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GCR’s Theophanies

September 24, 2024 / / 2 Comments

In Acts 4, the early Church is facing cultural opposition and political oppression in Jerusalem. Peter and John have been jailed, interrogated, and ordered to cease speaking and teaching about the resurrected Jesus. So they go “back to their own people,” they gather with the Church, and they pray for God to give them even more boldness to continue speaking about Jesus and they ask God to stretch out his hand to heal and perform even more miracles and wonders to glorify Jesus.

Our God responds to the prayer immediately by shaking the building and filling them all with Holy Spirit courage.

It’s called a theophany. it’s a visible appearance of God. God revealing his presence in a real, physical way you can see or feel.

God did this for Moses at the burning bush. The fire and the smoke got Moses’ attention and our Lord told him, “I am with you.” God said, “I will be with you,” and he gave Moses the boldness he needed to speak to Pharaoh.

God revealed himself this way to his people on Mount Sinai. There’s thunder and lightning, smoke and fire and noise, and the whole mountain is shaking. “I am with you,” God says. “You are my people and I am your God.” His presence gives them the increased courage and faith they need to obey the commands he gives them on the mountain.

Isaiah experiences the same thing. He goes into the Temple and sees our holy God on his eternal throne. There is smoke and noise and the whole Temple begins to shake. God asks, “Who will go for us?” And Isaiah goes from “Woe is me; I am ruined,” to “Here I am! Send me!”

Go and tell the people. I am with you. Go and speak. I’m right here. Go and live. I am with you. Go and proclaim.

It happens to the first Church on the Day of Pentecost. Those 120 disciples of Jesus praying in the upper room are blown away by the noise, the wind, and the fire. God is here with us! All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, Scripture says, both the men and the women, and they began to speak.

I suggest to you that these kinds of things are still happening today if we’ll pay attention and notice. Our spiritual God is still making himself known in physical ways in order to assure us of his presence and fill us with Holy Spirit boldness. We get these theophanies here at Golf Course Road all the time.

In the past 22 months since we launched our vision of transformation and mission–just a little less than two years ago–we’ve had 174 people place membership at GCR. That’s 174 men, women, and children who are jumping in with our church family. And we don’t know how they’re getting here or why they’re coming. With a lot of our new members, there’s no real connection, no personal invitation, or particular event. They’re just showing up and forming relationships and embracing the mission and becoming important parts of what God is doing in us and through us here. It’s a physical reminder that our God is the one who gathers his people and brings them together for his holy purposes. We’re seeing it here. It’s real.

In that same time frame, in a little less than two years, we’ve had 61 baptisms here at GCR. That reminds us that, yes, God is still saving people. God is still at work in people’s lives. God is still rescuing people and snatching souls from hell! We’re seeing it all the time.

Last May, there were about 30 kids at Emerson Elementary who had lunch debt in the school cafeteria  and were about to be cut off. They were going to be served inferior lunches in special bags for the last month of the school year. It would mark these students as different. It would make them stick out. So we paid off their debt. We didn’t ask any questions, we didn’t ask anybody to fill out a form. Did you know you were in debt? How much debt do you owe? Are you trying to pay off the debt? Would you meet us halfway with your debt? No! We didn’t do any of that, we just paid it all off. Just like Jesus. Just like our God in Christ who forgives our debt and pays off our sin and rescues us from bondage. These students and their parents got a physical, tangible, living parable or proof of God’s grace that sets us free.

Those one hundred Mission Agape boxes we provide every Thanksgiving. Our people buy the food and pack the boxes, and we distribute them to families in need in Midland County. That’s physical proof that our God is still providing what people need through our community of faith.

The “4 Midland” worship services with First Methodist, First Presbyterian, and First Baptist. There are always 800-1,000 of us in each other’s buildings, singing with our combined choirs, praying together in our different traditions, loving and accepting one another in the name of Jesus, putting aside our denominational differences to unite for the sake of our city.

That takes Holy Spirit courage! That’s Holy Spirit community! That’s proof that our God is determined to bring all things and all people together in Christ, and he’s doing it in us and through us at GCR! Yes, our God is still stretching out his hand to heal, he is still performing miracles and wonders through the name of his holy servant Jesus! And we’re experiencing it here all the time!

Our spiritual God is constantly making himself known to us in physical ways. We know our God lives inside us and we know his Son is our Lord. So we are not defined by the times. The government does not control how we live our lives. Technology does not define our existence. Postmodernism does not determine how we think. News and entertainment does not account for who we are. We must break the faithless and ignorant habit of letting the journalists tell us what’s doing on. We need to at least give the Holy Spirit equal time!

Peace,

Allan

Share the Pain

September 19, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We’re looking at the middle part of Romans 8 as it answers three fundamental questions for us today: Where are we? What are we called to do? How is it going to go? Yesterday, we noted that the world is in pain. The world is groaning in frustration over the curse of sin and death. Today, I suggest that all Christians are called to share that pain. As children of God and followers of his Son Jesus, we are called to share the world’s pain.

“We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as children, the redemption of our bodies.” ~Romans 8:23

We are called to share the world’s pain. To join the world’s pain. To bear the world’s pain. Not to ignore it, not to isolate ourselves from it, not to look the other way and pretend it’s not happening. The Church is called to share the world’s pain. We ourselves who have the firstfruits of the Spirit groan inwardly.

Wait. Why us?

Because we know. We know things are not the way they are supposed to be. Because we have the firstfruits. We have seen glimpses of the eternal glory. We’ve tasted the way things are supposed to be. We’ve experienced a little bit of what God is doing.

As a church, when we come together to worship, we get a sense of what’s coming. We join that great throng of heavenly witnesses around the throne of God, we’re united together with all the saints–past, present, and future. There’s another scene, there’s another city, there’s another reality beyond our time and space. And sometimes we see it. Sometimes we feel it, if only for a moment.

When we come together around the table and share the communion meal, we are one with God in Christ and we are one with one another. Perfect fellowship. Perfect unity. Perfect forgiveness and acceptance and love and peace. And it’s not ordinary. It’s Christian.

We don’t groan despite having the firstfruits; we groan because we have them. Because we’ve seen it. We know the glory that’s coming. Baby blessings and baptisms. Mission trip sendoffs. Harvest parties and fistbumps. 4 Midland. Small groups. We see and hear and touch and taste God’s healing and cleansing, his joy and unity and forgiveness, his life-changing power and reconciliation and compassion and love. We all experience up close and personal these firstfruits of the Spirit. And it’s not what you find in the ways of this broken world. It’s uniquely Gospel.

To accomplish what’s coming for us, our Lord Jesus had to get out of his comfort zone and put on our pain. That’s the Gospel truth. Christ Jesus left his home in glory, he sacrificed his position and his power, he gave up his rights and his status, and he joined us in our pain. He came to where we are and he put on our flesh and blood, he suffered in the dirt with us. The Bible says he became familiar with our sufferings. He carried our burdens. He became our sin for us, to rescue us from the corruption and decay.

We all share the common human predicament of pain. Of groaning. So, like our Lord Jesus, we intentionally seek out that pain in others. Where is that pain? You look for it. And you don’t have to look hard–we’re all surrounded by it. And we join the pain. We embrace the pain. We live in it. We share it. We stand for and with those who are in pain. We speak up for and with those who are suffering. The Church is called to share the world’s pain. Who else is going to? And if we don’t do it right now, when will we?

Some of you, I know, the pain is too far away. The problems are just on TV. You’ve never been shot by a police officer. You’ve never been discriminated against at work or school or had opportunities taken from you because of your skin color or your accent or where your parents were born. And maybe you don’t know anybody who has. It’s not something you think about or talk about unless it’s on TV.

For some of you, the pain is very close and very real. You do know someone. You’ve experienced it yourself. You think about it and talk about it all the time.

And, yeah, there’s no doubt, you’re all over the map in your own church. You have lots of different viewpoints and opinions, you probably don’t all agree on what should be done and what ought to work and the steps that need to be taken. You’re not all going to be on the same page.

But here’s what the Bible tells us. The world is in pain. The whole world is broken and suffering because of sin. It’s groaning. And, like our Lord Jesus, his Church is called to share that pain.

And you might say, well, I don’t know anything about racism. I don’t know how to fix it. I don’t know anything about homelessness or sexual identity. I can’t relate to people wrapped up in CPS cases or losing their jobs. I’ve never been to a prison. I’ve never even been in a hospital.

Well, you do know how to love people. You do know how to sacrifice and serve people. You know how to just sit with people, to just be present with people in their pain. To just listen. If it were your daughter, you’d do it.

I’ve seen you. I’ve seen you move heaven and earth, I’ve seen you sacrifice and suffer for the sake of being with your son or daughter. I’ve seen you struggle to build bridges, I’ve seen you lay aside your rights and your feelings to reconcile relationships with people you love. I’ve seen you work so hard and give up so much to heal and restore what’s broken in your own families. To just sit and be present and listen. Yes, you do know how to love people and share pain.

The world is in pain right now. That’s where we are. The Church shares the world’s pain. That’s what you and I are called to do.

Tomorrow, how is the sharing of this global pain going to work out?

Peace,

Allan

On the Move with Jesus

August 14, 2024 / / 0 Comments

One of the difficulties with trying to get closer and closer to Jesus is that he is always on the move. Just when you think you’re there, right when you believe you’ve achieved nearness to Christ, he moves on you.

He jumps to be with those other people on that other side of town. Surprising.  He slides over to the homeless shelter. Didn’t see that coming. He’s eating with the registered sex offender, he’s praying with the Presbyterian, he’s laughing with the Democrat, he’s hugging the prostitute, he’s preaching at the prison, he’s helping a family of immigrants.

It’s uncomfortable. It’s unexpected. Different. New. Edgy. Scandalous. Hard.

It’s exciting. It’s exhilarating. Refreshing. Life-giving. Wonderful. Beautiful. Glorious.

It’s Gospel.

The closer you get to Jesus, the more you think like Jesus and act like Jesus, the more you’ll begin to see people and places the way Jesus sees them. The more you’ll love and serve those people and places. The more you’ll react and respond like Christ and the less you’ll care about your own reputation or status. The more you’ll let your guard down to be with the people in the places where our Lord spends his most important time. The more you’ll gladly follow Jesus “outside the city gates” where your friends would never expect you to go.

Get closer to Jesus. Keep following him closer and closer. And see if it doesn’t change everything.

Peace,

Allan

MISD at GCR

July 30, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Our church campus has been overrun by more than 350 new teachers, coaches, mentors, bus drivers, and counselors the past two days as the Midland School District held its new teacher orientation at GCR. And we’ve been honored to host them.

All our ministers and church staff, along with a dozen or so terrific GCR volunteers, were on hand each morning to welcome the new instructors with open doors, handshakes and high fives, and well wishes for the new school year. We served coffee and flavored teas, helped give directions and instructions before and in between training sessions, and tried to be as friendly and helpful as we could be as they begin their new jobs with our local school district.

Why would we do something like this at GCR? Why would we go to the trouble and expense of hosting something like this for MISD and its new teachers?

Of the 350 new teachers, let’s assume that between 1/3 and 1/2 of them are brand new to our community. I personally met folks yesterday and today who just moved to Midland from San Antonio and Austin, from South Texas and New Mexico, and from as far away as Wyoming. There might be almost 200 people here, and their families, who are living in Midland for the very first time. Trying to find the grocery store and the movie theater, hunting for a doctor and a dentist, looking for a church. Is there a better way to get that many brand new people to your community inside your church building?

More than that, all 350 of these people have something really important in common: they are all in transition. Regardless of whether they just moved here or they’ve lived here all their lives, they are all beginning brand new jobs in new places with new people. They’re all making adjustments in their lives, forming new habits, re-thinking old assumptions, and probably reordering their priorities. It’s during these times of transition that God’s Holy Spirit can sneak into a person’s soul and whisper something important. Our Lord can find a little crack during these transition moments and do something monumental with a person. And when that happens–next week or next year–I’ll know that new teacher met some great ministers and had a really good experience at GCR.

When God’s Spirit finally prompts someone to start looking for better connections with him and his people, maybe they’ll remember that GCR seemed like a place and a people where that could happen.

Finally, why wouldn’t a Christian church want to bless and encourage a big group of teachers who are committing to our local schools and our local kids? Why wouldn’t disciples of Jesus be first in line to help our local school district? Better public education benefits kids and families and it makes our entire community better in dozens of different ways. So, yeah, we’re all in!

Thank you to those who held doors and poured coffee and tea and said, “Room 201 is in the gym” about a million times.

And thank you to Dr. Howard and MISD for allowing us the honor of hosting your awesome teachers for their orientation. GCR wishes y’all the very best of an amazing school year!

Peace,

Allan

Resistance

June 25, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Ancient baptismal formulas required the candidate for baptism to verbally renounce the ways of the world and embrace the ways of Christ right before he or she went under the water. In order to say ‘yes’ to Jesus, one needs to say ‘no’ to other things. There are some things that cannot go with you into your new life. You must leave them behind. You must renounce them.

This is how Josh Ross sets up his third core principle for navigating an election season without losing our witness. The book is Coreology.

#3 – I will resist allowing any media outlet to become the primary way I think about culture and the world.

Josh warns Christians against allowing cable news and social media to be our only source of information about what’s happening in the world and certainly against watching it and/or listening to it multiple hours every day. He calls for resistance and restraint because our phones and our streaming news channels are intentionally dividing us and forming us into individualistic humans.

Mainly, they succeed by shaping us to think and react in binary ways. According to social media and most cable news, you are either a Republican or a Democrat, you are either a liberal or a conservative. There are only two possibilities, only two boxes. This is how our culture operates now. You know it. You feel it. On every topic that comes down the pike, you have to immediately make clear decisions and take firm positions and then dig in. And if you’re not in my box, there’s only one other box for you to be in. You’re the opponent. You’re the enemy. When Christians are thinking that way–when churches are thinking and behaving that way–we are less likely to love others, less inclined to serve others, less able to evangelize.

In this chapter of his book, Josh gives us three reasons to resist the transformative power of digital media.

One, these outlets mainly rely on fear as a weapon to motivate.

“Fear is profitable. Fear is fuel. Fear motivates. Fear gets people to buy security. Fear unites people around a cause. Fear creates common enemies. Fear isolates. Fear creates unnecessary forms of anxiety. Fear strangles joy. Fear does not bring about hope in God or hope for the world. Fear does not bring about a deeper love for God, for God’s mission, or for God’s world.”

Fear-based messaging has been proven to be almost twice as effective as any other type of messaging. As children of God and followers of Christ Jesus, we must guard against being motivated by fear, which is the opposite of faith.

Secondly, Josh claims that the truth in our culture and in our world is really hard to find. And we are increasingly more susceptible to believing fake news because of the urgent and hurried nature of our constantly streaming digital media. According to MIT cognitive scientist David Rand has conducted research that shows, on average, people are inclined to believe false news at least 20% of the time. But when people resist making snap judgments, they are harder to fool. You just have to stop and think. The real problem is that the platforms today demand high speed decisions. So we don’t pause to think. We’ll repost and share and forward information without even clicking on the link.

Thirdly, projection impacts engagement. When we project upon people a certain stereotype or ideology, we hinder our willingness and desire to meet people where they are. When you see a car with a Trump or Biden sticker on the back, what do you think? What’s going through your head? And your heart? If you pull into the same restaurant, are you likely to speak to that person? Or have you already made up your mind about them?

“For Jesus-followers, our beginning place must be that all people are created in the image of God and are worthy of redemption and community. No matter what bumper stickers or t-shirts they display, all people are redeemable. They are not our enemies. Therefore, we approach them as image-bearers of God, not as enemies of the cross. We don’t allow other humans or human news sources to generate the narratives for us. Jesus Christ is our narrative.”

Say ‘no’ to the other voices so we can always say ‘yes’ to our Lord Jesus. And to all the people he loves.

Peace,

Allan

Resurrection Hope Right Now

March 26, 2024 / / 0 Comments

In Mark’s resurrection story, it’s not, “Hey, Jesus is raised! That means there really is life after death!” No, it’s more like, “Jesus is raised and he wants you to go to Galilee to see him! Today! You will see him, just as he told you!” In other words, everything Jesus told you about God’s Kingdom is coming true right now. It’s happening today. And you’re in on it!

Same deal in Matthew. “He is risen from the dead! Awesome! That means we’re going to heaven!” No, it’s more like, “Go see him in Galilee today! He’s got work for you to do! When Jesus meets them there, they worship the risen King and he says, “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to me. Now, go! And surely I am with you every step of the way!”

Resurrection doesn’t mean escaping from the world someday when we die. It’s means ministering to the world today while we’re alive. Resurrection hope is a way to live and work for the sake of the world by the resurrection power of our Lord Jesus right now. We are the messengers now, we’re the deliverers of the Good News that the risen Messiah is the King of the whole world. We demonstrate that Good News by living resurrection lives. We call on others to receive it and respond to it for their own resurrection power and hope in Jesus.

“Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord. They will rest from their labor for their deeds will follow them.” ~Revelation 14:13

We are–each of us, all of us–commissioned by God’s resurrection power to live and work for the coming and everlasting Kingdom of God on earth. That’s Christ’s prayer and that’s our hope: that God’s will be finally and fully done on earth as it is in heaven. We’re not oiling the wheels of a giant machine that’s going to roll off the side of a cliff. We’re not restoring a masterpiece painting that’s ultimately going to be thrown into a fire. We’re not planting roses in a garden that’s destined to be dug up for a parking garage. You are accomplishing something every day that will be an important part of God’s eternal Kingdom forever.

Every act of love, gratitude, and kindness; every act of care and nurturing, of comfort and support; every prayer lifted; every lesson taught; every good deed that spreads the Good News; everything you do in the name and manner of our Lord Jesus becomes an important part of his Kingdom. We are given resurrection hope in order to share that hope with others. And everything we contribute to the cause–everything!–is used by God toward that great and ultimate end. Every cup of cold water given in his name; every snack packed for at-risk school kids; every check written for foreign missions; every meal served at Family Promise; every diaper changed at Young Lives; every kid mentored at Opportunity Tribe; every fist bumped at Emerson Elementary; every hospital and prison visit; every act of kindness toward an immigrant or refugee–all your work matters. Every minute is packed with heavenly potential. Every action is loaded with eternal consequences. What great hope!

Resurrection hope. Genuine hope for tomorrow. Living hope for today.

Peace,

Allan

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