ROC VBS

As I watched the children recite John 3:18 by memory this morning: "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth," with motions and all, I was taken back to my own time attending Vacation Bible School. The simple truths that I learned there have become a foundation holding me together when the storms of life threaten to tear me apart. Those lessons have guided me through some dark and difficult situations. And I am so blessed to be a part of passing those life giving lessons on to another generation.



We are talking with these children about a God who can custom build our heart to love him and serve others... that we love because He first loved us as 1 John 4:19 tells us... that we can resist temptation and evil, just like Jesus to do what is right all the time... but if we do mess up, we can come to God and ask for forgiveness and He removes the barrier of sin from our life.


Continue to pray for our ROC Kids this week, that God would plant these seeds deep in their hearts so that they might live good and fruitful lives. If you would like to see more pictures of our ROC VBS 2010 just click on this link.

Making Headlines

One of our ROC Kids, Ezekiel Wilson, will soon be highlighted by the OK Blitz, which is the sports section of News Channel 9.

Here is a link to the story online

"Local 10 year old, Ezekiel Wilson, qualifies for HERSHEY NATIONAL TRACK & FIELD GAMES, in Hershey, Pennsylvania. Ezekiel is a first time participant in the HERSHEY GAMES and will be competing in the Softball Throw event in the NORTH AMERICAN FINAL MEET. Ezekiel is an A - B student at Tulakes Elementary School and is being raised by his single grandmother with two siblings.

Ezekiel entered the Hershey competition, won state and set a record for Softball Throw (138.5 ft) for his age category (9-10) and won the whole region, which includes (OK, TX, NM, AR, LA, MS) and qualifies him for the national level of competition. He plays baseball for the PCO Wildcats and was also awarded the Kamesha Stevenson Award for the 09-10 school year.

The family attends the ROC Church. They would appreciate and would be greatly blessed by any donations that would help them attend the Nationals in support of Ezekiel. All donations can be made to any Bank of Oklahoma by 8/4/10."

Ezekiel - We are proud of you! Keep reaching for the stars.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.

Look for Ezekiel's story on News Channel 9, coming soon.

Impressions

The ROC Church tends to leave an impression. It is sometimes positive and sometimes negative, but you won't walk away without being impacted.

Dr. Howard Culbertson, Professor of Missions at Southern Nazarene University, recently sent me this message of the impression ROC Church made on a college student from Russia.

Right now I'm teaching a section of Ministry, Church and Society online. Last week one of the students, Olga Kozhevnikova, mentioned the ROC church in one of her posts. I asked her permission to share it with you and she agreed I could do that:

"I agree with pastor Mark that church is not just a building, but a group of believers. When I went to ROC Church of the Nazarene in Bethany district I was surprised that a [airplane] hangar outside is a church inside. In my mind were the following words: "This metal construction cannot be a church, the church should be beautiful". But when I sat down and the service began, I realized how wrong I was. All people, rich or poor did not care about the look of the church. They came here to be with Christ and other Christians and it seemed that they did not care about the look at all. I did not hear any complaints about reconstructing it into a "real" church and make it nicer. People, that is what matters in church. The building does not mean anything."

One of the founders of our Nazarene tribe, Phineas Bresee, once said:

What must He think of His people today, spending their time and strength and the money which would feed the hungry and clothe the naked and send the gospel to the unsaved, in placing stone upon stone, building massive towers, carving forms of beauty, adding elaborate and expensive adornments, putting thousands of dollars into grand organs, and all tending to drive the poor form the portals of the so-called house of the Lord.

and: We want places so plain that every board will say welcome to the poorest.

and: Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and wipe away the tears of sorrowing and gather jewels for His diadem.

The impression that Olga was left with was that the church is not a building. I hope we never forget it is not about the building... it is all about His mission... it is all about people - People! May we stay true to those roots.

God is for us!

Have you ever had one of those moments when it just seemed like God was trying to get your attention... the same thing comes up over and over again in all kinds of contexts. That happens to me often. I guess the Lord has to do a little extra to get His message through my thick head, at least my wife would agree with that.

Our associate pastor said something in her welcoming comments that was encouraging and stuck with me. She said, “No matter what we are going through… no matter what we have done, God is for us!” What a promise. As I settled into the crazy cacophony of noise and the hectic pace of this week, I would have probably quickly forgotten this powerful promise. But then I read this in my morning devotion:

9 I took you from the ends of the earth,
from its farthest corners I called you.
I said, 'You are my servant';
I have chosen you and have not rejected you.

10 So do not fear, for I am with you;
do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:9-10

I think the Lord wanted me to dwell a little while on the reality that He is for us... He is for me! And I was reminded of that powerful passage in John 15 - You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.

It has nothing to do with us – who we are, what we’ve done, where we come from. It has everything to do with Him! God’s character is holy love… love that is not conditional or changing, but constant and for all. And Jesus is the ultimate sign that God is for us. Through His call He says, “I choose you.” On the cross He says, “I am for you.” By the power of His resurrection He says, “I am with you, always!”

31What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? 33Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. 35Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36As it is written:

"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

37No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:31-39

Inadequacy

I want to give you a gift. It is an important gift, maybe the most important gift you will receive this week. I give you the gift of inadequacy.

You are inadequate. Recognize it. Embrace it. It is the kind of truth that can set you free from the drudgery of a “works” mentality. None of us are adequate – and yet, God accepts us, loves us, works in us and through us despite all of our brokenness and dysfunction. He is more than adequate.

As my morning devotion reminded me, we should all take a moment to laugh at ourselves today. “Laughter is the purest form of our response to God’s acceptance of us. For when I laugh at myself I accept myself and when I laugh at other people in genuine mirth I accept them. Self-acceptance in laughter is the very opposite of self-satisfaction or pride. For in laughter I accept myself not because I’m some sort of super-person, but precisely because I’m not. There is nothing funny about a super-person. There is everything funny about a man who thinks he is. In laughing at my own claims to importance or regard I receive myself in a sort of loving forgiveness, which is an echo of God’s forgiveness of me.” ~ From Tensions by H. A. Williams

Embrace your inadequacy, laugh at yourself and marvel at God’s love for us all!