The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Everybody is Welcome

June 2, 2015 / / 0 Comments

JesusEatingWithSinners

Jesus welcomed everybody and he made everybody feel welcome. Everybody. He didn’t reject anyone. He ate and drank with tax collectors and teachers of the law. He dined with prostitutes and Pharisees. Men and women. Rich and poor. Jew and Gentile. The powerful and the weak. Part of the huge scandal with Jesus is that, with him, everybody is welcome. No discrimination. No pre-judgment. He opened up his arms and said, “Come on! Everybody!”

And that’s not normal.

You’re only supposed to share meals and show hospitality to people just like you. Before you go to someone’s house or before you invite someone to your house, make sure they’re just like you. Check their voting record. Read their bumper stickers. Find out where their kids go to school.

Jesus refused. Everybody is welcome.

You realize Jesus was in a small group with a tree-hugging liberal tax collector and a right-wing tea-party Zealot? He hung out with poor fishermen and a couple of guys with horrible anger issues and a betrayer (I see Judas as that person in the small group who goes home every Sunday night and gets on Facebook: “You can’t believe what Thaddeus is going through!).

A temptation for us is to worry about who’s going to sit by us at church. Some of us won’t join a small group or commit to a Bible class because we’re worried: “Who am I going to wind up with in there?” There’s a temptation not to lead for that very reason: “I can’t control who’s going to show up.”

Instead of trying to control that, why not give it up to God?

“God, please bring people to our church I can minister to. Lord, please put people in our class you can reach with your love and hope through me. God, please put somebody next to me who needs me.”

And then no matter who sits next to you or who shows up in your class or small group, they were delivered there by God. That’s a person God brought to you for his purposes. It takes all the pressure off. God, this is your class. Lord, this is your church. When you pray that prayer and when you show up with that mind of Christ, everybody is welcome.

Peace,

Allan

No Ice Cream in Texas

June 1, 2015 / / 0 Comments

BlueBellRain

 

During yesterday’s sermon, while running down a list of stressful things people deal with during the summer season, I mentioned that this will be the first summer in my lifetime without Blue Bell Ice Cream. I referenced an article in the current issue of Texas Monthly that quoted a writer who claimed people outside our state just don’t appreciate the crisis:

“We don’t buy anything else! It’s not that we’ve lost a favorite brand; we have no ice cream in Texas!”

And then Scott Sherwood sent me the above picture yesterday afternoon.

Perfect.

Peace,

Allan

Class of 2015

May 30, 2015 / / 0 Comments

Dearest Valerie,

BacParentsWe’re beaming today, sweetie. We’re so proud of you. We’re proud of the ways you’ve absolutely blossomed here in Amarillo. We’re amazed by your deep friendships, the commitment to your church family and youth group, and the love you have for your little students at Oakdale Elementary. It’s been an exciting four years in the Amarillo High School choir and Bel-Canto, all the retreats and Treks and mission trips, the crazy goings-on of your crew, and your great success with AmeriCorps. We have so enjoyed every minute of watching you mature and flourish into a beautiful, confident, godly young lady.

Our God has placed kind and loving people in your path, Valerie. All those friends you have, all those teachers who love you so much, are a gift from our God. Susan Butler is a blessing from God. So are Matt and Sara. And Aleisha. Becky. Shirlene. Bill and Suzannah. Tanner. Derrell and Nola. They all love you very much. And they have each played important roles in shaping you into the Christ-like woman you are becoming. We clearly see our Lord’s sacrificial and servant heart reflected in your acts of compassion and concern for others. We see his joy in the hearty laughter you share with your friends. We see his peace when you handle teenage drama and issues with a more even keel. And we see his grace in the way you minister to those little kids.

Our “Little Middle” isn’t little anymore. Yeah, you still sing at the top of your lungs in the shower, regardless of what time it might be. You still wrinkle up your nose and refuse to eat almost anything other than grilled cheese or pizza. You still spend hours decorating your fingernails and toenails with bright colors and intricate designs. You still draw and color on anything that’s not nailed down. And you still melt and say, “Awww…” when you see a puppy. BacSisters

But there’s no denying that you are grown up and equipped and ready for everything that’s coming in your future. We are so proud of you and what our God is shaping in you. You are a beautiful, talented, funny, super-smart, wonderful daughter of God. He shines out of every facet of your complex personality and adorable little quirks. You reflect Jesus. And it’s beautiful. And I’m very proud of you. I’m very proud to be Valerie’s dad.

May our God bless you richly, daughter. May he strengthen you and empower you by his Holy Spirit to live the rest of your life the way you’ve lived these first few years. May he continue to work through you to spread his love and grace to others. May your life bring him eternal glory and praise. And may you walk with him always, Valerie, faithful to the end.

I love you.

Dad

Where Would You Rather Be?

May 26, 2015 / / 1 Comment

“No one can enter a strong man’s house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can rob his house.” ~Jesus

“Can plunder be taken from warriors, or captives rescued from the fierce? This is what the Lord says, ‘Yes! Captives will be taken from warriors, and plunder retrieved from the fierce; I will contend with those who contend with you, and your children I will save… Then all mankind will know that I, the Lord, am your Savior, your Redeemer.” ~Isaiah

Where would you rather be?When you’re rescuing captives and taking plunder from the devil, you’ve got to go into some pretty dark places. And our church at Central, I think, presents a pretty compelling picture of that. This church is full of rescued captives and liberated slaves. Central is made up of former prisoners: alcoholics, drug abusers, prostitutes, sex addicts, the mentally and physically disabled, ex-cons. There are extraordinary Gospel stories scattered all over the worship center every Sunday. God is involved and things are changing for lots of men and women at Central.

And when God brings us all together, sometimes it can be less than decently and in order. People who are rescued tend to celebrate wildly. People who are being freed are less inhibited. Central’s not like a lot of other churches. You never know what’s going to happen during our assembly on Sundays. God is bringing all different kinds of his precious treasure and valuable possessions together in this place. And it’s exciting. Every Sunday morning here is an adventure.

And it’s disorienting. It’s not the status quo. Honestly, I’m still trying to get used to it. But it’s SO GOSPEL! It’s SO KINGDOM OF GOD!

Where else would you rather be? In a church where everybody’s sins are exactly the same? Where everybody’s salvation stories sound just alike? Where everybody is comfortable all the time? That’s not nearly as much fun as what goes on here.

We’ve got the full picture here. As messy and as upsetting as it sometimes can be, what we’ve got here is real. We see it on every pew; we hear it and feel it all around us. And if we continue to embrace it in all of its unpredictable glory, if we’ll rejoice in it and find ways to celebrate it — I mean the weird stuff, the mess — the city of Amarillo will hear the good news. Our city will understand the Gospel that we embody: that God really is involved and even the darkest and worst and most hopeless situations can change.

Regardless of the personal and corporate cost, may we always be a church compelled by the love and power of Christ to stand up to the devil and his powers, to storm the house of Satan with our Lord to take the plunder and rescue the captives.

Peace,

Allan

Things Can Change

May 21, 2015 / / 0 Comments

BarsOpen3When God tells Abraham he’s going to have a son and more descendants than he’ll ever possibly be able to count, the old man informs the Lord that what he’s saying cannot come true: “Yeah, right! I’m a hundred years old! And my wife if ninety!” Sarah herself, upon hearing that she is going to have a child laughs out loud, right in front of God: “I’m worn out and my husband is old! I’m not having a kid!”

But God answers: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?”

When God is involved, things can change. When God is involved, ten lepers who are not whole and have no community walk away completely clean. When God is involved, the town sleaze who can’t get water from the well without insult and rejection becomes a Gospel preacher. A loud-mouthed unstable fisherman becomes a pillar of God’s Church. Dead Lazarus, rotting away in the grave for four days, walks out of the tomb. Saul, the persecutor of Christians, becomes Paul, the Christian missionary. When God is involved, things can change.

It’s so crucial that we get this point. If we don’t have this picture of dramatic change, we’ll never anticipate the Gospel. All of us will stay locked up in our prisons.

Abraham and Sarah couldn’t let go of the other picture: worn out old people don’t have babies. That’s just the way it is. That’s the way it’s always been and the way it’ll always be. But, no, things can change.

When Sarah has her son she says, “God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me” (Genesis 21:6). People who knew Abraham and Sarah were saying, “Seriously? They had a baby?!?” And now all these people also have this new picture of the good news that when God is involved things can change.

As followers and imitators of the risen Christ who saves us, we are charged to proclaim this good news. We’re called to preach it and embody it and share it. God through Christ has defeated the evil empire and we shout that from the rooftops as loudly as we can and we work with everything we’re got to liberate others.

Remember when Jesus was resurrected, he didn’t appear to everybody. Scripture tells us he appeared only to those who had been chosen. He appeared to the people he knew would keep it going, people he knew would keep telling the story, keep declaring the Gospel of the Kingdom of God: that God is still involved and things can still change. That’s our job. Because the fight continues.

The wreckage is all around us. The carnage, the twisted bodies and warped minds, the moral and institutional vileness that surrounds us tells us that the fight is still on. Satan is defeated, yes. He’s done for and he knows it. But he’s working with every power he’s got to take as many as he can to hell with him. Establishing the Kingdom of God isn’t easy. It requires conflict and struggle. It comes with a price.

Jesus gives his followers the power to engage and defeat the enemy: “…that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons” (Mark 3:14-15).

So, yeah, the Church needs to do more than just talk about it. We have to be a community that exhibits the evidence of that power. We don’t just confess Jesus as the Son of God; that’s no more than what the demons do. We don’t just sit on the sidelines, watching the world go by, and do nothing more than offer another religious option for salvation. The Church is charged with standing up and confronting the devil. We are in the rescuing business.

And our greatest weapon is the knowledge and our individual and corporate experience that our God is involved and things can change.

Peace,

Allan

God Is Involved

May 19, 2015 / / 0 Comments

PrisonChainsThe Gospel is not just one point in history. We know the Gospel is not just the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. The Gospel is eternal. It’s what God is doing and what God has always been doing. One way to sum up the enormous scope of the good news of God is to say that God is involved and things can change.

God is involved in real human need. Real, practical, physical, earthly, human need. It’s not metaphorical, allegorical, or symbolic. It’s real. When Adam and Eve are naked and afraid, God gives them clothes and protection. When Cain is worried about being killed, God gives him a mark of safety. When Israel is trapped in bondage to slavery, God delivers them to freedom. When David was a sinner, God forgave him. God is involved in real human need.

And we see this so clearly in his Son. Jesus came to show us what it looks like when God is involved. He tells us the stories and embodies it in his actions. God is involved in real human needs. And that’s really good news. A man is bleeding to death in a ditch and along comes a good Samaritan. Yes! A runaway son comes home smelling like a pig pen and his father runs to hug him and restore him to the family. Excellent! A man says to Jesus, “You can heal me if you are willing.” And Jesus replies, “I am willing.” That’s the Gospel! That’s the good news!

The Kingdom of God is hurting people being comforted. It’s distressed people being encouraged. It’s about hopeless people being given hope. The Gospel is captives being freed, prisoners being released, outcasts being brought in to a family. It’s cold people being warmed, sinful men and women receiving full forgiveness and Satan’s grip being broken forever.

God is involved right now today in your situation. The almighty Creator of heaven and earth is not some distant despot, a remote ruler who only watches from afar. He sees your plight, he hears your cries, he feels compassion for you, and he is mighty to save. He is intimately involved.

Peace,

Allan

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