Category: Stanglin Family (Page 22 of 25)

In The Garden

April 6, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

“He took Peter, James, and John along with him, and he began to be deeply distressed and troubled.” ~Mark 14:33

What happened that night in the olive grove at Gethsemane? What transpired there? Jesus is meeting a tremendous trial, he’s facing a gruesome horror, he’s fighting intense temptation. And he does not do it stoically. He does it biblically. Loudly. With tears and sweat. And honest lament. He lays his body and soul before God in complete honesty and trust and says, “Father, everything is possible for you. Take this cup from me.”

Jesus is facing the most severe test of his life. God is handing him the cup and demanding he drink it. Jesus’ physical and spiritual self — his mind and his body, his heart and his soul — none of him wants to do this. He shudders in horror at the mission before him. He dreads all of it. The pain. The torture. The death. Jesus is facing the terrible prospect of crucifixion. His Father is in the process of making him who had no sin to be sin for the world. Jesus is walking through the valley of the shadow of death. And he’s in turmoil.

Jesus wants another way. And he asks for it.

This is a horrible scene.

Jesus crying out to his Father — “Deliver Me!!” — and no dove descends, no voice from heaven says this is my Son. God has already spoken. And the Son must obey.

And he does.

“Not my will, but yours be done.”

Perfect honesty. Total truthfulness. Complete trust. And a beautiful, matchless example of devotion and commitment and obedience to God. The perfect example of understanding God’s will, wrestling with the difficulty of carrying it out, demonstrating to us that asking God about it, even asking him to change it, is not inappropriate. It’s honorable. But through it all, we clearly see Jesus’ commitment to obey.

Jesus overcomes the silence. He fights off the temptation to do what he wants. And through open and honest prayer, he obeys the Father. At Gethsemane, we see both Jesus’ agony and his determination to do God’s will, even if it means his horrible death.

Praise God for the Savior’s love. And for his obedience to our Father’s will.

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

Early Saturday evening, while moving a water sprinkler in the back yard, I noticed a huge glob of bees congregated on the northeast corner of our house. The blob of bees was about two feet in length and 18-inches wide, probably 20-thousand bees according to the beekeeper I was forced to call.

He told me he would charge me $200 to remove the bees, $300 if they had actually gotten into the walls of the house, and $400 if I spray them or attempt to remove them myself first.

Needless to say, we had bees on the brains at Stanglin Manor Saturday night. So when a June bug flew into the kitchen and buzzed Valerie’s head toward the end of dinner, the terrified screams, I’m sure, set off car alarms in Haltom City.

The beekeeper showed up at 7:30 yesterday morning. It was cold outside so the bees weren’t moving much. They had actually all clumped on top of each other instead of being all spread out the way they were in the evening. He put on his bee suit and used a tricked-out vacuum cleaner to suck them them all quickly and painlessly into a big white box. 15 minutes. Two-hundred dollars.

He says he does about 400 calls a year.

Valerie did the math. Now she wants to be a beekeeper.

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

What a fantastic morning Saturday at the Eastridge Church in Rockwall. The Four Horsemen met at 7:00 for an hour of prayer in their beautiful worship center (having Mason, Jason’s oldest son, there to pray with us was an unexpected treat!). Seeing Dan on 24 hours of prayer and zero hours of sleep was interesting (actually, it’s not that different from seeing Dan any other time). And, for the first time ever, over-dressing at an event Kevin helped sponsor was a bit unsettling.

Jason and I had the great privilege of sharing breakfast with and then speaking to the men of Eastridge who had just completed a 24-hour period of continuous prayer. What a blessing! I love listening to these men recount the experiences of praying with one another for an hour or more over the needs of the congregation and the community. The unexpected tears. The overwhelming nature of the requests. The burden-bearing. The responsibility. The fellowship. The pouring out of hearts and souls to God. The bonding.

The same thing happened when we did this here at Legacy. And in Marble Falls. And in Mesquite. In fact, the 24 Hours of Prayer was one of the very first things we did as the Four Horsemen following that monumental breakfast at our house in 2001. We pledged to one another that morning to do more for Christ and for his Kingdom. We pledged to do more for the Mesquite congregation and the Mesquite community. We vowed to stop asking the elders for permission, to just start doing the things we knew needed to be done that would shape us all more into the image of Christ. The Second Saturday Servants. Feeding the homeless and hungry in downtown Dallas. The Men’s Advance. We didn’t ask for permission to do any of that. We just organized it and got the whole church to do it.

On Saturday, as we reflected with those men at Eastridge on that life-changing, earth-altering year for us, a year that saw a series of events that facilitated tremendous spiritual growth, Jason pointed out that now he and I both have to ask our elders permission before we do anything.

Funny.

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

Parity has entered the world of NCAA tournament brackets at Stanglin Central. And it’s not pretty. Whitney unseated me as undefeated bracket champion in a tie-breaker following the final game last year. This year, Carrie-Anne has unceremoniously taken the crown even before the on-court title is decided. She finished with 72 points. Valerie was next wtih 71. Carley and I tied with 70. Whitney went from first to worst with 63. None of us has Carolina or Michigan State winning the whole thing. So we’re done. Congratulations, C-A.

There’s always next year.

Speaking of next year………Go Rangers!

Allan

On Stream, the Team, a Faulty Scheme, and a Magazine

March 31, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

Ken Young and Hallal are finally bringing “Stream” to Dallas – Fort Worth! “Stream in the Desert,” out in Midland, has for years been the annual worship and spiritual formation highlight for thousands of disciples. I’ve never been to a “Stream” weekend. But I’ve always been envious of those who have. They always come back talking about it the way I talk about Tulsa. They come back from “Stream” energized, on fire for our Master and his Kingdom. They rave about the singing. They gush over the preaching. Most “Stream” regulars claim it’s the one thing that keeps them going. “Stream” expanded to Tennessee a few years ago. And now they’re bringing it to North Texas.

The dates are August 28-30. It’ll be held at the South MacArthur Church of Christ in Irving. Grady King and the great people over there hosted a bunch of us preachers and worship leaders yesterday for a kick-off lunch. And I’m excited about this.

From what I understand, it’s tons of singing. Lots of singing. Joyful praise and worship. Singing. And then Session One with Jeff Walling. That’s followed by more singing. Lots more singing. Ken Young and Hallal leading us in exhuberant singing. And then more Jeff Walling. I think it runs like this from Friday evening, all day Saturday, and through Sunday morning: singing and Walling, singing and Walling, singing and Walling. I think five or six different inspirational sessions. What’s not to like? Singing and Walling? Two-thousand saints raising the roof? One of the best preachers — ever — challenging us with the Word? I’m in!

And I’m hoping you will be, too. We’ve thrown Legacy’s support fully behind this thing. I hope we can all be a part. Over the next few weeks they’ll be looking for volunteers to work in all kinds of different capacities to help pull this off. They’re especially looking for Small Groups leaders to help facilitate some of the break out sessions. I know we have plenty of those here. Go ahead and put it on your calendar. If you’re reading this from anywhere in the Great Southwest, make plans now to be there. Much more information will be coming in the next few days. And I’ll keep you posted. I’ve also added the “Stream DFW” website to my blog role there on the right hand side of this page.

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

We got drove! I’m grateful we don’t have our last names on the backs of our jerseys or “Legacy” on the front. We have real jerseys now with real numbers. But Team Dyniewski didn’t play like a real basketball team last night. We even brought in a ringer to run the point. But once we gave up our lead with six minutes to play in the first half, it was over.

We have plenty of excuses. John had never played with us before. Josh was out of town on business (thankfully, he wasn’t there to berate us). We lost Coker and his Herschel Walker shoes about 90-seconds into the game with a pulled calf. I think I went 0-8 from the field. Aaron was quadruple-teamed every trip down the floor. And we still couldn’t get a rebound or hit an open shot to save our lives. Bad game.

We trailed by nine at the half, 16 with six minutes to play, and wound up losing 50-41.

Whatever momentum we had in this league on the heels of last week’s great come-from-behind win is gone. And we might not get it back. The bad news (yes, it gets much worse) is that the team we’re playing next Monday beat the team that beat us last night 96-32. Oh, yeah. They’re going to hang a hundred on us next week. Josh, you might want to stay in San Antonio.

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

A couple of you have asked about my bracket. I went into this NCAA tournament bound and determined to defeat Whitney who unseated me as undefeated Beast of the Brackets in a tie-breaker last year. The good news is that I’ve defeated Whitney. There’s no way she can catch me. The bad news is that our outcomes are already determined because our two brackets are done. Busted. Blown up. It’s over. Whitney picked none of the Final Four teams. I have one: UNC. And I don’t have Carolina advancing to the title tilt. So I’ve finished with 70 points to Whitney’s 63.

But we’re both on the sidelines now watching a new champion emerge at Stanglin Manor.

Right now, Carrie-Anne has 72 points but can only pick up another potential five because she had Duke winning the whole thing. Valerie‘s sitting at 65. But she has three of the Final Four and could gain another 16 points this weekend if Carolina wins and UConn takes the trophy. Carley‘s racked up 70 points right now and can add another eleven if the Huskies win it all in Detroit. If Carolina beats Villanova AND UConn wins the title, both Valerie and Carley will finish with 81 points. And the winner will be determined by a tie-breaker based on the final score.

How is it that it’s going to come down to the two in our house who care absolutely nothing about the games or the teams or even the sport? I’m rooting for Nova and Michigan State. That way it won’t be a blowout.

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

Dawn (Stanley) Shelton has written a nice article about me and my family in the current issue of VISION, the alumni magazine at Oklahoma Christian University. I was surprised when she contacted me a couple of months ago about the piece. I was honored, certainly. Flattered, even. And somewhat hesitant. My years at OC weren’t exactly my greatest moments. In fact, Dawn joked that they thought about headlining the article “Allan Stanglin’s Doing What?!?”

But it’s a very nice article that, hopefully, illustrates by my life that our God is overly-gracious and kind, that he never gives up on his children, and that he keeps calling us to do his will. I hope it also communicates that our Father will use us in his Kingdom to do more than we can ever ask or imagine. All we have to do is submit to him and his will.

We haven’t recieved our copy of the magazine yet. I’m anticipating getting it today. But it started hitting mailboxes on Saturday. Retha Stark, a kind, sweet sister here at Legacy phoned Carrie-Anne upon reading it this weekend. My sister, Rhonda, called me last night from Edmond. She had accidentally stumbled upon it, flipping through the pages to see if any of her old classmates had birthed any more babies. After she read it, she gave it my 12-year-old nephew, Caleb. He carefully studied the article, soaked in every word, and then looked at Rhonda and said, “I still wish Uncle Allan was in sports radio.”

Peace,

Allan

Sacrificial Giving

March 4, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

We talked last Sunday about sacrificial giving, Christ-like giving, when it comes to Legacy Missions Sunday on March 29. We also encouraged our church to give above and beyond what they’ve already planned and purposed in their hearts to give to the Lord every Sunday. Please don’t split up your regular weekly offering and put a portion of that towards missions. A lot of people did that last year and, frankly, it’s gotten us in a little bit of trouble. What we’re asking is that we add to what we’re already giving. Don’t split up the pie. Bake a brand new pie. Be sacrificial. Be creative. Give something up.

I told the church about my family’s plans to do what we did last year: give up going out to eat for the entire month of March and give all that money to missions on the 29th. No eating out. None. Not as a family, not individually. The whole month of March. You won’t see us at Dickie’s on Sunday afternoons, we won’t be at Rosa’s on Tuesday nights, we won’t find us at Pizza Garden on Saturdays. And I won’t go to Whataburger for lunches on Mondays and Thursdays. And every dime we would normally spend on eating out this month goes to Missions Sunday.

Last year we were shocked at how it all added up. We wound up putting aside and giving almost twice what we anticipated.

Of course, it killed the kids. They thought it was torture. “Why are we doing this?” “Why can’t we go out?”

What a great teaching opportunity. What great learning experiences, around the dinner table, together as a family, participating together in some family sacrifice (especially if I’m cooking) for a cause much bigger and greater than us.

What are you giving up? One lady told me immediately after the service Sunday she’s going to paint her own toenails this month and give the money to missions. What are you giving up? How are you going to sacrifice to give to missions? I’d love to share a few of these from the pulpit Sunday. Why don’t you hit the comments link at the top and tell us what you’re doing, individually or as a family, to contribute to Legacy’s missions efforts. Your plans may strike a creative spark in someone else who’s reading this. Your idea may inspire someone else to participate in a similar way. Let me know what you’re doing in the comments.

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

Sunday night I read a short passage from an old Charles Spurgeon sermon to illustrate some points about God’s sufficient grace. (Quoting Spurgeon makes any sermon a whole lot better.) A couple of you have asked that I re-print it here. So here it is. This is from a Spurgeon sermon on 2 Corinthians 12:9 he delivered on April 2, 1876. The title of the sermon is Strengthening Words from the Savior’s Lips.

“God’s sufficiency is declared without any limiting words, and therefore I understand the passage to mean that the grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient to uphold thee, sufficient to strengthen thee, sufficient to comfort thee, sufficient to make thy trouble useful to thee, sufficient to enable thee to triumph over it, sufficient to bring thee out of it, sufficient to bring thee out of ten thousand like it, sufficient to bring thee home to heaven. Whatever would be good for thee, Christ’s grace is sufficient to bestow; whatever would harm thee, his grace is sufficient to avert; whatever thou desirest, his grace is sufficient to give thee if it be good for thee; whatever thou wouldst avoid, his grace can shield thee from it if so his wisdom shall dictate…Now let me press upon you the pleasing duty of taking home the promise personally at this moment, for no believer in this house need be under any fear, since for him also, at this very instant, the grace of our Lord Jesus is sufficient.”

Peace,

Allan

Sufficient Grace

March 2, 2009 / Allan / 4 Comments

“My grace is sufficient for you.” ~2 Corinthians 12:9

What kept the apostle Paul going? Seriously.

The Holy Spirit would tell him to go preach in this town or in that city and they’d beat him half dead. They’d stone him and throw him in prison. God would tell Paul to get in a boat and it would wreck. The Lord would send Paul on a mission to establish a church and a year later that church and its leaders would turn on him. It was constant with Paul. One thing after another. Paul never had any relief.

And I know he must have thought about quitting.

As the flesh on his back was shredded by lash #37.

As his energy and strength waned on day 12 without any food or water, hanging on to a wrecked-out ship in the middle of the Adriatic Sea.

As his heart was ripped out by the biting criticisms and harsh condemnations coming from his own brothers and sisters he had just recently baptized.

As his body wasted away in a dark and damp dungeon under the downtown streets of Rome.

What kept him going?

Paul was not able to endure, he was not able to fight the good fight and finish the race, because he somehow was able to muster up the strength and the courage and the energy to run one more lap. Paul hit the wall and ran through it over and over again. But he never claims one time to have done it by his own power. Paul’s ability to persevere is a divinely granted gift from from God. The power to endure, the power to persevere, the power to run through the wall, “this all surpassing power is from God, not from us.”

My grace is sufficient for you. My strength is enough for you. My power is plenty for you.

It’s easy to believe in grace for the past and the future. Past grace is what saved me from my sins. Past grace is what redeemed me and brought me into God’s Kingdom. Future grace is what’s going to get me to heaven. Future grace will lead me home. Or at least, this is how we view it most of the time.

True faith is resting in God’s grace to provide us with the strength we need to endure every immediate need; God’s grace to provide us with the power to persevere through all our present circumstances. That’s faith. Right now, at this very moment, and in every moment you’re going to have between now and the end of your race, God’s grace is sufficient for you.

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

Never ask a man where he’s from. If he’s from Texas, he’ll tell you. If he’s not, there’s no sense in embarrassing him.

173 years ago today, 48 delegates from the 48 territories of Texas gathered for a convention at Washington-on-the-Brazos to sign a Declaration of Independence. Santa Anna’s Mexican army had more than 180 Texans trapped in the Alamo. But with the signing of this document, Texas was on its way to becoming “a free, Sovereign, and independent Republic, fully invested with all the rights and attributes which properly belong to independent nations.”

Happy Texas Independence Day! God bless the Republic!

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

Happy Birthday, also, to my little brother, Keith. In your honor, bro, I’m listening to an Enrico Palazzo album and eating a bowl of split-plea soup.

Peace,

Allan

The Way We Speak

January 2, 2009 / Allan / 0 Comments

One of the many joys of my Christmas morning was unwrapping a copy of Eugene Peterson’s latest theological work, Tell It Slant: A Conversation on the Language of Jesus in his Stories and Prayers. Peterson had finished his trilogy on spiritual conversations with his most excellent The Jesus Way. But apparently he needed to write one more. And God’s Church is all the better for it.

I’m halfway through this theological treatment of the parables and prayers of Jesus. Peterson examines, in the way only he can, the ways our Lord used language and conversation to reach out to others with the love and grace of God. When he spoke, people were drawn to Jesus. His words engaged the people around him. His conversations involved them. He spoke truth and grace. He encouraged and instructed. He spoke love.

I want to share with you a short passage from the introduction of Tell It Slant that challenges us in this new year to “be careful little mouth what you say.” Our tongues are powerful tools, able to heal and destroy, to comfort and enrage, to protect and attack, with a bare minimum of effort or syllables. James knew this well. So does Peterson:

“There is a lot more to speaking than getting the right words and pronouncing them correctly. Who we are and the way we speak make all the difference. We can sure think of enough creative ways to use words badly: we can blaspheme and curse, we can lie and deceive, we can bully and abuse, we can gossip and debunk. Or not. Every time we open our mouths, whether in conversation with one another or in prayer to our Lord, Christian truth and community are on the line. And so, high on the agenda of the Christian community in every generation is that we diligently develop a voice that speaks in consonance with the God who speaks, that we speak in such a way that truth is told and community is formed.”

May our words in 2009 reflect the love and the mercy of the God who saves us. May our conversations always teach and encourage. And may our language glorify God and exalt Christ Jesus.

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

We rang in the New Year as a church family with an evening of games and food and worship. I don’t have a lot of pictures because I was way too busy dominating Sequence (OK, Carrie-Anne dominated, I rode her coattails to impressive victory), collecting Uno word cards, getting Bear’ed and Bull’ed by Lance, and barely surviving Around the World with Sarah. I can’t imagine a better way to celebrate the gift of a new year from our God than reading together from Hebrews and Galatians and 1 John, singing songs of praise, praying together to dedicate this new year to our Lord, and then circling up to sing It Is Well as the clock struck 12:00.

Wow. God-ordained, Jesus-inspired, Spirit-powered, community-forming.

And then the sparklers.

Typical New Year’s Day at Stanglin Manor: sleep in; donuts; college football; traditional Texas New Year’s Day lunch with ham, cabbage, and black-eyed peas; college football; college football; rented movie; college football. Perfect.

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

My great friend Jason Reeves, the preacher at the Grayston Church in Diana, Texas and one of the Four Horsemen, has finally waved the white flag and joined the blogging community. I’m placing a link to his site, Reeves’ Rhetoric, on my blogrole on the right hand side of this page. You can also get there by clicking here.

You’ll be encouraged by Jason’s blog. God speaks through him. God will speak to you through him. He’ll challenge you. He’ll make you think. He’ll force you to re-evaluate your walk with Christ as you examine his. I know. Because most everybody I know falls way short when placed next to Jason. Especially me.

Jason, some days the blog will be an unforgiving task master. Some days it’ll take too much time. Some days it’ll seem that it’s not having as big an impact as you’d like. But those days are few and far between. You’ll discover that the blog is a wonderful way to connect to people you might not otherwise. You’ll see that it’s a great tool for reinforcing your sermons and classes. It forms Christian community. It teaches and encourages. It allows you to better articulate your thoughts and dreams while you’re wrestling with God and his Word and his world. It’s an effective way for other people to be inspired by your faith and your hope.

I pray that our Father will use your words and your thoughts to speak to the people in his Kingdom. I pray that your blog will reach people who need increased faith and stronger hope. I pray that God will be glorified in the time and effort you put into it.

And the very first time that lady from Denver with the pregnant teenager and abusive husband or that man in Arizona who’s left God’s Church calls you on the phone, from out of the blue, to tell you that your words about Habakkuk or your thoughts on 1 Thessalonians are the only thing that’s kept them going, you’ll fall on your knees in gracious humility and praise God for using you in ways far beyond what you could ever ask or imagine.

Peace,

Allan

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

Category: Stanglin Family (Page 22 of 25)

In The Garden

On Stream, the Team, a Faulty Scheme, and a Magazine

Sacrificial Giving

Sufficient Grace

Assembly As Gospel

Recent Posts

Recent Comments

Categories

Archives

Allan's Links