The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

AllanStanglin.com

Category: Golf Course Road Church (Page 1 of 26)

Church is God’s Work

January 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments

I paid off a Cowboys debt today. I bet Myles back in August that the Cowboys would not get seven wins this year. Myles is a squirrely 13-year-old kid in our youth group and the son of the wonderful Brandon and Ashlee. He and I share a love for Whataburger, the Texas Longhorns, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and our Lord Jesus. But that’s about the extent of what we have in common. He loves the Cowboys. Poor kid.

Our wagers are always for lunch at Whataburger. Loser buys. Including the vanilla and strawberry shakes. So, I picked up Myles from school today. And his friend, Nolan. I’m not sure how I got roped into buying his lunch, too. I don’t know this kid. Why am I buying his lunch?

When’s the last time you shared a meal with a teenager from your church? I’d suggest doing it soon. It’s awesome.

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A lot of people have this idea that the church is a volunteer organization; that every person in the church makes his or her own decision to belong or not; like we each experience a personal relationship with Christ, and then we join a church that promotes my individual spiritual health. This way, people join the church or leave the church based on whether they feel like their needs are being met or not.

No. Our knowledge of God–understanding who God is and what he is doing–re-shapes the way we think about Christian community, the way we view church. Church is God’s work, not ours. Not yours and not mine.

“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light… Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God.” ~ 1 Peter 2:9-10

Earlier in 1 Peter 2, the apostle writes that you–this is the plural form of the word, you all, or, as I like to say, y’all–are chosen by God and precious. You (y’all) are being built into a spiritual house. You are not building it; you are being built by God. Belonging to a community of faith is not your choice, it is God’s decision. It’s God’s work.

“God has called you (y’all) into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” ~1 Corinthians 1:9
“Brothers and sisters, think of what you (y’all) were when you were called.” ~1 Corinthians 1:26
“It is because of God that you (y’all) are in Christ Jesus.” ~1 Corinthians 1:30

In the Bible, whenever the Gospel is preached, wherever the power of what God has done and is doing in Christ Jesus is proclaimed, these communities of faith just pop up. The churches in the Bible are defined ONLY by their acceptance of the Good News and their commitment to Christ and to one another. Jews and Gentiles together. Rich and poor together. Free people and slaves together. Men and women, tax collectors and Zealots, national citizens and foreigners together. Young and old, fugitives and business leaders together.

You and I don’t CHOOSE to belong to group like that. We would NEVER choose that. Putting a church together is what God does.

Peace,
Allan

December Inevitabilities

December 15, 2025 / / 0 Comments


December means Christmas parties, trips to see Santa, and the Cowboys being eliminated from the postseason. Let’s take those annual winter inevitabilities in reverse order.

If your quarterback is struggling and your offense stinks, just play the Cowboys. Once again, the Dallas defense made a bad offense look good and a mediocre quarterback look like Joe Montana in last night’s embarrassing home loss to the Vikings. Minnesota rookie J.J. McCarthy, in just his eighth start, threw for the most yards in a game in his career, averaged 10.4 yards per attempt, threw for two TDs, and ran for another. After beating the Eagles and Chiefs in back-to-back games, Dallas has now given up 78 points in two straight losses to demolish whatever hope a few Cowboys fans might have had.

I feel sorry for Dak. I really do. Prescott now becomes only the third quarterback in NFL history to start for the same team for at least ten years and not win at least one divisional playoff game (the other two are Tony Romo and Archie Manning). Dak is finishing his tenth season as the Cowboys QB, his fifth missing the playoffs.

It’s not his fault.

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The grandsons saw Santa Claus over the weekend and, by all accounts, killed it. Not a problem. Elliott didn’t fully embrace the experience the way Samuel did. But he didn’t cry. He endured.

In case you’re wondering, yes, the boys do own several pairs of shoes.

I was relieved to see that Santa is aware of Oklahoma. I’ve never been sure about that.

But it doesn’t matter because the boys are coming to Midland one week from tomorrow for Christmas and Santa and all that entails. It’ll be their first-ever trip to Texas. They might bring their parents.

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Our dynamic GCR youth group finished their progressive Christmas dinner at Stanglin Manor last night. Somewhere between 40-45 teenagers and a few brave adults (that’s only about a third of the people in that picture) crammed into our living room for desserts, hot chocolate, and an awkward gift exchange. It was another inspirational demonstration of the intergenerational nature of our congregation.

If our teenagers at GCR know anything, it’s that the adults in our church love them and support them and want the best for them and enjoy spending time with them. We work really hard to ensure our young people know they are a vital part of our community of faith. And these same teenagers are pouring into our children’s ministry, too. One of the coolest things I’ve seen at GCR was at the kids’ Christmas pageant Wednesday evening when four rows of our youth group showed up to support and cheer on the children!

I thank God for what he’s doing in and through our youth group. These are all fabulous kids who really do love this church and each other. I’ll continue to say that if you want your kids to truly be more like Jesus, if you’re really serious about the spiritual formation of your teenager, you want him or her to spend as much time with Jadyn and J.E. as possible. And with this group.

Peace,
Allan

Transforming Moments

December 3, 2025 / / 1 Comment

The latest episode of the new-ish GCR podcast with Jadyn and Jim, Transforming Moments, just dropped today and, in case you’re not following it yet where you get your podcasts, here it is. Right here.

In this installment, Jim and Jadyn interview me about our GCR partnership with the 4Midland churches. We talk about the origins of our alliance, the theological basis for our public demonstrations of unity, and our plans for the future. But mainly the conversation is about spiritual formation. How does worshiping and serving with Christians from other denominations shape us more into the image of Jesus? How does being with different kinds of people in their spaces contribute to the “mind of Christ” among us? And does this have bigger Kingdom of God implications beyond our four churches?

The conversation is laid-back, personal, and includes a reference to Blaine Nye. I recommend it.

Peace,
Allan

Act Justly, Love Mercy

October 30, 2025 / / 0 Comments

The federal government shutdown is creating immediate and significant financial strains for more than 40-million people in this country, many of them right here in Midland. There are potentially hundreds of families here in West Texas who, beginning this weekend, will not receive their SNAP benefits for groceries or their federally-funded childcare subsidies. These families are stressed. To say the least.

Our church’s local missions partners are already seeing greater needs and are working hard to respond to the crisis. And as a body of Christians here at GCR, we want to ensure they have the resources necessary to continue serving their families in practical and meaningful ways. Thanks to our forward-thinking Connections Minister, Ryan Rampton, and our shepherds, we have approved up to $50,000 in Breakthrough funds to support our local partners, engage our congregation in personal and relational ministry, and address the pressing needs of our community.

This is how we are distributing the funds:

Mission Agape – $26,000 to provide an additional 1,000 food boxes for families in need. We are gathering as a church to help pack some of those boxes on Wednesday November 12. One hundred of these boxes are being reserved for Opportunity Tribe families, to be distributed by GCR members.

Family Promise – $11,000 to cover increased grocery and childcare costs for families transitioning out of homelessness. GCR members are also serving meals at Family Promise November 10-13.

Emerson Elementary – we are providing $250 HEB gift cards for every teacher and staff member at our adopted school who is receiving SNAP benefits. And we are referring students and their families needing food assistance to Mission Agape.

Praise God that, by his grace and the generosity of our church three years ago, we are able to use Breakthrough money to respond quickly and meaningfully to the needs of our city. Please be in prayer for the families who are worried right now, and consider how you might be able to give of your time in the coming weeks to serve our neighbors, to love like Jesus.

Our sermon this Sunday is from one of GCR’s Core Scriptures, Micah 6:6-8, in which God tells us through his prophet that he is most concerned that we act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with him. God’s people in Micah are living well while others in the community are suffering; God’s people are getting rich while their neighbors are hungry and poor; and God’s people are only concerned that their worship practices are in accordance with God’s commands. The Lord tells them they’ve broken the covenant, and they respond by asking how they should fix their corporate worship. That’s when God tells them they are missing the point–the most important thing is to act justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with him.

I think what GCR is doing in our local context during this national crisis, feeding our neighbors and providing for their needs, fits the spirit of acting justly and loving mercy. What this nation, what our city, needs from God’s people right now is not for us to be liberal or conservative, they don’t need us to be red or blue; they need us to be followers of Christ Jesus, they need us to operate in a certain way in our community because of our baptisms into the name of Jesus.

Peace,
Allan

Personal Relational Ministry

October 29, 2025 / / 0 Comments

Our vision statement at GCR Church is “Being Changed by God to Love Like Jesus.” It’s about both transformation and mission. It’s viewing everything through the lens of what God is doing both in us and through us. The vision emphasizes, without apology, the transformation of our people for the sake of loving others like our Lord. It’s our people doing ministry in personal and relational settings–being powerfully present with one another in our congregation and with others in our community.

We get that from our King. Thankfully, for us, it’s been part of our GCR DNA for several decades now.

 

 

 

 

 

Eugene Goudeau, in 1981, is one guy from GCR who said I must go to Brazil to help plant churches. That’s how SerCris Training School in Campo Grande got started.

John DeFore, 30 years ago, is one guy from GCR doing World Bible School correspondence courses with people in Kenya. He says I need to go meet these people, I need to do some personal follow-up with these new Christians. That’s how Kenya Widows and Orphans got started–KWO.

Jarrod Brown, 20 years ago, goes to Honduras with not much more than his Bible and a Toyota pickup. He said I want to live with these people, I want to do life with these people in their community. That’s how Mission Lazarus got started.

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we partner with our missionaries in foreign lands, it changes us. It transforms us. It informs and shapes the way we do missions here in Midland. Personal. Relational.

We don’t drop dinner off at Family Promise and leave. We sit down and we share a meal with the people at Family Promise.

We don’t do Harvest Party in our parking lot anymore. We take Harvest Party to the people at Family Promise and Midland FairHavens and Safe Place. I love the way we do Harvest Party now. All the pictures in this post are from the Harvest Party we threw for Family Promise this past Sunday evening.

 

 

 

 

 

We go inside Emerson Elementary and read books to the kids during lunch. We stand at their door on Mondays and fist bump all those little kids as they begin their week.

We don’t just pass out Thanksgiving food boxes in a drive-thru in our church parking lot anymore. We take time to visit with those we’re feeding. We pray with people. We hold their kids. We share desserts. We try to connect.

That’s our vision at GCR Church.

Personal. Relational.

Peace,
Allan

Missions Sunday Miracle

October 27, 2025 / / 0 Comments

“My God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” ~Philippians 4:19-20

Going into yesterday’s first-ever GCR Missions Sunday, there were at least a half dozen reasons why we might not make our giving goal of $416,000. There were questions. Maybe a couple of doubts.

But by the grace of God and the power of his Holy Spirit, this community of faith answered the call by giving $538,286!

I’m still trying to wrap my brain and my heart around what it all means. What happened yesterday makes no earthly sense. None. There’s nothing to do but give glory to God. There’s no one else to thank, nothing else to credit, no other explanation. That’s the way our God works. He is truly the only one.

Following Eric West’s announcement of the grand total, as the church burst into celebratory applause, I almost took off my shoes. Holy ground. Sacred space. A powerfully miraculous thing had occurred. Our God was moving in and with and through his people. God had far exceeded our grandest plans.

Thank you to every member of our GCR Church family who sacrificed in October and gave to fund our global missions efforts in 2026. Thank you for being so open to what our Lord is doing through our missions partners and for trusting him with your resources. Thank you for your commitment to the cause and your great generosity.

As blessings pile on top of blessings, we are increasingly convinced that our Father is keeping his covenant promises to GCR and to all his creation. May he be glorified and may his Son be exalted and may his Spirit be praised for ever and ever. Amen!

Peace,
Allan

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