In Allen's Own Words . . .

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1-25-12 Blackout

I am curious how this Sunday affected you. Everyone knew right away that this was not your average Sunday. We had prayed a lot that God would use the efforts we were making to bring about something that was pleasing to him. I think he did. There was a lot about the day that I liked but one thing in particular that I thought was good was the elders getting up and making statements about their belief and asking us to follow their lead. One from our College group told me how much that meant to him to see such godly men stand up and clearly state their faith. I pray that you allowed God to touch you and soften your heart.

What do we do now? That is a question that I cannot answer in a space like this nor can I give a complete answer since God has not yet revealed all of what is next. What I can do is give two answers from scripture. The first is Romans 12:1-2. Paul writes, "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will." Paul is telling every single one of us to offer ourselves to God and to live our lives to please him. That is your immediate task. Our ministry leaders, staff, and elders have committed to helping you do this but it is ultimately your choice. Living like this allows us to find and understand God's will. Paul says that then you will be able to see God's will which means that you will not be able before you offer yourself as a sacrifice.

The second answer has to do with a philosophy of mine that effects how I lead a lot. In Acts 13:2-3 we see a very short account of an encounter between the Church and the Holy Spirit. Luke writes, "While they were worshipping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, 'Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.' So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off." I have shared this verse many times because it is a very impactful verse to me. It shows how God speaks to the Church when they put themselves in a place to hear what he is saying. This makes me think that it is ok for us as leaders to try to understand God's will the best we can but to also work together with you to hear what God wants. That is why we have used meetings with lots of people to make changes to our education program. It is why we want to hear from lots of people about making changes to Wednesday night. It is why we are bringing the financial issues we face right now before the congregation. What is God telling us to do? I have faith that he will tell us if we will just listen.

I urge you to recommit yourself to following the example of Jesus and see what God brings to you. I think it will be significant.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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1-18-12 Slavery

We have been talking about the Kingdom of God last month and this month in class. This would include all age groups. I am especially appreciative of Jeff Larsen for putting the material together and for teaching the adult class with a minimum of help from me.

Last week we talked some about why we need to understand Jesus' teaching on the kingdom. The reason is that when you understand what the kingdom of God is like then you will do a much better job of understanding his will. I think the parable of the yeast helps us understand that God does not have to be at the very center of society in order to change it. For me this helps me to not worry about some of the changes to our society as if God can be pushed aside. He has the ability to work like yeast that you can't see but it has powerful effect.

This week I was reading about Joseph in the book of Genesis and came across something confusing. I have always put Joseph up as a great example of faithfulness and he is but I found something that makes me think he didn't understand how God works and how his will works. When Joseph takes over the collecting of grain to prepare for the famine he does it very efficiently. He leads so well that he ends up enslaving all of Egypt. Read it for yourselves in chapter forty-seven. Verse twenty starts, "So Joseph bought all the land in Egypt for Pharaoh. The Egyptians, one and all, sold their fields, because the famine was too severe for them. The land became Pharaoh's and Joseph reduced the people to servitude, from one end of Egypt to the other." I realize that Pharaoh would have been happy with the good job Joseph did but how would everyone else feel?

Rob Bell, in his book, Jesus Wants To Save Christians, talks about how Solomon built his temple using forced labor, or slaves. He comments on how ironic it is that people who had been released from slavery would come to use slaves to build something for the same God that rescued them. Bell writes, "At the height of their power, Israel misconstrued God's blessings as favoritism and entitlement. They became indifferent to God and to their priestly calling to bring liberation to others." What they missed was the character of God that despises slavery. Not just slavery for his people but slavery for everyone.

It is things like this that make it important for us to understand the kingdom of God so we can be sure that the things we do are actually pleasing to him. Jesus statement, "Thy will be done on Earth as it is in heaven" is a kingdom statement. He is wanting things here to be the way God wants them. I think that is what we should want also.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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1-11-12 Bible

Now is a very good time to decide to read the Bible this year. I would really like to encourage you to do this. It never ceases to amaze me the things I see for the first time each year. I think it also helps me to have a better overall grasp of God's word. This helps me whenever I read some other book that is quoting a verse or two to know if they are using it in line with how it was meant. If you start reading now you only need to read three or four chapters a day to get through the entire Bible in a year.

Right now I am in the book of Genesis. This morning I read chapters 32-35. Here is something I had never noticed: "Jacob also went on his way, and the angels of God met him." That is 32:1. What angels? Was it a bunch of angels? Jacob concludes that this must be the camp of God. Leave it to a nomad to think of God as having a camp. I always think of God living in some kind of a house – a big one I'm sure. I would also want to know why the angels were visible to Jacob. They don't do anything else in the story so why are they mentioned? It is later in this chapter that Jacob wrestles with someone all night long. Obviously Jacob had been doing crossfit if he could fight that long but that is for another article. Genesis says that Jacob wrestled with a man but Jacob thought it was God. For me this seems like a strange story. It is interesting to me that there was a time when angels appeared to people openly and I can't figure out why or why they don't anymore.

Our men are about to start studying the Bible with each other. Dan Canales is going to lead Men of the Word, a part of our men's ministry led by Rom Kellis. He introduced it to us last Wednesday after Ross Kellis spoke to the men. By the way, Ross did such a good job of speaking to us about emptying ourselves so God can fill us. The Bible studies will begin the beginning of February with three or four groups of men meeting in small groups to read through the book of Matthew. We will use a style of study called lectio devina. You should google that. Lectio devina is where you read carefully a section of scripture, meditate on something from your reading, and then pray about that which you meditated. We will do lectio devina at home and then come together to share our thoughts. I can't wait.

God is clearly doing things here and around us and I look forward with anticipation to the things he will show us this year. I know we are going to need to be people that can walk with God and I think reading his word is one good way to get ready for that.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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January 1

What is this Church called to do? Do we have a goal? How will we know if we are succeeding or at least approaching success? Is it some number? Is there a magic number that when we hit it we will have succeeded? Is it some level of contentment that we are looking for from our members? If a certain percentage of our members feel happy does that signal that we have arrived? Is it popularity in the community that matters most? If we become known throughout this town as a good Church and one that lots of people respect is that it? I mean to apply all of these questions to us alone – not to other Churches. What I mean to ask is what are we, meaning Lexington Church of Christ, supposed to be about?

This week we were hit hard by the work of Satan. I feel like he walked into our midst and took one of our young members that had been rescued out of the world. That is hurting me, and many others, unbearably. It is always frightening to see the work of Satan. It is almost like we can smell the sulfuric stench of him and his demons and it makes it hard to sleep or be at peace. Keke told me this morning that he feels like the wind has gone out of his sails. That is a very good description of how I feel.

But … This is what we are called to do. We were told almost 2000 years ago to make disciples and to teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded. Our goal is to find people that do not have it all together and help them get it together. We search for people that live in the kingdom of darkness and help them move to the kingdom of light where God saves them, forgives their sins, and begins transforming them into the image of his Son. With this as our goal and calling we realize we have a dirty job. We baptize people because they are dirty. That is the same reason you were baptized. When you search for people with problems you bring in people that still have problems. They are trying to get over them but they are a work in progress – just like me and you.

On Sunday Jose Hernandez was baptized. He has been struggling with his decision for several weeks. He knew God was calling him but he had things he wanted to change first. He believed he could not make this commitment to God until he had made some changes. I respect him for that and I thank God for his work in the life of Jose. I pray that God will build him into a great man of God.

I think we have been called to work with God in the trenches. I believe he has been training us for decades to be able to do this. He will continue to lead us to people that have needs, real needs, and we will baptize them and teach them how to follow Jesus. When we reach out to people in need there is a burden on every one of our members – so be it.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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12.14.11 Christmas article

Fifty bulletin articles have come and gone once again. I have now written over 650 articles. I didn't know I had that much in me. I pray that 2012 will be a year of great blessing for us as we continue our walk with God and as we strive to become more of a disciple of Christ every day. And may God give me fifty more articles to write about.

On Christmas morning why not join us at 10:30 for a communion service at the building. We will have some singing and I will lead us around the Lord's table. Hopefully that will give you enough time to open presents and maybe even play with some of your cool new toys. I am also suggesting that we come fairly casual.

Dan Nobles, a former member here and close friend of several of us, has asked if we would use his website when ordering from Amazon. If you go to Noblepurposeministries.org you will see an Amazon.com square on the left side. If you click on it you will be taken to Amazon.com and everything will be the same as if you went directly but Dan will get a percentage that he uses in his mission work to India. We buy a lot from Amazon and always do it through Dan.

Have a very Merry Christmas! I hope you eat lots of good food and enjoy yourself with your loved ones. I know I plan to.

Allen L. Close

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12.07.11 Grinch

Surely there is room for fun this time of year. There is no doubt that God has a sense of humor since he is the one that invented laughter and he is the one that purposefully makes some people really funny. I didn't say funny looking, I just said funny. Because of this I can't wait till tonight when we will watch How The Grinch Stole Christmas as part of our annual coffee house with Jeff Kerby. If you missed it we watched the cartoon, not the Jim Carrey movie.

I love the cartoon and we make sure we watch it every year. I remember the first time we showed it to Brianna. I think she was three or four years old and when she saw the parts about the dog she laughed uncontrollably. It is funny how the dog ends up riding on the back of the sleigh instead of pulling it. When the Grinch looks at him he gives a little wave that we all still think is so funny.

I have no doubt that Jeff will have us discussing the meaning behind the story since there are many lessons that Dr. Seuss put into the story but I will be watching for the laughs. As much as we stress about things to do with God and his will I think it is great to come together in the name of Jesus and have a few laughs. If you ask me "what would Jesus do" I would say he would be with Brianna laughing his head off.

Please be mindful of our meeting this Sunday about the Hispanic Ministry at 2:30. This is the third of our important leadership meetings and it is the last until after Christmas. We wanted to do it this Sunday because this is the last Sunday we can meet about this while Mike and Kris Bridges are still here. We certainly want them to be part of the meeting since they have poured so much of themselves into this great work. I would really love for as many people as can come to join us as we talk about where we have come and where we believe this ministry needs to go in the future. As Mike and Kris step out other people are already stepping up. You need to come and hear about this. I know you will be encouraged by what you hear. Like all of our ministries this is a function of the body and we need support from lots of people to make it work as God wants.

I thank God for the families he has sent us. They are such a blessing to us and I can't imagine this congregation without them. We have had weddings and baptisms and there will be more. Praise God!

Please consider coming to the meeting to show your love and support. We will hold the meeting to an hour.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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11.30.11 2nd Meeting

This Sunday we will have the second of our leadership meetings. The first was two weeks ago when we talked about how I Corinthians 13 affects our ministries and then spent time in prayer. This time we plan to talk about the finances of this congregation. The elders are planning to share where we are right now in terms of finances and then to share their vision on where they think God is leading us in this area. There will be time for discussion and questions. I would love to see every member here at 2:30 to be part of this meeting. I think it is very important to the future of Lexington Church of Christ. I think we all know that money isn't everything but we also know that it is a very important tool for doing the work of God in this world.

I began the sermon series, God's Vision For His Church, by reading some things I had written about vision. One of the things I said was that I think it is our job to find the vision that God has for us and then to put all of the resources he has given us toward accomplishing that vision. This Sunday I will preach about God wanting his Church to be a people that are following Jesus. Once again the elders will be presenting part of the sermon. I hope you will make every effort to be here this Sunday morning and to be at the meeting at 2:30.

One of the realities that we will need to face is the shortfall in the budget. We are about $1000 short per week, which comes out to around $52,000 a year. Phil will give us much more precise information than this but this will give you a heads up. I believe that God has blessed us all with a lot of resources including money. I also believe that he intends that we would use those resources, including money, for his mission. Certainly he has given us enough so that we can care for ourselves and our families but when we use it all for ourselves he is not pleased. When we realize that we have been using the money he gives us in a way that does not please him we simply need to repent and do what pleases him. If that is what you need to do I pray that God will give you the strength to do that.

I look forward to our meeting this weekend. I believe so much in the generosity of this congregation. I have witnessed it so many times that I have come to trust in it very much. Not only has God given us a lot of money he has also given us generous hearts and for that I am thankful.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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11.23.11 God's Love

It is thanksgiving week and I want to share with you how thankful I am to God for his love. I shared this in my sermon last Sunday. It comes from my heart.

How does God love?
He is real. He doesn't hide.
He doesn't hide behind intellectualism, or degrees, he doesn't put up a front of how smart, holy, ambitious, hardworking, athletic, charming, or handsome he is. I sense no protective barrier at all. No matter what I say he never becomes defensive or self-protective. He is not threatened nor is he aloof. I can sense how intently he is listening to me. That is love.

He allows himself to be a man. I feel his whiskers and the ripple of his arms. When I touch his back there is no give and I can feel the thickness of his being. He also allows himself to be a woman. He is not afraid of my tears or the weight of my emotions. He touches me, hugs me, kisses me and tells me he loves me. Even when he challenges me to be tough I can still see the compassion in his eyes. I never see a mean or violent spirit. That is love.

He truly listens to me without switching the conversation to something more comfortable for him. He lets me rant without being threatened. He explains some things but I never sense desperation in his voice or manner. That is love.

He is what he is and even though I know he cares about me and considers what I say I know I do not change him. He is solid so I can throw everything at him knowing that he really loves so I have no doubts or worries. I can probe him with questions all night long and know that I will never find darkness in him. He shares his light and love and life with me without ever imposing it on me. That is love.

Somehow he can handle the things I do and the things I don't do. I know exactly how he feels about my sins but he doesn't focus on those things and without him being mean I can feel the weight that his grace produces in my life. That is love.

We have walked together through some very hard things. He has walked with me through dark sinful things and waited longingly for my repentance. He has guided me through confusion and pain and frustration and weakness. He has been much less hard on me than others have been and certainly less hard on me than I am on myself. He has always had the right word at the right time and at times he stuns me with his love, wisdom and most of all his timing. He will never leave me and I will never leave him. That is love.

Happy Thanksgiving,
Allen L. Close

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11.16.11 Elders

I found this Sunday to be a very encouraging day. I think we all find it very reassuring when the elders get up and talk. It gives us all a sense of confidence to hear them talk about how things are going and what they believe God wants from us. If you missed what they said it will be online at our website in the next day or two. I was also encouraged that Rom was already having a meeting to start making plans for our renewed men's ministry.

What now? We have identified some mistakes in the past and we have made note of the differences amongst us but what do we do now? We are dreaming about what God wants and we are always seeking clarity in his vision so where does this lead? The elders are asking us to meet about several ministries that they believe need immediate attention. The first meeting is the one this Sunday at 2:30. These meetings will go on regularly until we feel better about our ministry plans in all areas of our congregation. We need to get together and decide what we are going to do about the budget shortfall. I would think that this would be a meeting for which many people would want to provide input. We also need to quickly get together and decide what to do about the leadership vacuum that will happen when Mike and Kris Bridges move to India. Their leadership in our Hispanic Ministry has been tremendous but we will need new leaders to arise so that we can continue to reach out to Hispanics. We will want people to have a chance to hear about and provide input to both our men's ministry and our women's ministry. We also want our leaders to spend time together going through scripture and praying. There will be some meetings where we do this exclusively instead of dealing with business. We also want to meet about our overall education plan. Many people have been working on it and there are even now new things being done to make it better. These meetings are meant for our ministry leaders, staff, and elders and they are open to anyone that would like to join us. Before each meeting the elders will let everyone know what the agenda is for each meeting.

I hope everyone feels like they have an important place at this Church. We value the role every one of our members plays in the body of Christ. It is our desire to help you be as connected to God as possible so that you can be used by Him to bring about his will on this earth. I pray often for a heavy dose of love and unity here as we strive to be everything God wants.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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11.9.11 Bible Studies

Ever since Dawn exposed us to Mark Oestreicher's thoughts about how young people build faith differently than past generations I have thought about it a lot. Mark says that in past generations faith was built on facts first and foremost. Today's generations begin with experience before the facts come into play. I feel like I fall somewhere in-between these two ways of building faith. I do have a lot of the love for facts and base a lot of what I believe on what I read in the Bible. I also believe that Christianity is based on relationship. God is more concerned with our heart than he is our mind. I do not like looking at the Bible as an academic book. I think it is a story of God's love for us.

Lately I have several different Bible studies going on. How does this thinking fit in with each of these? One of the studies is with Matt Bridges. He has already been baptized so there is no need to study with that as a goal. My goal with him is to help him know God better. Since I believe Christianity is about relationship it makes sense that I would want Matt to know God. Therefore we study different things that inform us about the character and personality of God. This week we will study a subject that defines so much of God's character – grace. Besides my favorite verses on grace that I use a lot we will look at Hebrews ten and see how our relationship with Jesus has everything to do with the choices we make in life including our moral ones. This kind of studying is a real passion of mine because I believe that if you know God you will love him.

Another study begins tonight. Leo has gathered several people that want to be baptized. My Dad and I are going over there tonight to lead this study. Obviously this study will be different since we are starting at a different point and we will also be dealing with language differences. Despite these differences I plan for the focus to be on God and Jesus Christ. I believe that if you are going to make the commitment that baptism signifies you need to know the person to whom you are committing. You shouldn't just understand baptism but you must begin to understand God.

I thank God for opportunities like these. I happen to know that there are several other studies going on right now and I praise God for them. I hope we will witness many baptisms soon but I also hope we will see people fall deeper and deeper in love with our God.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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11.2.11 Galatians

I would like to thank Larry Polk for doing such a good job leading our education plan for the month of October. I especially say this because I know this ended up being one of the worst months possible for him because of an unusually heavy load at work. We made these plans back in the spring so he had no way of knowing. I have heard so many good comments from all of the classes. I loved every minute with the teens. I just love the fact that I can teach their class and I don't have to water it down at all. I could tell they were listening and wrestling with the implications of the names of God and I was impressed. My favorite thing was to listen to the all pray at the end of class each week. I can't wait for the next time I get to teach a younger class.

We are moving on to the book of Galatians now. We will learn from this book for the four Sundays in November. Rick and I will be teaching the adult class. We have recruited some experienced teachers and some brand new ones. I think this is one of the strengths of this new format. I am especially excited for the fourth and fifth graders to have Travis Jex and Tracy Williams to teach their class. I have talked to them about the material and they are excited to go. Besides our normal classes there are several other classes going on so you can look on our education board above the welcome center to find all the information you will need about where everyone is supposed to be.

Jeff Larsen is busy recruiting teachers for December/January so let him know who you would like to teach. The subject is the kingdom of God.

I did want to express my thanks again to everyone for making me feel loved while I was away and my Grandfather's funeral. Everything went very well and I appreciated the texts, emails, phone calls, and cards. Everyone has let me know one way or the other that they were praying for me and my family and I really appreciate it.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

GracEmail

I have been a fan of Edward Fudge for several years. I don't know very much about him except that he is a member of the Churches of Christ and he writes a lot about grace. Allan Whitacre sent me this article and I asked for Mr. Fudge's permission to reproduce it in it's entirety for you. I feel like these are things I preach about a lot but he says it so well.

God's Work Our Privilege by Edward Fudge

It is truly amazing, is it not, to watch God carry out his plans on the earth through human beings. I used to think that God gave us the Bible, filled with rules, commands, and projects, and that it was up to us to keep the rules, obey the commands, and accomplish the projects. It was a great relief to discover, about forty years ago, that my entire analysis was misguided (Col 4:2-6). The truth was right before my eyes all the time, in the closing phrases of the model prayer Jesus gave us (Matt 6:9-13).

To begin with, I learned that it is not our place to form the vision or to set the agenda. Our job is to pray for God to show us what he is up to and how he wants us to fit into that, then to watch for answers to that prayer and move accordingly ("Thine is the kingdom. . ."). Later, I also came to understand that It is not our responsibility to make things happen or to produce the results. We are privileged to work in the strength that God provides, relying on his energy to accomplish whatever he purposes (". . . and the power").

Somewhere about here, the obvious truth also came into focus that although God allows us to work on his projects, and although he even accomplishes his plans through us, God is due all the praise for the final product (". . . and the glory"). These principles are not limited to a particular divine project or to a narrow moment in history; they are universal in scope and unlimited in time (". . . forever"). Jesus is the one who said it, and we just agree with him (". . . Amen!").

We do whatever God enables and puts on our hearts to do, knowing that our efforts are always piecemeal, and only the Father sees the total picture from the beginning. We can do that with enthusiasm, confidence and joyful expectation, knowing that God will complete what he has started, that our work is never in vain when done for the Lord, and that he is the one who energizes us all to desire and to accomplish his saving purposes (Phil 1:6; 2:12-13; 1 Cor 15:58).

Reprinted by permission from graceEmail.
To subscribe (free) to graceEmail: Edward@EdwardFudge.com

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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10-12-11 The Names of God

I wish you could be in the High School class with me on Sunday mornings this month. I am really enjoying it. The first week we talked about what it means to us that God is a creative God. At the end of class it just seemed fitting to go outside for prayer time so we did. We got in a circle and I had asked everyone to pray and they all did. I was so impressed because no one prayed liked they had to. They all prayed like they wanted to and I loved it. I also have no trouble getting someone to read whatever I need read throughout the class. This eagerness carries over to our discussion of the things we are discussing.

Last week we talked about how we feel about the fact that God sees everything. We talked about why we like that and we talked about why at times we might not like it so much. It is fun to listen to them wrestle with things that are real to them and to watch them relate these things to God. Once again we ended with a very good time of prayer.

As Laura and I drove to Savannah on Sunday we talked about the different classes we were in on Sunday. I told her about my class and she told me about the class that Andrew Thompson taught. Just like the week before, when Larry Polk taught, Laura said the class was very good. Both weeks she told me about how each of these men made the class interesting as they led thoughts about God. We were able to discuss for a while the different ways we pursued the topic of God the creator and the God who sees.

Here is one of the reasons why we are doing Sunday morning class the way we are. We want people of all ages to be able to talk with each other about what they learned in class knowing that they studied the same subject. Hopefully you will be interested to know how different teachers handled the material differently. This gives parents a very easy way to talk to your children about what they learned.

Another bonus I am seeing is that we have people teaching that don't normally teach. I hear lots of good things about Larry and Andrew teaching the adults. We are in the process of asking people for November and for December and January. We have asked some from the College group for November and are asking some from the Young Marrieds for December and January. I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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10-05-11 Equal

There are a lot of things in society that separate us. Money is certainly one of those things. It is easy to feel uncomfortable when you are in a group that obviously either makes more money than you do or less money. Some people are good at overcoming that but some aren't. Education is another thing that has a way of creating separation. When a couple of people are talking and you realize you don't even know what they are talking about you can feel dumb and not part of the group. How people look also does this to us sometimes. How about skin color? We try to not let it be an issue but it often is. All of these things are sad because the separation is not based on reality even though it seems very real. Differences like these don't really matter.

Are there some things that create equality in Christianity? I think Jesus brought us many ways to stand on equal ground. The greatest equalizer of all time is the cross. We all stand together at the cross asking God if he would be so good to forgive us of our sins. When you stand there you realize any comparisons with the other people around would be nonsense. At the cross it doesn't matter at all what you look like or what degrees you have. Alongside this equalizer is the Lord's Supper. Everyone gets a small plastic cup and we just go from front to back. No one gets any kind of special treatment. This makes sense since it is reminding us of the cross. Baptism is also no respecter of persons. There are no special baptism clothes that certain people get to wear. Lately it has been bring your own swimsuit and a t-shirt. What a great way to start.

There are also some things that we go through in life that have a way of helping us realize we are all equal. We all love our children. When women get together and start talking about their children it becomes apparent that they all have this in common and they can talk on level ground. Suffering has a way of erasing our differences. When you are in pain you don't care who helps you. You will appreciate and get close to anyone that comes to your aid. Snootiness becomes ridiculous. Death is like this also. As you struggle with all that death and disease brings you want to reach out to anyone that is willing to love you through this difficult time. All of these things have a way of helping us see through the differences to what makes us the same.

Lately I have been facing several of these things that have a way of accentuating our similarities. An added benefit is that they have helped me to understand what many of you have already faced. It is really good to have each other.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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9-28-11 1962

I was born in the year 1962. The average cost of a house in the USA was just over twelve thousand dollars. Gas was 28 cents a gallon. The Dow Jones closed at 652 at the end of the year. The Cuban Missile Crisis took place. Marilyn Monroe died. The Beverly Hillbillies were on TV and they weren't reruns. The Beatles released their first recording: the single "Love Me Do." A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. This is just some of the things that happened that year but just as interesting are some of the things that were not around that year. There were no cell phones or home computers or the internet. The world is not the same as it was even twenty years ago.

It is easy to see that people have very different expectations out of life today than they did a few generations ago. We shop differently, make money differently, spend money differently. For most people work is not exercise so we have to create ways to get exercise separate from work. No one buys records or 8 tracks or cassettes unless they are into retro stuff. Now they really don't even buy cds. Rarely do young people ever listen to a whole cd recorded by an artist. Instead they pick and choose only the songs they want.

Google whatever year you want and you can find a lot more information and see how things have changed in your lifetime. My point here is that when you consider how much things have changed we should ask the question how is the Church changing to keep in stride? I know that may sound blasphemous to some because we know that God does not change. That is very true and worth noting but people do change and the best way to reach them does not stay the same. We may have loved the old ways of teaching children and some of the ways have not changed but some have. The Church must be willing to change methods in order to best lead our young people to be disciples of Christ.

What I am talking about here is why we have made the changes to our education program that we have. It is our desire to do the best job we can to help our members become disciples of Christ but we are especially concerned about how to help young people since they are so vulnerable as they go through their young years. This is the reasoning behind our switch from mostly classroom instruction to a combination of learning in the classroom and learning in practical settings. Young people do not think about religious things the same way we did. If you ask an older person whether or not the Church should help the poor chances are they will give you a verse from the Bible to make their point. Young people will not. Even if they know a verse that says what they think they will not quote it but will rather talk from their experience of what is right and wrong. I think a mix of being able to find specific verses in the Bible and being able to easily apply the principles would be a great combination. This is the beauty of the mixing of the ages that we do sometimes.

I love the changes we are making. I think they are not only helpful to our young people but find them helpful and enjoyable for me.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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9-21-11 A Faithful God

How do you prepare for some of the hard things life throws at you? As I write this I am preparing to go to Dallas for a board meeting and then to Abilene for more meetings associated with Mission Alive. While in Abilene I will get a chance to see my Pappaw who is in the hospital with a broken collarbone, ankle, and big toe. The doctor has already said that he will not be able to go back to their retirement village and will need to be put in a nursing home. For all of us this is shocking because he seemed so normal just a few weeks ago. It makes me really sad to talk to my Grandma and my Aunt who is trying to care for them without any other siblings. The sibling part has kind of fallen to me.

Lately there have been a few things in my life that have helped me understand some of the things others of you have faced. I have always tried to be empathetic but the truth is there are some things you cannot understand until you go through them yourself. You might think that preparing for the death of a family member that has lived well into their nineties would be easy but it isn't. Death has never been a friend of ours and it never will be. It is not a friend of God either which gives me comfort. You can look at Revelation 20:14 to see what God is going to do with death in the end.

Lets go back to what we do to prepare for stuff like this. I think we need to consider the words of Paul in First Corinthians chapter ten. Look at verses twelve and thirteen. First of all he tells us to not be over confident. When life is easy it is possible to fool yourself into thinking you are stronger than you are. You can think the reason you stand is because you are tough when the reality may be that you stand because nothing is coming against you right now. He goes on to say that the temptations we face are the same as what everyone else is facing. When temptation comes we can feel very alone but Paul is telling us to take courage that we are not. I think this also opens the door for us to talk to someone because chances are good they will understand. I love to read about the faithfulness of God and that I can count on him protecting me from anything that would be beyond my ability to bear. I am thankful for the promise that he will provide for me so that I can stand up under whatever loads come my way. May we always have the sense to take the escapes that he provides for us and not the escapes that Satan provides.

In the end it is so important to me to know that my Father cares for me and is always right here helping me to get it right. As I prepare to leave for Abilene with a pit in my stomach I trust that he will get me through whatever comes. God is good!

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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9-18-11 Makonde Offering

What motivates God to tell us to be holy as he is holy? Why did he give us the Ten Commandments? Is it because he is holy and he can only be around us if we are holy? If that is true why do we have so many stories of God working in the lives of messed up people? Certainly God cares about how we live because he loves us and he knows that everything Satan offers us is designed to hurt us. He also knows that every good and perfect gift comes from him so by living by his standards we are actually more alive. These things are true but I want to say that a large part of why God tells us to be holy is so that we can participate with him in his mission. God needs his people to be different so that he can use them to bless the entire world. This was first announced to Abram in Genesis 12, it was true throughout the Old Testament, and it is still true today. God uses his people to be a sign and a foretaste of his kingdom but this can only work if there is actually something different about us.

Lets use the issue of money: God asks us to be different than everyone around us in the way we use money. When God tells us to be holy as he is holy this applies to money. He expects us to be holy in how we deal with our finances. Most people around us spend all of their money on their own needs and wants. If that statement isn't true it's because the fact is that most people spend more than all of their money on their own needs and wants. That is why there is so much debt in this country. We all know it is hard to watch your friends that make about as much money as you do buy all kinds of things that you thought you couldn't afford. When someone at work shows up with a new truck we feel a touch of envy and may decide that we need to do the same thing so we figure out how we can finance it. This is just one example, there are many.

If we have leveraged ourselves the same way everyone else has around us how can God use us and our money in his mission? The sad truth is the money is all gone. We cannot be generous as God is generous and that is what he meant when he said be holy as I am holy.

Many of us took the Dave Ramsey course this year to try to get our finances more in line with God's will. Believe me it has been hard to do that with two kids in University. But let's bring this back to God's mission. God is inviting us to be involved in his work and that requires money. Jeff is constantly finding new needs for a wheelchair ramp. That takes money. God sends us different needs that people have. They take money. Tommy and Becky Brown came here asking for money to go to Nicaragua. This Sunday we are taking up a collection to finish off our commitment to the Makonde team. Surely you can see the challenge we all face to be holy as God is holy in this way.

When you think about your money I hope you don't think in terms of how much do I have to give. I would encourage you to see it in terms of being like God who is so generous to each one of us. I sometimes feel like God is generous to a fault. Not really – but it seems that way. I pray you will keep this in mind this Sunday as you decide what to give to our team in Tanzania.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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9-07-11 The Best Class Ever

There were some things this last Sunday that thrilled me. One was to see Ava Canales in a prayer group with Todd and Tammie. She stayed with them the whole time and prayed about all kinds of things. Another thing I saw was Micah Castleman walking around praying with his Dad. How awesome is that? When I went into the dark room where people were praying old prayers I saw adults and kids discussing the prayers and the martyrdom that one of the prayers was about. There were adults with young people walking around our parking lot praying for people. What could we have possibly done that would have been better? I can't think of anything. That thrills me.

This coming Sunday we will be focusing on spiritual disciplines connected to scripture. Once again we will have four or five stations around which you will move. There is only three weeks left of this class so you need to hurry up and get here and certainly make sure your kids are here. What we are learning these weeks we will never forget.

Larry Polk introduced what is coming next month – the names of God. Several couples mentioned this summer that they would like to teach in the new system where they only need to teach one month at a time. Here is your chance. Despite what you saw on the screen you do not need to know Hebrew to teach the class. What you will need to do is to lead a group of young people in their thoughts and activities so that they can learn about different attributes of God. We need people to commit soon so we can start getting together to help each other get ready for the month. If you have been looking for something significant to do for the Lord I think this is it. If you can't do this month don't worry, November is the book of Galatians and we will need another group of teachers for that.

I will be going to Dallas next weekend for a Mission Alive board meeting. Some of the meeting is in Dallas and some is in Abilene. On Sunday there is a meeting that they call a think tank. I'm not sure who all will be there but I figure it will be well worth my time. ACU will be having their Summit (formerly called lectureship) that same time so I will get to take advantage of some of that also. I will come home Wednesday morning.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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8-31-11 Failure

Every now and then I preach a sermon that has a lasting impact on me. I know that is a funny thing to say but it is true. It doesn't have much to do with whether I deliver it well or not it is the message that I am dealing with that has the impact. Last Sunday was one of those days. The sermon was titled "Abram and Sarai give God a hand." It dealt with Genesis chapter sixteen.

At first I intended to deal with the failure of Abram and Sarai to trust God but something just didn't feel right about doing that. As God led me beyond the obvious to something beyond that I landed on the truth that God is able to use our failures to challenge us and call us higher. The hard part is to not let our failure define us. Somehow Abram was able to keep trying to trust God and in the most difficult test, chapter twenty-two, Abraham succeeded and he is remembered as a success. This is despite the failure of chapter sixteen and another failure in chapter twenty.

Maybe my point is made when we consider how we think about Sarah. When I think of her I remember the failure in regards to Hagar and about her laughing when the Lord told them that they would have a child and how she lied about it when asked. I don't know how she figured in with Abraham's test of sacrificing Isaac. I tend to leave her with the label of her failures. I don't really think of her as a great woman of faith. I think I should expect that she too learned from her failures and grew stronger by the struggles she had as she also learned to trust God. That is just how life with God works. We wrestle and get knocked down but we get up and try again and in this process we are becoming stronger and more trusting sometimes without even knowing.

I don't think I really have to tell you how to apply this. It applies to your marriage if you are married. You are not always loving and sometimes you fail to love your spouse but even in the presence of failure you should trust that God is leading you forward and he is training you to love. If you have children you are trying to do in their lives what God is doing. You try to help them use failure and struggle to become mature in the Lord. At Church we need to show patience with each other and trust that God is at work and he is bringing change - Change that glorifies him.

So while God is working on us lets stop making final pronouncements on each other and ourselves and let God teach us to love.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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8-24-11 Children

I think the wellbeing of our children is a function of the body – the Church. The real measure of wellbeing is are they becoming disciples of Jesus. What I mean is that I think the Church should be working at making disciples first of all amongst themselves, particularly amongst the children. Our children should be able to expect that the entire congregation will work at helping them reach maturity in terms of discipleship.

We have made some rather unorthodox changes to how we help our children mature. We still have Bible classes but we have several other methods that we use to position our children in relationship to God. One major change is how much the adults interact with young people. I love it. This is one of the major influences that Dawn has brought. Beginning September 4 we are going to try something in this area that I am so excited about. I am going to lead a spiritual disciplines class that will involve all of the children except the nursery and cradle roll. We will work through prayer exercises, bible study, and creative ways to relate to God, as a group. If you are an adult I will need you to be willing to stretch yourself. Come that Sunday morning ready to do something different. You will not just come in the auditorium and find a seat. Most will need to pair up with someone younger. You will then make your way around the auditorium and classrooms experiencing several different prayer exercises. I realize this is a stretch but I am convinced that it will be worth it. Some of the kids will do better than others but we will make the best of it. College and the youth group will also be involved.

We are working seriously at making Wednesday night as kid-friendly as necessary so that children can come. Parents – please help us now what we could do to make our projects suitable to your children. Not only suitable in terms of safety but also in terms of helping your children understand the point behind what we are doing. The main thing I think the young people need to see is people older than them that are willing to work hard for the good of other people. It means a lot when you are willing to get dirty or sweaty for the sake of someone that cannot help themselves. Love is a very powerful force and when young people see it in adults it has a lasting force.

This Sunday I challenge you to look around at our children. They sit all over the place so take a look. They are beautiful kids and we are so blessed to have them. When you look into their faces I know any misgivings you may have will melt away.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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8-17-11 Golden Opportunities

I hope you took the opportunity to work at Doug and Claudia Pinkston's house over the last couple of months. I think we worked there three or four Wednesday nights. We scrapped off all the loose old paint and painted all of their trim on the outside of their house. I had the privilege of working there two nights and I was blessed by the experience. I saw a lot of other people being blessed as well. Several of our College group grabbed scrapers and went at it. I saw Rom climb to the top of an extension ladder and paint. Mary and Brianna and Hannah all wrestled with ladders so they could paint. Sean and Alex painted together. Brandon sanded and sanded and then sanded some more. There were many other people working in all sorts of ways. Each time I went some of the group went in the house and talked with Claudia. The last time Claudia wasn't doing well and ended up in the hospital. It was good that Rochelle and Kristina and several others were able to sit with her while she laid on the couch. These are just some of the great blessings that we enjoyed because we went and these are just a few of the people that enjoyed those blessings. I think it is just that simple – every time I go to something on Wednesday night I am blessed in some way and I give a blessing in some way. Tonight I am working with Emmanuwheel for the first time. I look forward to the experience except I will miss out on going to LICS. I really enjoy it when we go to LICS but someone else will have to throw clothes at Zane and Micah.

I did want to thank you so much for the visits, phone calls, texts and especially for your prayers on behalf of my Dad. Obviously this has been hard for us and it has really helped to have people standing with us. We have felt very loved.

Have a great week! Allen L. Close

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8-10-11 Hospital Week

I have spent a lot of time at hospitals over the last seven days. I guess you could call it hospital week. One day I had to choose between Amanda's procedure and going to see AJ with my Dad. Since so many were with Amanda, Dad and I decided to go see AJ. We had a good time talking with AJ and Jeanie. Before we left we prayed together. I find that people in the hospital always want to pray. I spent the next morning with Karyn Giles before her gall bladder surgery. There were a lot of people there at Lexington Hospital from our Church including the elders that were in town. The group took turns going up to see Claudia Pinkston and some of the ladies went and saw Sara Hanle who was in labor. The next day I was over at my parents doing some yard work and noticed that Dad wasn't feeling good at all. Shortly after I got home I heard that Mom had taken Dad to the emergency room. I have spent a lot of time up there ever since.

One thing that I thought was really special was the prayer time in the Lexington Hospital chapel on Sunday afternoon. Twenty two people crammed into the chapel and prayed for a solid hour. We prayed for all of the people that were suffering physically and we prayed about spiritual issues as well. I thought it was great. Afterwards so many people went upstairs to see my Dad and our family was very thankful for that. That evening I swung by Baptist Hospital to see AJ again and to encourage him as he found out that something was wrong with his knee and he would have to be opened up again to have it fixed.

In some ways it has been a bleak week but in other ways it has been good. My Grandpa (Funny Grandpa) that was in the hospital in Detroit suddenly got better this week and should be going home soon. This right after someone told him that sometimes people with his condition have to stay in the hospital for a month. Praise God for his healing. Also we have a baby for which to be thankful. Wren Morgan Hanle was born on Saturday. We have prayed for Sara and Nick and this baby so much. You have to see her – she is beautiful, and she is definitely an answer to prayer. God is good!

It is so great to have each other. I know sometimes one or two or three of us are in need of some loving attention but that is just what it means to be in a loving community. I always love hearing about the ways that people show love in this congregation that are behind the scenes. There are people that show love and never hear a word about it. I know, however, that your heavenly Father sees it and he will reward you. In the meantime your love grows.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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8-03-11 The People of God

I am beginning a new sermon series this Sunday. It will be called The People Of God and will be a study of Genesis, Exodus and Numbers. I will not cover everything in those books but will rather be focusing on the way God formed Israel into his people and how he raised them up from one family to become the great nation that he had promised to Abram. We will follow these people, our spiritual forefathers, through several stories of the patriarchs, through their experience in Israel, and through their time in the wilderness. I know we will find so much that will remind us of ourselves both in their victories and in their defeats. We will see family traits of strength and weakness in the people we will study and maybe it will help us know better where we came from and the people that proceeded us as the people of God.

Several people have asked me about life groups for this coming up year. It is our intention to have life groups this fall. We have set September 11, the second Sunday of the month to begin. We are in the process of finding someone to lead our life group ministry and a lot of the details will end up depending on who that person is but it looks like we are going to let people that want to be in groups sign up in whichever group they want. Considering the number of new families we have here it has become obvious that we need this very good way for people to get to know people better. I will give more information as I get it but I wanted you to know this much for now.

Let me tell you what to expect when it comes to our education ministry and the changes that are coming in September. In the month of September I will be leading a class on spiritual disciplines for everyone kindergarten and older. We will meet in the auditorium and it will be a hands-on class not a lecture. We are not going to talk about spiritual disciplines we are going to do them. I am going to use several people to help me and at least some of the time we will have stations in the auditorium around which you will move. Everyone that is helping me is being told that five year olds will be in there and to plan for them. We will not lump all the small children together, nor will we purposely put them with their parents, but will try to spread them around as much as we can so they can have these experiences with different adults and young people.

Beginning in October we will move to The Names of God and Larry Polk will be the pointman that will make the arrangements for the month. This class will be more traditional in terms of everyone being in classes broken down by age. Larry will be looking for teachers and what we would love to have is people that will team teach together. This could be any two people but could also be married couples.

I look forward to being with you on Sunday.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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7-27-11 Praying Psalms

I have always found it interesting that Jesus' disciples came to him and asked him to teach them to pray. Who taught you to pray? I don't remember ever asking someone to teach me to pray. It is language that we just don't use. We assume that everyone knows how to pray so we just tell each other to do it. Over the last twenty years I have learned several different ways to pray and I have found each one helpful in a different way. One of those ways is to pray scripture.

Turn to Psalm 111. Let me talk about this with you and then at the end of this article you should pray this Psalm. The Psalm opens with the thought of praising the Lord. As you pray through this Psalm you should begin with a time of praising God. What do you like about Him? What qualities does he have of which you think highly? Keep your thoughts focused only on Him. Don't use this time to thank him for things because that ends up being about you. As you move on to verse two you read about the great works of the Lord. Move from praising God to talking about his mighty works. Mention them to Him. What has he ever done that amazes you or causes you to be in awe of Him? You can use things from your life of you can go back to some of the things mentioned in the Bible. At the end of verse four the psalmist says God is gracious and compassionate. I think these two qualities of God are worth praying about by themselves. Talk to God about how these two traits of His make you feel. As we get to verse seven I see the word trustworthy and it makes me want to pray about all the reasons I trust God. Things like his holiness without any darkness at all, his unconditional love, his ability to forgive, and his wisdom. All of these are part of why I trust God. I would also want to ask God to help me trust Him more so that I would believe every word he says and never believe what Satan tells me. In verse nine we are introduced to the thought that God has redeemed us. This is a good time to spend time thanking God for our salvation. As we close out the Psalm we should talk about having a fear of God that is about respect and awe and love all combined and then we can praise him as we close out the prayer time.

I think if you pray like this your prayers will be different. When you use scripture like this to guide your prayers it helps you get out of the routine you are in. You end up praying about things which you wouldn't normally pray.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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Waves

We really love to body surf at the beach. When the waves are good we can do it for hours. One of the great things about it is you don't need anything to do it, you just get in the water and start riding the waves in. We'll be out there swimming around waiting for a good wave. We usually talk and try to freak each other out finding ways to make each other think something is trying to get them. The excitement comes when we think maybe we see a big wave building. There are always some that look like they are going to be big but they don't have any power to them for some reason. I guess we try to out do each other at predicting which waves are going to be good.

We all like it when we see a wave building and know it is going to be big. What we want is one that is big and full of power but also is going to crest right where we are. That is why we end up having to wait. We all position ourselves where we think the wave is going to crest and from here on out it is every man for himself. The wave is coming and I try to time my push to get just in front of the wave at the crest so that it will take me with it. As the wave comes I take a deep breath and jump in front of it and then the magic happens. All the sudden I can feel this power and it picks me up and I am flying through the water with it swirling all around me. The power can be amazing at times and always exhilarating. At the end of the ride I always look up to see if any one else caught it and if any one rode it further than I did. Then we run back out to make sure we don't miss the next one. It really is addicting. Often I realize that I should probably go in and get out of the sun or something and I guess I will - right after the next wave.

I think Henry Blackaby was the first person I heard compare walking with God to riding waves. He correctly instructed Christians to find out what God is doing and join him in that just like you find a good wave and ride it. You don't have to create a wave, God does that. I think the book of Acts is full of waves of God that his people rode. Certainly the day of Pentecost is a wave created by God. It begins with the Holy Spirit descending on his people like tongues of fire and it is a wild ride from there. In chapter eight Philip is told to go out on a desert road and he found that God was making a wave there. In chapter ten Peter goes up on the roof to pray and a wave comes by and almost accidently he rides it all the way in. This is just a sample. I'm sure you could find more.

I think if we will keep our eyes on Jesus right now we will realize that he is sending a wave our way. I think he has been teaching us to swim in deeper water and to pay closer attention for just this purpose. Just like with body surfing we don't need much to do it. I would say love and unity and away we go. I think this would be a good addiction to have. Say it with me – "one more wave."

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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7-13-11 Not Enough

This Monday night 34 people gathered at our house for Bible study. We have been doing this every Monday night for over four years. A lot of people have come through this study but several of the original members are still here. It certainly challenges our house in terms of space and our neighborhood in terms of parking. In the summer it challenges my air conditioner in terms of temperature. At times it challenges my dog in terms of friendliness and acceptance but that is a story for a different time.

We began the evening by reading Luke 15. After the reading I asked the group what they think is most important to me in terms of this Bible study. They mentioned things like taking care of the individual, reaching out to lost people, and growing people as disciples. Certainly I care about all of these but there is something that I care more about and Luke 15 gives you a clue. What I really care about is that they know their Father. You know I want people to have Bible knowledge but more than that I want them to have God knowledge. What is God really like? What kinds of things does he care about? What excites him? What bothers him? What is he doing most of the time? How would you expect him to react in certain situations? The answer to these questions is where my passion flows in terms of Bible study.

At this point we went around the room and had every person tell what they were doing to get to know God. You can imagine that it took a long time but it was worth it. We had a few first timers but they did fine. The very last person, someone that knew very few people in the group, shared the fact that this was a very real struggle for them. They had grown up going to Church but had been in a spiritual slump for a couple of years. It was so refreshing to hear this kind of honesty.

As we concluded the study we looked at Mark 1. Look at verse 35. This verse convicts us that we should have all begun our answer by saying, "Not enough." We should have admitted that we don't come close in our effort to know God compared to Jesus. Maybe you should go through the same exercise only now you know how to begin your answer. This is a challenging way to begin the week.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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7-06-11 John Six

Let's look at a miracle that John writes about in John chapter six. Go ahead and read verses one through sixteen and then let's discuss it.

In the book of John Jesus doesn't always talk real positively about the effects of miracles on most people. In chapter four Jesus chides the crowd by saying you will never believe unless you see a miracle. It is interesting that in that story the father that is asking Jesus to heal his son believes before there is any miracle. In our story there is a crowd following Jesus because they saw miracles.

At the start of this story we see Jesus testing his disciples. He asks about how to feed such a large crowd. What would you have answered to his question in verse five? I think I would have said something like, "You have got to be kidding." Maybe you would have tried to bring Jesus down to reality like Philip did. In what ways has God ever tested you? Have you ever realized that God was testing you? Sometimes at the grocery store there will be a person with their cart blocking the aisle while they look around aimlessly at the cool food. How am I going to react? I think this is a test, even though it is a small one. Is my time so precious that it excuses me being rude to someone? Can I treat that person like the child of God that they are even when I'm annoyed?

I have a feeling most of the disciples did not pass the test at the beginning but one seems to be on the right track – Andrew. If you had been there how would you have reacted when he brought up five loaves and two fish? I'm pretty sure I would have made some smart aleck reply. Can you imagine trying to feed this crowd with one boy's bag lunch? It seems that Andrew could - at least enough to bring it to Jesus. What small offering have you ever made to God? Have you ever thought that you had nothing to give? This story should help us realize that no offering is too small in the hands of Jesus, especially when the offering is all we have. Did you notice that in verse twelve Jesus does not want any of the food that God provided wasted? Why do you think that is? When you can make that much food why do you need to worry about leftovers?

The final part of the story for me is when Jesus realizes that they want to make him king he withdraws to be by himself. This seems so different to how we react to people telling us how great we are. Most preachers or televangelists I know of would jump at this glorious opportunity. Jesus seems to have a different agenda. His agenda is more focused on his father and less on himself.

Let this story resonate inside of your heart today and see how many ways God can bring it up tomorrow as you go about your day.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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6-29-11 Crossfit

Last week, a woman that I won't name, was in the office talking to several of us around Mary's desk. This mystery woman was here to clean the building like she does each week but she was really here to brag about her muscles. She was showing us her new muscle in her forearm and then she went on to show her impressive biceps. Who could have possibly foreseen this coming? Who could have predicted that we would have women talking about pushups, pull-ups, and squats? I even hear that Emily Ann can do squats and she is one year old! People come on Sunday morning and compare calluses and sore muscles. They come and share about how extreme this weeks workouts were. Our Church didn't used to be this way. What has changed?

Let's back up just a little. A few months ago we were visited on a Sunday morning by a couple named Ray and Mary Anderson. They arrived in a van with writing all over it including the words Crossfit. The Sunday they came just happened to be the Sunday that the elders talked about the finances of this Church and how we needed people to give more. I was apologetic to Ray and Mary when they came in cause I didn't want them to think that we were all about money but they ended up liking what they heard that morning. They appreciated elders that weren't afraid to tell the truth and they also liked seeing elders that led. Ever since that Sunday we have slowly but surely begun to be sucked into the Crossfit lifestyle. Rom IV and I work out with a group that meets at 5:15 am. There is a group of women that works out at 7:00 am. There is a guys group that meets up there on Monday evenings and I hear a girls group is about to start. Ray has been working with my Dad to get him walking like he did when he was younger and they have a goal of my Dad playing golf again. It seems like every week I hear of someone else that has started working out with Ray or Mary.

I am thankful to God for many changes he has brought to us. I am also thankful for each new member that comes and the changes they bring. Not everyone makes as obvious a change as the Anderson's have but each one brings something new that is from God. If you have placed membership in the last year or so I hope you know how thankful we are to God that you are here. I hope you realize that you are at home here and we want you to let God use you in any way that he sees fit.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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6-22-11 IT TAKES A VILLAGE

What does it mean for this congregation to take responsibility for the education of our children? By the way, I think it is a responsibility that we share. What I think it means is that we would consider any issues we see to be our issues. If it is our responsibility then we would always think of ourselves being part of the solution and would look for ways to solve any problems. I can see several ways that we are all going to need to share in the responsibility.

Beginning this fall we will begin to develop all of our own curriculum. This includes all of the children's classes. We will need a lot of people to step up and help with the Bible teaching part of our education efforts. Each time you will need to commit for a month. I hope you will plan to do this at least two or three times a year. I also hope several couples will do it together.

Sometime this year we need to have another meeting to plan out our Sunday morning classes. We met in March to plan September-May but now we need to go one step further and come up with a comprehensive plan for our classes. What I mean is we need a four year plan that will ensure that we are giving our kids everything they need to have a sustainable faith when they leave. We need some people to get together to put this plan together. If you have some expertise in this or just a passion to see that it is done right please make plans to help.

I need someone to take on the task of leading our ministry to our oldest members. We have started going to South Lake and could also go to Oak Leaf where Norm and Lynn are living. This is an important part of our education program because it is something we can do where all ages have a role. A few weeks ago I took Bryan with me to go see Norm and Lynn and we had a great time. Our teens are very good at this kind of visitation and I know that Norm and Lynn love it when I bring one or two with me. So, when you take on this job you are helping us educate our children.

We are searching for ways to make our Wednesday nights more accessible to young children. In the meantime we have letter writing every Wednesday night at the building and prayer time. I think people would be just as happy to get a picture or letter from a child as they would from one of our adults. Bring your kids. They will get a chance to work alongside some of our adults which will be a memorable part of their education.

These are just some of the ways that I can think of that we all need to take part in the education of our children. I hope you will pray about this from time to time and ask God to help us with it. I also hope that when you see things that need work you will jump in and help those things get better. I foresee us sending teenagers away to College with a very holistic education. I think we will be pleased and our Father will smile.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

6-15-11 Jehoshaphat

How about we do another Bible study together. This week lets look at II Chronicles chapter 20:1-30. Read all of that and then lets talk about it (I'll write and you can talk to yourself). Did you notice what the king and the people did when they realized they had a big problem? I was especially impressed with the fact that it says that people came from all over Judah to seek help from God. This was not just something the king was doing. How about the prayer in verses 5-12? Doesn't it remind you of the prayer we saw in Jeremiah with it's honesty? Have you ever been to a place where you would say, "We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you"? I think that is a statement that God honors. I know God likes honesty and he also likes it when we are in touch with reality. In this case the reality is that they are in trouble and without God's help they are sunk.

Look at the words of the prophet Jahaziel. God uses him to tell them that He will take care of this problem but he still tells them to go out to battle, take up their positions, and stand firm. When they have done this they will see the deliverance of God. Sure enough they did.

I think it is interesting how worship is intermingled throughout this story. When Jehoshaphat heard the words of God he immediately bowed to the ground and worshipped. So did all the people. Then they had singing. All this before the deliverance even happened. Notice how the rescue began as they began to sing and praise. God tells us that he inhabits our praise. I guess this is part of what he means by that.

The problem Israel faced was three armies coming to attack them. When God began delivering them he had two of the armies kill one army and then the two leftover armies killed each other. God was serious when he said this fight is mine.

I would have enjoyed being a part of the worship after this event. Considering that they worshipped before it even happened can you imagine how gustily they would have worshipped afterwards? The last two verses show how thorough was the victory of God.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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6-08-11 Jeremiah's Prayer

Have you ever read the prayer of Jeremiah in chapter twenty of Jeremiah? It goes from verse seven to the end of the chapter. I think you will find it very interesting. My Bible labels it a complaint instead of a prayer but I would call it a prayer because it is addressed to God. Read it and then lets talk about it.

Jeremiah starts his prayer in a way I can't remember ever doing. I don't think I have ever begun with such accusing words. I think he is upset that he has done everything God has asked him to do and it has brought him nothing but bad things. You made me think I had a choice in this but I don't. I have to do what you want. When I tried to not speak about the bad things you have me saying it physically hurt like my bones were on fire. Why do you think Jeremiah wishes he could quit speaking the words of God? I think it is because no one likes to hear what he has to say. I like it when people want to talk about my sermon. No one wants to talk to Jeremiah unless it is to say, "That sermon stunk - just like all your other sermons." I know I would get tired of hearing that.

When you get to verse eleven you can't help but see the change in the way he is talking. To me it is like he comes back to rational thought, away from emotion, and remembers that God is good. I find that when I am upset with God I eventually realize that despite my being upset God is still good and I will say something along the lines of praise. Jeremiah asks God to let him see vengeance against his enemies. Verse thirteen is amazing. If you read this verse by itself you would be convinced it came from the book of Psalms.

And then we come back to earth with verse fourteen. Wow! What just happened? I thought we were praising God. He goes from, "Sing to the Lord!", to I hate living in one verse. These last four verses are just astounding to me. Is he schizophrenic or something? Maybe. But I really think he is just showing how we can swing back and forth inside the same prayer when we are being honest, and he is certainly being honest.

I believe God was ok with this prayer. He expected a lot from Jeremiah and I think in this case God let him express his feelings about all that was being asked. I find it reassuring to know that we can pray what we really think and feel to God. It doesn't always have to be a rational thing.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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6-01-11 Improving Wednesday

Last week I shared how much I love Wednesday nights - and I still do. I would like to say, however, that there are things about our Wednesday nights that I would like to improve. We have always had it in mind that what we do on Wednesday nights would be suitable for all ages. We knew this would be a challenge for both our youngest and oldest people but we believed that the challenge would be worth it since one of our most important goals is for young people and older people to grow together. I think it is obvious that this is one area in which we need to improve. The event at the burned out house just accentuated it for me. Not only could kids not help but they couldn't even come. We want to change this and we would like for you to help us. If you are a parent with small children we need for you to think of ways we could improve Wednesday nights so that you will feel comfortable including your children. If we need to have a meeting (Jamestown) about this then lets do it. When we put our heads together it is amazing to me how much good gets done. Especially when we do it in a spirit of cooperation.

When it comes to our oldest members I think we also need improvement in that area. Last Wednesday night during our time of worshipping together I mentioned that I would like to have someone take over the leadership of our ministry to our oldest members. This would include someone taking leadership of our time going to South Lake or anywhere else on a Wednesday night to sing and visit. I had a couple of people mention to me that they will consider the possibility of taking on that leadership role. If you missed that and feel like this is something you could do you should let one of the elders know.

Another growth area I see is for us to get better at using all of the gifts God has given us. Right now we need lots of skill in terms of building things (ramps), and doing physical labor. The truth is we need to make sure that we have things that utilize people's ability to talk to people, encourage them, and just be with people that are in need. What other gifts are we not using as much as we should?

Let me repeat what I said last week - I love Wednesday nights. What you are reading is questions of how we can improve something that I think is very good and very useful. These are not complaints. What I really hope is that God will place it on your heart to help make a good thing even better. I think many generations to come will be blessed if you do.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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5-24-11 I Love!

I have really grown to love Wednesday nights. I love the fact that we now do a variety of things on any given Wednesday night. I love the fact that most of the time we are doing something outside of the building. I love knowing that each night we have a group of people at the building writing letters to our visitors, people in need of prayer, and others that need encouragement. I love knowing that Leo and Minerva have a house full of people praying about the special needs that people have. I love being able to tell people that have some kind of need around their house that we will gladly help, including wheelchair ramps. I love knowing that we often send a group to sing and visit at South Lake Village. I love that I hear of our children looking forward to these things. I love Wednesday nights.

Two years ago I was driving to Spartanburg on a Wednesday night with my Dad and the whole way there I expressed to him my dissatisfaction with the way we did education. It seemed to me at that time that we were too academic and not practical enough. Since he was a science teacher I compared it to a Chemistry course without a lab. Courses like that are not meant to just be learned about, they are to be experienced. A Chemistry teacher will use the labs to help you understand the lectures and to help make sense of the concepts they are teaching. I think the same is true of our biblical education at this Church. The things we do on Wednesday nights are meant to help us understand better what the Bible is teaching and to drive home certain concepts. It is one thing to memorize Matthew 25 but it is another thing to go out and actually do what it teaches.

I realize that it took us awhile but I am excited that we have made improvements to Wednesday nights so that we now are doing application every night. Beginning in September we will change Sunday mornings to match Wednesday nights. It is our desire to begin having the entire Church studying the same thing. Classes will be one month at a time so when you commit to teach it will only be for one month. One of the big changes is we are going to develop all of our own material. We are going to begin with the subject of spiritual disciplines. I will be in charge that month and everyone except for Cradle Roll and Nursery will be together in the auditorium. Normally we will divide into our age groups but for that month we will be together. I can't wait.

You should start hearing requests for teachers. Each month there is a different point person that takes charge of that month and part of their job is to get teachers. I hope you will make their job easy with your willingness to help. It will be challenging to develop our own material but I am convinced it will be worth it and we can do it. Thanks in advance for your help.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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5-18-11 My Trip

If you haven't heard yet I had a great time in Tanzania with Ross and Heather. I did some of the things I thought I would with them but not all and did a whole lot of things I had no way of expecting ahead of time. I was immediately amazed at how well both and Heather can speak Swahili. On my first day in Mtwara (pronounced - Mtwara) we went to the market to talk to people. They both seemed to be known by everyone and they would stop and talk for several minutes to each person. This is one of the main ways they learn the language. I later found out that all of the Makonde team does this. We spent one day visiting Pastor Ben who is a leader in the Assemblies of God churches in Tanzania. He is a very gracious person who believes in the power of God and the power of unity. We all learned a lot that day. Another day we took a boat across the bay to visit a village where Ross had been invited to visit. It was primarily a Muslim village. Ross was intentionally building a relationship so that God would be able to use it later to bring Christ to this village. On the day I left the leader that had invited Ross in the first place was coming to their house. The thing I did that was the most fun was Ross and I renting dirt bikes and riding to the Mozambique border. We went out on a boat to see hippos and that was cool. We rode to a beautiful beach and swam in the Indian Ocean and that was also cool. The best part was riding on the washed out, narrow, potholed, poor excuse for a road, roads. As we rode along I just kept thinking how great this was while I sang The Revelation Song. Where else could we ride like that for nine hours in a day? On the way back we realized we had stayed too long in the ocean and we were racing to beat darkness. We didn't make it. We rode the last while in the dark. I have never been so happy to see pavement when we finally reached the end of the dirt roads. All in all I can't wait to go back. The people are very engaging and friendly and really want to talk. It was frustrating having a vocabulary of about ten words when they kept asking me something. I came back with a renewed desire to pray for our team so that they will be prepared for God's mission that he is already revealing to them.

The other part of my trip was to Oxford, England. I went there to spend a few days with Ashley. I really enjoyed it. In the mornings Ashley would have class so I would look for a place to study. The first day I found a park that Ashley had showed me and read there. The second day I was determined to find a Church of coffee shop. Low and behold I found both. Saint Mary the Virgin Church has a coffee shop as part of the Church. How perfect. I sat and drank a cappuccino while reading Christopher Wright's The Mission of God. One evening Ash and I went to EvenSong - a worship service at Christ Church Cathedral. It was very different than what I am used to but I enjoyed it a lot. That night I ate at a restaurant where C. S. Lewis used to hang out - too cool!

Quite the two weeks for me. I am still trying to readjust to a different time zone. It is good to be home though and to be back to work. I am so thankful that I have come home very refreshed. God is good!

Have a great week.
Allen L. Close

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5-11-11 Worship

The other day we were having our staff meeting at Jamestown Coffee. Before our prayer time we each took a turn sharing something from scripture that was worship. Rick and I both choose a passage from Revelation. Rick shared from Revelation 22:1-6. Take a moment to read this passage and all the others I am mentioning in this article. I love the picture of crystal clear water flowing through the city of God. We also noticed the saying that there would no longer be any curse. Can you imagine what this earth would be like if the curse from the Garden of Eden was lifted? That would be great and you can imagine how easy it would be to worship God. I think that when you see the face of God and the Lamb worship will well up in you like a spring of water and will run out all over the place.

I shared from Revelation 4:8-11. I can’t wait to hear the living creatures saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” I think it will rival the most beautiful song you have ever heard. I think it will take a while before we want to move on and go hear something else. You should notice that the twenty-four elders lay down their crowns. I think this is all the things that we think are so important right now that when we get there we realize they don’t matter anymore. We compared it to a freshman at College that wears their letter jacket from high school until they realize that no one cares. I want to be there with the crowd that shouts out to Jesus that his is worthy. I wonder how long we will do that.

Keke shared from Matthew 26:30. It is a very short reading. It says, “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.” For all of us it had a way of connecting Jesus to something we often do – sing a hymn. It is comforting somehow to think that Jesus would want to stop and sing with his disciples before moving on to Gethsemane. We wondered how well they sang. Which one of them tended to lead when they sang? Did Jesus have a pretty singing voice? It also brought out the simplicity of worshipping God.

Dawn read from Amos 5:21-24. In this prophecy God tells Israel that their religious things are not pleasing to him and that he actually hates them. This helps us to realize that just doing religious things like singing doesn’t please God when our hearts are not really into it. I think worship and love are almost interchangeable and you can pretend to love someone but sooner or later they will figure out that you don’t. God knows that if we don’t love the people around us then we don’t really love him. That is why he says we need to let justice roll on like a river. Several places in scripture God connects our relationship to him with our relationship to people around us.

I hope that we will all bring true worship into our lives more and more. I’ll see you this Sunday.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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5-04-11 Two Trips In One

As you read this, if you get it on a Thursday, I will be leaving England and be heading to Tanzania. I am looking forward to both my time in England with Ashley and my trip to Tanzania to be with Ross and Heather. I always love having some time to be with my kids and especially to have some alone time with one of them. My weekend in Searcy with Luke was a lot of fun several weeks ago. I always enjoy going to the coffee shop with Brianna. And now I get to do whatever it is I am going to do in Oxford with Ashley. What I am really hoping to do is to get to see the real England, not the tourist England. Most times I have travelled this is what I have done.

The main thing I am hoping to accomplish in Tanzania is to encourage Ross and Heather, and as many of the rest of the team as possible, spiritually. I will plan to use my time very similar to the way I use it in Guyana. One of my favorite things to do there is to gather in the morning for a devotional together. After singing some songs together I like to have every person share something from the Bible. Not only is this enjoyable but it gives us a window into each other’s lives. I always enjoy hearing what a woman has to share from the Bible since we don’t get to hear this as much as we do from a man. I expect that I will grow from listening to both Ross and Heather. I can remember doing this many, many times with Basil and Margaret and with Ronald and Rose. Each person shares things so differently. I also have a few more strategic things I want to share with the team and some prayer exercises that we can do together.

What do Ross and Heather have planned? I have no idea. Knowing them, I doubt we will be sitting around watching TV. I have a feeling I will be involved in all kinds of things that I have never done before. From what I have seen in their blog I expect that we will be going all day and deep into the night. I expect that I will see and experience things that will change me forever. This will be my third time in Africa and each time has touched me deeply.

When my week in Tanzania is over I hope and pray that I will have grown and that I will have been used by God to encourage and equip our Makonde team. My experience has been that the times God has used me the most he did it in ways that I was not expecting. I would bet that this time will be no exception to that. I am thankful for this opportunity.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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4-27-11 The Tomb Was Empty

I thought this last weekend was one of the best Easters I can remember. Other than the very first run to the tomb we may have ran the first Tomb Run. Congratulations to everyone that participated in the race. A special shout out to Matt Bridges for being the first to the tomb and the first to finish. If you saw his face as he was charging across the finish line you know that I was not embellishing the notion of passion. It was all over his face. I bet you would have seen the same intense look on the faces of John and Peter as they ran to the tomb for the first time.

I also wanted to thank the Carters for arranging such an enjoyable breakfast for everyone. Thank you also to everyone for bringing food and for bringing such good food. I thought it was cool to eat breakfast together and then to have time to hang out for awhile before we started our assembly time. I heard someone say we should do this every week. Would you guess that was a man or a woman? If you guessed man you are right.

It was great to celebrate together the resurrection of Jesus and the fact that the tomb was empty. It was especially meaningful because of the tenebrae service on Saturday night. I noticed several times that people responded with applause or some amen’s when we mentioned the empty tomb. There is no doubt that this news would have brought a reaction when it was first being told.

My favorite thing, and the favorite of many others according to the feedback I got, was the tenebrae service on Saturday night. When you were told at the door that you needed to enter quietly and in a somber mood you did. It was obvious on the way out that you no longer needed to be told to be quiet. I have had some tell me that they stayed quiet for the rest of the evening. The songs we sang really sat the mood. I remember one line being about Jesus praying alone. It really made me think about how alone Jesus was during this great trial and it made me feel sad. Oh Sacred Head is one of my favorite songs and seemed so appropriate for what we were doing. As we listened to the reading of the story of the crucifixion I could feel the reality of how brutal it was and how insulting to our Lord and master. To hear the word spit applied to Jesus is disgusting and unfair. As each candle was extinguished and it got darker and darker you could feel the hope leaving the room and gloom descending. As the last candle was snuffed out you could feel the finality and the confusion of what this means. I know we knew the happy ending but just for a time it seemed like we could feel a part of what they felt. As I went home I was sure glad to know that I knew about Sunday morning.

I have looked forward to this weekend for many months. I will begin looking forward to next Easter. I have already had someone tell me that they will start training for the run now.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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4-20-11 Tomb Run

Let me give you some details about what we are doing this weekend to celebrate Easter. On Saturday we will have a tenebrae service. The first I ever heard of a tenebrae service was from reading one of Peter Rollins books. He says it is a “Service with no benefits of Christ’s resurrection.” There is a set way of conducting the service and we will do it according to the normal way. The point is to recreate the way the people of God would have felt and worshipped on the Saturday after the crucifixion and before the resurrection. Here is a longer description from Rollins, “There is no sermon, no prayer in Jesus’ name, no offering as there is no Christian work, and no benediction. There are no announcements, and there is no coffee hour. There is no chat before or after the service. It recreates the betrayal, abandonment and agony of the events of Christ’s death, and it is left unfinished, because the service isn’t over until Easter Day.” I have wanted to do something like this for a long time but had no idea there was such a thing. I hope you will join us at 8:00.

We will start on Sunday morning with breakfast at 8:30. At 10:00 we will begin our assembly as usual except we will start the tomb run at 10:15. The race is a mile and a half in total and is meant to be a run, not a walk. If you plan to run you should come dressed to do that and bring a towel to wipe off the sweat (perspiration for women) when you are finished. Have you looked in John 20 yet to see where this race came from? Three times it mentions who won. Competitive men are nothing new. Everyone should come prepared to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord whether you plan to run or not.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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4-13-11 3 Things

First thing. We are still planning in home visits to share our strategic plan with people but we would like to have another one at the building like we did with the College group that would be for anyone that would like to meet on April 20. That is a Wednesday night and some people will be involved in the different things we do, but it you are not you are invited to join us in the youth room at 7:00. The meeting will last around an hour. What we do is show you what we believe God is leading us to do and how we think we can best accomplish that. There is always time for interaction and questions. So far they have all gone very well. If you can’t be there on the 20th don’t worry because we will continue to plan them until everyone that wants to be at one has had a chance.

Second thing. We will be having a special collection for the Makonde team on Sunday May 1. We committed $48,000 to them for the next ten years and this is the second year. I hope you will prayerfully consider what you would like to give to them and be prepared to either give the money that Sunday or to fill out a pledge card of what you will be giving. I will be leaving that Sunday afternoon to fly to London to spend a couple of days with Ashley and then on to Tanzania to spend a week with Ross and Heather. Part of what I will be doing with Ross and Heather is sharing our strategic plan with them including my own personal strategic plan. I have found it very useful and I think they will as well. I thank God that he allows us to be involved in such a great work as this. It really is a blessing for us to have this chance.

Third thing. On Sunday April 24, Easter Sunday, we will have a tomb run for the first time here. If you want to know where a crazy idea like this came from you need to read John 20:1-9 and see how many times it mentions who won the first ever tomb run. The race will begin at 10:15 on our stage. From there the runners will run out the door and into Cherokee Lakes neighborhood to the tomb and back. We are planning to have video image of them as they reach the tomb. We will go outside to cheer them on to the finish line where someone will take the title of the Apostle John (the winner). When all the runners are back we will celebrate the Lord’s Supper outside before going back inside for the rest of the morning. If there is interest we will also have a short fun run for the children while we are waiting for the tomb runners to get back. I am really looking forward to praising God this way. Start getting ready for the race. It will be around one and a half miles long.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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4-06-11 A New Class

I have enjoyed the adult class for the last several months. Gary Cottrell and I taught the class on the Church. Gary taught about the first century Church and I taught about the modern representation of that Church. I was disappointed I missed Gary’s last class while I was in Searcy two weeks ago. I hope you learned some things and have a better perspective on what God wants us to be.

Beginning April 17, I am going to begin a new class that will include the youth group as well as the college group. We are going to study the book of Philippians. The theme of the book of Philippians is sacrificing your rights for the good of others. I think this will fit in very well with where we believe God is leading us as a Church. I want to bring in some of the thinking of Jeff Vines in Dinner With Skeptics. We will discuss some of the things he talks about in his book and some of the things he talked about at Winterfest. I would also like for us to consider a variety of ways that we can help people around this world including Toms shoes, Red Thread ministry, Samaritan’s Feet, and other organizations. I will plan to use as many people as I can find to tell us about these ministries and how we can help. My plan is for the class to go on for seven weeks which will take it through the month of May.

Having class like this will begin to prepare us for the changes that are coming in September. That is when we start having the entire congregation studying the same thing. We won’t always be in the same class but we will have the same material. I actually love it when young people are in with the adults because they discuss things so differently. I think it is good for the kids to hear how the adults wrestle with teachings from the Bible and I think it helps the adults to hear what the kids are thinking. I am so pleased to be at a Church that sees the value of our children and youth. It really is a lot of fun and I think it is very good for us.

I am excited about the Spiritual Disciplines class that I am leading in the month of September. I will be using a lot of different people that month to help us with our disciplines. That month the entire congregation will be together for class except the nursery and cradle role. I also know that several of the leaders from other months after September are already working on what we will do for their month. I hope you realize the need to be a part of this. I think it is an important part of your development as a disciple of Christ. It is the biblical foundation behind the applications we do on Wednesday nights.

Thank you for your prayers for me on Monday. Everything went fine and I am mostly back at it. Unfortunately I am unable to do Crossfit right now but I am very anxious to get back with my group.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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3-30-11 Twelve Years Ago Tuesday

Twelve years ago yesterday I had a pacemaker put in. When they put it in they told me that it would last somewhere between eight and twelve years but probably more like ten if I was lucky. Since I don’t like to spend money on frivolous things I was hoping that it would be more like twelve – at least. This Monday morning I will have it replaced. I feel like I won. As hard as I have made it work it still lasted longer than they thought.

Looking back it is hard for me to believe that when we went through all that we had only been here less than eight months. Laura sat in the waiting room with several of you all day long. I know what it is like to sit in waiting rooms during long procedures and how good it is to have people you feel comfortable with around you. Among other things Laura remembers that Rachel Shearer did her nails while they waited. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

How long do you have to be here before people love you? I can tell you it is less than eight months. Certainly we have a much deeper relationship now than we did twelve years ago but you were willing to help me and my family go through a tough experience. I think the truth is that there is no waiting period for our love. When God sends us people he is sending them for the purpose of us loving them so we should get started as soon as possible with each person. This is true for the youth group, the college group, and the entire congregation. Sometimes when you have a close group it can seem hard to break in and feel like a real part of the group but if we truly are the hands and feet of God we will immediately begin to love each new person that comes. When it comes to love we should have an abundance mentality not a scarcity mentality. That means that we believe there is always more love so we should never hoard it or try to save it. We should never think that if we give too much love to one person there won’t be enough for the next person. God will always make more. It is like the Doritos commercial where they urged us to eat all we want – they will make more.

I think this is the mark God is looking for in a Church. Lots of people have lots of things they brag about when it comes to their Church but this is what God brags about. This is what Jesus said was the second greatest commandment. This is what Paul meant when he said that if you don’t have love you are a clanging symbol. I believe that if we love the people God sends us then he will send more. If it takes us awhile to be able to do that then God will have to wait awhile each time before he sends us more. My experience twelve years ago says God doesn’t have to wait with us. Praise God!

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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3-22-11 Camping With Luke

This weekend I am going camping with Luke. I don’t know if we have a tent or a place to go but we are going camping. I assume that by the time I get to Searcy Luke will have a lot of this figured out. If not – oh well, we’ll do something different. No matter what happens we are going to spend the weekend just hanging out doing whatever we can find to do.

Isn’t it great to be a parent? You get to create these little people that bring all kinds of joy and fun into your life. I have loved coaching soccer for many years and that was all because of my kids. I even got to coach Ashley for a year in Saskatoon and I now realize that she cared more about the color of our uniforms and what was for snack but at least I had fun. I can remember the last tournament I coached for Brianna at the classic level and how much fun it was. Brianna scored a goal in one of the games and jumped into my arms afterwards. That was cool. When Luke was two years old I took him skating. He did great and I got it all on video including the part where he was afraid the Zamboni was going to come out to clean the ice and get him. Who would I play baseball in the backyard with if it weren’t for Luke? Laura has never once wanted to do that. I have been to the zoo many times at Riverbanks and would go again today if I had someone to use as an excuse to go. I think I am the one adult that actually likes to go to Chuck-E-Cheese.

Sooner or later these little people that we have created grow up and become big people but the fun doesn’t stop. I already mentioned camping with Luke and there are many other things we still enjoy doing together. Ashley skyped with us for two hours yesterday and she was so excited to tell us all about her recent trip to Italy and Greece that we could barely get a word in. For the last thirty minutes we let Ash and Bri talk and it sounded like they were in the room with each other laughing and giggling. For my birthday Brianna bought me the largest jar of M&Ms you have ever seen. You have to come into my office and see it. Life is good.

Let me give you a couple of Psalms that confirm what I am saying. Psalm 127 says, “Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one’s youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them.” Also Psalm 128 says, “May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life; may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem, and may you live to see your children’s children.” Amen.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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3-16-11 Sermons

It never ceases to amaze me what can go on in a sermon. You’ve heard me say how many times I am told about something someone heard in a sermon that was just what they needed and I know I didn’t say it. Because the word of God is living and active we sometimes hear things from God directly through his word.

This last Sunday I noticed something different. I used an illustration about how God pours himself and his love into us like pouring water into a cup. We all know the feeling we have when we are overflowing. The illustration went on to show that there are things in life that cause leaks in us so that the fullness of God runs out. I illustrated this by poking holes in the cup with a toothpick. I think this is the part that resonated with a lot of people because we all know it is true. We have all experienced things that leave us feeling bitter, hateful, or far away from God. These things drain us and if we don’t allow God to keep filling us up we will eventually be empty. We all know what that means. The problem is that when we are having problems we often don’t feel like coming to God and allowing him to fill us. When we most need God to fill us because of hurts in our life we actually have a tendency to pull away from him.

The thing I noticed was how many people were making applications on their own. I had one person mention how at the end I put the cup in the bowl and from that position the holes didn’t matter. What happens is as you are in with your brothers and sisters the fullness of God from them stops the leaks in you because you are immersed with them. I wish I had thought of that sooner when I was talking about unity and how we need each other. Other people told me ways that it spoke to them that went beyond what I was saying. I love it. I think this is the way sermons are supposed to be. There is no way that I can ever capture the entire message in one sermon. There is so many different ways God’s word can apply to our life so what I hope is that I give you a sermon on Sunday morning and God uses that to work on you all week and you allow him to do that. That is where powerful preaching comes from and the glory goes where it should – God. The best and most meaningful parts of the sermon don’t have anything to do with me. Praise God.

By the way – I am planning to go to Tanzania the beginning of May. I have a couple of things I want to do with the entire team to help them. Rom and Keke dealt with some things and now I will go to deal with some different things.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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3-09-11 God Uses His People

It was weird last Sunday leaving before our assembly was over. Ryan and I had to leave close to eleven in order to get to see his brother that is in jail in Georgia. We did get to see him and visit with him for thirty minutes. At first I think he was a little uncomfortable with me since he didn’t know me but within minutes he warmed up. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go so that he could have a chance to warm up to me before his trial. I hope to be able to go at least for part of the trial as a show of support for him and his family.

When we were about to leave the jail on Sunday I realized what a good thing we had just done. Chris, who had looked so down just thirty minutes ago, was upbeat and obviously feeling encouraged. I shared with him that we didn’t just pray for him once or twice but that there are people that pray for him a lot. You could see it in his face that he was encouraged to know that he had people on his side. So far he hasn’t had a lot of people, besides his family, that would say they are for him. I think the reason we are for him is because we know God well enough to know that God is for him. His upcoming trial is set for March 21.

I am thankful to have Rom, Keke, and Jeff Kerby back. I am glad that God used them in another part of the world but I thank God for bringing them back to us. I look forward to hearing from them different things that God did through them and how it has changed them. It is so nice to serve a God that has all sorts of things going on and that he lets us join with him in these things. I pray that God will open doors for all of us to be more involved with him around here. I really wish our Wednesday night applications would take us into more homes where we could be with people that need something. I believe that God will bless us as we wish for these kinds of things. I believe he has worked on our hearts for years now so that we would be suitable for his purposes and so we should expect him to send us those things that fit his purposes.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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3-02-11 Sunday

I really enjoyed our assembly this last Sunday. I especially enjoyed the number of people that were involved in the service. I think having eight people lead prayers as we gather around the Lord’s Table is not overkill. I loved hearing the prayers of our young men. They pray differently and say things that the rest of us might not say but they should be said. Most adults might not say “Since you have given us so much it seems like the least we could do to give you ten percent.” I think it is true, don’t you? I also loved hearing prayers in Spanish. It helped me to realize how hard it must be to hear everything in a language that is not your first language and how much Spanish speakers must enjoy it when they get to hear something in their own language. It also reminded me that God speaks both languages and loves to hear his children pray to him in whatever language they want.

You and I both know how much we all enjoy the singing at this Church every Sunday. I did, however, especially enjoy the singing this Sunday. I loved having several different people get up and lead us in a song. Each one of them brought something different to our time together and I would guess that different people were inspired by each of the leaders. I was especially inspired by Wayne leading us in the song “On Zions Glorious Summit Stood.” Wayne has a powerful voice and the subject of that song is a powerful subject so it went very well together. Thank you to each one of you for being willing to lead us in this way.

I always love it when we have some people get up and share something that is going on in their life or how something from God has affected them. I thought both Michael and Teresa did fabulous jobs of communicating how different glimpses had affected them. I think we all relate to people that are being real and sharing the real things that go on inside of us. The truth is that the glimpses we get of God change the way we interpret our life. We need these glimpses to make sense of the things God is doing or is not doing. Without the glimpse of Judas we can get a little silly about the power of God and about how it changes every bad situation into a good one but with Judas you can see that this is not always true. Just because God loves someone doesn’t mean that everything will work out in the end. With the glimpse we get from Jonah we see that God works with us even when we are doing the opposite of what he wants. I am so thankful to know that because sometimes we portray him as being intolerant and therefore he must walk away from us when we do things that are wrong.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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2-23-11 An Excellent Sermon

Surely you knew I would write about Winterfest. This was the second time I have gone and I enjoyed this time so much. I thought the speakers did an excellent job this time and I loved all the other stuff that goes with Winterfest. We have such a good group of kids. There weren’t any problems with kids doing things they weren’t supposed to which made things very enjoyable for everyone. Both nights we crammed into one room and had a devo. It was so refreshing to hear what the kids had to say and to listen to them sing.

There was a comedian on the first night that was so good. He was not only very funny but he also talked about all the ways he uses his gifts to bless needy people. He told about a home for abused children where he performed. In the home there was a kid that always wore a Spiderman mask as a defense mechanism. By the end of the evening he took off the mask and talked to the comedian. He also talked about going into prisons. I bought a dvd documentary about what he does and will show parts of it some Sunday soon.

My favorite thing of the weekend was the sermon on Sunday morning. Mike Cope, from Abilene, gave the sermon and I think it was one of the best I have ever heard. He spoke from Matthew 13:44 which says, “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.” Mike stayed with the passage the whole time using a variety of very personal stories to make his point about what our treasure is including the death of his ten year old daughter. I think anyone that was there will remember how he said the stuffed toy cat that he had there was the most valuable item he had because it was hers. Mike did an amazing job of talking about himself so much but not letting the sermon be about him. In the end it was definitely about God and the treasure that He is to us. For several years I have struggled to understand the role of preaching. That may sound weird but it is true. Sunday morning helped me to finally realize that preaching helps us understand what God is doing in our lives. The sermon is not the event – what God is doing in your life is the event. The sermon just helps put things together for you so you can understand. The preacher does not speak to you for God - God has been speaking to you all week. The sermon is just one of God’s tools he uses to help you understand what he is doing. Brianna and I did get to go talk to him afterwards and I thanked him very much.

I am thankful for the opportunity to go to this youth event. It was nice to be with Brianna and as a bonus Luke made the trip over so I got to be with him also. I heard a lot of good things about David Olshine preaching here while I was gone. I was pleased when I heard that. You should ask one of our youth what they liked about the weekend. They too enjoyed the speakers so you should get them to tell you about what they liked.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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2-16-11 In-Home Visits

We have begun the in-home visits that I have mentioned before in my bulletin articles and from the pulpit. What we want to do is to set up small group meetings in people’s homes where we can present where we think God is asking us to go as a congregation. What we have found so far is that the plan is finished enough to stimulate your thinking about what God wants and unfinished enough for you to realize that we need to work on this together. I have found that it is a lot easier to be involved with a ministry if you know what the goals of that ministry are. If you don’t know the goals it is hard to give suggestions that make sense. When you do know it is so much easier to track with the leaders. Even amongst the staff we have been blessed so much because we understand so much better where each of us is going and so we can help each other so much more. By the time you read this we will have had three meetings. It will take us more than a month to get to everyone so try to be patient and don’t worry that you are being left out – your not. It just takes a lot of time. We are arranging around two each week and most of them will include ten or twelve people. You should receive an invite from one of the host families in the coming weeks. I hope you will be able to find one that fits your schedule. I am convinced that you will be blessed.

I am excited about going to Winterfest this weekend. This is my second time to go. I have always like taking trips with a Church group. You get to know each other a lot on these trips. I have also always loved doing things with the youth. I guess that is why I will go to PBC this summer for the thirteenth time. I love it and I wouldn’t miss it. I especially would hate to not have my time in cabin one with the oldest boys each year. Yes its hot and yes they stink but it is all worth it to be able to sit with them at night and listen to them sing and share from their hearts. The devos in the hotel at Winterfest are much the same. We cram into one room and sing and share what is on our hearts. Two years ago I was blown away by what I saw. Our kids are so good at loving each other through whatever is bothering them at the time. When someone would share a hurt you would see several from the group go to them and hug them and pray for them. Nothing planned – just kids coming to the aid of each other. I even saw kids helping each other after the devo was over. I pray that Travis and I will be able to lead our time together at night in this same way.

Please remember Keke and Rom in your prayers for the next couple of weeks. They are going to Tanzania to be with Ross and Heather. As you can imagine the extreme changes that they are experiencing are hard and they could use a family member’s care and the presence of a good friend. I am praying that Keke will bring lots of laughter to the group. Not really a stretch for him. Also remember Jeff Kerby as he is in Saudi Arabia for two weeks. I am praying that God will use him while he is there for His purposes. I know Jeff wants that.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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2-09-11 Getting Out

We are now into full swing with our Wednesday night application time. Last Wednesday we met at Pleasant Hill Elementary and cleaned up the parking lot, washed windows, and cleaned up around the portables. When we finished that we came back to the building and joined the people that had met at the building to write letters in a time of worship. All in all it was a lot of fun and Laura tells me that the teachers and janitors from the school were thrilled. Tonight we will be at three places. Some of us will be finishing a wheelchair ramp for a four year old girl that lives in Gilbert. Jeff tells me that we may need to do further work in the house to get the bathroom accessible for her. While that is being finished many of us will be at Rocky Creek Elementary doing some clean-up work. Before we leave we will gather over by Miss Paula’s classroom to pray for a first grade boy and his mother since the mother is battling cancer. Some will be at the building writing letters again. Next week we will meet at Southlake Village to visit some of our members and sing together. You and your whole family will not want to miss that.

I believe that when we get out into the community God is able to use us in ways that he could not if we were in our building. Jesus told us to go into the world. Read the gospels and ask yourself with each story you read where Jesus is. You will find that he was often outside where he could run into people. I find the same thing is true with doing my studying at a coffee shop. If I am in my office there is no chance of “accidently” running into someone that needs to talk to me. Now that we hold our staff meetings in a public place people are seeing us read from the Bible and pray together, and they hear what we are talking about. We have been interrupted by someone in need of prayer. That doesn’t happen if we aren’t there. I look forward to having “accidental” meetings together with you more and more as we venture out into the community.

I have been asked by Gailyn Van Rheenen to be on the board of Mission Alive and I have accepted. I have my first board meeting this weekend in Dallas. The meeting starts at noon on Friday and finishes at noon on Saturday. I will stay with my cousin but barely see him and his wife. I am very excited about the opportunity to rub shoulders with like-minded people. I, along with others, represent the renew side of MA. The other side is the church planting side which I don’t know very much about. The Lexington Church has changed the opinion of many of the key leaders of MA about whether it is possible to turn an existing Church in a missional direction. Those who earlier said it couldn’t be done no longer say that. Praise God! I will be back Saturday night.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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2-02-11 Each Other

What would a Sunday morning be like if you took away more than forty of our ladies? We will find out next Sunday. What would it be like if you took out the youth group and a dozen adults? You will find out February 20. I say you because I won’t be here that Sunday either since I will be a Winterfest. What would it be like around here if you took Keke and Rom out of here for a couple of weeks? We will find out beginning February 18 as the two of them head to Tanzania. For some reason this month is a month for groups of people to be away on Sundays. I think we are going to find out how much we need each other.

If you read II Timothy 4 beginning in verse 9 you will see some personal remarks from Paul that show how dependent he was on his coworkers. He tells Timothy, “Do you best to come to me quickly.” Later he tells him, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.” Scattered in with these phrases is Paul complaining about the people that have left him. He obviously didn’t like to be alone and realized that he had been created to be with people that loved him. We are exactly the same.

This Sunday the staff went through our evaluations with the elders. In my evaluation I talked about how each one of us knows that we would not be what we are without the others. For example I know that every Sunday morning Rick hands me the congregation on a silver platter ready for me to preach. I never have to wake you up cause Rick has you on the edge of your seat. Keke brings so much enthusiasm and life which helps all of us. It is easy to draw a crowd to an event if people know that Keke is going to be there. Dawn leads the youth with a beautiful mix of openness, passion, and wisdom. As a parent of a teen it is so nice to have so much confidence in how our kids are being cared for and challenged by a great team of people that Dawn has put together. My Mom works hard helping a lot of people get through problems in their life. That frees me to do other things knowing that people with very real hurts are being cared for. All of this is an illustration of how God has put us all together so that we can be much more than we could be without each other.

What do you add to the mix? Have you ever talked to God about it? I think you should? The body was his idea from the beginning and I think he wants each one of us to be a functioning part of it. This Sunday we are beginning the in home visits to explain where we think God is leading us. I hope that you will attend one in the next couple of months and will find out what God has in mind for you. One thing I think we will all realize is that we need each other in order to do what God wants.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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1-26-11 Strong Elders

I am very thankful for what took place here last Sunday morning. It is a hard thing to talk to people about money. We can all be very touchy in regards to that subject. As the elders talked I kept wondering how people were receiving what they were saying. Certainly you could see that they were all sharing from their heart and none of them saw this as a technical problem but rather as a heart issue. I was thankful when I started receiving positive feedback. It seems to me that God used our elders to bring us a message from Him about our finances and we recognized as being from Him. We all believed that this is what would happen because of the long history of generosity at this congregation. I am thankful for elders that are men enough to stand up to the real issues we face. Praise God!

A group of us finished up Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University class this Sunday night. I have really enjoyed it. The fact is I wish Laura and I had gone through this several years ago. We have always been good with our money and not had very much debt at all but we have learned so much through this class. I would definitely recommend it to you – no matter what your financial situation. Rob Brannon leads the class and he is planning to begin the next group on March 6. There is a handout by the door with more information that you can grab. There is a bonus lesson on giving that is the last session. Several of us thought it was so good that we should show it to the whole congregation so we will plan to do that in a month or so.

I will resume preaching Glimpses of My Father this Sunday by talking about Jesus’ relationship with Judas. The next week I will preach on the glimpse we get from the book of Job. We will finish up with a special service focusing on the cross of Jesus. I have really enjoyed working on this series. Thank you for the encouragement I have received from several of you. Sharing our glimpses of God with each other is not limited to a five week series. It is something we should all be doing with each other all the time. Consider sharing with someone a glimpse that you have received. One of the reasons I like working with young people is that they have an excitement as many of them are getting glimpses of God for the first time in their life. That is an exciting thing to see.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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1-12-11 Squeeze It In

How are we going to fit in all the things we want to accomplish in two hours a week? I’m talking about our revamped education system. Sunday mornings is going to be our Bible study time but I don’t see how we are going to be able to do everything we need to do. One thing we need is a class that would help prepare people to lead Bible studies for people considering making Jesus the Lord of their life. We are also planning to have curriculum that will be in sync with our application on Wednesday night. We would like to have a class on Beauty the same month that the ladies would offer manicures and haircuts at the building. We were also thinking of having a quarter on “What pleases God” and then do some of the things that please him on Wednesday. Surely you can see the endless possibilities for that one.

Everyone that I have talked this over with has had a lot of good ideas of things we could do on Wednesday nights. Besides our usual service projects people have suggested we take time to go see some of our oldest members. One thing that would be great about that is we could take our babies with us. Whenever Erma takes Emily Ann with her to see Norm and Lynn everyone loves it. You can see how that would be a very big hit. Someone mentioned having a night where the children draw pictures to send people in prison that we know or to our missionaries in Guyana and Tanzania. At the same time the adults could write letters to the same people. These are all things that please God. Wouldn’t you enjoy having a class on Sunday morning knowing that we are going to try to put it into practice that week? I think it would be great. Instead of just discussing the passage theoretically we would all be sitting there coming up with real ways to apply what we just read.

Synergy is a word that keeps coming to my mind as I think about these things. The synergy comes from all of us having personal ownership of the goals of our education ministry. We really want you to see the goals as your own goals and that you share responsibility to see that we meet them. Very soon we will make a presentation to the congregation the goals and plans that we have come up with. It is a rather large group of people representing all segments of the congregation that are doing the planning. I can’t wait.

Have a great week!
Allen L. Close

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