The Kingdom, The Kids, & The Cowboys

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Time to Wake Up

February 13, 2026 / / 0 Comments

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“Do this [love your neighbor as yourself], understanding the present time. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature.” ~Romans 13:11-14

In the undeniable darkness of this present age, most people are ordering their lives according to the world’s rules and the world’s attitudes and values and styles. Even though the old world is passing away! The new world is already breaking in! The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus has already inaugurated the new age of the eternal Kingdom of God, and his followers live according to the culture of that new age.

Most people are asleep; but the new day is dawning and it’s time for all children of God and disciples of Jesus to wake up!

We know what God has done in Christ Jesus. We know what God is doing and what he has promised to do. So, we live accordingly. That’s what governs our conducts and our attitudes. We understand the times. The Bible says the Day of the Lord may not have come just yet, but it’s so close, it’s so inevitable and unstoppable, we should live as though it is already here. Our human impulses, our flesh, the sinful nature–that’s not what dictates our behavior. We live in the presence and power of our Lord whose rescue is closer than we think. We need to be aware of that.

In the darkness of right now–the political polarities and the economic uncertainties and the racial injustice and the ramped-up rhetoric and the ugly behavior; you know how dark it is. We’re seeing so much division and selfishness and anger and violence and isolation. We’re seeing it all. And if you’re not awake, if you’re sleepwalking through this stuff, you can get caught up in all that mess and get yourself into some real trouble. You can trade the love and grace and peace and sacrifice and forgiveness of Christ for the power and might and tribalism and hate and strife of the world. The hour has come to wake up. We belong to the Day, and it’s just around the corner.

“You are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So, then, let us not be like others who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled… Since we belong to the day, let us be self-controlled, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath, but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.” ~1 Thessalonians 5:4-9

We do not compromise our faith or our behaviors just because we’re enduring some darkness. We respond to the darkness by walking in the light. We never allow our current circumstances to compromise our commitment to Christ. His new creation is closer than we think. So we meet the present difficulties with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

 

He is Able

February 12, 2026 / / 0 Comments

There’s a story at the end of Matthew 9 about two blind guys following Jesus. When Jesus is walking down the road, these guys are right behind him. When Jesus goes indoors, they’re right there with him. They just keep coming around, coming around, coming around. And Jesus finally calls them out. He says to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?”

Able to do what? They haven’t even talked about anything yet.

Hey. Jesus knows. He knows. He knows about the darkness. He knows exactly what you most desperately need.

“Do you believe that I can do this? I’ll do it! I’m about to do it! I’m going to change your life! I’m going to heal you! I’m going to fix you! I’m going to make everything brand new! Do you believe I can do this?!”

They said, “Yes.”

And he did it. Jesus touched they eyes and their sight was restored. The Bible says they spread the Good News about Jesus all over the region. What Good News? That God’s rescue is always closer than you think. That when things are dark, it’s about to happen. It’s always just right there.

The Passover and the Exodus happen in the middle of the night. God parts the Red Sea and delivers his people to freedom in the middle of the night. Daniel is delivered from the lions’ jaws in the middle of the night.

Peter is in a jail in Jerusalem, bound with two chains, locked between two armed guards with sentries at the gates. Then an angel of the Lord breaks those chains and delivers Peter to safety in the middle of the night. And everybody’s preaching about it in the temple courts the next day.

The Lord blasts open the doors of the Philippian jail to free Paul and Silas in the middle of the night. The jailer and his whole family are baptized into Christ that night!

I believe he is still able to do this!

Do you?

We all know it’s dark right now. Really dark. It’s night. It feels like almost everything is unclear and uncertain. It’s hard to see exactly what the chaos of our culture is doing to us. What it’s doing to you. To your relationships. What it’s doing to global stability. What it’s doing to your church. It’s hard to see, it’s hard to know.  It feels dark.

But I believe he is able to do this! If I only know one thing for sure, it is this: Our God has delivered us, he is delivering us, and he will continue to deliver us!

We know our God never leaves us because we still hear the stories. We keep meeting people God is saving and changing, we keep seeing God bringing new people in, we keep hearing the testimonies of people who are being saved by God in their darkness.

Maybe it’s dark for you right now. Maybe it’s hard to see. I think that means our Lord’s salvation for you is a lot closer than you think.

Peace,
Allan

Being Changed on Mission

February 11, 2026 / / 0 Comments

A couple of weeks ago, I told our GCR church a story about my three Horsemen friends and I attempting to feed the homeless in downtown Dallas. This was in the summer of 2001, before I was preaching. Jason, Dan, Kevin, and I had never done anything like this; we had no idea how to do it, or where. But we had made some recent commitments together to stop griping about our church and stop complaining about our own needs and start serving other people. So, we made plans to feed the homeless.

We scrambled together $200 on a Tuesday afternoon, purchased 200 sandwiches off the dollar menu at the McDonald’s next to the downtown Greyhound bus station, and drove to an empty parking lot across the street from the downtown Dallas library. And within about four minutes, we had 13-million homeless people surrounding our minivan and grabbing for food.

That’s what it felt like.

We apologized for not having enough food, we got everyone to line up single file, we prayed over every cheeseburger and McChicken sandwich, and we did the best we could. We were uneasy at first; it was a little tense. And, yeah, we ran out of food fairly quickly. And everybody was… cool. Gracious. Thankful. Very thankful.

We wound up having a lot of conversations. We prayed with probably 20 people. And some of them prayed for us. We laughed together about the food shortage and how we didn’t know what we were doing. I was in a place I had never been with people I had never engaged. We heard a lot of stories. We talked about God. And we stayed there until almost dark.

Almost dark.

I’m telling you, that three hours changed me. It profoundly changed me. We did that once a month for a couple of years and it transformed me. It’s a big part of the things that led to me transitioning out of radio and into preaching. It helped set me on that path.

Actually doing some ministry, having a mission–not just talking about it or studying it or agreeing that it’s good–changes you. When you risk going to new places, meeting new people, and trying new activities, the uneasiness creates some space for change. New experiences challenge your beliefs and assumptions. Ministry when you’re in over your head forces you to face your fears and surprises you with resources and strength from God you didn’t know you had. Hearing the stories first-hand, seeing the places and the people, makes the needs in our world and the opportunities to serve more urgent and real. The Scriptures become more alive and more “right now” when you connect them to real ministry. It pushes us out of the comfort of theory and rhetoric and into the places where God really is changing the world.

To empty yourself for the mission of God like that feels good. You know it feels good, because you’ve experienced it, too. The reason it feels so good is because it’s our God-created and God-ordained purpose. He made us to put other people first. When we do that, we are being Christ-like. That’s why it’s so powerful. When we serve others, when we live in the mission zone, we live better. We worship better. We pray better. We love better. Everything’s better.

And you’ll be changed.

Peace,
Allan

Shalom, Y’all!

February 6, 2026 / / 0 Comments

The flights are reserved, the four-star hotel rooms are confirmed, and the costs are finalized for my sixth sight-seeing trip to Israel. Our twice-postponed tour of the holy lands is set for November 3-14 and registration is open now.

You can see the brochure and get all the details by clicking here.

I always limit my trips to 30 participants so we can enjoy the guided tours and experiences together and have plenty of room to spread out on the luxury tour bus–things are just better in a smaller group. So, my groups are usually made up of the first 30 who put down the deposit.

I am thrilled to be leading another one of these life-changing trips with my dear friend and guide, Anton Farah, who lives in Nazareth (there are at least two really good things who have come out of Nazareth). His decades of experience and loyal connections guarantee that we visit more biblical locations and see more historical sites than, in his words, any other group from America. He and I plan every detail of every trip and we faithfully make improvements and adjustments each time. Therefore, it is with great confidence I invite you to join us.

Every paragraph of Holy Scripture contains geography, landscape, architecture, people, food, customs, dress, animals, agriculture, and ritual that serve to communicate the history and fact of God and his activity in your world. As you explore first-hand the sights, sounds, smells, and tastes of Israel on our trip, the story of our God’s faithful love will expand and penetrate your heart and soul like no other experience can.

The total cost of the trip is $4,797 and includes everything: airfare, lodging at the best hotels, breakfast and dinner each day, admission to all the sites, ground transportation, and tips. You can register for the trip and put down your $500 deposit by clicking here. The tour code is “Stanglin26.” If you have any questions, you can always contact me by email at allan.stanglin@gcrcc.org

I promise you these 14-days in Israel will change everything. We’ll see and do everything and you’ll come back with tons of memories, a profoundly renewed faith, and a deeper understanding of God’s love for you and his world.

Shalom,
Allan

Sons & Daughters

February 4, 2026 / / 1 Comment

As I have studied the Scriptures and the mission of God in a more narrative way over the past 26 years, as I consider context instead of proof-texts, as I view the Bible as the ongoing story of our God and his people, everything–all of it–connects so much more clearly now and makes a whole lot more sense. Jesus didn’t just die for my sins; God is doing something big and eternal in the world with all people. It started in Genesis 1, not Matthew; and it’s finally accomplished not in Acts 2, but in Revelation 22. He is breaking down barriers, he’s reconciling all people and all things, he is reversing the curse, he is abolishing the consequences of the world’s sins so we can live with him and with each other in perfect relationship forever.

When it comes to discerning the leadership and service roles for women within the Body of Christ, we have traditionally only looked at the four verses in the whole Bible that seem to restrict our Christian sisters: two verses in 1 Corinthians 14 and two verses in 1 Timothy 2. We have historically viewed the whole of the Bible through the lens of those couple of sentences, assuming that women cannot lead or serve publicly in the worship assembly, and reading and interpreting the rest of the biblical witness through that assumption. But those few verses need to be read and interpreted in the context of the overarching story of Scripture. Genesis 3 and 1 Corinthians 11 and Galatians 3 and Acts 2 all need to be considered as we draw lines and adopt rules and make determinations about God’s will for his people. The story tells us that men and women are created equally by God in his image, that his Holy Spirit has been poured out equally on all our sons and daughters, and those gifts are to be expressed equally in both private and public settings to his eternal glory and for the edification of his people.

I believe sin is what has distorted God’s will in these matters. I believe sin and fallen human nature are what have solidified the disparate gender roles in our churches. I believe God’s desire is that all men and women exercise their gifts and express their faith equally in his Church. And I also believe teaching this and leading this is difficult.

Our shepherds at the GCR Church here in Midland have made the decision, after several years of careful study and prayerful conversation, to affirm the Holy Spirit giftedness of our sisters when it comes to serving and leading in our Sunday worship assemblies. They have determined that, for too long, we have restricted women in ways the Bible never does. And they are shepherding us through this shift in practice with thoughtful teaching and pastoral care.

This page on our church website contains the statement our elders presented to the church on the matter this past Sunday, plus a schedule of Bible classes, sermons, and a Q&A-style conversation with the shepherds that are open to our entire church family. You’ll also find there the latest “GCR Family Update,” an introductory video/podcast on this move, with two of our shepherds and Ryan and me. It’s a really good start to what is certain to be a time of tremendous blessing and growth for our community of faith.

Personally, I am looking forward to the reconciliation: experiencing equal dignity and recognizing equal Spirit-giftedness at GCR.

I’m looking forward to a truer expression of the Gospel: living into God’s will and his call together.

I’m looking forward to our body growing together through the different perspectives and insights that are sure to come. The truth is, our sisters experience God and express their faith in God differently than most men. Hearing their voices and their hearts will open us up to broader understandings and new appreciations for our Lord’s love and grace and faithfulness.

I’m looking forward to clearing up the inconsistencies in our practices so our daughters and granddaughters, our wives and sisters, are equally encouraged and affirmed.

I’m excited to see the evangelism potential of what God is going to do as we remove a significant barrier to his Gospel.

And I’m really looking forward to the blessings. We’re going to hear the Word of God in ways we’ve not heard it before. We’re going to experience facets of God’s character we’ve never felt before. We’re going to pay closer attention to the readings and the prayers. We’re going to be moved differently. Our sisters will display their hearts and communicate God’s faithful promises and will in a way that most men just don’t. I’m looking forward to some of our older sisters limping up to the stage and praising God in prayer through their pain. I’m looking forward to our younger sisters serving my family the bread and the cup through their great joy. I’m looking forward to hearing some of GCR’s giants of the faith read the Word of God that dwells so deeply in their hearts.

God bless us. Together. And God bless GCR. May this move make us more available to our Lord’s transformation and mission, to being changed by him to love like Jesus. And may his holy will be done in and through his people here just as it is in heaven.

Peace,
Allan

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