Category: Church (Page 57 of 59)

Assembly As Gospel

August 25, 2008 / Allan / 7 Comments

If this is what it means to have a daughter in high school, I’m not ready. This is the scene that greeted us when we woke up this morning. I have my suspicions as to the culprits. And even though I can’t write on this blog what they say about paybacks, it doesn’t make it any less true.

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

“…I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” ~Ephesians 4:1

“…conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.” ~Philippians 1:27

As a response to God’s grace and in imitation of Jesus, we deny our own selfish ambitions and place the interests of others ahead of our own. Jesus emptied himself for our sakes and he became the obedient servant for the Father’s glory. That’s the gospel. And that’s how we live the gospel. The glory of God and the priority of others. Love God and love your neighbor. Jesus says that’s the whole deal. Paul says in Ephesians 4 this is what leads to maturity. This is what leads to “unity in the faith.” Without this mindset, without this focus, we’re still babies.

I’ve tried applying these gospel principles to our Christian assemblies over the past three weeks as we’ve moved together into our new worship center here at Legacy. What this mature mindset means is that, in our assemblies, there’s very little, if anything, that could ever happen that could ever divide us. Our diversity and our differences wouldn’t just be tolerated, they’d be embraced and appreciated, even celebrated.

Whether a person kneels or stands or prostrates himself on the ground in prayer, or adopts the one prayer posture not authorized in Scripture: sitting on one’s rear end…

Whether a person claps his hands or raises his hands or does with his hands the one thing not authorized in Scripture: sits on them…

Whether a person talks and/or sings during the Lord’s Supper or meditates quietly to himself…

Whether a person sings classic hymns that were written 300 years ago or contemporary praise songs that were written three months ago…

Whether a person wears a suit and a tie or shorts and flip-flops…

We are brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus our Lord and in his death, burial, and resurrection that saves us. We share a common Savior and a common destination. And when we finally and fully grasp that, we will imitate our Lord by making ourselves the least important person in the room.

Planning and conducting and participating in our assemblies is not about finding and conforming to specific regulations found in the New Testament. It’s all about doing what we do in ways that are worthy of the gospel, in ways that proclaim and embody the good news of our Lord and his Kingdom.

John Mark Hicks has written another excellent book about the Christian sacraments. This one, A Gathered People: Revisioning the Assembly as Transforming Encounter, is about our time together in our assemblies. This excerpt is from the final chapter, “Contemporary Gatherings: Assembling Worthy of the Gospel.”

“As long as we are regulated by the gospel, we should value diversity as it reaches people beyond the limits of our own settings. But this demands maturity. The gospel calls us to put the interests of others ahead of our own. But this demands mature discipleship. Can we tolerate different tastes and styles even when we do not like them? Can we vary our styles out of respect for what touches the heart of another even if it does not touch ours? Can we appreciate what a particular style does for one even though it is not as meaningful to us? Can we practice what is uncomfortable for us for the sake of the other?

The gospel demands that we do because Jesus himself endured great discomfort—to put it mildly—for our sakes. As disciples of Jesus, we must follow him into that kind of discomfort, even suffering. To say that we must ‘suffer through’ a particular song for the sake of another trivializes the cross of Christ but to deny that song to others simply on the basis of our own comfort and tradition is to reject the cross of Christ for narcissism.”

Wow. The Father certainly poured a whole lot into our laps with these assemblies. It’s almost like he wants us to practice getting along together.

God’s gift of unity means we belong to each other. We are part of each other. Living worthy of the calling, making every effort requires an eagerness to think about one another, to serve one another, to love one another, to build up one another, to bear one another’s burdens, to submit to one another, and encourage one another.

Even in our assemblies.

Especially in our assemblies.

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

School Bells! School Bells! I got to sing the Stanglin’s traditional first day of school song to wake up not three but four girls this morning. Four girls at four different campuses (help me, is it campi?) now. Huge backpacks. Sack lunches. Combination lockers. P.E. New friends. New teachers. And now Carrie-Anne’s right in the middle of it, too. I’m pulling taxi duty two days a week now. I’ve always been the one to haul the kids to school in the mornings. But Carrie-Anne’s always picked them up. Until now. On Mondays and Wednesdays it’s me. This afternoon it took me 65-minutes to leave the church building and make it home with all three. I’m hoping that’s just first day traffic. C-A has her first math, history, and art appreciation classes today. It’s going to be an interesting year. We’ve begun yet another little leg of our journey together.

Peace,

Allan

Heaven On Earth

August 19, 2008 / Allan / 6 Comments

David Hunter’s wife, Denise, died Sunday. The funeral is Thursday morning in Robinson. Our Father tells us through his prophet Isaiah, “I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you” (46:4). May our God carry David and his two children through this dark, dark valley. May he grant them his peace and comfort. And may he use his people—us—to reach out to them with his love and mercies.

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

Further reflections on this past Sunday at Legacy — There was so much anticipation, so much build up, so much expectation going in to that first assembly in the new building, it wouldn’t have mattered what happened in there, most everybody was going to come out feeling great. Everything was going to be positive. Everything was going to be fabulous. It would have been impossible to mess it up, even if we had been trying. Everybody’s expectations were that it was going to be great. Everybody had already decided it was going to be wonderful, months before it ever happened.

And it was. It was wonderful. Microphones were off when they should have been on and they were left on when they should have been off. Communion servers missed rows. The baptistry water was freezing cold. The PowerPoint slides weren’t all up at the times they should have been. I was so totally disoriented, I’m not sure what I said or how I said it. Yet, it was fantastic. It was amazing. And I can’t help but think a ton of that has to do with our mindsets going in. It was going to be wonderful no matter what happened. We had already made up our minds.

Bingo.

Can’t we all, everyone of us, go into this coming Sunday, and the next Sunday, and the Sunday after that, and even the Sundays to come next month and next year and five years from now with the exact same level of anticipation and enthusiasm? Shouldn’t we? Next Sunday there will be more visitors to meet. Next Sunday there will be more Legacy members to greet. Next Sunday our God is going to work in and through our assembly to bless us and shape us into the image of his Son. So why wouldn’t we go into next Sunday the same way we went into this one? No matter what happens during the service, I’m convinced even before it begins that it’s going to be wonderful and I’m going to be blessed by gathering in the presence of God and one another. Why wouldn’t that be the attitude every single week?

Sunday, we looked at how our Christian assemblies transcend time and space. We’re not in this room, we’re not in the worship center. When we’re together, we’re at Mt. Zion, gathered around the throne of our God with all the saints for all time, those who’ve gone before and those who are coming after. We’re in the future. We see the future. We experience the future when we’re together like this. It really is heaven on earth. The singing really is that good.

On Sunday, we joined the future. When we assemble together, we see the future, we experience the future. And we’re strengthened to live in the present because we’ve experienced the future. And we live and act in the present as if the future’s already come. Because for us, it has.

We don’t have to wait for the sweet by and by to experience the transforming presence of God. In the hallowed here and now we enter his throne room together along with all the saints of every age.

May God’s people assemble in our new building in spirit and truth for generations to come. And may our understanding of our assemblies always be shaped by the realities of the eternal Kingdom of our God.

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

I was so disoriented Sunday. I never knew whether I was coming or going. The whole thing was so strange. Nothing normal about any of it. And it was much more than just being in a new building. I’ve certainly preached before in strange new settings. What made it weird was that it was all the people I know and love, but nobody was where they belonged. I’ve become very used to looking in certain places and seeing certain people. I know where to look to find the people who are always paying attention and nodding encouragement to me. And I know where to find the people who are just nodding. I know where my good friends are and where the people are I don’t know that well. I know where each of our elders can be found. I know where Carrie-Anne and the girls are. For 14 months now I’ve been accustomed to knowing where everybody is. Until Sunday. Nobody was where they were supposed to be. Everybody was with different people. In different places. This was my church family. But it was like the room had been turned upside down. Very strange. I never got my bearings. I hope it’s a little different this next Sunday.

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

I’m humbled by all this. I’ve thought it many times before, it was running through my head all day Saturday, and the thought was overwhelming me Sunday morning: what in the world am I doing here? This church has really messed up by ordaining me as their preacher. They have no clue how far in over my head I am. If they only knew how terrified I am by all this. I don’t belong here. It’s too big. It’s too important. I’m too weak. I’m too small. This doesn’t fit. I’ll be exposed any day now for the fraud I really am. And those thoughts drive me to the floor on my knees. God, if you don’t show up, I’m not showing up. Ever. I can’t do this. You have to do this. It’s all on you, Lord; every bit of it.

And he’s there every time. Every single time. He’s never missed. And it never ceases to blow me away.

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

Here it is! Here’s the official logo for The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys Top 20 College Football Poll. We received a grand total of 6 votes. One vote for David Watson’s “Football Pole” design. Of course, that vote shouldn’t really count because the one casting that vote didn’t even get the joke. Brittany Bankhead-Kendall’s entry received no votes. Sorry, girl. I’m not sure why. I appreciate your effort, though, because it seemed to really get the ball rolling. The other five votes went to Scott Beard’s inspirational design. Scott’s imaginative scheme combines the rich imagery of a football player preparing mentally for the physical battle that faces him in the heart of the trenches—where, as we know, all football games are won or lost—with bold lines and striking attention to detail that paint a complete portrait of the paradox of the game: artistic brutality; violent ballet; a symphony of collisions with all the drama of a month’s worth of soap opera Fridays. So, here it is.

Congratulations to Scott Beard!

The KK&C Top 20 Preseason Poll will be released first thing tomorrow morning.

Peace,

Allan

Gathered By God

August 17, 2008 / Allan / 0 Comments

“When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present…” ~1 Corinthians

“I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips, as you know, O Lord.
I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.” ~Psalm 40:9-10

“Praise the Lord in the great congregation;
praise the Lord in the assembly of Israel.” ~Psalm 68:26

“On the day which is called Sunday we have a common assembly of all who live in the cities or in the outlying districts, and the memoirs of the Apostles or the writings of the Prophets are read, as long as there is time. Then, when the reader has finished, the president of the assembly verbally admonishes and invites all to imitate such examples of virtue. Then we all stand up together and offer up our prayers, and, as we said before, after we finish our prayers, bread and wine and water are presented. He who presides likewise offers up prayers and thanksgivings, to the best of his ability, and the people express their approval by saying ‘Amen.’ The Eucharistic elements are distributed and consumed by those present, and to those who are absent they are sent through the deacons. The wealthy, if they wish, contribute whatever they desire, and the collection is placed in the custody of the president. With it he helps the orphans and widows, those who are needy because of sickness or any other reason, and the captives and strangers in our midst; in short, he takes care of all those in need. Sunday, indeed, is the day on which we hold our common assembly because it is the day on which God, transforming the darkness and matter, created the world; and our Savior Jesus Christ arose from the dead on the same day.” ~Justin Martyr, 155 C.E.

“Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.
The Lord gives strength to his people;
the Lord blesses his people with peace.” ~Psalm 29:2, 11

“We come together for a meeting and a congregation, in order to beseige God with prayers…We assemble for the consideration of the Holy Scriptures, to see if the circumstances of the present times demand that we look ahead or reflect. Certainly, we nourish our faith with holy conversation, we uplift our hope, we strengthen our trust, intensifying our discipline at the same time by the inculcation of moral precepts. At the same occasion, there are words of encouragement, of correction, of holy censure.” ~Tertullian, 197 C.E.

“The heavens praise your wonders, O Lord,
your faithfulness, too, in the assembly of the holy ones.” ~Psalm 89:5

“Here, indeed, we have no earthly holy place, framed and adorned by human hands; no inner temple veiled in mysterious sanctity; no golden emblems of the regalia of heaven; no blinding light of glory beaming forth from between the cherubims; but we have the assembly of the saints; the congregation of the Lord; the body of Christ animated by his Spirit; the ordinances of divine service revealing, publishing, commemorating the love of God to men; the holy privilege of drawing near to God in concert with those who have obtained like precious faith with us; the unveiled spiritual glories of the reign of heaven; the light of life; the joys of love divine.” ~Robert Richardson, 1847

“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another — and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” ~Hebrews 10:19-25

At The Cross

August 14, 2008 / Allan / 3 Comments

“To us who are being saved it is the power of God.” ~1 Cor. 1:18

When I survey the wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died,
my richest gain I count but loss and pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast save in the death of Christ, my God;
all the vain things that charm me most I sacrifice them to his blood.

Were the whole realm of nature mine, that were a present far too small;
love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all.

To the old rugged cross I will ever be true, its shame and reproach gladly bear;
then he’ll call me someday to my home far away, where his glory forever I’ll share.

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God…we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ~1 Corinthians 1:18-24.

Drops of grief can ne’er repay the debt of love I owe;
Here, Lord, I give myself away, ’tis all that I can do!

At the cross, at the cross, where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away,
it was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day!

For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood shed on the cross.” ~Colossians 1:19-20

Near the cross! O, Lamb of God, bring its scenes before me;
help me walk from day to day with its shadow o’er me.
In the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,
’til my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river.

I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. ~Psalm 119:16

How sweet are your words to my taste,
sweeter than honey to my mouth. ~Psalm 119:103

The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the Word of the Lord stands forever. ~1 Peter 1:25

Blessed are those who hear the Word of God and obey it. ~Luke 11:28

From the first moment of Faith Builders at 9:00 Monday morning through this very moment as I’m listening to God’s Word being read by Susan Garrison and her daughter Allie it has been, and continues to be, an incredibly awe-inspiring week. I’m amazed at the power and the love of our God. I’m thrilled that he looks at me in all my sin and shame and loves me enough to save me. I’m grateful he’s put me in the middle of this community of believers who love him and love each other. And I’m humbled that, for some still unexplained reason, I’m the preacher.

Peace,

Allan

Outside The Box

August 6, 2008 / Allan / 1 Comment

“And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.” ~1 Samuel 4:4

Eli’s unholy sons represent the unholy people of God in 1 Samuel 4. Their actions and their disregard for the Lord and for other people reflected the fact that God’s people at this time were all doing what was right in their own eyes. And when the Lord sends the Philistines in to defeat his people, the Israelite elders decide they just need to go get the ark of the covenant, the visible symbol of the presence of God, out of the Tent of Meeting and parade it into the next battle.

They had the box. But they didn’t have God. It never occured to them that God’s not in the box. God is outside the box. And he cannot be bought or sold. He cannot be persuaded or tricked or controlled or managed by manipulating a symbol or a ritual or a set of words and motions.

The lives of the people did not reflect the glory of God. The lives of the leaders were in open defiance of the covenant of God. And it didn’t matter if they brought in ten thousand thrones of God, he was not going to give them victory under these circumstances. It’s not wherever the box is, God is. God’s not in the box.

The Israelites were putting their faith in the symbol of their relationship with God instead of in the God of the relationship.

Whether I’m stealing meat that belongs to God or not using the gifts he’s given me; whether I’m taking things from people by force or not giving them what they deserve; whether I’m having sex with temple prostitutes or not changing the channel when I should. I can do what’s right in my own eyes as long as I have the box. I’ve got the symbol. I’ve got the ritual. I’ve got the building. I’ve got the proper interpretation of church government. I’ve got the right name. I’ve got the correct order of worship. I’ve got the box.

How arrogant and foolish. Why do we do this?

We build this box. We’ll take the name on the outside of the building, support it with one songleader (acappella), elders and deacons (in that order), weekly communion, baptism by immersion, and then we’ll close it with the lid of our favorite songs and favorite Bible translation. And before you know it, we’ve got God in this box. This is where he is. And we take this box into all our battles: our battles against Satan and our battles against each other. And pretty soon, when everything that’s right about God is in our box and everything outside our box is wrong, you open it up and it doesn’t matter what I do on Saturday night as long as I’m in here on Sunday morning.

Or worse, it doesn’ t matter how pure and genuine my neighbor’s relationship is with God and others, if he says the words out of order at the Lord’s Table, he’s wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me. Some of the things I’ve mentioned are important. Very important. And we uphold these things and teach them and stand strong for them. But just because we take ownership of certain doctrines and practices never means for one second we have a monopoly on God. We don’t. He’s not in the box. He acts in ways we’ll never understand. He moves in ways we cannot comprehend.

There’s an old story about Augustine walking along the beach one day when he came across a little boy running back and forth pouring water from a bucket into a hole in the sand. Augustine asked him what he was doing, and the boy replied, “I’m trying to put the ocean in this hole.”

Who are we to try to contain and control an infinite and eternal God in our finite minds and limited understanding?

Who do we think we are? Our God’s not little. He’s huge.

He’s outside the box. Way outside the box.

Peace,

Allan

The Church Is The Building, Too

August 4, 2008 / Allan / 8 Comments

They’re in the middle of the impressive task of installing the pews in our new worship center. And in just two weeks we’ll be assembling together in this beautiful building to worship our God and spur one another on in our lives of faith.

We say all the time that the Church is not the building, it’s the people.

OK. I’ll buy that. I believe that. Up to a point.

We shouldn’t carry that statement or that position so far that it discounts or nullifies the sacred nature of the actual place where God’s children meet him in sacred assembly.

The building is important. It’s OK to feel that way. There’s nothing wrong with feeling the way you do when you walk into our new worship center or into the old church building in Arkansas where you were baptized or into the church buildings in Tulsa or Abilene where you meet and worship with dear friends once a year.

Our church buildings are vital to our faith. Our buildings collect stories and develop associations that give great depth and breadth to our experience of following Jesus together. It’s in our new worship center where our two younger daughters will put on their Lord in baptism. A couple of them may wind up getting married in there. We’ll sing and pray together in there during the funeral of some very dear sweet person reading (or writing!) this article right now. We’ll send off missionaries together in there. We’ll laugh and we’ll cry together in there. We’ll experience birth and death and everything in between together in there. We’ll hear the Word of our Lord together in there. We’ll share the communion meal together in there. We’ll be convicted and moved, we’ll confess and repent, we’ll chase little kids around the aisles together in there.

And we’ll do all those things together in the presence of each other and in the presence of our Holy God.

Your grandmother’s house is full of stories. Your childhood home is full of memories. Your current space of residence serves as the comforting and stabilizing center of your family’s hectic schedule. Our church buildings serve the same important function of reminding us of who and what has gone before and pointing ahead to who and what is to come, all in the presence of and by the power of our eternal God.

Yes, the Church is the people. But the building represents the people and the stories and the memories and the provision and care of the God we serve.

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

Our 20 pollsters for the inaugural The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys Top 20 College Football Poll are all in. 19 Texas residents and one from California. Eighteen men and two women whose formative years were spent in places as widely varied as Chicago and Broken Arrow and Mississippi and Ohio. Judging from our pollsters’ list of favorite teams, it looks like we have the Big XII, Big 10, SEC, C-USA, Mountain West, WAC, and Pac-10 Conferences completely covered. It should be a totally comprehensive poll. And legitimate. Until the first time ACU or Harding or UTA receives votes. Then it’s over.

I still need a logo for this thing. Submit your entries now. Design a logo for the KK&C Top 20 and email it to me at astanglin@legacychurchofchrist.org

Thanks for jumping in. Much more later.

Peace,

Allan

Category: Church (Page 57 of 59)

Assembly As Gospel

Heaven On Earth

Gathered By God

At The Cross

Outside The Box

The Church Is The Building, Too

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links