The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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To Valerie at WT

August 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

WTDormBedDearest Valerie,

You’re unpacked and getting settled now in your dorm room at West Texas A&M. You’re officially now in college. You’ve moved out of the house — mostly. You’re a big girl. “Hers is.”

Whew!

This has happened so fast. I don’t mean just the past eighteen years — yes, those have flown by — but the past three or four weeks, too. I have so wanted to take you out to dinner over the past few nights, just one dinner, just you and me, Dad and his Little Middle. I’ve wanted to look into your beautiful spotted eyes and tell you face to face, heart to heart, how super proud I am of you. How I do feel really honored and blessed to be your father. How I so enjoy spending time with you. How unbelievably talented and smart I think you are and how unlimited your potential.

I wanted to try to communicate all the things I want so badly for you. Not for me, not for some weird validation of my parenting. But, truly for you. All the learning you’re about to do — you’re going to learn more in the next four years academically and about life and about yourself than in your first eighteen years combined; pay attention. All the new people you’re about to meet — from different places and different backgrounds with different worldviews — learn from them, grow with them, appreciate them. All the parties and social events you’re going to experience — have fun, daughter, have fun; be crazy, be spontaneous, be wild. All the decisions you’re going to make — think big picture and eternal, not right now and temporary.

There’s just not enough time or space to write down everything that’s in my heart today for you. I’m gushing, overflowing, with pride and excitement for you. And, yeah, a little bit of concern in there, too. Not much; just a little.

And I do have some expectation. You know I do.

I expect you to continue living every aspect of your life for our Lord Jesus. I expect every part of you — everything you say and do and think — to reflect his glory. Make decisions that will bring him praise. Interact with people in ways that will bless them in his name. Be kind and respectful, compassionate and caring, loyal and true. Maintain your good character and keep developing your integrity. Stay engaged with a Christian community of faith. Keep praying to our Father, keep following our Lord, keep living in his Spirit, keep growing in his Word.

I expect you to make good grades. Your first priority is your education, not your sorority or your coffee shop, not any parties or boys. Study regularly. Stay organized. Do your homework. Talk to your teachers. Not only is this costing us a lot of money, it’s fairly important to your long range plans for life.

WTDormI expect you to remain very much my daughter and a vital member of our family. Call us. Come see us. Keep us posted. Share your ups and downs with us, your victories and defeats. Keep your little sister in the loop. Stay in touch with your big sister. Remain in communication with your mother. And throw me a bone every now and then.

We’ve been preparing for this day for a long time. In a lot of ways, you’re on your own now. In the coming months and years, you’re going to become more independent, more responsible, more able to manage the complications of adult life. But you’re never — NEVER! — going to be alone. Your mom and I are always going to love you and support you. We promise. Without even knowing what forms that might require, we promise to always protect you and provide for you. We’re always going to help you. You know that, right? I want that to be very clear to you. We love you. You can always come to us with anything. And we’re always going to move heaven and earth to do what you need us to do.

I love you, Valerie. I’m so proud of you. And I can’t wait to see how this all turns out. I’m very excited about this.

When Monday morning comes and you’re heading out your dorm for that very first day of college classes, I hope you can hear my voice: “Work hard! Learn a lot! Be sweet!”

Love,

Dad

When Ho-Hum is OK

August 19, 2015 / / 0 Comments

2015SchoolSuppliesBoxesIf the members of Central Church of Christ find partnering with the downtown Baptist, Presbyterian, and Methodist churches in worship and ministry together mundane or even boring, is that a bad thing? Or is it a really wonderful thing?

Two years ago, our very first official “4 Amarillo” event was a combined school supplies drive. The sorting and packing of those school supplies at Polk Street Methodist that week was a chaotic, joyful, surprise-filled, enthusiastic evening as all four of our churches marveled together and praised God that the denominational walls between our churches were coming down. We all expressed how blessed we felt to be able to participate in something so exciting as breaking down the barriers and coming together as one group of disciples of our Lord Jesus. There was a real sense in the gym that night that God was doing something important with this, that we were participating in something unique. Ground-breaking. Significant.

That is not quite the feeling anymore.

Sure, we had more than plenty of volunteers show up to sort and pack the school supplies last night. Yes, all four of our churches collected more than what we were asking in school supplies for our four downtown area elementary schools. And, of course, there’s nobody who doesn’t think what we’re doing together is significant both here locally and in the larger Kingdom scheme of things.

But that initial enthusiasm is gone. It’s kinda become hum-drum. Routine.

Maybe that’s to be expected. It seems we’re increasingly in need of new programs and new initiatives. Maintaining old ministries and faithfully working in established areas isn’t nearly as exciting as something new. And something “new” doesn’t last as long as it used to. Yeah, I should have known the novelty would wear off. The excitement would wane. Good grief, it would be unrealistic to expect us to continue with the same level of energy for three years — it was so high!

2015SchoolSuppliesBill2015SchoolSuppliesCA&Whit
2015SchoolSuppliesCelia

 

 

 

 

I like to think we’re not growing tired of “4 Amarillo” and what it stands for, it’s just become very “normal” for us. And that’s not a bad thing. That our kids see nothing out of the ordinary about worshiping God with Baptists and Presbyterians is definitely a major step or two toward the Kingdom of God. That our folks view Maundy Thursday at First Pres and Good Friday at Polk Street and Thanksgiving worship services at Central through similar lenses is cause to celebrate. That our city sees “4 Amarillo” now as standard is a tremendous victory and a mighty witness to the power of Christ Jesus who died on the cross to break down the walls so that all his people might be one.

That a Church of Christ is cooperating with anybody on anything used to be big news around here. And it was exciting. Now, it’s ho-hum. And that’s OK.

Peace,

Allan

4 the Sake of the Kids

August 17, 2015 / / 0 Comments

2015SchoolSuppliesThank you so much to our Central church family for your faithful participation in our third annual “4 Amarillo” school supplies drive. Due to your generous offerings, we have more than met our goals of 200 three-ring binders, 400 composition notebooks, 800 Ziploc bags, and 6,400 #2 pencils.

The whole congregation is joining the other three downtown churches tomorrow evening to sort and pack the combined school supplies for delivery to our four area elementary schools. We’re all meeting in the Great Hall at Polk Street United Methodist Church for what should be about a one-hour project. What a privilege to continue breaking down our denominational walls to better bless our community in the name and manner of Christ.

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

CortnieDormCortnie has been safely delivered to her new dorm room on the campus of Midwestern State University in Wichita Falls. The boxes are unpacked, the pictures are hanging on the walls, and the kitchen dishes and utensils she’ll never use are perfectly stacked. The only thing she lacks is a little footstool to help her get in and out of her bed.

Yes, our home will be much quieter and a little less spontaneous without Cortnie around. It’ll take me a while to get used to not seeing that tiny little yellow car in front of our house. Of course, the Stanglin girls (all four of them!) are having a hard time with this. We had to drag Valerie into the truck last night — never has anybody NOT wanted to leave Wichita Falls like that. I’m much more worried about my family than Cortnie. She’s going to thrive. When we finally pulled away and left her last night, Cortnie was headed to a meet-and-greet barbecue dinner and ready to begin her college career as a proud Mustang.

Congratulations, Cortnie!

Peace,

Allan

Identifying the People of God

August 14, 2015 / / 0 Comments

InvisibleStone

The rich man in Jesus’ parable never lifted one finger to help poor Lazarus. He didn’t act to relieve even a small part of Lazarus’ suffering. The rich man totally ignored him. And God’s people do not ignore the hurting. When Jesus gives us that picture in Matthew 25 of the last day, he makes it clear that we’re all going to be separated according to whether or not we helped people who were hurting.

We are saved by God in order to bless others. We are redeemed by God in order to serve others. We don’t love others so we can feel good, we love others because we have been loved. We don’t bless others so we can look good, we bless others because we have been blessed. We don’t lift up others to earn favor or points, we lift up others because we have been lifted up.

God’s desire is to do something in you and something through you. He is changing you so you can bless other people. But that is never going to happen until we see people the way our Father sees people. We must see the hungry, the lost, the poor, the sick; we have to see the lonely, the stressed, the depressed, the sad — we must see them all through the eyes of our God. We see all people for who they are: men and women created in the image of God. We see all people for who they can be: physically and spiritually whole, restored to a righteous relationship with their Creator. We see all people for what our Lord desires them to be: one with him and with all our brothers and sisters in his Kingdom.

But the rich man views Lazarus as his servant. Even after they both die and the rich man is being tormented in the flames and Lazarus is sitting in Abraham’s lap in an air-conditioned heaven with a root beer float. The rich man still sees Lazarus as an object to be used. He still thinks he’s better than Lazarus.

“Send Lazarus to bring me some water! Send Lazarus to warn my brothers!”

Helping the hurting is the evidence that your heart has been changed by grace. It’s a proof that your life has been transformed by the Spirit. It identifies you as a child of God.

“If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. This then is how we know that we belong to the truth.” ~1 John 3:17-19

Peace,

Allan

The Heart of God

August 12, 2015 / / 0 Comments

InvisibleStoryHeaven

“The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side.” ~Luke 16:22

Helping the hurting in this world gets us very, very close to the heart of our God. Our God personally identifies with the poor and the needy. His heart is with the most powerless and vulnerable people of our society: the widow, the orphan, and the immigrant. God himself is so closely connected to the poor and the hurting, he personally feels it when you ignore them.

“He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker,
but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.” ~Proverbs 14:31

This is a strong statement here. But it’s still just a metaphor, right? Disliking the poor is not exactly the same as disliking God. It’s still just a figure of speech, right?

In case you wanted to use that weak loophole as a way to avoid helping the poor, God himself came to this earth to show us how much he identifies with the helpless. Jesus was born in a livestock trough to poor peasant parents. Jesus lived with the poor and the marginalized. The poor and the hurting were drawn to him.

“Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” ~Luke 9:58

He rode into Jerusalem on a borrowed donkey, he spent his last night with his followers in a borrowed room, and when he was killed they laid him in a borrowed tomb. Apparently, his only possession was a single robe. He didn’t have anything the world valued. And what little he had, was taken away. He was unfairly accused and unjustly tried, beaten on the stand and cruelly tortured, executed with extreme prejudice.

Our God knows. He knows. He identifies with all the nameless and powerless and invisible poor and hurting people in our world. He lived it. This is the very core of who God is and what he’s all about.

He sees Lazarus. God protects Lazarus and provides for him. God loves Lazarus and cares deeply about his situation. And he’s going to fix it. God is a God of justice and he’s making all things right. God is reversing the tip of the scales and he’s bringing his perfect and righteous justice to all people who are injured and abused and ignored by the structures and systems of a fallen world.

God also sees the rich guy and the way he neglects Lazarus. God is aware of all of it. And he’s going to make things right.

Peace,

Allan

The Invisible Man

August 10, 2015 / / 0 Comments

“There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table.” ~Luke 16:19-21

InvisibleIgnoreLazarus is invisible.

He’s right there on the rich man’s front porch. But he’s invisible to the rich man. The rich man doesn’t see him. The rich man has to step over him when he leaves his house in the morning and he has to step around him when he returns in the evening. But he doesn’t talk to Lazarus. He doesn’t invite Lazarus in. He doesn’t even offer the crumbs he’s begging for. He’s invisible.

And I wonder about the invisible people in our churches. I think our churches are probably full of invisible people.

There are people in our churches with six-figure incomes and five-bedroom houses and three-dozen close friends who feel invisible. We don’t see their hurt. Maybe I legitimately don’t see it because I’m clueless. Maybe I suspect there’s some pain, but I don’t want to go there with that person. Maybe the hurting person is just really good at hiding it. But inside, she’s dying. Inside, he’s miserable.

There are people in our churches who just don’t fit in. They’re ignored by the world and neglected on Sundays. Here at Central, we make a lot of promises to people when they join our church. But our track record is not perfect in keeping those promises. We’re trying; I don’t doubt anyone’s hearts or intentions. But we’re not perfect. Not everybody is able to easily slide into our classes and groups and cliques.

There are people in our churches  who feel invisible to God. Maybe they’re in the middle of something that just started or it’s a situation they’ve been living with their whole life. But they feel like God doesn’t understand. God’s not listening. He’s not helping me right now. He’s ignoring me.

We need to be better, yes. We need to try harder. And we’ll talk more about that this week. In the meantime, especially if you’re one of the invisible people, please notice this: Lazarus is the only one in Jesus’ story who has a name. The Hebrew word “Lazarus” literally means “God helps” or “helped by God.” Nobody else may be helping this poor man, but God certainly is. God sees this person. And God is protecting and providing for this person.

So, we need to see this man and all the men and women all around us who are hurting in obvious ways and in ways unseen. These people are not invisible to God. Our heavenly Father sees everybody. May we have eyes and hearts to see them, too.

Peace,

Allan

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