barriers that separate his people. In Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female. Likewise, there are no Americans, no Mexicans, no Canadians, no Iranians or Africans or Iraqis or Chinese. The table of Jesus includes every nation, every language, every tribe, every tongue. The Kingdom of God never recognizes these earthly distinctions. And it’s high time we, too, abolish them in our ways of thinking and speaking about our Lord’s Church. To say Jesus is Lord is to say Caesar is not; to say I’m a citizen of heaven is to say I’m no longer a citizen of the Empire.

God’s Church is not an American institution! But we can sure talk like and act like it is.

Here at Central our worship center is adorned with an American flag. To our credit, there are eleven other national flags in there, too, representing the countries in which our Continent of Great Cities missionaries are located. We added the flag for Kenya in there less than six months ago to reflect our involvement in mission trips to that African nation. And that’s fine, I suppose. But wouldn’t the statement be stronger and much more effective if our worship center were decorated with the flags of all 196 countries around the globe? What if we had all 196 flags draped from our ceilings and balconies in our worship center? What if we intentionally communicated to our people and to all who would wander in to our building that when we come together as the people of God, we are part of something bigger than us, something greater than our own man-made borders, something huge and eternal and world-wide? There are disciples of our King in every country of the world. We should recognize that and be proud to be a part of that universal family of God.

I’m not sure Garrett had all that in mind with this second chapter. This is just something I think about all the time.

The other thing to consider, and this is more along the lines of Garrett’s particular call, is that we must actively embrace and partner with Christians of other flavors.

We have been sold a bill of goods by well-meaning but misguided leaders of the past who have bamboozled us into believing that if we have any fellowship with a Methodist or a Presbyterian then we endorse or approve of all errors in those religions. If we call on a Baptist minister to address us or lead a prayer in our assembly, then we compromise the truth and approve of all Baptist doctrine!

We don’t ask ourselves, “Then how can we sing ‘Lead, Kindly Light’  in church since it was written by John Henry Newman, a Roman Catholic bishop? In singing that hymn, do we have to approve of all that we associate with Roman Catholicism?” If we can’t have fellowship with folk with whom we differ, then we can’t be in fellowship with anyone, not even our own spouses, for we all differ on some things.

Again, I believe our problems here lie in our misunderstanding and misapplication of God’s grace. I hear quite often that we shouldn’t fellowship or “accept” as brothers and sisters in Christ those in other denominations because they are teaching error; they are wrong about some things. Who among us is right about everything?!? Who among us has every single thing perfectly figured out?!?

If I were to ask people in a Bible class or a congregation to raise their hands if they had every single bit of God’s will completely figured out, with no error, no mis-interpretation, how many would raise their hands? None. Not one person would ever say out loud that they had all the answers and were doing everything exactly right. Nobody. It would be the height of arrogance to suggest even for a minute that I had it all perfect right. We know we don’t. So what covers our shortcomings? How is it that we are still saved? How am I going to get to heaven if I admit I don’t have everything completely together? What saves me if I am guilty of mis-interpretations of Scripture or of misunderstanding a portion of God’s will?

The answer, of course, is God’s grace. We would all readily acknowledge that and be grateful for it. God’s grace covers me, it covers us, it covers the Churches of Christ in our shortcomings and sins (both of comission and omission; sorry, I couldn’t resist).

What kind of arrogance does it take to say that God’s grace covers me in my theological and church practice mistakes but not those in the other denominations? God’s grace covers me, but not the Baptists or the Presbyterians?

Yeah, right. God have mercy on us.

I also hear quite often that we cannot fellowship or accept other denominations because we have to maintain our distinctive identity as Churches of Christ. One, our Lord prayed to his Father that we would all be united as one; maybe we should at least consider his way for once. However, two, I believe there is tremendous value in our God-ordained diversity in Christ’s Body, his Church. There is a need for different and varied expressions of Christianity. It’s Scriptural. I believe Churches of Christ have plenty to offer to God’s people everywhere. We are right on many important things. But the world will not listen to us on those matters if we so offend them with our un-Christ-like exclusivism and sectarianism and mis-application of God’s grace. As my great friend Russ Garrison texted me this morning, “We need to work on the contents of the bottle more than the ‘brand’ on the label.”

We are going to have to be up front, come clean, and proclaim to the world that we have been wrong and we are sorry, and that we don’t believe that way anymore. We are going to have to say it from our pulpits, We have been wrong! and publish it in our journals far and wide. The schools of preaching and the Christian colleges must explain to our youth how we went wrong and that we are making (or have made) a mid-course correction.

It is not enough to do or say nothing, or simply to preach more on grace and about Christ. We must repent. We have a serious sin to confess.

Peace,

Allan

Confess That We Have Been Wrong

April 12, 2012 / / 3 Comments

We’re hosting a free Acappella Reunion concert here at Central tomorrow night. The current touring group will be joined on stage by Keith Lancaster and some of the originals, including our very own Kevin Schaffer, for what promises to be a high octane, high energy show. I’ve been blessed to enjoy the worship and encouragement led and provided by Acappella many times over the course of my life. In Abilene, in Tulsa, and at various churches over the years, including a really wonderful show two years ago at Legacy. Keith Lancaster, of course, has always blessed us with his gifted song leading and a cappella workshops.

Most of the older guys got into town last night and blessed us this morning with an impromptu performance at our weekly Loaves and Fishes outreach ministry. It was just a couple of songs, but they had about 140 of us snapping our fingers and clapping our hands and really getting excited for tomorrow’s concert. So good to see Keith again. And, man, Kevin is really on Cloud Nine. Big time.

The doors open at 6:00 tomorrow evening here at Central for those who have their free tickets. Doors open for everybody else at 6:45 and the show starts at 7:00.

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

Acknowledging together that we in the Churches of Christ must do something different if we’re going to remain a viable witness to the Christian faith in our rapidly changing world, we’re spending the next several days in this space taking Leroy Garrett’s “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?” chapter by chapter.

To paraphrase Garrett, what must we do to escape extinction in the decades ahead, to avoid being regarded as an insignificant Texas-Tennessee sect? What must we do to be loyal to the Scriptures and true to our Stone-Campbell heritage of unity? What’s it going to take for us to, as a movement, advance toward being “truly ecumenical, truly catholic, truly holy, and truly apostolic?”

Here’s Garrett’s first suggestion: We must confess that we have been wrong about some things.

The sin that we must confess is our patent refusal to have anything to do with other churches and Christians. In the old days we attacked other churches from the pulpit and mailed out tracts condemning “denominationalism,” implying of course that we were not a denomination. On the radio we “skinned the sects” and we debated anyone who had the nerve to take us on. We soon gained the reputation of believing that we were the only true church, the only faithful Christians, and the only ones going to heaven. We succeeded in causing other believers to resent us if not hate us. When they showed such resentment our response was that they didn’t really want the truth. In rejecting us they rejected God himself!

You know, I grew up this way, believing and proclaiming that we were the only ones going to heaven. Did you? I vividly recall as a young child telling my good friend and next-door-neighbor, Kevin, that he was going to hell because he didn’t go to church. And I know I told my across-the-street neighbor, Sherry,  just as many times that she, too, was going to hell. Sherry went to church. Every Sunday and Wednesday. She just went to the wrong one.

I cringe when I remember those arrogant positions with which I would so proudly and confidently beat up my friends. I don’t remember exactly when I stopped spouting that nonsense out loud; it probably was during my college years when I heard about God’s grace for the very first time, and actually experienced it first hand. But, even while keeping those thoughts to myself and, perhaps, beginning to mature out of them, I still harbored this sectarian attitude deep inside me. I ran into an old high school football coach at a Tulsa Workshop in 2004 and, while exchanging comments during a powerfully moving congregational song (probably led by Keith Lancaster), I said to him, “Yeah, but I’m still not sure about us trying to get back together with the Christian Churches.”

That was less than ten years ago!

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! I was wrong. So wrong. God forgive me.

Garrett calls for corporate confession of this sin. Preachers and elders, in the pulpits, on our websites, in our publications, confessing the wrong, expressing remorse, accepting the blame, and vowing to change.

Garrett says even though the “we’re the only ones going to heaven” rhetoric has declined — significantly, thankfully — we’re still very “sectarian  and exclusivistic” in the ways we behave. We don’t talk badly about other churches, but we still don’t have anything to do with them. It’s as if they don’t exist. No joint Thanksgiving or Easter services. No joint community service projects. No cooperative campaigns. We still talk about “the Lord’s church” or “the church” and mean “Church of Christ.”

We can be saved from such sectarian exclusivism without compromising any truth we hold. Our preachers can belong to the ministerial alliance and we can join “the denominations” in a Thanksgiving service without approving of any doctrine we consider false, just as we can read a commentary written by a Methodist (as we do) or sing hymns written by Roman Catholics (as we do) without approving of any error practiced by those churches.

We are supposed to be a people who believe in and work for the unity of all Christians — that is our heritage! — but how can we be a witness for the oneness of all believers when we isolate ourselves from all other believers?

There is only one answer to all this: We must change our ways and confess that we have been wrong. We are wrong when we imply that we are the only true church or that we are the only Christians. We are wrong when we suggest that people have to belong to what we call the “Church of Christ” to be saved and go to heaven. We are grievously wrong when we believe that if people are “not of us” they are going to hell.

I’m thankful that during the Great Communion autumn of 2009, we at Legacy participated in a joint communion service with all the Restoration Movement churches at Compass Christian. In fact, I’d say there were more Legacy people there than Compass people. It was beautiful. But we need to do more. I’m thankful that here at Central our shepherds actively call up elders at other churches in town and meet at their buildings to pray with them. I’m grateful that we’ve already swapped pulpits in the past with preachers in the local Christian churches. I’m so blessed to be encouraged here to meet and pray and plan with the pastors of the other downtown churches here in Amarillo. It’s beautiful. It’s powerful. But we need to do more.

Garrett claims that if we actively confess that we were wrong and enthusiastically begin to embrace other believers as equals by the grace of God, our Church of Christ people would be liberated and encouraged. And our elders and preachers would be shocked to quickly learn that most of our members didn’t really believe that way anyway.

Peace,

Allan

Saving the Churches of Christ

April 11, 2012 / / 6 Comments

Nearly one hundred Church of Christ elders, preachers, teachers, professors, and college administrators are gathering in Dallas this Friday — by special invitation from ACU’s Royce Money only — to discuss and brainstorm, to contemplate and plan, to pray over the future of the Churches of Christ. Obviously, I’m not one of the invited. I wouldn’t make the cut for the top ten thousand. But I do know a few of the people who will be there Friday. And I’m prayerful and hopeful — even excited —  for some clear-cut vision and suggestions and direction for our little stream of Christianity.

In advance of that ten-hour session Friday and the subsequent reports and papers and speeches that are sure to follow, I was hoping to get into a similar discussion in this space. The invitation here at KK&C is open to all. No RSVPs or hotel reservations required.

Today, I move from “Changing the Churches of Christ” to “Saving the Churches of Christ,” a slightly more provocative heading inspired by the title of Leroy Garrett’s latest book, “What Must the Church of Christ Do to Be Saved?”  Like Garrett, I’m not suggesting in any way that the eternal salvation of those within our Churches of Christ tradition is in jeopardy. Not at all. The concern is with “saving” our Church of Christ heritage — our stream, our tribe, whatever — so that we remain a viable voice for God’s Gospel in our increasingly post-modern, post-denominational, post-Christian world. I think that’s why our most influential brothers and sisters are meeting in Dallas on Friday. They know we need to do something. Something. We need to do something if we are to remain in any way relevant to the larger church and Christianity and Kingdom conversations.

We really do need to change some of the ways we think, some of the things we believe, some of the traditions we practice. We need a deeper understanding of some things. We need a relaxed spirit on some differences we may have. We need a stronger unity on a few essentials. We need to teach some things with more vigor and we need to stop teaching some other things at once.

So, for the next several days in this space, I’d like for us to break down Garrett’s book chapter by chapter. Yeah, I know, we’re not all going to agree with every single sentence or thought. (Good gravy, what book are you reading with which you do concur on every point? Then put that book down immediately!) Let’s engage Garrett with a spirit of unity and brotherly love, with sincere hearts and unblemished motives, with the intent of placing God’s Gospel mission for us ahead of our own comforts. Let’s acknowledge our biases and predispositions, let’s get some of these things out there in the open, and freely discuss in faith and trust how to save this Church of Christ thing we all so dearly love.

We’ll start with Garrett’s first chapter tomorrow.

Meanwhile, be in continual prayer for the group of our brothers and sisters who are meeting in Dallas Friday. May our gracious Father bless them with his holy wisdom and his divine vision. May he guide them. May he protect them. May he open all our hearts and our minds to be receptive to his leading. And may his will be done in the Churches of Christ just as it is in heaven.

Peace,

Allan

Changing the Churches of Christ

April 9, 2012 / / 2 Comments

The numbers are undeniable. The Churches of Christ are losing congregations, we’re losing members and their kids, we’re losing our families and our teenagers and our college graduates. We’re losing people. Big time. According to the recently released “Churches of Christ in the United States,” we’ve lost more than 23,000 members and their children since the last edition of the directory in 2009. Since the edition before that, in 2003, we’ve lost over 102,000 people and 708 congregations! 

(As a brief aside, let me make clear my disdain for directories such as this that label and pigeon-hole congregations according to what they believe or practice regarding communion services, Bible classes, worship styles, and outreach efforts. Directories such as these are part of our problem.)

That’s the bad news. And it’s real. Brother, is it real. It needs to be seriously studied and discussed. We need to prayerfully and carefully consider the reasons for these significant losses. And we need to be wide open to where our God is leading us, to what he might be doing in other places and in other ways, and to how we can adapt to more effectively create and maintain communities of faith that will spread the Kingdom of God to his eternal glory and praise.

Here’s the good news:

We’re not alone. Most every single Christian denomination in the United States is losing members right and left. It’s not just us.

Wait a second… this is still bad news. We’re not alone. More and more people in this country are checking “none” when asked their religious affiliations. According to a recent survey by the Pew Forum, sixteen percent of Americans claim to belong to no religious organization. That number grows to twenty-five percent — one out of every four! — when you consider just the 18-29 age group.

OK, now here’s the good news:

People my age and younger (how much longer am I going to get away with saying that?) are joining community churches and non-denominational churches like crazy. Some of them are going to Baptist churches and Disciples of Christ churches, too. But most of them are worshiping and serving in these community churches. They’re not giving up on Jesus and the Christian faith. It’s just that they have no real brand loyalty to Churches of Christ. They’re looking for genuine Christian worship. They’re seeking real faith relationships with Jesus and with other Christians.

As a result, “independent/non-denominational” churches in the U. S. have over twelve million members in more than 35,000 congregations.

That’s good news, right? This move toward a non-denominational following of Jesus is right up our Church of Christ alley, right? Isn’t that how we began? Isn’t that what we’ve always taught and worked toward? Isn’t that the ultimate answer to Christ’s prayer and God’s eternal will for his children?

(I’d love to put a new sign out in front of our building in Amarillo. “Central Church of Christ: a non-denominational community church.” That’s what we are, correct? Wouldn’t most of our people claim that’s what we’re supposed to be?)

Whether there’s a restoration taking place right now in the Restoration Movement or whether we’re at the edge of another broader Restoration Movement in this country altogether, we in the Churches of Christ are perfectly positioned and poised to lead the way. “Christians only, but not the only Christians!” “Bible things in Bible ways and Bible names!” “In matters of faith, unity; in matters of opinion, liberty; in all matters, charity!” Come on, it’s all right there in our DNA! This is right in our wheelhouse. This is a hanging 82-mph slider that stays up in the zone. This is an answer to prayer.

We could be the leaders of such a movement. But we’d have to make some changes.

Like what?

Go ahead. I’d like to hear from you. To take advantage of this fluid church situation and lack of brand loyalty and non-denominational movement in a way that would bring glory and honor to God, what would we have to change in the Churches of Christ? We very obviously can’t keep doing what we’re doing. To stay viable, to remain as a voice at the table, what needs to happen?

Peace,

Allan

Adventure in the Kingdom

April 3, 2012 / / 1 Comment

A new cancer diagnosis every minute. More pink slips and foreclosures. Economic uncertainties. Tornados. Divorce. Car wrecks. War. Rumors of wars. These are not settled times in this country. Not at all. But they are — they should be — exciting and adventurous times.

Praise teams. Women’s roles. Church leadership structures. Instruments in worship. Small groups. Ecumenical movements and interdenominational partnerships. These are not settled times in the Churches of Christ. Not at all. But they are — they should be — exciting and adventurous times.

I’m reminded of something Stanley Hauerwas, that great theologian from the Grove, wrote almost twenty years ago:

“God has not promised us safety, but participation in an adventure called the Kingdom. That seems to me to be great news in a world that is literally dying of boredom.”

It’s all out there in front of us. Adventure. Thrills. Daring missions. Risky change. Challenging discussions. Exciting encounters. What are we waiting for? To get all our ducks in a row? To find all the answers first? To make sure everybody in our boat is on board with the exact same theology and uniform practices? No! What’s exciting about that?!?

What’s going to save more people? What’s going to redeem my part of the world for Christ? What’s going to make you and me more like Jesus?

Not worrying or complaining about current politics or health care or the culture. No ma’am. And not arguing and debating about church politics and practices and church culture.

Getting out there in the middle of it, with other Christians, sacrificing and serving, saving and learning, throwing our entire selves into the mission of God with full knowledge and trust that he is going to do something incredibly wonderful with it if we’ll just submit to him and his calling. That’s going to save people! That’s going to reconcile God’s world! That’s going to make us all more like our Risen Lord!

But what about this post-modern, post-Christian society? Nobody wants to listen to anything about Jesus. No, stop it. Everybody you know at work and in your neighborhood and at your Wal-Mart is desperately looking to be a part of something that’s hugely significant and bigger than themselves.

But what about our Church of Christ identity? How is the world going to know that we’re different from other churches? No, stop it. Jesus died on the cross so we would all be one in him, so I’m sure he’d be thrilled if we worked according to his plan for a change.

These are exciting and adventurous times in the Kingdom of God. Of course, as long as your faith is in you and your particular church or congregation instead of in the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth, you won’t see them as anything but unsettling and dangerous. Faith in God tells us that we’re surrounded by divine potential. Holy mystery. Heavenly adventure. Eternal excitement. It’s high time we abandon ourselves and jump in with everything we’ve got.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2026 The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑