Glad you stopped by. Snoop around. Discover some things about us. You are not only welcome here, you are also welcome to share life and faith with us as we look to follow Jesus week in and week out in person. Our aim is to embody the faith of Jesus for the good and blessing… Continue Reading
Category Archives: Shaping Us Toward Monday
Blurred
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly Email . . . Life is a blur. Monday evening Doug Melton, President of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma and Pastor of Southern Hills Baptist Church, preached the “Presidents’s Address.” He titled his sermon, “The Intersection of Love and Time.” We all acknowledge the increased value of time. Today were… Continue Reading
What My Fears Reveal?
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly Email . . . Some time ago, Rusty introduced us to a version of the hymn Amazing Grace that contained a chorus line that includes the phrase, “My Chains are gone.” The second stanza of Amazing Grace describes grace in this way, ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and… Continue Reading
Ready . . .
Many sold their cars and other goods. Others quite their jobs and traveled the Country to get the word out. Jesus is coming. Stop what you are doing and make ready. Harold Camping created for himself a cottage industry predicting the Rapture and the end of the world. People supported his ministry financially. He did… Continue Reading
Do What They Say But . . .
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly Email. “Them.” You know what that generally means. When we divide up between us and them, “them” represents “those” people we prefer to avoid, to whom we pay no attention, and to whom we surely don’t listen. So, how is it that Jesus did not refer to his adversaries as “them”… Continue Reading
Where Did That Come From
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly Email Have you ever been talking with someone and then out of the blue comes what seems like a random thought or question? Reading along the Gospel passage this week hit me the same way. Jesus faces another question from the Pharisees – “What is the greatest commandment in the Law?”… Continue Reading
Words That Reshape Our World
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly E-Mail Old Testament scholar Walter Breuggemann wrote a little book on the subject of “discipleship” titled, The Word that Redecsribes the World. I could not help but think of that book when reading the Gospel passage from Matthew for this week. Jesus has stirred the way the people understand the way… Continue Reading
Potato Salad and the Church
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly Email – Last Week Rowena Strickland taught Bible at Oklahoma Baptist University back in “my day.” She would not have made it in some circles today because as a woman she was teaching young “preacher boys.” Godly. Humble. Solid. Once the environment changed in Baptist life, she “retired” from OBU and… Continue Reading
Is God Among Us?
The story found at the end of the Gospel According to Luke lets us in on something of a secret. There are times when our recognition that God is with us comes after the fact. Or, as one of another of my favorite authors puts it, we are often responding to the “aftermath” of God.… Continue Reading
9/11 Ten Years Later and Forgiveness
From Pastor Todd’s Weekly email. Our Country will be riveted to the events surrounding the tenth anniversary of 9/11 – the shorthand for the terror attacks that brought the World Trade Center Buildings to the ground. If you have not seen the video of the memorial park it is quite breathtaking. As I watched the… Continue Reading
Debt
If you have missed the subject of debt during this summer, you likely did not turn on the television, listen to talk radio, or read a state or national newspaper. Our Federal Government nearly faced shutdown and more over the budget and debt. Unites States’ consumer debt is $2.43 trillion (as of May 2011). Even… Continue Reading