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4 Amarillo Video

January 31, 2014 / / 0 Comments

Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Tom Henke…

The video from our “4 Amarillo” Thanksgiving Service at First Baptist back on November 24 is finally up and running now on our Central church website. To see the 67-minute service, from Burt Palmer’s welcome (“Take a moment to greet your neighbor because this is what heaven is going to look like!”) to the acappella singing of “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” at the close, just click here. Burt’s welcome comes at the 6:30 mark after the opening hymn. At the 11:25 mark, you can watch me jump off my seat in the front row to attend to Chloe. The cameras missed her nearly blacking out and stumbling off the stage, almost nailing the piano and taking out the strings section on her way to a stair well at the side of the room. She was OK. But we keep bringing it up at small group. You can watch Kevin lead the 130-member combined choir and the rest of the congregation in “Mighty to Save” at the 12:30 mark. And, yeah, as always, he finished it strong. Really strong. My sermon, “So the World May Believe” starts at the 34:50 point. Burt totally takes things over and freaks out all four worship leaders at 62:00. And we sing “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” at 65:00 . And, by the way, you Central folks will be shocked at how many times you’re going to see yourself. First Baptist has half a dozen cameras just on the crowd. They did a great job recording and editing this thing.

Whoa, what a night. More than 1,100 in the room on a freezing cold evening with snow and ice and on the streets. It was significant. It was historic. It mattered. And, just like our Lord promised, people have noticed. It’s funny, our churches have tried for centuries in a variety of ways and with varying levels of success to evangelize the world and expand the Kingdom. The only thing we’ve never tried is the one thing our Lord promises will work. Unity. Christian unity. Putting aside our minor differences and celebrating the countless things we share in common in Christ. The city of Amarillo is noticing. Christ is being preached in word and deed and our Father is receiving the glory. Amen.

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One of the classiest professional baseball players I ever had the privilege to know and to cover, Michael Young, has retired from baseball. After fourteen years in the major leagues, thirteen of them with the Texas Rangers, Young is calling it quits. He hung ’em up today at the Ballpark in Arlington with a .300 career batting average, 2,375 hits, seven All Star appearances, and one Gold Glove. He is the all-time — ALL-TIME!!! — Rangers franchise leaders in games played, hits, doubles, triples, and runs scored. He never went to the disabled list one time in his career. He was arguably the most consistent player in baseball during the past 14 years. And one of the all-time nicest guys.

Click here to read Sports Illustrated’s excellent article about Young’s career achievements. Click here to read Evan Grant’s article about Young always being a Texas Ranger. Click here to Richard Durrett’s outstanding piece on Young’s leadership in the Rangers clubhouse.

When I first began covering the Rangers as a reporter and then Sports Director at KRLD in 2001, Michael Young was the quiet, unassuming newbie, willing to play wherever and whenever it could help the team. I worried when A-Rod was assigned two lockers in that corner of the clubhouse right next to Young. I worried when Rodriguez and Young would sit quietly in that corner after every single game, win or lose, and talk together for ten or fifteen minutes before they would speak to any of us reporters. I would think to myself, “Please, don’t let A-Rod rub off on Michael!”

No way.

Young quickly developed into the leader of the Rangers franchise and stayed that way to the very end. Not one arrogant or self-serving bone in his body. Never. He always took responsibility for miscues in the field and always deflected praise when things were going really well. He would talk to us and answer our lame questions after 11-3 losses and after four-game sweeps of the Yankees. He was always there. Always good. Always right.

Congratulations to Michael Young on a great career. And thanks to Michael Young for doing everything the right way.

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For your pre-Super Bowl reading, I highly recommend this interesting and insightful article by Kate Hairopoulos of the Dallas Morning News regarding the use of the term “12th Man” by the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks are only able to use the term, which has long been trademarked by Texas A&M, by means of an exclusive licensing agreement with the Aggies. In the agreement, consumated by a $100,000 payment to A&M and maintained by a $5,000 annual fee to the school, the Seahawks and the NFL acknowledge the rightful ownership of the term by Texas A&M. And the Aggies hold full decision-making control over how the Seahawks can and cannot use it. Kate’s column outlines all the do’s and don’t’s of the deal, including some of the ways Texas A&M polices the arrangement. Apparently, the deal expires in 2016 and, with the Seattle franchise doing quite well for themselves, the Aggies are already devising ways to benefit even more.

Peace,

Allan

The Work We’ve Been Given To Do

July 29, 2013 / / 0 Comments

“Father, the time has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you.” ~John 17:1

Jesus begins his very public prayer at the end of that last meal with his disciples acknowledging that the time for him to die, to glorify the Father in a selfless act of unconditional love, was at hand. The hour had come. It was here. It was time. The prayer is certainly set in and around the context of his impending death. But for a brief moment at the beginning of this prayer, Jesus allowed himself room to reflect for a moment on his brief earthly life and ministry.

“I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do. I have revealed you…”

Jesus always told people if you had seen him, you had seen the Father. If you knew Jesus, you knew the Creator of Heaven and Earth. Yes, Jesus revealed God to the world. Jesus reveals God’s glory. Jesus allows us to see God. Jesus allows us to experience God. Jesus’ compassion shows us God’s compassion. Jesus’ mercy shows us God’s mercy. Jesus’ gentleness shows us God’s gentleness. Jesus’ intolerance for religious people who judge others and think they’re better than everybody else shows us God’s holy intolerance for religious arrogance and pride. Jesus’ love and forgiveness shows us God’s great love and forgiveness. Revealing God — this was a large part of the work God had given Jesus to do.

And, to borrow the powerful language from Christ’s prayer, the time has come for the Church of God to do the work God has given us to do. The time has come for us to reveal our God to the world. If we don’t, who will?

This world is full of cops and lawyers and judges and juries who accuse and prosecute and punish. The time has come for God’s people to be the ones who forgive. The world is full of writers and broadcasters and politicians who spread hate and fear in order to divide and conquer. The time has come for Christ’s followers to be the ones who spread love and hope in order to reconcile and restore. The world is full of soldiers and generals and armies and kings who take and kill in the name of country and security. The time has come for Christ’s Church to be the ones who give life, who give resources, who give of themselves, who give and give and give in the name of the One who came not to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.

The time has come for us to complete the work we’ve been given to do, to reveal the love and grace of Almighty God to a world that does not know him. If we don’t, who will?

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I’m not playing “Taps” for the Rangers just yet. It’s not completely over. But this team is on life support. They’re barely breathing. The family’s been called in. The grandkids are gathering photos for the slide show. It’s not looking good.

The Rangers have lost four straight and nine of their past eleven games. They have been shut out — zero runs! — in three of their past four games. The Rangers haven’t scored a run in 21 straight innings. They have scored three runs or fewer in twelve of their past fifteen games and hit .177 with runners in scoring position during this same fifteen game stretch, including yesterday’s 0-3 showing in Cleveland. As of this very moment, Texas is six games back of Oakland in the AL West and fourth in the Wild Card standings. Worse than that, yesterday marked the 30th consecutive day the Rangers have not made up ground in the division. They’ve gone a full month now either staying put or losing ground to the A’s.

Yikes!

I’m still convinced that Nelson Cruz will be suspended this coming weekend, probably Friday, for the remainder of the season. So now the Rangers need at least two or three brand new bats, not just one or two. I was hopeful that the Garza signing would spark something in these guys. No, it hasn’t. And I’m afraid Ron Washington’s 45-minute closed door team meeting after yesterday’s embarrassing effort won’t do it either.

We’ll know for certain this time next Monday whether to pull the plug on this team. Texas plays the Angels in a three-game set in Arlington beginning tonight and then go head-to-head with the A’s in Oakland this coming weekend. So, come Monday, we’ll know.

It’s been three or four years since Cowboys pre-season football was more interesting than watching the Rangers.

Crud.

Allan

Now What?

July 23, 2013 / / 3 Comments

Matt Garza is a Texas Ranger. He’s no Cliff Lee. He doesn’t automatically result in a division crown for the Rangers as the Lee trade did in 2010. Yes, he’s a solid number two or three guy behind Darvish and the Dutch Oven. Yes, he’s probably good for eight or nine wins and a dozen or more quality outings over the last ten weeks. But I don’t know if he’s enough. The return of Matt Harrison to anything near his pitching prowess of a year ago is iffy at best. We’re talking about a back injury here, as unpredictable for a pitcher as it is for a golfer. Who knows? As for Ogando, I guess we’ll know a little more tonight. Can we really count on him? And, I’m not certain we’re ever going to see Neftali Feliz again. Those national writers who are still picking Texas to eventually overcome the A’s to win the West are basing that on Ogando and Harrison and Feliz each making strong returns. Seems shaky to me…

The real problem with the Rangers this year, as awful as the pitching’s been the past three weeks, is the offense. To replace Hamilton and Young, the Rangers went with a couple of oft-injured old-timers and now they’re paying for it. Lance Berkman is gone and A.J.’s looking really tired. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Manny Ramirez get called up before the week’s over to take some hacks with the Rangers. I mean, at this point, they’ve got to try something. The fact that it’s going to be Manny tells you all you need to know about the level of desperation right now in Arlington.

If that’s not bad enough, yesterday’s plea deal between MLB and Ryan Braun means Nellie Cruz could be gone for the year within a matter of days. It all depends on how much evidence they have on him, whether Selig views Nellie as a first-time offender, and if they’ll wait until there are 50 games left in the season to announce a suspension. That would be in about two weeks. Manny being Manny is not enough for this struggling offense. Manny would have to be Manny and Cal and Babe Ruth.

It’s pretty bleak right now. I’m not feeling good about things. The past month has reminded me a lot of last September. They’re flat and lethargic, beat up and old, lackadaisical and just kinda going through the motions.

Beltre and Elvis are the only ones I can really get excited about right now. Maybe Texas will trade for Rios or another power hitter this week. Maybe the acquisition of Garza wakes the whole team up and they start playing like they’re capable. Right now, though, it’s Beltre and Elvis. Those two bulldogs play hard on every pitch, at the plate and in the field, and they’re a lot of fun to watch. Always have been. In honor of those two and in an effort to cheer myself up, I present this hilarious video of these two best friends.

Peace,

Allan

I Did Not Jinx the Rangers!

June 20, 2013 / / 1 Comment

I’m being accused of jinxing the Rangers. I’m using this space today to set the record straight. I did not jinx the Rangers.

Last Thursday, in the middle of our Great Cities Missions tour of churches in Peru, Bolivia, and Chile, our group of seven took a boat trip across Lake Titicaca. Not only is it fun to say, Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable body of water in the world at an altitude of 12,507 feet. The lake sits on the Peru-Bolivia border and contains the Island of the Sun, typically known as the birthplace of the Incan civilization.

It wasn’t a good day for sailing. We began the day by walking across the Bolivian border from Peru in the snow and the sleet. Uphill. I’m still not sure why the van couldn’t come across. But the driver parked about half a mile from the border and we walked the rest. It’s winter now south of the equator. And the weather conditions made for an interesting experience. Walking into Bolivia. In the snow. Wow. (As always, click on the picture for a larger view.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once we received our travel visas at the immigration office — they meticulously checked our American dollars but never even looked in our bags and purses — we boarded the boat and headed to the island. Apparently, the worship of the sun by the Incan people began on this Island of the Sun. There are more than 180 Incan ruins on the island that date back to the middle of the 15th century, several little museums and shrines, zero roads or motor vehicles, and at least 800 families who still call the place home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

At one point of the tour, we were introduced to an island priest who proceeded to demonstrate to us the ceremonial prayers and sacrifices and rituals of his ancient religion. We weren’t quite sure how to handle this. Kelley later confessed to thinking about Romans during the ceremony and I admit I was wondering about a few passages in 1 Corinthians. But we all sat there quietly while this guy sacrificed a toy llama and some grains on a fiery altar and raised his hands to his god. The last part of the ceremony included this shaman sprinkling some kind of holy water in a sacred vase from the end of a ritual flower to the tops of our heads. I don’t have a picture of this, but Craig’s video clearly shows us nervously accepting the drops of water, and then Kelley and I immediately turning toward one another to make, what appear to be, wisecracks.

Not wisecracks. Hopeful curiosity.

I was wearing my Texas Rangers cap. The mystical shaman had blessed my cap with the holy water from the Island of the Sun. I told Kelley, “I think this means the Rangers are going to win the World Series.” And then I glanced at Kelley’s Texas A&M hat and remarked, “But I doubt the Aggies will win the SEC.”

We laughed together and thought nothing more of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toward the end of the tour, we stepped into a little museum which housed several different kinds of ceremonial masks. These ancient religious masks were all displayed on a large wall and we all had a little fun taking our pictures with them. There was one particular mask that stood out to me as especially creepy and, on a lark, when the tour guide wasn’t looking, I put my Rangers cap on top of it and took a picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Craig accused me of breaking the rules. I answered by saying he just wished he had thought of it first. I was going to use the picture as a screen-saver on my laptop. And as we were joking about it, the lights went out in the museum. It was pitch dark. A couple of the ladies screamed and we hustled out of there as fast as we could. The tour guide said it was the snow and sleet that had probably knocked out the power. Yeah, of course.

That was Thursday. That night the Rangers lost to Toronto 3-1. Over the following three nights they lost 8-0, 6-1, and 7-2. They suffered a four game losing streak and fell three games back of the A’s in the AL West. They were outscored 24-4 during that stretch, went 1-for-20-something with runners in scoring position, and haven’t recovered since. Whatever had knocked the power out of the museum had also knocked the power out of the Rangers. It all seemed like a horrible coincidence until the news broke that A&M’s Heisman winning quarterback, Johnny Manziel, had tweeted that he couldn’t wait to leave College Station.

What had I done?

There were various explanations given by the other members of our group that included references to a Brady Bunch movie and various episodes of Scooby Doo. A couple of days later, I was tempted to dunk my cap in the holy water at the 15th century Spanish Catholic cathedral in Santiago in an attempt to reverse the curse.

But, having been back in the States now for a couple of days and having watched the Rangers play, I’m convinced their sorry streak of offensive ineptness has nothing to do with the Island of the Sun. It wasn’t me or the mysterious shaman or the religious masks. It’s injuries to key hitters and a bunch of young guys pressing too hard. Seriously, that losing skid didn’t start last Thursday. They had lost the two previous nights to Cleveland. The string of bad play was part of a nine losses in eleven games free fall that began long before I had ever laid eyes on Lake Titicaca. Plus, they’re pitching Grimm and Tepesch and Lindblom. Of course, they’re going to lose those games.

It wasn’t me.

Just in case, I wore my cap backwards on the 13-hour flight from Chile to Amarillo Monday night. The Rangers won that night 8-7. They scored nine runs last night. And if they win this afternoon, they will have taken three of four from Oakland and pulled back to within one game of the A’s for the division lead.

I didn’t jinx the Rangers.

But, just in case, I’m wearing a Yankees cap the next time I visit any Incan temples.

Peace,

Allan

Great Night for Great Cities

April 22, 2013 / / 0 Comments

Whoever had the idea of hosting the annual DFW area fundraiser at the Ballpark in Arlington deserves a raise. Unless it’s Kelley.

What a magnificent time we had Friday night at the Rangers Hall of Fame with Jim Sundberg and about 600 of our good friends, eating delicious barbecue and raising a lot of money for Great Cities Missions. For Carrie-Anne and the girls and me, we experienced several worlds colliding as we ran into a bunch of great friends from Legacy, Central, Dallas Christian, and Oklahoma Christian. Yu Darvish struck out ten and the Rangers bats finally woke up in an enjoyable rout of the Mariners. And I ate for the cycle: barbecue, nachos, cotton candy, and ice-cream.

Yes, I admit it, I was gushing a bit when I introduced Jim Sundberg to the crowd and engaged in some Q&A with the Rangers’ legend. Darryn Pope accused me of almost kissing Sunny and Craig Gladman said the whole thing was a disgusting spectacle. But we all learned about Matt Harrison’s back injury, we heard what it was like trying to catch Charlie Hough, and we auctioned off nearly $3,000 worth of autographed baseballs. All told, Great Cities Missions raised right at $73,000 Friday night for the support of missionaries and the planting of churches in Latin America.

The following morning, Saturday, I was blessed to join the GCM board of directors for their meeting. I was honored to be invited to deliver the devotional at the beginning of their meeting and intended to use my time to praise and encourage this impressive group of faithful men and women who work so tirelessly in the Kingdom of God. But, in the end, I was the one who came away the most encouraged and inspired. Man, there’s a bunch of really great people at Great Cities Missions. What they are doing is God’s work. They see people the way God sees people and they turn their lives upside down for the Gospel.

Everyone Jesus met, he saw them as beautiful. Beautiful because of what they were meant to be. Beautiful because of what they were created to be. Beautiful because he saw in them what they were actually going to be. And the folks at Great Cities Missions embrace that kind of thinking and doing every day with everything they’ve got. They partner with and train and support the men and women who are giving their very lives to the great cause of Christ. They organize and raise money and pray and travel and sacrifice and serve for the ultimate promises of God in Christ. They don’t just believe in the mission; they are grabbing it! They’re investing in relationships, they’re making themselves vulnerable, they’re taking the risks, they’re holding nothing back.

At one point in the meeting, while listening to another trainer and church planter tell another powerful story about a missionary family working in a foreign field, I leaned over to John Todd and said, “Man, the people in this room, they’re all in, huh?” He said, “Oh, yeah. Every one of them.”

Yes, these people get it. They see the beauty of the street kids in Fort Worth and Brazil. They see the beauty of the lost people in Chile and Arlington. They see the beauty of the hurting men and women in Columbia and Mexico. They see all the people of the world not just for who they are and what they are, they see them for what our Father in heaven created and intended them to be.

The God who began a great work with Great Cities Missions is faithful to continue that work and, on that great final day of eternal glory, bring it to completion.

Peace,

Allan

Declaration and Address

April 3, 2013 / / 2 Comments

“Yu Are Kidding Me!”

Go ahead and submit your best Skip Bayless headline for last night’s near-no-no-perfecto for Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish. He was unbelievable in Houston last night, coming within one out from only the second perfect game in franchise history. In the months leading up to Yu’s major league debut last season, we were all told that he had command of five different pitches. It seemed like hyperbole back then. Last night, it was reality. Yu did whatever he wanted to last night, mixing 94-mph heaters and 76-mph breakers with curves and sliders and another weird off-speed thing I’m not sure what to call. The Astros didn’t have a chance. Yu fanned fourteen, he was only hit hard twice that I saw, and he showed almost no emotion or effort in the process. He was cruising with just one out to go — two down, bottom of the ninth — when the Astros number nine batter in the lineup, a shortstop who spells his first name wrong, smashed the first pitch right back through the five hole. Base hit. Ruined the perfect game. Ruined the no-hitter. Darvish came within two inches of blocking the liner between his legs, but the bid for perfection was over.

Darvish is good. Oh, my word, he’s good and he’s fun to watch. He’ll be on again this coming Sunday night on national TV against Josh Hamilton and the Halos. He may never get that close again to a no-hitter. Or he may wind up throwing three or four in his career; right now he looks that good. Either way, just like last night, if and when it happens, Whitney and I will be hanging together on every pitch.

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Our Sunday morning adult Bible classes here at Central are discussing Holloway and Foster’s “Renewing God’s People: A Concise History of Churches of Christ.” Chapter four introduces us to Thomas and Alexander Campbell, a father and son team of Scottish Presbyterian ministers who sailed to America in 1807-1809 with hopes of restoring God’s Church. Like Barton Stone, they longed for Christian unity. They despised denominational labels and divisive creeds. They viewed the different Christian sects as abominations and affronts to the true Gospel of Christ.

Upon arriving in Pennsylvania, Thomas was assigned to preach at a church in the western part of the state and promptly got in trouble with the board for allowing Presbyterians of every stripe to participate in communion. Old Light Presbyterian, New Light Presbyterian, Anti-Burgher Presbyterian, Seceder Presbyterian — it didn’t matter to Campbell. He opened up communion to everybody at his church and wound up being forced out by the synod.

Campbell began an inter-denominational Bible study group that grew into what they called the Christian Association of Washington, Pennsylvania. They were committed to Christian unity, to renouncing all man-made creeds and following the Bible only, and to abolishing all distinctions between denominations. In 1809, the group commissioned Campbell to write a document outlining the purpose of their organization and its plan for unity among all Christians. So he penned the Declaration and Address, the most widely known of our Church of Christ founding documents.

Doug Foster has re-written the document’s thirteen propositions into today’s contemporary English, which makes navigating the text a little easier. You can find it by clicking here.

It would be really easy to write a different blog post for each of the thirteen statements. They are that rich, that good. I may do that someday. For our purposes today, allow me to hit just a few highlights.

Definition of God’s Church -Proposition One attempts to lay the ground rules for determining who’s in and who’s out. According to this opening idea, the Church is made up of everyone “who has faith in Christ and is trying to follow him in the ways God’s Spirit in scripture has told us, and who others can see are being transformed into his likeness by the way they act.” Notice, there are only two or three requirements Campbell says are necessary to being considered a member of Jesus’ Church. If one puts his faith for salvation in God through Christ, is actively submitting to the Lordship of Jesus and following him, and is obviously bearing Holy Spirit fruit, he’s in! Proposition Eight restates the idea in a little different wording, reminding that “having an understanding of every Christian truth is not a requirement to be a Christian, a part of God’s Church… All a person needs to know to be a part of Christ’s Church is that they are lost and that salvation is through Christ. When they confess that they believe in Christ and that they want to obey him fully according to his word — nothing else can be required.” Similarly, Proposition Nine identifies brothers and sisters in Christ as those who “confess belief in Christ and commit to obey him and who show the reality of their commitments by the way they live.”

Christian Unity – Proposition Two admits that it’s impossible for all Christians all over the world to physically worship and serve together, so there have to be local groups of disciples in a variety of different cultures and contexts. “These groups will not all look think, or act alike,” Campbell writes, “yet they are all part of Christ’s Church and ought to recognize it. They must accept and embrace each other just as Christ has accepted each one of us.” How do you achieve Christian unity? How do you bring people together who don’t believe or practice their Christianity exactly alike? Campbell says by obeying the “Rule of Christ.” These Christians from different backgrounds, in different places, with different ideas and practices should be “willing to give themselves for those Christ died to redeem.”

Against Division – The strongest language in the Declaration and Address comes in Proposition Ten which prohibits the dividing of Christ’s Church into denominations: “Division among Christians is a sickening evil, filled with many evils. It is anti-Christian because it destroys the visible unity of the Body of Christ. It is as if Christ were cutting off parts of himself and throwing them away from the rest of his body! What a ludicrous picture! Division is anti-scriptural, since Christ himself specifically prohibited it, making it a direct violation of Christ’s will. It is anti-natural, because it makes Christians condemn, hate, and oppose one another — people who are actually obligated in the strongest way to love each other as sisters and brothers, just like Christ loved them. In other words, division repudiates everything Christianity is supposed to stand for.” The following proposition claims that divisions and corruptions in the church are a result of neglect or a misunderstanding of God’s will that we have the mind of Christ and be transformed into his holy image. A secondary reason is that some Christians assume they are right in their beliefs and practices and try to “impose their conclusions on others as terms of recognition and fellowship.”

Interpreting the Bible – Another major theme running through the Declaration and Address is the correct way to read and interpret the Bible. Campbell upholds both the Old and New Testaments as essential parts of God’s holy Word and the only authority over God’s Church. Therefore, Proposition Three maintains “nothing should be required to recognize, fellowship, embrace, work, worship, and be fully and visibly united with all Christians that is not specifically made a requirement by God in the Word.” But he makes it very clear that, as a friend of mine once said, “The Bible is not a cook book of recipes, it’s a description of a great feast.” In Proposition Four, Campbell states that the “Bible is not primarily a constitution that functions as a legal document to consult in legal disputes. It is, instead, the sword of the Spirit; it is a place where we encounter God’s Spirit and are transformed increasingly into the likeness of Christ.” So, “The Bible does not spell out in detail everything Christians are supposed to think, do, or be — that is just not the nature of Scripture,” according to Proposition Five. “When there are specific actions Christians are told to take, there is almost never a set of detailed requirements for how to do it.”

It’s a powerful document. Strong. Rich. Inspiring. The American Restoration Movement, of which Churches of Christ are a part, is founded on this document. I hope someday to have a really nice copy of these thirteen propositions, in their original 19th century language, framed and on display in a prominent place in our church building. We need to be reading these things. We need to be compelled all over again by the same passions for Christian unity for the sake of the world that drove our ancestors. We need to repent of the evil divisions among Christian denominations that have proclaimed a most anti-Christian message to the world for centuries. We need to pray for a revived interest in the unity of all disciples for the everlasting purposes of the Kingdom of God. And we need to work — man, we need to work — to sacrifice and serve, to accept and forgive, to tear down walls and break down barriers between us so the world will finally see that our Prince of Peace really is who he claims to be.

Peace,

Allan

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