The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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So Much to Celebrate!

April 3, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Efren Herrera.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The incomparable Scott Springer ran the lift and manned the biggest chainsaw as we took out seven pine trees around our new house Thursday afternoon and Friday. There were just too many of these 50-60 foot monsters and they were all on top of each other, crowding each other out, suffocating the live oak and red oak trees in the front yard, and not allowing for even one blade of grass to grow beneath. Removing these trees completely changed the landscape in our wedge on Castleford Road. It’s really opened everything up now – it looks so much bigger and wider. I can almost see the lush St. Augustine grass up against the red brick of the front walk. And we’ve got enough firewood now for two or three winters and at least a couple of camp outs.

With Carolina’s upset win over Duke last night, Whitney clinched the Stanglin family bracket. It’s truly an underdog story, an inspirational come-from-behind saga as Whitney lost her champion, Baylor, before the first weekend. She was dead in the water before the second round was complete. But she did just enough to edge out Valerie and claim first place. Valerie only needed Duke to win or Villanova to beat Kansas – she only needed one of the two. But Whitney got both and today she is the champ.

Speaking of Val, she is no longer working in an official capacity with the Contact Church in Tulsa (don’t get me started), but that girl continues to minister with her God-given gifts and Spirit-inspired mercy and grace. I’m so thankful for Caleb Hatchett, the talented Youth Minister at the Jenks CofC, who has invited Valerie to jump in with their group as a super volunteer. And, of course, she’s doing just that. In addition, Valerie last week painted the windows outside the Children’s Ministry space at the Jenks Church. There’s nothing in church work or congregational ministry she can’t do.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The signs are up today at the brand new Chuy’s on Loop 250 just west of Midland Drive! I don’t know exactly when it’s going to open, but when it does, we’ll be there regularly for the authentic Austin-style Tex-Mex that we learned to love so well during our two stints down in the Texas Hill Country. It’s probably not right that you can eat at Chuy’s in Midland, just like it’s probably not okay that you can get a Whataburger now in Chicago. But I’m so thrilled that I won’t have to drive to Lubbock anymore for Chuy’s Chicka Chicka Boom Boom enchiladas!

In a special offering at Golf Course Road this morning, the Lord provided $93,686 through our church family to buy food for the For Ukraine food packing event! The goal was $73,280 to pay for the 285,120 meals we’re going to send from our church parking lot directly to war refugees on the Ukrainian border. But, not surprisingly, our God moved in and through the generous hearts at GCR and overwhelmed us with much more than we need. Praise the Lord for this great group of Jesus followers at GCR. What a joy and a blessing from God to be the preacher at such a wonderful church.

If you have not signed up yet to pack food, you’d better hurry – half of the one-thousand shifts have been filled, including all the slots on Friday night April 29. There are still right at 500 of the 90-minute shifts to fill on Saturday April 30. But it feels like they’re going fast. You can register to participate in this community-wide mission effort by clicking here.

Finally, I know the Bradford Pear tree is the worst tree in the universe and it is single-handedly destroying our planet. But the four trees along the fence here at Stanglin Manor are in full bloom and it’s just breathtakingly beautiful in the late afternoon sun. Don’t tell anybody I said that.

Peace,

Allan

For Ukraine Signups

March 30, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Well, it’s out there now. The Midland Reporter Telegram published a story yesterday about GCR’s “For Ukraine” food-packing event coming up April 29-30 and today NewsWest9 is running a story they shot Tuesday at our GCR church campus. So, if you haven’t signed up yet to participate in one of the five food-packing slots, you’d better do it now. We already have 400 of the 90-minute shifts filled and the registrations are coming in fast.

You can sign up for a Friday night or Saturday shift by clicking here.

Thanks so much to Christina Burgess for coming out yesterday, talking to us about “For Ukraine,” and putting together such a great story.

May our God have mercy on the people of Ukraine. May our Lord compel the Russians to lay down their weapons in peace. And may this food-packing and food-sending event bring hope to the war refugees and unite God’s people in West Texas.

Peace,

Allan

Three Premises

March 28, 2022 / / 0 Comments

Those who do not love feel superior to everyone else.
Those who love feel equal to everyone else.
Those who love much gladly take the lower place.

Each one of us can identify his position somewhere along this spectrum, which comprises the three degrees of the spiritual life here on earth:

Death for those who do not love.
Life for those who love.
Holiness for those who love much.

The beatitude of the merciful relates. like all the beatitudes, to the realm of holiness and we have to admit that Jesus set his sights high when he had the courage and confidence to place this lofty ideal before us. It is the beatitude that he himself lived to the full, stooping, out of love, to the lowest place, even to the extent of being rejected as a common criminal, fit only to be hung on a stake.

~ Carlo Carretto, In Search of the Beyond

Next Window, Please

March 23, 2022 / / 0 Comments

It’s been a typical couple of weeks for the Dallas Cowboys – it would take more than two sex scandals and the release of three starters to seem out of the ordinary for this club. Let’s put aside Rich Dalrymple’s cell phone video and Jerry Wayne’s new daughter and look just at the on-field product.

The window has closed.

Starting receiver Amari Cooper was traded to the Browns for a fifth round pick. The Cowboys say they let Cooper go to save $16-million against the salary cap. The Browns have already restructured Cooper’s contract to save $15-million. CeeDee Lamb is the most explosive of the Dallas receivers, but Cooper was the most reliable. The Cowboys have given Cooper’s money now to Michael Gallup, who will miss a third of this next season with his knee injury. As a  group, the Cowboys receivers are not nearly as good as they were last year.

Starting offensive tackle La’el Collins has left Dallas via free agency for Cincinnati where he will anchor a rebuilt front five to better protect Super Bowl quarterback Joe Burrow. Throughout his seven year career, Collins has been consistently ranked among the best offensive linemen in the NFL. Like he did with Cooper, Jerry released Collins to save $10-million against the cap. As a group, the Cowboys offensive line is less than it was last year.

The Cowboys have also lost explosive linebacker Randy Gregory to the Broncos. He signed the exact same contract in Denver that Jerry had offered him to stay in Dallas. It’s not clear, really, how the Cowboys messed this up. But Gregory claims Jerry and Stephen acted in bad faith during their negotiations. The Cowboys linebackers are not as strong as they were last year.

Ezekiel Elliott is another year older and another step slower – maybe Jerry could get a fourth or fifth round pick from the Jets for him. Dak is seven years into his career now. Who’s playing tight end this next season?

The Cowboys’ best shot at doing anything was last year! Their best chance at ending the 25-year drought without a divisional playoff win was last season. Arguably the best receiving corps in the league. The Defensive Rookie of the Year in Micah Parsons. Trevon Diggs at corner. Both Gregory and Lawrence on the front seven. La’el Collins protecting Dak’s blindside. A $40-million a year quarterback. They went 12-5, won the division, and lost a weird Wild Card game to the 49ers.

This is the season to go all in. Do whatever it takes to keep your current roster intact, add a few players through free agency and the draft to fill some immediate needs, and go for it. Instead, the Cowboys are “restructuring” their salary cap. Get this from Stephen Jones last week: “We could obviously do some things that would allow us to keep most of our guys if we wanted to push it all out, but then we’d have a much bigger problem next year and the year after that.”

Thank you. That’s what happens when the GM and assistant GM know they can never be fired. No urgency. No mandate to compete for a championship. Keep the salaries manageable and the gift shop stocked. That’s the Cowboys.

They won’t be 12-5 next year. And they won’t win a divisional playoff game. That window is closed.

Peace,

Allan

TC 14 Reunion in Midland

March 22, 2022 / / 0 Comments

I was overjoyed to reunite today with a couple of running buddies from my two year Transforming Community experience in Chicago. I met Dana and Billie on the first evening of the first TC retreat because they introduced themselves as living in Texas and, you know, we Texans like to stick together. I was so blessed by God to spend those nine retreats over those two years with these two wonderful sisters – to worship with them, to pray with them, to eat with them, to process Ruth’s teachings with them, to laugh with them, and to hang out in the airport together as we nervously held our breath wondering if the snow would strand us in Chicago. As we boarded our plane to Amarillo and they boarded theirs to Midland, I always wondered what it would be like to live where they do in West Texas.

Well, it’s high winds, brown skies, and lunch at Murray’s Deli.

I’m grateful to God today for the chance to catch up with Dana and Billie and their families and the work they do today with the Transforming Community. I’m encouraged to hear how our Lord is presently at work in their lives.  And I’m so glad we finally hooked up for lunch together and very easily picked up right where we left off – talking about our mutual TC experiences and friends, praising God for what he has done and is about to do in this city, and praying his blessings on each other and our ministries.

Dana and Billie are longtime faithful members of First Methodist Church here in Midland. And now it’s on me to get with their pastor, Steve Brooks, before they do.

Peace,

Allan

For Ukraine

March 21, 2022 / / 0 Comments

The Golf Course Road Church is packing 285,120 freeze-dried meals next month and sending them to the Ukrainian border to feed the women and children displaced by the Russian war. Through our partnership with Lifeline Christian Mission, we’ll pack the boxes together as a community in our church gym on Friday and Saturday April 29-30 and then ship them directly to the war refugees in Eastern Europe.

I know everyone in Midland has been wanting something tangible, something practical, something real we can do to send support and relief to all those people impacted by the terrible violence and destruction in Ukraine. We’re all watching the videos, reading the stories, seeing the news – it’s everywhere. And we’re all filled with an intense desire to do something helpful, something that will legitimately meet a genuine need and make a real difference in the lives of those victims.

We feel like this is it.

If you live in the Midland/Odessa area or anywhere in this Permian Basin region, please click on this link to register for a food-packing shift. Each shift lasts an-hour-and-a-half and includes a quick training. Hair nets and gloves will be provided for each volunteer and we’ve got spots for one thousand volunteers. But they’re going fast. Sign up in a slot with your whole family, get together with your Bible class or your small group, pack food boxes with your friends from work or from your gym or your child’s soccer team. First Presbyterian Church in Midland is partnering with us in this mission and will fill a whole bunch of the shifts. I know at least a couple of volleyball clubs in Midland who practice in our GCR gym are also signed up to help. You and your group can certainly join us – everybody’s invited!

Typically, Lifeline coordinates these food-packing events so that boxes from several cities are combined in the shipping containers before they’re sent. But we’re taking on a whole container right here in our parking lot. We’re not sharing, we’re not splitting this up. This is Midland’s container. This is food from Midland, Texas for Ukraine.

And I’m beside myself with anticipation over what our Lord is going to do with this.

May this event unite the Christians in Midland together in love and worship and service to others. May this food be a blessing to those who are suffering untold devastation and loss in Ukraine and Eastern Europe. And may the name of our Lord be praised.

Peace,

Allan

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