The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Category: Golf Course Road Church (Page 7 of 27)

Of Course He Called Deion First!

January 14, 2025 / / 0 Comments

In the immediate wake of Jerry’s parting with Mike McCarthy and the somehow believable news that the Cowboys owner has contacted Deion Sanders about filling his head coaching vacancy, there are many more questions out there than answers. The unknowns will all be revealed in due time–after a year or two of sitting on his couch, McCarthy will get around to writing his book. For now, amid all the speculation and guessing, there are a few truths we already know:

~ Jerry went into the final week of the season having no coaching plan for 2025. He denied the Bears an interview with McCarthy, missed the first round bye window to interview anyone with the Chiefs or Lions, and then four days later lost McCarthy and his entire coaching staff. If he’s going to contact any assistants with Detroit or K.C., he has to wait now until those teams are eliminated, possibly another month. If he wanted Vrabel or Belichick, he waited too long. If he really wanted McCarthy to stay, he should have determined a month ago if he could get him for the minimum wage one-year contract that was reportedly offered. That’s a man without a plan.

~ Jerry tried to sign McCarthy to another one-year deal. The exact terms haven’t been verified by McCarthy or the Cowboys organization, so that may not be absolute truth. What is indisputable truth is that Jerry went into the 2024 season with a head coach in whom he had no confidence–McCarthy and every assistant were on the final year of their deals. And Jerry’s plan was to do it again in 2025. He tried to sign McCarthy to another one-year contract! Who does that? And why would you hire a guy who would take it? And how would you ever sell that as exciting news to Cowboys fans?

~ Jerry called Deion Sanders the moment McCarthy walked. Coach Prime has already confirmed the phone call and the conversation–he can’t help it. We know that the Cowboys owner contacted his former shut-down corner within just a few minutes of negotiations breaking down with McCarthy. This is the way Jerry Wayne rolls. This is how he thinks and how he operates.

Hiring Deion would be the most Jerry thing Jerry could do. Has there ever been an owner in any sport who hogs the spotlight like Jerry? Has there ever been a player in any sport who self-promotes like Sanders? These two are made for each other. It’s happening. It’s the only thing that could have ever happened. You think the Cowboys thing is a crazy spectacle now? You think the Cowboys are focused solely on grabbing headlines and being culturally relevant and making money? You think what happens on the field always takes a back seat to what happens with Jerry’s endless promotions and marketing experiments and roster and playbook meddling? Well, you ain’t seen nothing yet. The circus is just beginning.

Three rings. That used to mean Super Bowls to Jerry. Now it means a big top and a car full of clowns.

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I said the Longhorns would have to play a perfect game against Ohio State Friday to advance to the college football national championship game and I outlined six things that had to happen. Four of the six things did not.

Instead of Texas scoring first, Ohio State got the game’s first points on a touchdown. Instead of zero turnovers, Texas had three. Instead of combining for 130 yards rushing, Wisner and Blue ran for 62. Instead of Ewers attempting fewer than 35 passes, he made 39 throws. The only things that went the Longhorns’ way was that they committed less than six penalties (5), and they held Jeremiah Smith to under 110-yards receiving (one catch for three yards–remarkable).

I know Quinn has the passion and the work ethic, I know he has the pedigree and the history, and I know he has grown as a quarterback and as a person. But I think we’re all ready for the Arch Manning era to begin in Austin.

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With the Longhorns loss, our annual GCR Staff Bowl Challenge is over. I am pleased to announce that Ashlee Hill, one of our supremely gifted children’s ministers, ran away with the top prize. Ashlee correctly picked the winner of 14 of the 17 selected bowl games and had Texas and Penn State in the Final Four. Jim Tuttle, our experienced and wise Spiritual Formation Minister, finished a distant runner-up, a full 23-points behind Ashlee. The rest of us finished somewhere between them and Cory Legg, our talented Worship Minister, who, I think, has figured out a way to intentionally finish in last place. It wasn’t even close!

Peace,

Allan

Chili Today. And Tomorrow.

January 9, 2025 / / 0 Comments

I’ve been here long enough to know that it’s not going to snow. They definitely want it to snow–the local weather people. Shoot, I think most of us want it to snow. The forecast this week was calling for temperatures in the middle 20s, with a 40-60% chance of snow–maybe one to three inches!–to start falling Wednesday and last most of the day Thursday. But I’ve been here long enough. It doesn’t rain in Midland, much less snow.

I was confident to stand in the pulpit Sunday and guarantee our church at GCR that our annual Chili Cookoff set for Wednesday night would not be canceled or even postponed. If the snow stays in the forecast, we’re still having the chili cookoff. If it starts misting or spitting tiny little ice pellets, don’t call the church building asking about the chili cookoff. We’re having it. The colder it gets, the more chili we’re going to eat and the more fun we’re going to have.

Well, it threatened all afternoon. It was cloudy and cold, It was still in the forecast. At about 1:00pm, Jim and I noticed half a dozen microscopic pellets bouncing off my windshield. And then nothing. It happened again at about 6:00pm. A little rain and about 15-seconds of sleet. And then nothing.

Some were afraid that would be enough to keep people at home. We’re not quite the hardy West Texas folks we like to think we are. I experienced a fleeting moment of doubt at about 6:15pm. And then all the cars showed up and the people with crockpots began rushing in.

We had 35 pots of chili, everything from classic Texas red (no beans!) and white chicken to venison and exotic nilgai, from mild to ghost pepper scorch, and everything in between. We had to set up extra tables just to hold all the chili! I don’t know how many people showed up (200? preacher count?), but we were packed and it was a blast. Patrice McKinney took the top prize and was encouraged to wear her championship apron to church Sunday. Caitlin Landry was voted the runner-up and Linda Bomar took third.

Carrie-Anne made so much of her awesome chili that we’ve got enough left over for us to eat tonight while we watch Notre Dame and Penn State. It would be nice to eat Frito Pie in front of the fireplace and a college football playoff game with a decent snow falling outside. But it’s not happening. We’re getting beautiful pictures and videos from Valerie in Tulsa and Carley in Flower Mound where it’s been snowing all day. Not here. We got nothing. Zero. Not one flurry or flake. Stupid desert.

Peace,

Allan

Can I Get an “Oh, Yeah?”

October 30, 2024 / / 1 Comment

Jeff Walling preached for us at GCR on Sunday. Yes, that Jeff Walling. He was in town to speak at Midland Christian’s chapel and First Priority, and it was a huge blessing to have him complete the hat trick by bringing our sermon on Sunday. Of course, he was wonderful. He connected well with everybody in the room. He made us laugh, he made us think, and he gave us easy ways to remember the lesson. He was exactly as you would expect Jeff Walling to be. Simply wonderful.

Carrie-Anne, Whitney, and I went to lunch at a favorite restaurant after church. We talked together about football, about our plans for the week, and other mundane things. Then, out of nowhere, Whitney made an out-of-the-blue observation:

“Seems like Jeff Walling knows how to get people to say ‘Oh, yeah.'”

“Yes, he does. That’s right.”

“Maybe you should try that, dad. It doesn’t seem like people want to say ‘Amen,’ but they like saying ‘Oh, yeah.'”

“No, that’s not true. People say ‘Amen’ when I ask for it.”

“I don’t know, dad. Seems like they’d rather say ‘Oh, yeah.'”

“Eat your food, Whit.”

Peace,
Allan

GCR on the Road

October 29, 2024 / / 0 Comments

We’re still in the middle of transition at GCR Church, still shifting our vision and practices toward doing more incarnational, relational ministry here in the city of Midland. And what we’re doing with our annual Harvest Party / Trunk or Treat is an important expression of that vision. This past Sunday, for the second year in a row, we took our annual Harvest Party / Trunk or Treat on the road to Family Promise, one of our local missions partners. Family Promise helps people and families who are experiencing homelessness in Midland by providing housing, counseling, training, equipping, and several other kinds of resources and assistance. We give them money every year and we serve dinner there once per quarter. But our vision is to get more of our GCR folks into relational situations with Family Promise that will help the people who need help and, at the same time, be a transformative agent for us.

Over the decades, GCR had become a well-oiled, efficient candy-distribution machine. We were really good at spending 20 seconds with 1,500 people who come through the long lines in our church parking lot. But what if we spend two hours with about 40 people? What if, instead of inviting people to come to our place, we go to their place? What if we share dinner and play games and engage in conversation and make connections? What if we all sing Happy Birthday to Max on his 13th birthday and share cake with his family? What if we hold babies and wipe up spills and make hot dogs and pray for people at our tables? By name. What might our God do with that?

The response from our church family and from Family Promise has been tremendously encouraging.

 

 

 

 

 

I’m telling you, our people are the best. They always go over the top. Without being asked, they go above and beyond with their costumes, with their themes, with their creativity in turning a car trunk or a pickup bed into an experience. They go beyond expectations with their hospitality and joy, generosity and thoughtfulness and fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There’s a huge difference between passing out candy to a thousand kids and families in a long line and never seeing them again and sitting down with a family of four for hot dogs and chips and a Coke. There’s much more time, it’s much more relaxed. Efficiency is not the goal, it’s about relationship. It’s talking about the kids’ costumes and comparing candy buckets, learning names and making connections, talking about the weather and the terrible twos and our grandmas and favorite music and acknowledging together how God has been at work in our lives.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Carrie-Anne and I spent most of our time with Ashley and her three young kids. They came to Midland from Utah back in August. Ashley still can’t believe it’s sunny and 88-degrees here in late October. And she can’t believe how the Lord is blessing her through Family Promise and GCR. She’s overwhelmed by the love and support. She’s thrilled that she actually knows people’s names and that they know hers. Her kids are a hoot: Allie is not afraid to talk, Mijo (we never got his real name) is a mischievous mess, and little Annie is absolutely adorable. And she knows it. Might be a bit of a problem later on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It seems obvious to me that this is the Jesus way. Going outside the camp, outside the city gates, to spend personal time with the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the hurting. Going to where the people are to meet them in their place and on their terms. Healing, encouraging, laughing, bringing people together. Sharing a meal. Yes, eating and drinking together with thanksgiving to God.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love this GCR Church and what our God is doing in us and through us. I thank the Lord for the ways we are embracing the more difficult work of incarnational, relational ministry right here in the city where God put us. What a divine privilege to walk where Jesus walks, in his name and in his manner. And to do it together.

Peace,

Allan

 

GCR’s Theophanies

September 24, 2024 / / 2 Comments

In Acts 4, the early Church is facing cultural opposition and political oppression in Jerusalem. Peter and John have been jailed, interrogated, and ordered to cease speaking and teaching about the resurrected Jesus. So they go “back to their own people,” they gather with the Church, and they pray for God to give them even more boldness to continue speaking about Jesus and they ask God to stretch out his hand to heal and perform even more miracles and wonders to glorify Jesus.

Our God responds to the prayer immediately by shaking the building and filling them all with Holy Spirit courage.

It’s called a theophany. it’s a visible appearance of God. God revealing his presence in a real, physical way you can see or feel.

God did this for Moses at the burning bush. The fire and the smoke got Moses’ attention and our Lord told him, “I am with you.” God said, “I will be with you,” and he gave Moses the boldness he needed to speak to Pharaoh.

God revealed himself this way to his people on Mount Sinai. There’s thunder and lightning, smoke and fire and noise, and the whole mountain is shaking. “I am with you,” God says. “You are my people and I am your God.” His presence gives them the increased courage and faith they need to obey the commands he gives them on the mountain.

Isaiah experiences the same thing. He goes into the Temple and sees our holy God on his eternal throne. There is smoke and noise and the whole Temple begins to shake. God asks, “Who will go for us?” And Isaiah goes from “Woe is me; I am ruined,” to “Here I am! Send me!”

Go and tell the people. I am with you. Go and speak. I’m right here. Go and live. I am with you. Go and proclaim.

It happens to the first Church on the Day of Pentecost. Those 120 disciples of Jesus praying in the upper room are blown away by the noise, the wind, and the fire. God is here with us! All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, Scripture says, both the men and the women, and they began to speak.

I suggest to you that these kinds of things are still happening today if we’ll pay attention and notice. Our spiritual God is still making himself known in physical ways in order to assure us of his presence and fill us with Holy Spirit boldness. We get these theophanies here at Golf Course Road all the time.

In the past 22 months since we launched our vision of transformation and mission–just a little less than two years ago–we’ve had 174 people place membership at GCR. That’s 174 men, women, and children who are jumping in with our church family. And we don’t know how they’re getting here or why they’re coming. With a lot of our new members, there’s no real connection, no personal invitation, or particular event. They’re just showing up and forming relationships and embracing the mission and becoming important parts of what God is doing in us and through us here. It’s a physical reminder that our God is the one who gathers his people and brings them together for his holy purposes. We’re seeing it here. It’s real.

In that same time frame, in a little less than two years, we’ve had 61 baptisms here at GCR. That reminds us that, yes, God is still saving people. God is still at work in people’s lives. God is still rescuing people and snatching souls from hell! We’re seeing it all the time.

Last May, there were about 30 kids at Emerson Elementary who had lunch debt in the school cafeteria  and were about to be cut off. They were going to be served inferior lunches in special bags for the last month of the school year. It would mark these students as different. It would make them stick out. So we paid off their debt. We didn’t ask any questions, we didn’t ask anybody to fill out a form. Did you know you were in debt? How much debt do you owe? Are you trying to pay off the debt? Would you meet us halfway with your debt? No! We didn’t do any of that, we just paid it all off. Just like Jesus. Just like our God in Christ who forgives our debt and pays off our sin and rescues us from bondage. These students and their parents got a physical, tangible, living parable or proof of God’s grace that sets us free.

Those one hundred Mission Agape boxes we provide every Thanksgiving. Our people buy the food and pack the boxes, and we distribute them to families in need in Midland County. That’s physical proof that our God is still providing what people need through our community of faith.

The “4 Midland” worship services with First Methodist, First Presbyterian, and First Baptist. There are always 800-1,000 of us in each other’s buildings, singing with our combined choirs, praying together in our different traditions, loving and accepting one another in the name of Jesus, putting aside our denominational differences to unite for the sake of our city.

That takes Holy Spirit courage! That’s Holy Spirit community! That’s proof that our God is determined to bring all things and all people together in Christ, and he’s doing it in us and through us at GCR! Yes, our God is still stretching out his hand to heal, he is still performing miracles and wonders through the name of his holy servant Jesus! And we’re experiencing it here all the time!

Our spiritual God is constantly making himself known to us in physical ways. We know our God lives inside us and we know his Son is our Lord. So we are not defined by the times. The government does not control how we live our lives. Technology does not define our existence. Postmodernism does not determine how we think. News and entertainment does not account for who we are. We must break the faithless and ignorant habit of letting the journalists tell us what’s doing on. We need to at least give the Holy Spirit equal time!

Peace,

Allan

Who Dak?

September 16, 2024 / / 0 Comments

I’m thinking Derek Carr should be the highest paid player in NFL history.

The Saints quarterback averaged 22.1 yards per completion yesterday in a deliciously mind-blowing beatdown of the Cowboys at AT&T Stadium. Per completion!!! Unheard of. Even in last year’s blowout playoff loss to the Packers, Jordan Love averaged 17 yards per completion. New Orleans scored six touchdowns on their first six possessions, which Mike McCarthy downplayed afterward by shrugging his shoulders and saying, “It happens,” and this game was over by halftime. Dallas gave up a franchise record 35 first half points and allowed Alvin Kamara to score four touchdowns, tying another franchise record for a Cowboys opponent.

The Dallas running game was non-existent; Elliot had six carries for 16 yards and Dak had the day’s longest run from scrimmage, gaining eight yards on a scramble.  Dak threw two interceptions and fumbled once. Dallas went 0-3 in the red zone. The offensive ineptitude prompted Kristi Scales to write, “You know it’s bad when the best Dak and Zeke play of the day was combining on a tackle of a Saints cornerback returning an interception.”

The Dallas defense was even worse. The Saints ran for 190 yards and faced a total of just three third downs in their first five drives of the day. Micah Parsons says they got outplayed. That might be the most disturbing thing a Cowboys player admitted last night.

I’ve learned over the years that the best time to make bets with Cowboys fans is right after the first win of the year. I made four different lunch bets yesterday morning with four big-talking Cowboys fans who jumped to take the over on my 8-9 prediction. I don’t know how they’re feeling today. It’s been quiet.

If you saw the way Kamara ran through the Cowboys yesterday, then you know Derrick Henry is licking his chops in Baltimore today.

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For the first time in 16 years, the Texas Longhorns are ranked number one in the country. The last time the ‘Horns held the top spot was for three weeks during the Colt McCoy era, ending with the MIchael Crabtree game, the high point of the history of Texas Tech Red Raiders football. The only concern now is that no football team ever wants to peak too early. Like against UTSA in week three.

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We held our seventh Christian Practices retreat over the weekend at The Way Retreat Center here in Midland. Fifteen of us spent intentional time together engaging our God in Word and Prayer, using some ancient Christian practices and experimenting with some newer exercises. The weather was perfect, the food was amazing, the chapel was a beautiful and inspirational setting for worship, and the spiritual conversations were transforming. The idea behind these retreats is to equip our church at GCR with more and varied ways to be present with God for his transforming work. We don’t want to just get into the Word, we want the Word of God to get into us, to become a part of us. So we pray the Scriptures, we dwell in the Word, we read imaginatively, we ponder ancient written prayers, and we share our stories. We listen to each other’s hearts, knowing that God’s Spirit is communicating with our spirits in the process. This retreat was another wonderfully intergenerational affair–older people and younger people, long time GCR members and some who just got here. It’s one of my favorite things we do at GCR. The last one of the year is set for November 15-16 at The Way. If you haven’t done one of these yet, I’d invite you to register now.

As you can see, we have digressed a bit in taking the team picture at the end. Not our best work. Almost half the folks are hidden in the shot. Jim Tuttle rightly expressed his disappointment in the younger people who didn’t step up to help out.

Peace,

Allan

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