Tag Archives: Christianity

Faith

How Do You Worship? How Do You Pray? How Do You Live?

I was in church the other day and was thinking about how my 47 years within the independent Christian Church family in Oklahoma has shaped my view.  I was also thinking about highly enriching visits I had made to other churches such as the local St. Elijah’s Orthodox Church or St. Mary’s Church in Oxford.   Then my mind flipped over to a conversation I had with a family member about the “church within which my daughter was getting married.”  They were surprised it wasn’t our home church, the one in which she was raised.  I wasn’t surprised at all, however, because she is my daughter.  God is bigger than one church (I John 3:20) and is realized in more than one way (Psalms 8), and His church is bigger than my church (Acts 13). My younger daughter visited a church this past Sunday that meets in the old Will Rogers Theater on Classen Boulevard.  She said it was a good visit, and they had a lot to offer the age group of which she is a part.  I don’t worry about the kids finding God…I know they will, wherever they end up worshiping.

As I was sitting there in church, however, lost in my own thoughts I noticed that there are parts of our service which “feel” right to me.  I’m more able to pray or worship when particular traditions are carried out, and less able when others are performed as part of the service.   Then I looked down the row at all the people sitting there.  How do THEY worship? How do they pray? I don’t know.  I know that some of my best worship experiences have been outside of central Oklahoma.  And, for some reason, the place in which I seem to be able to connect with God the best in prayer is on my knees, in the prayer chapel sitting on the Lifechurch.TV campus in Edmond.  It doesn’t matter…I suppose there are meanings, moments, feelings and places where each person has better “in-tuned” experiences with God than others.  Those are mine…what are yours?

But most importantly, I wonder, how is it that we live?  Do we carry out our worship and prayer into our lives?  Are there better “places” we can live for God than others?  I won’t be able to always pray in the prayer chapel, and I won’t be able to always fly to Oxford just to sit through a worship service or sermon because that fits with me.  And, I don’t really have a choice most of the time about where I go to lead my daily life.  And, it follows that I must live for God regardless of whether I’m in the best fitting place for me.  And I must find him in worship regardless of whether I’m in the right location for what makes me feel best. And I must be Him for those around me, regardless of whether they “feel comfortable” to be around…or not.

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Faith

Never More! (?)

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Choc Beer is but one of the local Oklahoma breweries. Click the photo to visit their website. They ALSO promote responsible drinking...you can't enter their website without taking a moment to think about your age. Lamar's words today, however, would have you think about this question: "Is there someone around you with drinking challenges? If so, how will your reviewing the website influence them?"

by Alfred Lamar Jackson

Hello, and how are you today? Today is a great to be alive and kicking. If you are alive and kicking and reading this now it means you are blessed with air in your lungs, strength in your legs, and vision in those pupils

Today I wanted to skim across an issue that seems to pop up every now and then. I decided to take my turn and put down my opinion on this matter. So let’s get started.

Drinking. I can hear the sighs now. I can feel the groans coming from the guts of a vast majority of people. I just want to put a spin on the issue. I’m not going to talk about whether it’s right or wrong, I’m going to talk about what you and I are responsible for as believers in Christ.

1 Corinthians 8 is a great chapter. It’s very meaty as I like to say. We’ll take a sample from verses 11-13.

So this weak brother, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against your brothers in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat cause my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

PARAPHRASE:

So first I’d like to remind you to start and the beginning of the chapter and read to the end to understand to whole part of this message. First off, knowledge is power when it’s put into the right hands. To summarize, Paul is talking about the beliefs at the time about food sacrificed to idols. That food was seen as defiled. Now, believers free in Christ should know that food is food and eating food sacrificed to idols is the same whether you eat it or not.

A very big key lies in verse 9. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.

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Faith, Woman2Woman

Livin’ On A Prayer and the Sage Advice of Garth Brooks

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When I’m old and gray (ahem, grayer, that is), I hope to look back on my life and reflect on an abundance of incredible experiences and accomplishments.  I’ve prayed my way through 33 1/2 years and God has been faithful to bless me with far more than I deserve.  However, this same life has included and will include many more prayers that go unanswered, at least in the way I desire or expect.

If you’re an Okie, you probably remember a time when Garth Brooks was on everyone’s radar.  I was never a huge country music fan, but I can sing along with a few little ditties when I hear them.  One song that I remember vividly is “Unanswered Prayers.”  If you’re not familiar with the song, Garth sings about running into his old high school flame and recalls how hard he prayed for this girl to be his forever.  While he is filled with nostalgia at seeing her again, he has gained enough perspective to know that his life worked out in the best way possible despite his one-time efforts to convince God otherwise.  He goes on to express his thankfulness for the gifts in his life, including the woman who eventually stole his heart, became his wife and showed him the importance of trusting God at all times.

By the way, when I started writing this blog, I did not remember the controversy with Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood.  So do me a favor and put that bit of information aside so I don’t have to go back to the drawing board on this post, mmmkay?  Geez, what is it with people and their inability to stay faithful?  But that’s an essay for a different day.

Where was I?  Oh yes, the inspirational song.  I was touched by the song and have always admired people who are able to easily put issues and events into perspective.  I am not one of them.  I can remember many times when I didn’t get what I was clearly the most important thing I’d ever asked for in my entire life.  Time and time again, I responded with anger and disbelief.  In not so many words I said to God, “You said ‘Ask and you shall receive,’ right?  Well?????”  I shed tears over a great many “must haves” that did not become my reality…..boys, leadership positions, jobs, etc.

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Oklahoma culture, Photography

Almost Silent Sunday: 1/2/2011 – Boe’s Sunrise Stories

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I’ve known Boe Parrish since he was the Children’s Minister at MetroChurch back in the early 90s.  I first saw him providing a chapel service for the Oklahoma Christians Schools (OCS) elementary group.  The students were sitting on the floor in an auditorium, and he was standing on the stage sharing an object lesson with them in what I can only describe as a loving and regulated voice.  As I leaned against the back wall waiting for chapel to be over so I could take my daughter to the dentist, I asked someone his name.  Later, I began teaching at the OCS high school and saw him from time to time on campus.  A few years later I recall that he wrote a book.  Then I think I saw him on and off at Panera Bread in Edmond for several years, either having breakfast by himself or with a friend – sometimes praying, sometimes studying, sometimes listening. Later he was helpful in facilitating information about a former student who got hit by an SUV while out of state, then again…facilitating information about a dear friend who recently died.  Boe has been in the periphery of my life for a good long time now.

As I was preparing this post I kept thinking back to my memories of interactions with Boe.  My predominant thought is to recall him looking up, meeting my eyes, and smiling.  His smile hasn’t changed and is almost an institution in the City of Edmond.  It genuinely warms my spirit each time I meet the glance of his face.  Which leads me to the reason I’m sharing his narrative with you today…

Boe has been posting snapped photos of early morning sunrises in Oklahoma on Facebook for quite some time.  His folder now has over 40 of them.  He’ll post one about every week or so…sometimes a few at a time.  I always enjoyed them but never knew the context for which he was gathering these brief moments of outdoor beauty or why he shares them.  Now I do.  It seems that he’s somewhat of a transportation service provider to a couple of his family members…but I’ll let you read the story in his own words.  Then I’ll share with you a few of his “Simply Glorious” (his title for the photo folder in which he stores them) sunrises he’s enjoyed over the past year or so.  Okay, I’m sharing nineteen of them.  So, for your “Almost Silent Sunday” moment with the RDC, here are Bo’s Sunrise Stories, provided in his words and with his cell phone or camera:

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Faith

Simple Sabbath: Hope is in the Eye of the Needle

Mark 10:17-27

Maybe you’ve read this passage before, or perhaps a similar passage in Matthew or Luke.

The story is basically this: Jesus was ministering one day and a rich guy runs to him as Jesus is about to leave, falls on his knees and asks how he can inherit eternal life.  Jesus gives him the standard 10 commandment “don’ts” and the rich guy states he has kept all these commandments since his youth.  Then Jesus goes on to direct the guy to sell all his possessions, give the money to the poor and follow him.

At this, rich guy gets bummed out and leaves because he has a lot of stuff.  Jesus tells his disciples it’s easier for a camel to make its way through the eye of a needle than the rich to go to heaven but, that through God, “all things are possible”.

I love the reading of this passage in Mark, particularly, because it states that Jesus looked at him and loved him.  Won’t it be cool some day when Jesus looks at you that way?

This passage has given me a lot of reason to pause and think over the years because so many people like to write the end of the rich guy’s story in a negative frame.  But I’d caution you; the end of this particular story is not written in the Bible. So many folks just assume that the rich guy did not do as Jesus instructed him, but we don’t know whether he did or not.  I’ve heard people use this passage as New Testament justification for the death penalty.  But this passage ends with hope: “with God all things are possible.” In other words, rich guys getting into heaven and camels getting through needle eyes.

I encourage you to find the hope Jesus’ disciples were presented on that day.