Finally!

In attempting to move this little website to a different hosting and managing platform, GoDaddy knocked me offline and lost the past three weeks of posts and comments. After nine agonizing days and seven different hour-and-a-half phone conversations with six separate technicians, we’re back up and everything’s been restored. Hallelujah!

And Valerie had a babies shower in Tulsa. And David graduated from law school. And the Stars are in the Western Conference Final and leading Edmonton one game to none.

I’ll try to get caught up on things and post some pictures tomorrow.

Glad to be back!

Allan

Opposed and Irreconcilable

Before we get into today’s topic, I would like to make a modest and sensible proposal: the Mavericks send their number one lottery pick, along with Anthony Davis, to the Lakers for Luka. Please.

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

I am continuously in search of ways to better articulate my conviction that the Kingdom of God and the kingdoms of this world are incompatible. As disciples of Christ and citizens of God’s Kingdom, we already have our politics. We belong to a holy country without borders and we have a crucified and risen King, we have laws for getting along together and taking care of those around us, we have rituals and traditions that keep our story straight and our loyalties in place, we have ways and means for effecting change and transforming the world.  And all of it stands in direct opposition to the politics of the nations. The two kingdoms have opposite foundations and goals, opposite ways of getting things done, opposite methods for changing peoples’ lives, opposite ideas about wealth and power and force, opposite values–opposite everything.

Our King tells us we cannot serve two masters. We will love the one and hate the other, we will be loyal to one and despise the other. Jesus tells Pilate, “My Kingdom is not of this world; if it were, my servants would fight.” The politics of God’s Kingdom and the politics of worldly empires not only have nothing in common, they are each directly opposed to the other’s goals and ways and means of reaching them.

My brother, Keith, has heard me talk about this for about 20 years now. He doesn’t agree with me on every point–in his own words, he doesn’t see it as an “either/or,” he’s more of a “both/and.” But he’s come across an article by Paul Kingsnorth, a Christian writer living in Ireland, that articulates my views very well. The article is titled, “Against Christian Civilization” and was published in January by First Things. And it’s excellent.

On the third page Kingsnorth quotes Charles Alexander Eastman, a Dakota Sioux who was eighteen at the time of Custer’s Last Stand: “There is no such thing as ‘Christian civilization.’ I believe that Christianity and modern civilization are opposed and irreconcilable.”

I’ve read this piece five times now and I’m impressed with the expert way Kingsnorth weaves his narrative, and I’m thrilled with the clarity it gives the reader and for the potential for moving my conversations forward with others.

I’m asking you to read the article. It’s right here. And it will take some time. It’s thirteen pages and it covers a lot of historic and theological ground. I think you will find it helpful in, at the very least, understanding where I am and, I pray, wrestling with your own understandings and Christian calling regarding what I call Church As State.

Read it today. And I’ll write more about it tomorrow.

Here’s an excerpt to entice you to click and read:

“When we read the life of Jesus of Nazareth, in fact, it is impossible not to see a man who was, in some fundamental sense, uncivilized. He did not tell us to get good jobs and save prudently. He told us to have no thought for the morrow. He did not tell us to generate wealth, so that economic growth could bring about global development. He told us to give everything away. The rich, he said repeatedly, could never attain the Kingdom of Heaven. He did not tell us to defend our frontiers or to expand them. He told us never to resist evil. He did not tell us to be responsible citizens. He told us to leave our dead fathers unburied and follow him instead. He told us to hate our own parents and to love those who hated us. Every single one of these teachings, were we to follow them, would make the building of a civilization impossible.

What we are really hearing about, then, when we hear of defending or rebuilding ‘Christian civilization,’ is not Christianity and its teachings at all, but modernity and its endgame. It is the idol of material progress–the progress that has shredded both culture and nature–which is causing such grief everywhere. ‘Christian civilization’ is not a solution to this; it is part of the problem. And when actual Christianity is proposed instead, the response is so often the same: Oh, yes, that’s all very well, you fundamentalist–but what practical use is it?”

That last line reminds me of G.K. Chesterton’s “Orthodoxy” in which he says Christianity has not been tried and found lacking; it’s been found difficult and never really tried.

Go Stars!

Allan

Cory Was Not Arrested

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Dextor Clinkscale…

Our GCR Worship Minister, Cory Legg, was definitely not arrested at LAX as we were leaving the Pepperdine Bible Lectures on Friday. It was a case of misplaced luggage: it was Cory’s luggage and he misplaced it. The cop was only helping Cory relocate his bag. Yes, I showed this picture to our entire church family at the beginning of yesterday’s sermon. And, no, I did not explain it. Not at all. I just said we were delayed a bit at LAX while Cory was temporarily detained by LAPD. Cory wasn’t at church–he was taking a much-deserved vacation day–so it raised a lot of questions. I think he spent most of his vacation day answering emails and texts. He was still receiving messages from concerned members today at lunch. The real story is that they found his carry-on–someone had turned it in–and everything was fine. The other truth is that I’m holding onto this awesome picture and this isn’t the last time GCR is going to see it.

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

Breno and Gabriela Escobar had never heard of tater tots! Somehow, some way, our dear friends from Brazil–grown and married adults!–had never heard of tater tots until the topic came up at lunch yesterday after church. Breno is the professor of practical ministry at the Ser Cris training school in Campo Grande. He and his wife are in West Texas this week to attend a graduation of some friends at ACU, to attend his own graduation for his Masters of Biblical Studies in Lubbock, and to meet some more of us at their partner church at Golf Course Road. This is their first ever trip to the states. So, today our ministry team treated them to lunch at Michael’s Charcoal Grill here in Midland. And their first ever experience with tater tots. A travesty made right.

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

Here’s the May update photo of our two grandsons. And their mom. These two boys together weigh a combined six pounds now and they’re both reportedly kicking Valerie in the ribs all the time. I don’t know how she’s going to make it to July. We’re all heading to Tulsa Friday for David’s graduation from law school at Tulsa University and the baby shower they’re throwing for Val at the Jenks Church. Lots of family, special dinners, catching up, and talking about twin babies! I can’t wait to see everybody!

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

Mikko Magic. The Dallas Stars new superstar forward is scoring and assisting on almost every goal his team scores and breaking or extending his own NHL Stanley Cup playoff records almost every time he touches the puck.  Mikko Rantanen is on an historic streak–back-to-back hat tricks, gutsy put-backs, laser-precise passes–and remarkably making us forget about Luka. The Stars have an enormous opportunity to take control of this second round series at home tomorrow against Winnipeg. If the Jets don’t double-team Mikko every time he’s on the ice, the loss is on them.

Peace,

Allan

Happy Mother’s Day

“God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers.” ~ Old Jewish Proverb

On a literal level, we certainly disagree with the proverb. God is most definitely everywhere. But in a symbolic sense, I dearly love what the proverb proclaims because we do see our God in our mothers.

When our mothers cook for us our favorite meals, sew the patch in the knee of our blue jeans, or slip us the cash for the movie, they are reflecting the provision of our God who always meets the needs of his children.

When our mothers hold us closely through the thunderstorm, watch us as we cross the street, and insist on meeting all our friends, they are mimicking the protection we’re promised by our Father.

When they wipe away the tears and apply the Band-Aids and force the cough medicine down our throats, they are shadowing our God, the Comforter and Healer.

Our mothers love us unconditionally, despite the messes we make and the trouble we cause. Even when we don’t listen and we don’t behave, mom’s love never wanes. She disciplines us when we stray from the path. She forgives us when we wreck her carpet or her drapes. And she encourages us to be everything our God has created us to be.

Our mothers teach us right from wrong. They listen inexhaustibly. They rejoice in our success and our setbacks cause their hearts to break. They know what we’re going to say before we say it. Our mothers brag about us to their friends and defend us to our peers. They believe in us even when we don’t believe in ourselves. They lead us from in front and push us from behind.

And there’s nothing that could ever separate us from their love. Nothing. Ever.

Yes, our God is everywhere. But so too, it seems, are our mothers.

Happy Mother’s Day!

And Go Stars.

Allan

Harbor 2025

First full day at the Pepperdine Bible Lectures in Malibu with J.E., Cory, and Jason Reeves. Here’s how it went down:

A fabulous breakfast with an ocean view from the balcony/patio at Pepperdine’s Waves Cafeteria.

Chris Seidman on the line in Jesus’ prayer, “…on earth as it is in heaven.”

David Ayres on mustard seed churches and “holy insignificance.”

Hanging out and catching up with really good people like Josh Ross, Josh Kasinger, Karl and Kayley Ihfe, Doug Page, Jon Mullican, Carson Reed, and Dan Bouchelle.

Josh Ross on “Protecting Your Joy.”

Mike Cope on “The Greatest Threat to Unity in Churches of Christ:” Agreement that we should have unity in essentials and liberty in opinions, but disagreements over distinguishing which issues belong to which category and who gets to decide. Hmmm… maybe we join the rest of the great stream of Christianity and use something tried and true and ancient like the Apostles’ Creed to tell us what hills to die on and what issues to chill out on.

Dinner with J.E., Cory, and Jason at Malibu Seafood on the Pacific Coast Highway. The way the sun is situated in this picture makes J.E. look like an illustration from The Old Man and the Sea.

Worship with United Voice Worship, featuring Jerome Williams from Free Indeed, an emotional flashback to the very beginnings of hearing and discerning my call from our God to leave radio and preach.

Leaving the keynote session just a tad early to hoof it back up to my dorm room to watch the Stars 3-2 win over the Jets in the first game of the second round!

That’s a pretty good day.

Peace,

Allan

Reality Mission

“The Word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart; that is, the Word of faith we are proclaiming. That if you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved… How can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them?… Faith comes from hearing the message.” ~Romans 10:8-17

Over the past few decades, we have gotten away from speaking the Good News. Of course, we still believe that God grants us salvation by his grace through faith in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. We haven’t stopped believing. But we’ve stopped talking. We don’t proclaim with our mouths the way we used to, the way we need to.

What do I say? I don’t know what to say!

It might help if we saw our calling to proclaim not so much as engaging a rescue mission, but participating in a reality mission. Ours is a reality mission. The undeniable reality is that someday every knee will bow. Someday every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. Jesus is Lord! And the day is certainly coming when all of creation will bow before him and recognize it. So we declare to our neighbors and friends, “You need to change jerseys! There is only one Lord and he is Jesus! You need to be on his side!”

It’s like declaring that dinner’s going to be ready at 6:00. You tell your teenaged kids or you tell your husband, “Hey, we’re eating at 6:00!” They may not show up. They may choose to ignore your declaration or reject your announcement. But you’re still throwing it out there: The food will be on the table at 6:00. You are a messenger with a message.

Have you spoken the Good News lately to somebody who really needs to hear it? Can you picture yourself saying to someone, “Christ Jesus has become for you your righteousness, holiness, and redemption.” Can’t you tell somebody, “Salvation comes by no other name than that of Jesus.” Can’t you say those kinds of things to the people God is placing right in front of you every day?

The Word is near you. It is in your mouth. It is in your heart.

Peace,

Allan

« Older posts