The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Golf Course Road Church (Page 2 of 19)

Ash Wednesday in Midland

February 14, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We are hosting the 4Midland Ash Wednesday service at GCR tonight. At 6;30 this evening, nearly a thousand Christians from First Baptist, First Methodist, First Presbyterian, and GCR CofC will come together in our newly remodeled worship center to begin the ancient Christian practice of Lent. Ash Wednesday is a bit out of our comfort zone for Church of Christers, but we’ve asked our congregation for more than two years now to participate in this solemn worship assembly with other Christians and just see what God will do.

This is how we live the great Story. This is how Christians, for centuries, have always prepared for Holy Week and Easter, for the death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus. This 40-day period of prayer and fasting moves our bodies and our hearts into closer communion with Christ and with one another. And it begins with Ash Wednesday.

The ashes placed on our foreheads remind us that we are human and broken, that we are going to die, and we need Jesus to live. That’s why, when they are applying the ashes, pastors will sometimes say, “From dust you were created and to dust you shall return.” Imposed on us in the form of a cross, the ashes also remind us of our sin, our need for redemption, and the truth of forgiveness and restoration in Christ. That’s why pastors will sometimes say, “Repent and believe the Good News!”

We cannot appreciate God’s infinite mercy if we do not realize we need mercy. We cannot understand salvation apart from a recognition of our need to be saved. If our sin is not removed from us, we are forever separated from God. Ashes remind us of this need.

Wearing ashes on our foreheads also acknowledges the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, who substituted his own death for the “burnt offerings” made by the priests to atone for the sins of God’s people.

Four different churches representing four different denominations coming together to participate in these ancient Christians practices is also a powerful witness to our community. We demonstrate the truth that Jesus died on the cross and was raised to eternal life in order to tear down all the barriers between us and God and between us and one another. When we come together in each other’s buildings, when we combine our worship teams and choirs, when we join hands in prayer and recite the ancient creeds, we are declaring that we belong to a Kingdom that is eternally bigger than our churches and that our King really is the Prince of Peace.

If you’re in the Midland area, I invite you to join us at GCR Church tonight at 6:30. If you’re not in West Texas, I urge you to find an Ash Wednesday service somewhere to attend this afternoon or this evening. Give yourself to it. Immerse yourself in the songs and prayers. Participate in the confession and repentance. Soak into your soul the blessed words of assurance. Allow a minister to look you in the eyes while applying a cross made of ashes to your forehead. Let him or her intercede for the Lord on your behalf. Hear the words, “From dust you were created and to dust you shall return.” Hear the words, “Repent and believe the Good News!” Let those words change you. Let the worship move you closer to the Lord. Give the whole thing to God and just see what he might do.

Peace,

Allan

Out of the Ashes

February 13, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Two Sundays ago at GCR, we gave our pains and sufferings to God. It was a congregational exercise halfway through our “Everything New” sermon series from the book of Ruth. We wrote down the names of the people and things we’ve lost. We wrote down the trials and the heartaches. All the junk, all the stuff that’s cluttering up our hearts and souls. Things that have happened to us. Things we’ve done. The burdens that keep us awake at night and hang over us all day. We wrote it all down on note cards, sealed it up in envelopes, and walked down to the front and gave it to God.

The next morning, all our ministers and church staff prayed over those envelopes. And then we really gave them all to God. We put all those sealed envelopes into the fire. One at a time. It took a while. One by one. All the pain and suffering. All the loss. All the burdens. We gave it to our God–a literal burnt offering. All the stuff our people are dealing with right now. All the pain of their current circumstances. All the suffering they’ve been forced to endure. We gave it to the Lord.

The loneliness. Sickness. Depression. Tough situations. We prayed as the envelopes were literally lifted up to God.

Father, we release our pain and our loss to you. We won’t let these things define us or paralyze us or keep us from what you want to do in our lives. We release the pain and the loss of our situations to you. Take these, Father, and use them to move us into your “everything new,”

Later that afternoon, we collected the ashes from the fire. Then our sister in Christ, Cassie Bundy took them. And did something beautiful and new.

When we give our circumstances to the Lord, when we give him our sorrows and pain and suffering, they don’t always go away. Most of the time, they become a part of who you are. They don’t just disappear. But it’s in those things and through those things that God creates something new. He doesn’t destroy it; he walks in it and through it with you.

Our God walks through your darkness to bring forth his light, he walks through death to give us life, he walks in the pain and the tears to bring you fullness and joy. He works in the soil and ashes of your circumstances to do something beautiful and eternal and new.

“Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you!” Ruth 4:14

Peace,

Allan

Super Bowl Scattershooting

February 12, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Mike Zimmer.
Wait. Nevermind.

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About yesterday’s Super Bowl. Did you see all those Chiefs field goals? They matter. Extra points. They matter. Would somebody please tell Dan Campbell.

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These are my favorite Super Bowl commercials I have watched several times again today, in the order in which they made me laugh out loud: Reece’s Peanut Butter Caramel Cups, particularly the guy on the left slamming his head into that pot of beans or chili or whatever that is; Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Dunkin Donuts spot with Tom Brady; Aubrey Plaza’s Mountain Dew commercial, specifically where she’s having a blast both winning and losing; and the couch potato commercial for Pluto TV–that one’s funny in a really creepy way. Also, I did not see the little dog hula-hooping in the Reece’s commercial until like my sixth viewing.

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Thank goodness the Super Bowl is not on CBS every year. Does America really want to listen to Tony Romo tell us what he would do during a critical drive, trailing by one score, in the last two minutes of a half? We saw what he would do. We watched it for ten years.

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Name a quarterback playing right now you’d rather have guiding your team, down one score, with one possession left, over Patrick Mahomes. You can’t. Good grief, that guy. In the clutch, with the clock ticking and the game on the line, Mahomes just straight-up delivers. That last drive to set up the game-tying field goal at the end of regulation and that championship winning drive in overtime were both perfect. Perfect. Unstoppable. Travis Kelce caught nine balls for 93-yards, including three huge third down catches on those two drives. The Kansas City defense was unbelievable in limiting the Niners. And their kicker could split the uprights from 70 yards away. Mahomes is the rightful MVP. And the Chiefs are now America’s Team. They beat both number-one seeds during the run that ended with yesterday’s title. They’ve got big personalities at the skill spots and down-to-earth guys in the trenches. They’ve got a Hall of Fame coach. They’ve got America’s biggest pop music hero hosting movie stars and high-end celebrities in the million-dollar suites, cheering them on. And they win and win and win. The Chiefs are America’s Team.

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Following our annual GCR Daddy-Daughter Dance Friday, there were two-and-a-half boxes of Little Debbie Unicorn Cakes left over. Unicorn Cakes? I had never heard of Unicorn Cakes until Ashlee messaged us Sunday morning that we were free to take any leftover cookies, brownies, or other desserts home with us for our various Super Bowl parties. Unicorn Cakes? Sparkling strawberry? Some kind of gooey purple icing stuff in the middle? White icing and sprinkles? Yes, please! Today there are one-and-a-half boxes left.

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The World Series Champion Texas Rangers pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training in Surprise, Arizona this Wednesday February 14. Day after tomorrow. I know it’s also Ash Wednesday. And Valentine’s Day. But it’s also the first official day of the defense of the Rangers’ World Series Championship! I’ve never typed those words before. Ever.

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I want to write something a little more reflective on the “He Gets Us” Super Bowl commercial featuring the foot washing scenes. I’ll try to get to that tomorrow. Have you seen it? Here it is. Stay tuned…

Peace,

Allan

Everything New!

January 12, 2024 / / 0 Comments

The five most exciting words in all of Scripture are “I am making everything new!” I think the Lord’s words in Revelation 21 and Isaiah 43 are electric with excitement. These five words just crackle with potential and promise. They explode with hope and expectation and possibilities. “I am making everything new!”

We are moving from an old year into a new one. We are also moving toward God’s glorious forever where everything we know is made new. Individually, each of us is always moving somewhere, to something. So let’s be intentional about it. Let’s pay attention to it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At GCR this Sunday, we are beginning a new five-weeks sermon series on the story of Naomi and Ruth. The whole story is about moving: from Moab to Israel, from bitter to full, from three funerals to a wedding and a new child, from famine to harvest, from no future to complete redemption. The story is full of ordinary, mundane matters such as family and work, cities and laws, life and death. So much of this story is easily relatable to all of us today. And we see God’s gracious hand at work in the middle of it all to bless his people and bring salvation to the world.

So, yes, the whole stage and front of the GCR Worship Center is filled with moving boxes, bubble wrap, packing tape, and dollies. We are really focusing on the idea of “moving.” We want to embrace and embody the concept of “moving” toward a wonderful place with our Lord and with one another in his will.

I know we just moved into our newly remodeled room. I know. Don’t worry, we are not planning to move out. But, by our God’s amazing grace, we are wanting to “move” into his “everything new.”

Peace,

Allan

Make Me Moveable

January 9, 2024 / / 0 Comments

At GCR this Sunday we’re starting a sermon series about moving into God’s new everything. It’s intended to work well with this being January and the beginning of a new year and all that implies. But we don’t want to just move into new diets and exercise routines, new reading plans and bedtimes, new spending habits and screen-time management. We want to move into the Lord’s new everything!

Things may not be great for you right now. Or for your family. Or your workplace. Or a relationship. Or the country in which you live. Things might be bad. Are you leaning into your trust of the Lord or are you utilizing your own wisdom and moving away from him? God is at work right now to move you into a place of his blessing. But are you moveable?

We’re going to use a prayer to center us as a congregation during these five weeks. We’re planning to pray this prayer together every Sunday as part of submitting to our God and to his plans for us. I invite you to make this prayer your own as we transition into 2024.

Lord, please make me moveable.
Move me to the place where I am able to receive your blessings.
Draw me closer to you; push me closer to your people.
Bring me to your Word; bring me to your worship.
I want to be with you in the place where you are.
Father, give me the strength and the resolve to move to you and to the place of your blessings.
In Christ.
Amen.

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After Michigan’s runaway win in last night’s college football championship game, the results are final in our annual GCR staff bowl challenge. First place receives a free meal, a free dessert, and gets to pick the restaurant at our monthly staff lunch next week. Second place and last place get a free meal, too.

Tim Neale finished in first place, Kim O’Connor jumped over seven of us last night to finish in second, and Ryan Rampton finished dead last. I am vowing today to never again pick Texas to win anything important, unless it’s a volleyball match. Jadyn is today explaining to J.E. how football playoffs work. Jim is cursing SMU because those 40 points would have kept him in second place. Brenda is thankful that she can now devote her full attention to Red Raiders basketball. And Ryan is trying to claim he finished in last place on purpose.

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I know the Cowboys have gone 12-5 three years in a row. This is being celebrated as some kind of all-time franchise mark and the reason for Cowboys fans to be really excited about Mike McCarthy and this team. Okay. Fine. Whatever.

Let me back us out to 30,000 feet and remind you of the big picture and how far the Cowboys have fallen as a franchise and how low the bar is now for its fans.

McCarthy’s twelve wins are because of the expanded schedule. Jimmy Johnson’s last three teams went 11-5, 13-3, and 12-4. That 1991 team finished the regular season on a five game winning streak; give them one more game and they probably hit 12-5. Most importantly, they won two Super Bowls in that run.

As for Tom Landry’s teams, we need to remember that he coached more than half his 29-years with just a 14-game schedule. If you judge his record by winning percentage, the Cowboys were better than 12-5 in six straight seasons from 1968-73 when they went 12-2, 11-2-1, 11-3, and 10-4 three times. They managed another seven year stretch from 1975-81 in which their worst season was  10-4 in 1975 and their second worst mark was 11-5 in 1979. The other five seasons were 11-3 and 12-4 four times.

Most importantly, the Cowboys won a Super Bowl during each of those runs and played in five of them. They went to nine NFC Championship games in those 13 years.

Those are the things Cowboys fans used to celebrate.

This Sunday, when Dallas hosts the Packers in a first-round playoff contest, it’ll be the 28th anniversary of the Cowboys’ most recent NFC title game. I guess if you’re still a Cowboys fan, 12-5 three years in a row is a pretty big deal.

Peace,

Allan

Rockin’ the Show

December 14, 2023 / / 0 Comments

You want to guarantee energy and enthusiasm for the grand finale of your children’s Christmas program? You want to provide the best picture opportunities for the parents? Then give the kids inflatable electric guitars and cut ’em loose!

Our GCR Children’s Ministry put on their annual Christmas program for our church last night and it was a smashing success. The theme was “The Best Christmas Song Ever.” Turns out, it’s not Blue Christmas, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, or Winter Wonderland. It’s not Hark, the Herald Angels Sing or Joy to the World. It’s some song written by some corporate children’s ministry writer named Yancy. Who knew?

 

 

 

 

Carrie-Anne and I were completely delighted by the whole production. We just laughed our way through the whole thing, watching these kids try to make it through the 30-minute show. The squirming kids who don’t really want to be up there at all. The superstar extroverts who hog the microphones and crowd out their co-performers with their oversized hand and arm motions. The kid who kept waving at his dad. The one who tried to exit the stage at two different times, only to be corralled and hauled back up to his position by a helpful volunteer. The squirrelly ones who were only trying to get a laugh. The ones who beamed as they delivered their well-rehearsed lines so precisely. The ones who stumbled through theirs, only to let out a huge sigh of relief when it was over. Each one of these kids brought C-A and me so much joy last night.

 

 

 

 

 

Congratulations to Kristin and Ashlee and their whole team of incredible volunteers for a spectacular show! If they’ll ask me to sing Blue Christmas at next year’s show, I think I could convince a few to put it in the Top Ten.

Peace,

Allan

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