Spiritual Renewal Emphasis, January, 2009

Theme: "BACK TO THE BASICS" Joe Montana was one of the speakers at the recent "Get Motivated" event in Tulsa. He spoke of the importance of preparation and mastering the fundamentals if one was going to have a winning team. He said whenever his football teams went through a tough time, once again the coaches would focus on the fundamentals. The church is certainly facing challenges from within and outside the church. We need to return to a focus on the fundamentals, the basics of intimacy with Christ.

A Devotional Guide: Devotional booklets have been distributed to each church to give to every family. Our evangelist, Nathan Covington, wrote most of the daily lessons, so this guide will help you connect with him and get a glimpse into his heart.

Zone Cluster Prayer Meetings: Let’s bombard heaven on behalf of spiritual renewal, in the firm belief that “the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.” Evangelist Nathan Covington will join us at the first four of these prayer times, sharing and leading our time of corporate prayer.

• Saturday, Jan. 3 Southeast Zone, Muskogee, 3pm
• Sunday, Jan. 4 - Southwest Zone, Bristow, 5pm
• Tuesday, Jan. 6 - Northwest Zone, Skiatook, 7pm
• Wednesday, Jan. 7 - Northeast Zone, Claremore, 7pm (also planning children and youth activities at 7pm and a dinner at 5:30pm)
• Sunday, Jan. 11, 5pm – Tulsa Zone, Regency Park, 5pm

Spiritual Renewal Weekend, January 23 - 25. We will gather at Tulsa Central Church seeking a fresh outpouring of the Spirit in our midst.

• Services will be Friday at 7pm, Saturday at 6pm and Sunday at 5pm.
• Our guest speaker will be Evangelist Nathan Covington*
• Worship led by “Leaving 99” from Southern Nazarene University.
• 1st – 6th graders will have their own services led by Ken Wheeler;
• 3 year olds – Kindergarten will be led by Rachel Bess
• Nursery will be provided for those 2 and under.
• Youth lock-in after Friday evening service with games, worship and food. Breaking fast of 30 hour famine at midnight. Cost is only $5.
• Primetimer’s gathering on Saturday, 4:30pm; $5 at the door for good food and fellowship: RSVP to vicki@neonaz.com.

Don't miss this time of refreshing!

Dear NEO family,

I trust you have been enjoying a wonderful Advent season! I have had the privilege of connecting with several of our churches and even more of our pastors this month. I am thrilled with the way our churches are helping move people into worship and acts of compassion during this season.

Of course, these are not just seasonal emphases for the Church of the Nazarene. I have been rereading Timothy Smith’s book, Called unto Holiness, this week (getting ready to teach History and Polity in the Oklahoma School of Ministry). Writing of the chief characteristics of the early Nazarenes, Smith highlights the democratic government, the joyously free worship, the brief creed with the doctrine of perfect love central and liberty on non-essentials. On pages 113 - 114, Smith says “the chief aim of the church was to preach holiness to the poor.” The first stationery bore at its head the scripture verse, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” The first Manual announced the church’s determination to win the lost “through the agency of city missions, evangelistic services, house-to-house visitation, caring for the poor, comforting the dying.” The founders declared themselves convinced that their mission was “to go into the poorer parts of the cities and into neglected places and by the power of the Holy Ghost create centers of fire.” I see a renewed passion to carry out the vision of our founders in this generation and I rejoice!

I also read Sticky Church by Larry Osborne this past week. In Sticky Church, Larry Osborne shares proven strategies for doing what every church wants to do – close the back door and keep it shut. The key component of his strategy is a unique approach to sermon-based small groups. This is an ideal book for church leaders who want to start or retool their small group ministry – and Velcro their congregation to the Bible and each other. Anyone interested in a book study session in January?

I love to share pictures from my visits to churches. I hope you will open the links below to see a glimpse into a few of the NEO churches. The pictures from Tahlequah hi-light some of the hard work this church put into the Centennial Celebration in October.

South County Community Church, Dec. 14, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTGVg

Hominy Church, Dec. 7, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTG_A

Talleys in Concert, Claremore Church, Dec. 14, 2008 http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTGmg

Tahlequah, Centennial Celebration, Oct. 4, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTHAg

Pastor Brad Farnsworth, NewStart pastor of Connection Church, has been getting some great free press recently. He was recently featured in Tulsa People Magazine and on the website of the BA Ledger (It’s actually a video. Just click on the link and scroll down to “2008 Year In Review Part III.” http://www.baledger.com/news/ )

Owasso Silver Creek sures knows how to get some attention in December. In December,2007 they had a fire in their sanctuary (a misunderstanding of Bresee’s concept of “centers of fire”). This week they had a baptismal pipe break and flooded the sanctuary. The restoration company removed 1500 gallons of water from the building. In December, 2009, watch out for a mighty wind in Owasso (the youth from Silver Creek really got into the NYC theme- Water, Fire, Wind, I guess).

I will send my personal Christmas greetings in a few days. May you continue to experience the presence of our Lord and saviour, and with His presence, His gifts of peace, hope, joy and love.

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Dr. James J. Jr. and Mrs. Geneva Stark will celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary on Dec. 24. Congratulations and best wishes for the years ahead!

Congratulations to Keith and Nancy Cole on the birth of their second granddaughter, Charleigh Rose Makayla Cole, 6 lb., 10 ou., 18 ½ inches long.

Congratulations to Aaron and Becky Horton on the birth of Landen Aaron Horton, 6 lbs, 2 ou. And 20 inches long.

Update on Spiritual Renewal Weekend: Dr. Jack Eyestone is taking a pastorate in California and will not be able to speak. Rev. Nathan Covington has accepted our invitation to speak. Nathan is deeply loved on the NEO District and has a passion for renewal in our churches. He authored most of the devotionals in the Devotional Guides that are being distributed to our churches for use beginning January 1. He also was already planning to help lead our times of corporate prayer at the Zone Cluster meetings, January 3 – 11. It seems God had prepared us for this before we even knew what was happening. Let’s anticipate a great season of renewal as we get “Back to the Basics: Finding Satisfaction, Security and Sustenance in Growing Intimacy with Christ”.

I love to read the monthly reports of our pastors. I especially like reading about what each are celebrating and about how they are working to be a high-impact church. Below are some of the things they are celebrating:

I want to celebrate...
David Stevens, Vinita. . . In spite of seasonal attendance fluctuation and illness the church is doing well. We have had several visitors who were very positive in their response and some said they would return. The spirit of the church services has been very good. Vinita Nazarene is a loving, friendly, caring church.

Gordon Smith, Dewey. . .We had a family join our church! The baptism of Jeff Goodnight! We had a wonderful and insightful service on Nov. 9th for the International Day for the Persecuted Church, it was a challenging service and yet an encouraging service as we became more aware of those Christians around the world who are being persecuted for the sake of Christ!

Gerald James, Claremore . . . Another great month of God’s blessings. We have a lot to be thankful for! We are getting ready for a Christmas concert with The Talley Trio. It is Sunday night Dec. 14th starting at 6:00 pm. Anyone is invited to join us for this exciting event! We are also having a chili dinner that night starting at 4:00pm. Proceeds will benefit Christmas gifts and meals for families.

Brad Farnsworth, Connection. . .We provided six families of Rosa Parks School with complete Thanksgiving dinners (turkeys & trimmings), as well as (16) $25 WalMart Christmas gift cards for Rosa Parks families in need (funds provided by congregational giving). Record attendance of 140 on 11/9/08.

Larry Morris, Broken Arrow. . . Small group preview night with 15 groups meeting around the city and 131 in attendance. Started a new style of worship service in the 8:30 a.m. slot. Using more classical worship elements. Attendance has been up and the service is well received.

Howard Johnson, Cushing. . . For several weeks we have been praying for the salvation of three friends or acquaintances. One of our church ladies, Betty, has been praying for a young mother named Mollie. On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving Betty and I had the privilege of leading Mollie to the Lord!!

David Rogers, Mannford. . . I want to celebrate that we have a couple of people who want to know more about the Nazarene Church, and are interested in becoming members.

Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life. . . The implementing of our new vision: A church w/ no walls. We’ve begun to see this taken on as our church’s vision. We held a Sunday evening service at the home of one of our church members, Bill, who was involved in a near fatal accident a year ago. The accident left him in a non-responsive state and confined to a wheel chair. It was great to see the house packed with church people and an awesome sense of God’s presence was there as we worshipped together and had special prayer for Bill. We also participated in some work projects cutting wood for a stroke victim and constructing a wheel chair ramp for an elderly woman in our church.

Richard Reese, Pryor. . . We paid off our mortgage raising $53,000 in less than 4 years and are officially debt free as a church.

Angela Bentley, Bristow. . . Our new van, donated by Central Church, is serving us well! The kids love it! Our church was broken into but nothing was stolen or destroyed.
Our Wednesday Night Live ministry continues to grow and present new challenges.
For the first time in many years, our young people will have a float entry in the Christmas parade this week. Even though attendance has decreased, God has been faithful to meet our every need.

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central. . . Joel Ross has stepped forward to provide leadership to our Building Committee. We believe that in the next two weeks we will have a permit in hand to commence construction on the shell. Also, a $30,000 donation was received to be applied toward a new road sign to be placed along 81st St. We have a design for a new sign---the cost is around $40,000---and we hope to raise the additional $10,000 needed with some special year-end gifts.

Don Nichols, Tahlequah. . . Preparation for our Native American Camp Meeting is beginning in earnest. We are asking the people to pray and fast for the District Spiritual Renewal and Native American Camp Meeting.

Dwain Young, Horton Chapel. . . On November 16, we had a special Sunday of praise and worship. Sandy Hendley organized a our local talent with solo's, duets and trio and a ladies quartet. We enjoyed praise and worship and pastor had a short message. We followed this with one of Horton Chapel's famous potluck dinners which served as the churches Thanksgiving dinner! We had a wonderful day.


Stephen Hundley, Cleveland. . .our Community Groups are going very well. People are growing spiritually and enjoying one another. We were averaging less than 30 in our Sunday Evening Services, now we usually have in the 40s through Community Groups.

Alan McBroom, Davenport. . . Everyone is excited about Christmas—the most wonderful time of the year!

Don Cowan, Sapulpa. . . The excitement of providing a Thanksgiving meal for more than 100 families in our community. Actively supporting our NewStart South County Community Church in Glenpool.

Wayde Normandin, Chelsea. . . We are moving forward on accomplishing our goals this year. On Sunday, November 2nd, we came together as a church to begin The Quest, a 40-day spiritual adventure. Every family is reading the book, The Power to be Free, Discovering Life in the Spirit of Christ by Frank Moore. We are more than half way through our "adventure" which will end on December 14th.The members seem to be enjoying the journey we are taking together spiritually. The book lends to a variety of age groups as well as spiritual maturity levels. We are continuing to build a strong financial picture at the church. We are on track to have our budget allocations paid in full by March 1st and are adding to our emergency fund monthly. This month, thanks to Jim Reeves, we have new outdoor lighting on the sidewalk in front of the church along with several new concrete parking blocks.


NEO Top Leaders in Sunday School/Small Groups Attendance Gain Over '07
Broken Arrow +52
Claremore +38
Tulsa Family + 30
Tulsa Fuente de Vida + 19
Owasso +17
Drumright +15
Dewey +14
Sand Springs +9
Tulsa Regency Park +8
Chelsea +4
Hominy +4
Tahlequah +4

NEO Top Leaders in AM Worship Gain over November '07
BA Connection +92
Claremore +49
Broken Arrow + 24
Drumright +22
Tulsa Fuente de Vida + 20
Sand Springs +20
Owasso + 19
Tulsa Regency Park + 13
Tahlequah + 10
Davenport +5
Chelsea +4
Skiatook +4

Grace and Peace,
Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

The Season of Advent is upon us. It is a season to draw near to Christ, to our loved ones and to our communities. I love reading of the Christmas musicals and Advent preaching series taking place in our churches. I am impressed with the efforts our pastors are making to help our people focus on Christ, and thereby, make this a season of compassion instead of consumption. What a great team we have in NEO!!

As we think of the wonderful churches we have in NEO, I apologize for being a few weeks behind in my pictures from church visits. See the links below:

Collinsville, November 16
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTF7g&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

Tulsa Central, November 23
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTGEg

Bartlesville, Nov. 30
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTGMA&emid=sharshar&linkid=link5&cid=EMsharshar

Pastor Otoniel Dannemann latest report on his wife, Gloria, is very positive. Oto has been told that Gloria may be released within 10 – 15 days. Praise the Lord! Let’s keep praying for the judge to follow through in releasing this wonderful, godly lady from detainment in Argentina.

As you are praying, also remember Dr. H. B. London. H.B., a Nazarene elder, is Vice President for Pastoral Ministries at Focus on the Family. He was admitted to the hospital a week ago Wednesday, fighting pneumonia. Antibiotics were not doing the job, so they did surgery to remove the infected material from his lungs and improve the chances of the antibiotics taking effect. The surgery went well. His vital signs are good, but he is still in intensive care. Let’s pray for a complete recovery.

The devotional guides for January’s spiritual renewal emphasis are printed and ready to distribute to the churches (If you are in the Tulsa area, we would love to put them into your hands). We hope to have enough printed for each family to have one. We also have posters ready for our Spiritual Renewal Weekend, January 23 – 25. I look forward to how God is going to work in our lives as we get “Back to the Basics”, finding satisfaction, security and sustenance in growing intimacy with Christ.

Have a blessed Lord’s Day! You are loved!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

On this week of Thanksgiving, the words of the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi reflect my sentiments: I thank my God every time I remember you. In all of my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Attached is a holiday greeting.
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=HY27482779


George Ronnekamp, former Pastor at Tulsa 1st and longtime member at Tulsa Central, passed away last evening. The funeral will be Friday, 10 am at Floral Haven. We extend our sympathy to Carolyn Jennings, Steve Ronnekamp and all of the family in this time of loss.

Please keep SNU-Tulsa in the mind as you consider degree completion programs or Master’s programs. Below are some of the programs you can take advantage of for your own development, or share with a friend you know is looking for a great school to attend:


Program Deadline Start Month/Day/Year

Family Studies 12/12/08 January, 2009 Mondays

Organizational Leadership 12/16/09 January, 2009 Tuesdays
Organizational Leadership 4/16/09 May, 2009 Thursdays

Family Studies 7/21/09 August, 2009 Tuesdays

Organizational Leadership 8/18/09 September, 2009 Mondays

Graduate Programs in Management Application Deadlines 2009

Program Deadline Start Month/Year/Day of Week

Master of Science in Management 1/13/09 February, 2009 Tuesdays

Master of Business Administration 1/13/09 February, 2009 Tuesdays

Master of Science in Management 7/9/09 August, 2009 Thursdays

Master of Business Administration 7/9/09 August, 2009 Thursdays



Have a Blessed Thanksgiving,
Dave

Dear NEO family,

This week Karen Patterson, Bud Lauhon and I represented you at the Fall meeting of the Trustees of Southern Nazarene University. I am so thankful for SNU and the way God has used this educational institution for over 100 years to be a part of his transformative work in the lives of students! SNU continues to model the hospitality of grace, the pursuit of truth, and the practice of discipleship. Let’s support SNU and urge our High School students to visit the campus this year. I believe they will be surprised by the quality of the education offered and the availability of financial aid to make it affordable.

I met today with Tim Odom, SDMI Chairman, Jonathan Odom, NYI President, Rodney Durr, Adult Ministries Director and Ken Wheeler, Children’s Ministries Director. A HUGE Training Day is being planned for Saturday, April 25. It will be the place to be for children, youth, and adult workers, as well as Church treasurers and other leaders. Mark your calendars.

Churches, let's continue to be strive to be high impact churches. Our next session of "How to Grow a High Impact Church", will be Monday, Nov. 24, 6:30 pm at Tulsa Central Church in the Kannady Family Life Center. Chip Ingram will be teaching on the Law of Liberation and the Law of Structure. Call me if you have any questions.

District Work and Witness:
Calling on all you folks who would like to grab a (hammer/saw/paintbrush) and help out. Our Northeast District Team still needs a couple more volunteers to help out in our District Work and Witness Trip to the Ukraine. The trip is scheduled for April 13 - 26 of 2009 and will cost about $1,900 per participant. Please pass the word around. Call Jerry Wilburg, right away, at 918-607-8561. Also, perhaps some churches are able to help the participants in defraying the cost of going by having a bake sale or special offering. Please look around and see what you could do to help. During these times of financial crunch it is important that we all do what we can to help out. Thanks so much for your help and your prayers.

AUTHOR APPEARANCE AND BOOK-SIGNING EVENT
Nazarene Authors Dr. David & Lisa Frisbie will be at Mardel's Bookstore in Tulsa, 71st and Mingo, near Woodland Hills Mall on Saturday, November 29th. Hours for the event are 1 PM to 3 PM. The Frisbies will be signing copies of their new book for married couples, "The Soul-Mate Marriage: The Spiritual Journey of Becoming One." This new book has already been endorsed by more than 30 ministry leaders, family counselors, and key denominational executives. "The Soul-Mate Marriage" is about how to build spiritual and emotional intimacy in a marriage, starting from right where you are! It's about becoming closer, deeper, stronger, more intimate in your relationship--- drawing on more than 20 years of marriage and family therapy experience.

Dr. David Frisbie joined the staff of FamilyChurch.tv on January 1, 2008 as Executive Pastor and Pastor to Families, serving under the direction of Senior Pastor Brett Rickey. In addition, David and Lisa are the NEO District Coordinators for Marriage and Family Ministries, serving under Rodney Durr, Director of Adult Ministries for NEO.

David and Lisa would love to meet you at Mardel's in Tulsa! Please stop by and get acquainted with these new NEO ministers. "Soul-Mate" is their 10th published book; they have also published dozens of articles about marriage and family life in magazines, journals and newspapers.

Christamas Decorations Available – Free! John Teel of Broken Arrow First writes: We have redesigned our Christmas decorations at Broken Arrow this year. This has left us with a lot of nice stuff from previous years that we’d like to give away free to any of the district churches. There are also a number of non-seasonal floral arrangements (in good condition) that we won’t reuse since we renovated our facility. Interested parties may contact me via phone at (918) 455-3550 or email at johnt@banazarene.org.

Here’s a sample list of what’s available…Evergreen picks, Pinecone picks , Red berry picks, Mauve poinsettia, Garlands (In 12” lengths), Cranberry bows, Gold beads, Gold bows, White bows with holly and ivy print, Gold ornaments (Shatterproof balls), White ornaments (Religious)
& a wide assortment of non-seasonal (can use anytime) floral arrangements

Sooners verses Red Raiders! Both sound like law breakers needing some good, honest "Cowboys" to keep them in line. Many of us will be watching the game tomorrow night and cheering for the Sooners. But just to complicate things for you, I thought I would let you know that Graham Harrell is very involved at Lubbock First Church of the Nazarene. In fact, one of their members told me this week that they bring him up front every Sunday and pray for him. Last Sunday they gave him the Distinguished Service Award for the Church of the Nazarene. Now that he has this coveted award (who needs a Hesiman), we can only hope that Harrell will have a let down and OU will fight through for victory.

Have a blessed weekend and a wonderful celebration of Thanksgiving!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Greetings in the strong name of Jesus. In these uncertain times, it is good to have our lives built upon the Rock, isn't it? I pray that you will lean into Jesus and experience His peace, hope, joy and love in abundance today.

Our youth begin their NYI Fall Retreat tonight. I understand that they already have 180 signed up to attend. Let's pray for director, Ryan Amey, and all of our students that this will be a time of great fun and spiritual transformation.

We had a District Advisory Board meeting last evening. As we looked at our financial reports and the faithful giving of the NEO churches, we had reason to give thanks. We also rejoiced in the good return we are getting in our investment in others. Last year our District churches paid $150,782 to Pensions and Benefits. In 2007, our District pastors received $221,937 in benefit dollars! Our churches paid $252,934 to Southern Nazarene University. The amount paid over 90% our educational budget is awarded back to SNU students from NEO. So, last month we gave $316 to each of our 27 students. Last night, David Fitzgerald reminded us that we consistently get more in scholarship and grant money for NEO students at SNU than our District pays in budgets each year. Your giving to the District is helping to start two new churches and train and develop leaders on our District. Your giving to World Evangelism is producing Pentecost type movements in many areas of the world. At a time when your investments in Wall Street are not doing so hot, isn't it good to know that your investments in Kingdom work are producing great dividends!

This week I have been finishing the editing of a devotional booklet that we will use in churches across NEO beginning January 1. This will be one part of a Spiritual Renewal Emphasis, "Back to the Basics". We also will have Zone Prayer Cluster Meetings in all five Zones (Jan. 3, 3pm—Muskogee ; Jan. 4, 5pm—Bristow: Jan. 6, 7 pm—Skiatook ; Jan. 7, 7pm —Claremore; Jan 11, 5pm—Tulsa Regency Park). What could be seen as a 25 day Spiritual Adventure will climax with our Spiritual Renewal Weekend on Januay 23 - 25 with Dr. Jack Eyestone and Leaving 99.


Last Sunday night, Gloria and I were blessed to be at Sapulpa for a revival service with Rev. Greg Rickey. I took a few pictures:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFzA
Pastor Don Cowan told me, "we have raised $2643 for our Thanksgiving meals for Others. We anticipate that we will be able to feed almost 100 families. Wow! That truly is a God thing! We are working cooperatively with Sapulpa Community Care. This is the biggest offering ever from any one church." This is coming right after an incredible display of giving to others by the Sapulpa Church in the Centennial Celebration. When Don came to the church in April, 2007, his passion was "Others". It sure looks like that is now the passion of the entire congregation. Praise the Lord!

Churches, let's continue to be strive to be high impact churches. Our next session of "How to Grow a High Impact Church", will be Monday, Nov. 24, 6:30 pm at Tulsa Central Church in the Kannady Family Life Center. Chip Ingram will be teaching on the Law of Liberation and the Law of Structure. Call me if you have any questions.

The article below highlights the need for good planning. Let's continue to update and implement our action plans!

Small Churches Struggle with Planning
Small churches often get most of the equation right when it comes to making progress, but the one major mistake they make is poor planning, according to results from a recent study by LifeWay Research.
The study shows that an overwhelming majority of pastors of small churches (94%) say they see the need and problems in their community that the church has been called to address, and eight out of 10 say they share with their congregation a clear and compelling picture of what God is calling their church to look like in several years. But 67 percent of pastors of small churches — congregations that average fewer than 100 in primary worship attendance — say they are frustrated with how slow progress is being made at their churches.
Scott McConnell, associate director of LifeWay Research, says, "Understanding God's calling and the context of the church is important, but leadership requires knowing where you are, knowing where you need to go and knowing how to get there. Most pastors of small churches actively pursue the first two, but many struggle with the third."
Of the 350 Southern Baptist pastors surveyed, only 29 percent strongly agreed that they had a clear plan to transform their churches into what God wanted them to be. Thirty percent agreed that they are confused about where they should invest their own time and effort. And although 70 percent of the pastors said their church budget was enough to fund current objectives, 40 percent agreed that their church rarely has time to reflect and plan properly. For instance, two-thirds of the small churches rarely change the person in charge of certain work or responsibilities. And less than six in ten churches regularly review methods and results of events and programs.
McConnell encourages small churches to "stop and evaluate what they are doing and who is doing it." He added, "Pastors who candidly assess their own strengths and weaknesses can surround themselves with leaders who have the talents that they lack. Each local church should seek out and utilize members gifted in organizing people and processes." [christianpost.com]


Have a blessed weekend!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Greetings in the strong name of Jesus! These have certainly been historic days in the USA. I am thankful to be a part of a democratic nation where we can participate in the political process. I am thankful that in our nation people from any race, gender or background has opportunity to advance to positions of power and influence. The late Tim Russert often quoted his dad as saying, “What a country!”

We, as Christians, have participated in the political process and now we must continue to pray for and support our elected leaders. At times our faithfulness to God and Scripture may call us to respectfully speak in opposition to the policies of our leaders. Many Christians believe that non-violent civil disobedience may even be an appropriate Christian response in some circumstances. But our basic Scriptural call is to pray for our leaders. And as we pray for our leaders, let’s also pray for a revived church and for courageous clergy. As Charles Colson writes, “This is no time for Christians to go into bunkers. This is a time to repent, to pray more. It’s time for Christians to lead.”

A friend of mine, Rev. Fred Wenger, sent out the following prayer the morning after our elections this week. I commend it to you.

Father, I thank you that I live in the United States of America. I thank you for the opportunity to vote and let my voice be heard. Now that my vote and the votes of millions of Americans have been counted, I thank you that we have a clear choice for President. Teach his supporters the grace of winning. Now Father, I pray that you will be with President-Elect Obama and his family. Let them seek and find your grace as they enter this new phase of life. Surround them with your protection.

I ask that you guide President-Elect Obama as he forms his government. Please guide him towards the most godly, capable and upright among us. Help him make wise choices. Give him wisdom and advisors who will be able to lead us out of the huge financial mess. Give him wisdom and advisors who will find adequate responses to other pressing problems. Give him wisdom and advisors who will enable us to walk tall on the world's stage. Give him wisdom and advisors who will be able to bring an honorable resolution to Iraq and other troubled areas. Give him wisdom and advisors who will be able to guide him in dealing with those who would cause us harm from without.

I ask that you will bring into his circle of advisors and acquaintances, godly men and women who can keep his administration on a morally steady course. Ones who will point him towards a sensitivity and appreciation of moral values so many of us hold dear in regards to the life of the unborn. Let him and the ones around him continue to recognize the strong Christian heritage so many of us hold precious. Give him a heart to be the president of all the people.

Teach those of us who voted for John McCain the willingness to give him a chance, and a heart to pray for his success. Teach us to conduct the "watchdog" role with grace and decorum. God forbid that any among us be unChristlike in lifting up Jesus Christ.

Father, please lift up from among us those who can and will be used to bring revival and renewal to our nation and our world.

In the name of Jesus I pray, amen.

Last week, Gloria and I had the privilege of sharing in our District Ministers and Mates’ Retreat in Branson. What a great group of pastors and spouses we serve alongside! Thank you NEO churches for making it possible for your pastors to attend. On Sunday we worshiped with Pastor Geoff Gunter and the wonderful folks at Regency Park. Pictures of both events are below:

Ministers and Mates Retreat
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFiA

Regency Park Nov. 08
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFqg

Americans Keep Giving Even in Tough Times
While the recent economic downturn has caused many churches and non-profit organizations to wonder what the last two months of the year may hold in store, two recent studies suggest that, even amid tough times, Americans will keep giving.

A national survey of online consumers released this week finds that 51 percent (89 million people) plan to donate to nonprofit groups via the Internet in November and December. The study, which was commissioned by Convio Inc., a Texas-based maker of online donation software, estimates that online giving to charities will top $3 billion during this holiday season.

A related report, released in September by Giving USA Foundation, surprisingly shows that, over the past 40 years, times of recession and economic slowdown have not had a major impact on charitable giving. The research reveals that, during recessions since 1969, total giving has only dropped by an average rate of one percent. "It's important at this juncture for cooler heads to prevail and for non-profits to not listen to those who would claim the sky is falling," said George C. Ruotolo Jr., past chairman of Giving USA Foundation. "Those charities with a clear and compelling case and an established loyal donor constituency will continue to succeed, even in difficult times." [GivingUSA Foundation, yahoo.com]

Have a blessed weekend!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Greetings! I was having email problems last Friday (I think my computer was upset at me for being gone to Ministers and Mates Retreat for a few days.) Anyway, I apologize for not getting a blog posted at the end of last week.

Rachel Bess, our District Children’s Quiz Director reports: We had our first Area Quiz this past Saturday at Central. We had eight churches participating with 59 quizzers (29 Red Level and 30 Blue Level) and many parents, grandparents and friends attended. We have 63 quizzers registered for the year. All went great and the Blue Level adapted to the power point with their quizzes exceptionally well. Thanks to all the directors, coaches and parents for working so hard with these children to teach them the Book of Exodus.

Our pastors and local leaders did an outstanding job of getting their monthly attendance reports into the District office last week. Many had great gains over a year ago:

NEO Top Ten Leaders
S.S.
Claremore +45
R.P. Hispanic +35
Collinsville +33
Sapulpa +32
Drumright +27
Tulsa Family +35
Sand Springs +20
Tahlequah +9
Owasso Silver Creek +6
Horton Chapel +5

AM Worship
BA Connection +99
Claremore +52
R.P. Hispanic +38
Owasso Silver Creek +31
Sand Springs +28
Dewey +24
Nowata +10
Miami New Life +9
Skiatook +7
Coweta +6

I always love to read what our pastors are celebrating each month. I trust you find it encouraging as well:

I want to celebrate...
David Stevens, Vinita Overall the Vinita Church is doing well. Attendance is up. The spirit of the services is improving as we focus on celebration, fellowship, worship, and changing our focus to “Others.”

Claude Guy, Sand Springs We baptized 5 children this month - 4 of which come to church through our van ministry. The night before we had a teen activity in which 27 teens showed up to participate. Out of the 27 teens, 25 of them were here the next morning for Sunday School. That Sunday was one of our biggest attended services we have had in quite some time --- 96 for Sunday School and 142 for our Morning Worship. It is great to see how God is working in and through the lives of our children and youth!

Rodney Durr, Muskogee First A wave of visitors this month that has really helped our momentum, four baptized, and three new Nazarenes

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central Exceeded our Faith Promise goal of $75,000 in covenant commitments on Sunday, October 26. Had a very well received Battle Plan for Believers seminar with Steve Laswell. Our Centennial Celebration was a very positive and inspirational day.

Stephen Hundley, Cleveland We had a great revival w/ Dr. Alan Duce!

Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life I’m thankful for my loving church family who blew my family away with their generosity shown towards us during pastor appreciation month. They took up a love offering and surprised us with a check that we used to install bricks in our new addition of our home. God is so good!

Angela Bentley, Bristow This week we are celebrating one year since we started our new outreach ministry to children and youth. We have named it Wednesday Night Live! It continues to grow as our youth invite new friends almost weekly and more adults are becoming involved. Most often our WNL attendance is greater than our AM Worship attendance, but many of them are beginning to attend Sunday School and worship so we will soon see it affect those averages as well. We have grown so fast that we quickly developed a need for added transportation for WNL and outings. We began praying for this need and God honored our obedience to His direction in an amazing way! Central Church has donated a van to our ministry! Praise the Lord! God is so good! It has been so exciting to see our people realize that this is what God wants to do with us and our resources! And when He loves them enough to send such a definite affirmation of their labors such as the van – it is overwhelming!

Gordon Smith, III Dewey Our Centennial celebration/Church Homecoming! We had a tremendous service, with a number of guests and visitors. We finished painting the hallway and stairwell of our church (before the Centennial Celebration), and we are nearly finished with our painting project! The recommitment of a couple in our church who has decided that they desire to pass down a heritage of Christ-like love to their children. Their family, a few years ago was on the verge of falling apart, but God grabbed a hold of this couple and they are a family that is following Jesus! God is still in the business of restoring marriages! We have hired on two new staff members. One person is going to be our “Family Life Pastor” whose goal is to connect our children and youth to the congregation while also connecting with the parents on how to better serve them. And the other person is going to be our “Baby Boomer Pastor” (don’t have an official title yet), but he is going to focus on ministering to the age group from about 40-60 years in age. We are excited about what God is doing, and looking forward at what God is going to do in the future!

Don Nichols, Tahlequah Centennial Celebration Saturday October 4, 2008. We had over 400 in attendance. We concluded the event with reenactment of Pilot Point Business Meeting.

Gerald James, Claremore 166 people from our congregation participated in our "GO" event. In addition, we had approximately 20 people who came out to the cookout because they were pre-invited and 30 people came out because we invited them between 11:00am and 12:00noon on Sunday. The worship service at the park was beautiful and several people made new commitments to Christ. Four of those people are going through Basic Bible Studies. A couple more families joined our church this month. We also have a few more families going through our church information class. Our Centennial Sunday Celebration was great!

Don Cowan, Sapulpa The excitement of the “Next 100 Years results” We continue to pray with and for South County Community church

David Rogers, Mannford I want to celebrate new roofs and rain gutter on church and parsonage. The greatest celebration for us this month was the opportunity to go and minister to the residents at Cimarron Pointe. We enjoyed being with the residents. We worshipped with them in music and through the Word.

Nathan Burns, Owasso Silver Creek We recently had a Sunday Night Youth Led Worship Service and had 101 in attendance. .Financially we are doing well, God is faithful! We had an outreach event for Jr. High Students and had 25 in attendance (We only have three Jr High Students). We also collected 280 lbs of food for the Owasso Resource Center. On the 19th God's Spirit fell upon our church in an incredible way and we got out of the way and allowed His Spirit to lead. It was the best service we have had to date.

Wayde Normandin, Chelsea We are moving forward on accomplishing our goals this year. Three of our goals for building a healthy church are in progress. First, we are building a strong financial picture at the church by tracking finances using the NTS accounting system, paying budget allocations on time and building an emergency fund. Second, we have also made needed repairs to the church which is helping to enhance the image of the church in the community. This month we resurfaced our front parking lot, replaced two exterior doors and jams, hung exterior siding and soffits on the church. In addition, we installed a new window in the nursery. Our new roof is completed and leak free. Next month's plans will be new carpeting for the church entry way and further improvements to the church nursery. Third, Sunday, November 2, we are coming together as a church to begin THE QUEST, a 40-day spiritual adventure. This journey is designed to bring our church to a new level of unity, spiritual maturity and enthusiasm.

Alan McBroom, Davenport Our Church Board has been fired up about reaching people for Christ in such a way that our vision and ministries are becoming more sharply focused!

James Wilson, Barnsdall We had an exciting visitor this week from the spouse of a regular attendee. This individual rarely has very much to do with the church, but chose to attend Sunday worship this past week.

James Wilson, Pawhuska Highs and lows this month with a high of 77 on the Centennial and a low of 31 last week (many members traveling).

Brad Farnsworth, Connection New people every Sunday; baptized three adults, including a husband and wife; three more waiting to be baptized; there is a positive note among all our volunteers

Jake Reese, Pryor Two new ladies coming to Christ: Jamie Coblentz and Ronee Ayotte.

Kim Kent of Southwest Church We are having Rocky Calmus speak at the Berryhill School Auditorium November 8, 2008, Saturday, at 7:00 p.m. Following him will be the Justin Colfield Band. The tickets are $5 in advance and $7 at the door. If anyone wants a ticket, please have them contact me either via email or (918) 857-8006. All proceeds will go to the Berryhill Schools for drug testing. This was prompted due to the death of a 16 year old boy this last summer, drugs given to him by his father. He was the oldest of 4 boys, and his grandparents and brothers go to our church.

Hope you have a blessed week! You are loved!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

I have had the chance to visit with many of our pastors the past few days. I am impressed with their competence, but even more so with their heart for God and passion for the mission of the church. Pastors, let me add my voice to others who are telling you “we appreciate you”!

Our Ministers and Mates retreat is next Tuesday through Thursday in Branson. Pray that it will be a time of meaningful fellowship and renewal.

Last Sunday I had the privilege of worshipping with the Barnsdall and Pawhuska congregations. Pastor Jim Wilson leads both of these churches. I was treated to good preaching (Jim), warmth and love (both congregations) and good food (Pawhuska). I also was a judge for a Cake decorating contest (my first…and hopefully my last!). See pictures at the following links:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFZg Barnsdall
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFRA Pawhuska

NEO Nazarene Youth International News

I am very grateful for the leadership Doug Gunsalus has given our NYI for the past two years. Unfortunately, Doug has more on his plate than he can say grace over – husband, father of a six month old, starting a new church, taking classes to finish his BA. For several months, Doug has been considering the need to step down from his leadership of NYI and he sent me a letter of resignation two weeks ago. He has made this decision prayerfully and carefully, so we support Doug in his decision.

Kevin Williams, our Vice President, is very willing to help in any way but feels he does not have time to take away from work to devote to this demanding job.

I met last week with our NYI Executive Council, and with their support, I will be recommending Jonathan Odom, Youth Pastor at Broken Arrow First Church, to serve as President until our next NYI Convention. Our NYI Council will meet on Nov. 6 to vote on Jonathan and to plan for exciting events for the next seven months.

Due to recent unexpected changes in the government in South Africa, and the current financial situation in the United States, the Northeast Oklahoma District NYI Executive Council thought it was in the best interest of all students and sponsors, to cancel our June 2009 travel plans to that region. Our Northeast Oklahoma District NYI delegation to the Global NYI Convention will travel to Orlando, Fla. instead. All monies paid in for the trip will be returned. The NEO NYI Golf Tournament fundraiser to be held at the Golf Club of Oklahoma on Monday, Nov 3, 2008 is also cancelled. Thanks so much for supporting our NEO NYI. Pray for our Nazarene brothers and sisters in South Africa.

Fall Retreat ’08 is Nov. 14 – 16 at Cave Springs. In these times of economic concern, I am pleased that our Fall Retreat is still the same price it was seven years ago. Thanks NYI for keeping our costs low. Call Ryan Amey with any questions (520-0286).

Our 30 Hour Planned Famine will again begin the day before our District Spiritual Renewal Emphasis. A Lock-in with games, worship and food to break the fast are planned for after the service on January 23. Cost for everything will only be $5 per person.

Marriage and Family News

NPH is carrying materials related to the movie Fireproof that has been showing in theatres across America. Fireproof small group resources and the book The Love Dare can be found at www.nph.com/go/marriage.You can call or go online to place orders and some quantity discounts apply.

The OMI is bringing our “Relationship U” workshop to the University of Tulsa campus on Saturday, October 25th. The workshop will run from 11:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m. with check-in beginning at 10:30 a.m. This workshop will include some of the key PREP concepts (Speaker/Listener, XYZ statements) and will also incorporate new info (the Relationship Action Model, 7 Principles of Smart Love) and is geared toward college students. As always, engaged participants will qualify for the discounted marriage license. We are asking you to think about any contacts you may have at TU or with students in general. Maybe some of you are alumni of TU, have children or friends attending, or just know of a cool coffee shop in your neighborhood where you could post the flier. If so, please pass along this information and let Amanda Carter (amanda.carter@publicstrategies.com or 405-473-3678) know if you need printed copies of the flier. And if you’re on MySpace, you can check out our Relationship U page at www.myspace.com/relationshipU. Registration information is available there or at www.okmarriage.net/event.

Have a blessed weekend!
Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Aren't you thankful for good books! Last week I read a little book of practical wisdom by S. Truett Cathy, It's Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men. Cathy not only has a passion for the boneless breast of chicken sandwich (he is the founder of Chick-fil-A), but he seems to have a greater passion for mentoring and teaching Sunday School to 13 year old boys. (Oh, how I pray that every church in NEO will have someone with this passion!) Cathy's life was gripped by this verse while he was in grade school: "A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches, and loving favour rather than silver or gold." Proverbs 22:1

This week I have been reading in Joseph M. Stowell's book, Coming Home, The Soul's Search for Intimacy with God. Be encouraged today by this quote: "While we have life and breath God will not cease to pursue a rewarding, deepening intimacy with us. He is not content to leave us alone. His unceasing, unconditional love for each of us compels Him. He wants to meet us at intersection of every dream, every desire, every choice, every thought and He urges us to turn toward Him and actualize the finished work of His Son, the gift of the Spirit and the resource of His Word. He welcomes us to begin a pilgrimage that puts our backs toward the aloneness in our souls and turns our faces toward the spectacular glow of intimacy with Him - towward life the way it was meant to be."

What a wonderful day I had last Sunday on the NEO District. I started by worshipping with and preaching to the wonderful congregation at Coweta. They had a surpise birthday party for Pastor Gerald Burch at the end of the service.

Coweta Church, October 12, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFAA

That afternoon I joined our Hispanic Coordinator, Otoniel Danneman, in organizing Regency Park Iglesia del Nazareno, led by Pastor Mito Marroquin. There were 80 people in attendance and I understand about 46 of them are the charter members of this new church. Thanks to Pastor Geoff Gunter and Regency Park for hosting this congregation.

Organization service for Regency Park Iglesia del Nazareno, October 12, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTE_g

On Sunday evening I went to Tulsa Central to join in the laughter and fun of a dinner theater, Uncle Phil's Diner #2. Ed Burguiere and the cast and crew did an outstanding job.

Uncle Phil’s Diner, #2 at Tulsa Central, October 12, 2008
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTFIg

NYI FALL RETREAT 08, NOV 14-16, 2008
CAVE SPRINGS, 7750 S. 655 ROAD, QUAPAW, OK 74363
SPEAKER :Tim Evans from Cornerstone Church of the Nazarene Little Rock, Arkansas.
BANDChristine DeMeo Band: She was the guitarist from the band that played at summer camp.
ANY QUESTIONS CALL RYAN AMEY 918-520-0286

Have a blessed weekend!
Dave

Dear NEO family,

I have heard many wonderful reports about the Centennial Celebration in churches across the District. It seems obvious from scripture that God likes to have his people gather for times of festival and celebration. It is good to give thanks for his activity in our midst and to claim his leadership for the future. We have a wonderful heritage to celebrate…and best of all, God is not finished with us. May we unite in seeking God’s power to “make Christlike disciples in the nations!”

Gloria and I had the privilege of celebrating the Centennial with South County Community Church. This was launch Sunday and Pastor Doug and Lecia and all of the launch team did a great job, including having rockets launching at the end of the service. Pictures of our visit are available at the link below:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEug

I also was able to attend a revival service at Broken Arrow 1st last week. Pastor Larry Morris and the BA family have done a fantastic job of remodeling and updating their facilities. See pictures below:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTE3A

Praise and prayer requests:

Regency Park Iglesia del Nazareno will be officially organized this Sunday afternoon at 3pm. Join Pastor Mito and Nina Marroquin and this growing church family as we celebrate this milestone. We thank our Hispanic Coordinator, Otoniel Dannemann, founding pastor Francisco Gonzalez and Pastor Geoff Gunter and the people of Regency Park for their contribution to this church.

Gordon and Stephanie Smith were blessed with a new baby boy, Isaiah Gordon Smith, last Tuesday.

Don and Jaci Engie were blessed with the arrival of Breana Rachel Engie on Friday.

Elaine Narron has been having some heart issues, but tests showed no blockage.

Stan Meek and Pryor Pastor Jake Reese are now in China and appreciate your prayers for their work.

Gloria Dannemann is still detained and in legal battles in Argentina.

Manna House Ministries continues to stand with us in the battle to supply food, clothing, prayer support and counseling for the financially depressed citizens in the NEO Oklahoma areas. For July through September they served 942 families and 3,187 individuals.

SNU Tulsa has great programs that could benefit you!
Southern Nazarene University Tulsa now has two Master's degrees in Nursing. Master's of Science in Nursing Education and Master's of Science in Nursing Leadership. For more information call 918-664-4100 or e-mail jcottam@snu.edu.

What: Family Studies and Gerontology BS Program
for people who have at least 60 hours from an accredited school.

When: Orientation M 11/10 and first class on Nov. 17. Classes only one night per week for approximately 15 months

Where: SNU Tulsa (11th and HY 169)
Laptops given to this group!!

Contact: Jeri Mann (918) 664-4100

You are loved!
Dave McKellips

Dear NEO Nazarenes,

After many months of preparation, it is finally here - Centennial Celebration Sunday. As I hear of all of the creative ways you are celebrating this special day, it makes me want to be in 44 churches on Sunday. I will have the privilege of being with Pastor Doug Gunsalus as we launch our restart in Glenpool. Pray for the SoCo Community Church as they attempt to be an impact church in South County.

October is Pastor Appreciation Month. SNU is having a Pastor Appreciation Day on Tuesday, October 14. We conclude the month with a fun-filled retreat for our pastors. I trust every church will make efforts throughout the month to honor our pastors and let them know how much we love and appreciate them.

Your educational budget payment benefits SNU students from NEO! As you may know, when our District pays over 90% of our educational budget, the amount paid over 90% is awarded back to SNU students from our district. The total amount over 90% this year was $8,549.29, giving our 27 students a grant of $316 for the year. Thanks for your generosity which allows us to assist our worthy students.

I WANT TO CELEBRATE…

Don Cowan, Sapulpa: We had our 3rd Annual Block Party and had a great turn out. We were able to minister to 77 teens and adults and 55 children in our neighborhood though free music, food and games.

Jim Wilson, Barnsdall: We are forging ahead with our goal to pay all budgets this year and doing well enough that it may happen early.

Jim Wilson, Pawhuska: Our 2nd Bi-annual Biker Breakfast was a grand success with 125-130 Bikers in attendance, and $300 in unsolicited offerings. We continue to strive to show the love of Christ to this section of our community. Our next Breakfast is in May. We also raised $1000 for our Alabaster offering (which was our goal and a record high for Pawhuska).

Gerald James, Claremore: Finally breaking ground on our new parking lot and family life center. We baptized four new converts. We had 20 people joined our church last weekend and about 10-15 more will be joining this weekend.

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central: I want to celebrate... Outstanding participation in Serve People Sunday (over 200 people signed up to serve at a dozen different projects around the metropolitan area). And some of those who were outwardly skeptical of the idea when it was first announced had a change of heart as a result of participating in the day. There was a real buzz and sense of momentum about the day, and I believe we’ll see positive repercussions from it.

Brett Rickey, Tulsa Family: Great weekend. We set a goal of 100 salvations for 5 weeks beginning Sept 7. To date, at least 40 have said yes to an invitation to receive Jesus and more have come back home. We baptized 20 Sunday night in a little lined pit we dug on the land. The steel on our building will go up beginning this week.

H Gordon Smith III, Dewey: The baptism of Robert Hahn Jr., a 13 year old young man that has taken the step to say to the rest of the world that he has decided to follow Jesus! A couple is going to have a re-commitment wedding ceremony in October because God is renewing their marriage and family! God has taken a family that was on the brink of falling apart and this is their testimony: “We want to pass down a greater heritage than the heritage that has been passed down to us!” Praise God for people who are standing up for Jesus! The fragrance of Christ-like love is abundant in the hearts of the people!

Angela Bentley, Bristow: On September 3rd 16 of our children and youth made personal decisions for Christ! On September 28th we baptized 11 of them, with nine more planning to be baptized soon! Some of our young people are really starting to grow spiritually and we are detecting a sense of hunger in many of them. I believe God is bringing revival and He is beginning it in the hearts of our young people and those who work closest with them.

Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life: Great centennial pre-celebration services and small group studies.

Don Nichols, Tahlequah: Preparation for our Centennial Celebration continues. The whole community seems excited about our celebration.


Don Cowan, Sapulpa: Celebrating our 100th anniversary with the community of Sapulpa. We continue to work with South County Community Church

David Stevens, Vinita: Progress on the building repairs is going well; About 60-70% complete. We changed the order of the Morning Service and added worship choruses. Everyone is making comments about how much they like the new style of service. Carol Stevens (pastor’s wife) is doing very well and often walks without her cane around the house. She still uses it at work and out in public to help with balance. Her therapy is focused on building muscle strength now.

Stephen Hundley, Cleveland: We kicked off our new vision and a new ministry (Community Groups), which meet on Sunday evenings. We are excited about the response, so far. We were averaging 30 on Sunday Evenings. This month we averaged 43. Un-churched, pre-Christians have attended a couple groups. Praise God! People who wouldn’t ordinarily come to a church building came to church in someone’s home. That is what it’s all about…reaching people for Christ!

Wayde Normandin, Chelsea: We put a new roof on the church this month. The old roof was damaged by hail and declared a total lost by our insurance company. New family attending the church.

Jim Thornton, Tulsa Hills: Another baby dedication. THC is becoming baby-central around here. Fresh passion for God’s presence in the life of the preacher.

NEO Leaders
September 2008

Church S. S.
1. Claremore +41
2.RP Hispanic +35
3. Pryor +20
4. Drumright +18
5. Broken Arrow +14
6. Dewey +9
7. Regency Park +8
8. Sand Springs +5
9. Nowata +2
10. Hominy +1

Church AM
1. BA Connection +102
2. RP Hispanic +40
3. Claremore +25
4. Dewey +15
5. Broken Arrow +13
6. Sand Springs +8
7. Mannford +3
8. Chandler +2
8. Collinsville +2
8. Drumright +2
9. Skiatook +1

Pastor Geoff Gunter of Tulsa Regency Park is organizing a W&W trip to the TX coast for November 10-15. AT this point the work project will depend on the progress up to that point but the work could consist of clearing trees, removing debris from previously flooded houses and remodeling. Each participant will be responsible to raise support for their own expenses and possibly provide money for some materials. Arrangements are being made to sleep in a church. Please email Geoff at Pastorg@regencypark.org if you have any interest.

Dear NEO Nazarene,

About 20 of us were at SNU on Monday and Tuesday for the Gallup Strengths Summit. It was good information - probably more than we could absorb in 24 hours. You will continue to hear more about this in months ahead. All of us in attendance want to be more self-aware of our own God-given talents so we can begin to use and develop them into strengths and then be catalysts for others to discover and use their own strengths. As Joe Cavananaugh, our Gallup instructor said, "Don't try to put in what God left out. Instead, try to draw out what God put in."

Last Sunday, Gloria and I had the privilege to attend Sand Springs. What a treat to see the beautiful remodeled facilities and to worship with Pastor Claude and Betty Guy and this wonderful church family. To see pictures, click on the link below:
Sand Springs, September 21
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEdg

Our Work and Witness Coordinator, Jerry Wilburg writes: In response to damage done by Hurricane Ike in the USA, Nazarene Disaster Response is now making an appeal for chainsaw teams and cleanup teams who can respond to Texas as soon as possible. Interested parties should contact National NDR Director Steve Creech at 252-876-8720 or screech@ncmi.org.
If there are any persons wanting to organize a group to go down to Houston or just want to participate in a group I will try to connect the interested parties. I am not able to make a trip myself at this time but if I know of a group going down, I will be able to connect individuals to those opportunities.

Also, Crisis Care Kits are low in supply due to the unusually active Hurricane season.

God continue to work through our NewStarts. Brad Farnsworth writes about answers to prayer at Connection Church:
1. Single mom came Sunday and approached me after the service, with tears in her eyes, saying that the message was just what she needed and had been asking God about.
2. A recovering addict said that all week he asks God questions and then he shows up on Sunday and God answers them. He said he plans to just keep coming each week so he can get his questions answered.
3. Young mom, out of church for 5 years, has started coming. Sunday her husband (who said he would not go back to church) showed up and then came to our event at the park.
4. Young man, who said he would never go to church, showed up 2 weeks ago and loved it.
5. Mom, who never goes to church and is struggling in her marriage, came up front a few weeks ago with tears in her eyes saying she is finding hope for the first time in a long time.
6. My 10 year old son's best friend has been dragging his dad to church every Sunday because he loves it.
7. A young teen, who thinks Jesus isn't really the Son of God, has been coming to learn more and has been bringing his dad along with him.
8. An elderly lady, who felt her life was meaningless and asked God to take her home, has found new life and is coming each week.
9. A gentlemen, who was raised Hindu, has come and has been open to learning more about Jesus Christ.
10. Visitors every weekend. Seven brand new families attended just last week.

Thanks again for your continued prayers.

Doug Gunsalus writes: South County Community Church is on it's way. We are only a week and a half away from our Launch Date. WOW! I can't believe that we are already here! However, the excitement is overwhelming and the movement of God is almost tangible among our congregation. We are excited about what God is going to do with this small group of people. This past Sunday at our sneak preview service we had 76 people and nearly 20 brand new guests! It was a great sunday!

God is good....all the time.

You are loved!
Dave

Dear NEO family,

I was blessed to attend Family Church’s Celebrate Recovery last Saturday. This CR meets at Tulsa Faith. Recently, through the generous monetary gift of Sand Springs Church and two works days involving Family Church volunteers and Faith Pastor Jerry Holley, this church had a major “makeover”. The facilities look fantastic. The service was outstanding, helping people find help and hope through Jesus.

I loved the ovations for those who had been walking in victory for 30 days, 60 days, 90 days, six months and a year. I think the Lord of the church must be pleased when he sees the church doing as his Word instructs – encouraging one another and spurring one another on to love and good deeds. Keep up the good work Pastor Buddy and Alicia Davis and all of the CR team!

Celebrate Recovery Pictures http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEVA

Gloria and I were privileged to share in an exciting service and groundbreaking ceremony at Claremore on Sunday. This church is impacting the community and busting at the seams. They just started a Celebrate Recovery two weeks ago. Great days are ahead for Pastor J.J. and Heather James and this great church of ministers.

Claremore Ground Breaking Pictures http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEVA

WHAT: NYI Summer End Blowout
WHEN: Sunday September 21, 2008
WHERE: YMCA Owasso, Ok
TIME: 6:15 P.M. to whenever
COST: $15 includes pizza and drink and to do everything at the YMCA. The YMCA has a indoor pool, basketball court, volleyball court, workout room, and more.
Come and have some fun with us at the Y


Zone Clusters met at District Assembly. Pastors shared their churches’ Mission Action Plan on behalf of the churches and were prayed for. It is now time for follow up on progress and on-going prayer and support. The following Zone Clusters will meet on Sept. 29:
6:00pm Northeast Zone, Cowboy Junction Restaurant in Vinita
6:30pm Southwest Zone, Bristow Church
7:00pm Northwest Zone, Hominy Church

October is pastor appreciation month. Plan now to remember your
pastors and their families next month.

October 5 - Centennial Celebration
The International Church of the Nazarene will be celebrating its 100th year all around the world. Every church will participate in this global wide worshipevent. Each church across the continents will hear the same scriptures, the same message of God's holy love proclaimed, and partake in the sacrament of Holy Communion . Be in prayer now that the Lord will renew and empower the
Church of the Nazarene for a new century!

Elizabeth Johnson returns from chaplaincy volunteer work. She writes: Greetings. I just wanted to say a quick hello. I got back from my time with Red Cross last evening. This was for Hurricane Gustav work and preparation for Ike. I was in New Orleans and Baton Rouge. It was truly wonderful to see people so committed to helping others and being with them in such need. I felt so blessed to be part of this group even if it was for a limited time.

it, How Churches and Leaders Can Get it and Keep it, by Craig Groeschel

I was challenged by hearing Pastor Craig Groeschel last week at the SNU Pastor’s Training Day. I bought his book and was challenged even more as I read it this week. What is “it”? It is not a model, system, or result of programs. The best explanation, according to Craig, is what God does through a rare combination of these qualities found in his people:
Passion for his presence
A deep craving to reach the lost
Sincere integrity
Spirit-filled faith
Down-to-earth humility
Brokenness

I will probably flesh this out more in coming weeks, but let me share a summary of what Craig says contributes to a church having “it”:

Vision: You can see it clearly
· Without a vision, the people will never get it and keep it.
· It doesn’t show up on its own. It follows big vision.
· The vision must be memorable, portable, and motivational.
· You can’t over communicate vision!

Divine Focus: You know where it is not
· Those who do it all tend to lose.
· The clearer your vision becomes, the easier it is to guard what God calls you to do.
· Instead of saying “and”, maybe you need to say “or.”
· If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.
· To be great at a few things and experience it, you’ll have to say no to many things.
· When focus increases, options decrease
· Those who have it stick with what brings it.

Unmistakable Camaraderie: You enjoy it with others
· The people on teams that have it enjoy it together.
· As long as you’re afraid of intimacy and spiritual partnership, you likely won’t experience it.
· To have it, you have to share it with each other, It dies when it is alone.
· Leaders with it understand the big picture, have fun, get naked, celebrate the wins, and fight behind closed doors.

Innovative Minds: You’ll do anything for it
· God often guides by what he doesn’t provide.
· Increasing Passion + Limited Resources = Exponential Innovation.
· You have everything you need to do what God wants you to do.
· Innovative leaders do anything short of sin to reach the lost.
· “All it takes on one idea to solve an impossible problem” (Robert Schuller).

Willingness to Fall Short: You fail toward it
· Failure is not an option. It is a necessity.
· If you’re not failing, you’ve stopped dreaming. You’ll eventually stop learning. And you will stop growing. Those who have it fail often.
· Failure is often the tuition for success (adapted from Walter Brunell).
· Great leaders learn the art of failing forward.

Hearts Focused Outward: You and other to have it
· When we love deeply, love makes us do things we wouldn’t otherwise do.
· To have it, we have to care about those who are far from God. Many people don’t.
· When our churches look inward instead of outward, we’re basically saying to nonbelievers, “You can just go to hell.”
· Be careful not to blame yourself if someone rejects Christ. If you do, you might be tempted to take credit when someone accepts him.
· Love overcomes obstacles.

Kingdom-Mindedness: You share it
· The more possessive and competitive we are, the more divided we become.
· A kingdom-minded ministry is more about what God is doing everywhere than what God is doing in your own ministry.
· A kingdom-minded ministry is generous and hungry to partner with others to get more done for the glory of God.
· When you have it, you know that it doesn’t belong to you. It belongs to God. He gives it. Since it is his and not yours, you’re willing to share it.
· The more you try to keep it, the less of it you tend to have. The more you are wiling to give it away, the more of it God seems to give.

As we seek God wholeheartedly, I pray God will make this next century years of harvest!

You are loved,
Dave

Dear NEO Nazarenes,

We had a great turnout from NEO for the Pastor's Training Day at SNU last Monday. 39 pastors were challenged by Craig Groeschel, founding pastor of Life Church. We have 20 pastors signed up for the Strengths Summit on Sept. 22 - 23. I appreciate our pastors commitment to on-going development and growth.

Recent visits have taken Gloria and I to Mannford and Wagoner. Use the links below to see some of the beautiful people who are a part of these church families:

Mannford: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTEEA&emid=sharview&linkid=link5

Wagoner: http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTD6A&emid=sharview&linkid=link5

Angie Bentley shared an outstanding report with me a few days ago from Bristow: Last week several of our Wednesday night youth were asking about baptism. Today I presented a very simple basic salvation message with visual aides. 16 KIDS ASKED JESUS INTO THEIR HEARTS! MOST OF THEM PLAN TO BE BAPTIZED IN CONJUNCTION WITH OUR CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION ACTIVITIES!! Praise the Lord - 10 months of labor is seeing some harvest!

Pastor Brad Farnsworth reports a wonderful lauch Sunday at Connections Church. Keep praying for our NewStarts and for our Hispanic Coordinator, Otoniel Dannemann and his wife, Gloria. Gloria is still detained in Argentina. God is giving her strength and peace, but we are praying for her quick release.

I am excited to get to preach and be a part of a ground breaking cermony at Claremore this Sunday. I will take my umbrella!

You are loved,
Dave

Five Stages of Renewal
Every time a new reformation has come, five renewals have preceded it. The awakening and reformation of the global church will begin with local churches and with the same five renewals preceding this movement, says Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. [christianpost.com]
Personal Renewal: It starts with the heart. You might call it rededicating your life, being filled with the Spirit, or the "deeper life." The bottom line is to fall in love with Jesus again and, all of a sudden, it's not about religion and rituals; it's about a relationship with Jesus.
Relational Renewal: After you get right with God, you've got to get right with others. When you have relational renewal in your church, the gossip goes down and the joy goes up. People hang around longer after the service when a church has been through relational renewal because they want to spend time together.
Missional Renewal: This is when a church discovers what God wants it to do and happens when we focus our churches on the God-given purposes of worship, fellowship, discipleship, ministry and evangelism.
Cultural Renewal: In this stage, God renews the culture of the church. Many pastors have tried to change the culture of the church without going through the other three renewals. There's a word for that, says Pastor Warren: martyrdom. Only God can change the culture of the church.
Structural Renewal: After a church has been through the first four renewals, it's going to outgrow the current structure. The structure that works for a church of 100 won't work for a church of 250 and so on.

NEO Weekly Update Nashville

Dear NEO family,

I am writing from Nashville where I have been attending the DS Leadership Development Program. It has been stimulating and refreshing. We head home later today.

My heart has been thrilled as I have read reports of how God is working throught NEO leaders and churches. See some of the reports below.

Elizabeth Johnson was deployed by the American Red Cross to serve on their SRT (Spiritual Response Team) in response to Hurricane Gustav. She is now serving as Disaster Relief Chaplain at a shelter in Baton Rogue, Louisiana.

Brad Farnsworth reports about Connection Church: This Sunday is the big event! Our GRAND OPENING!. After having 6 sneak previews (4 in August), we are ready to go. The Connection Café opens at 10:30 A.M. The Worship Service begins at 11:00 A.M. Connection City is open for the kids, birth through 5th grade, with Jupiter Jumps, fun activities and relevant teaching. Pastor Brad will be concluding his series on Full Court with a message about Reaching Out. You can log on to our website at www.connectionchurchwired.com for more information. We look forward to seeing you this Sunday at Rosa Parks Elementary School, just 1 mile north of the BA Expressway on 145th E Ave (N. Aspen). Bring your friends to this exciting Grand Opening service. Blessings on all on you. See you Sunday!

Doug Gunsalus reported several days ago about South County Community Church: Just wanted to let you know what an awesome day we had yesterday. In the morning, we had a closed service with just our people. I have gotten a lot of positive feedback from that and one other cool thing happened. A lady just showed up. She decided to come here. Just walked in off the street! Things like that are soooo awesome! Then, last night we had over 100 people in attendance at our community cookout. It was awesome! There were kids everywhere and we had several prospects come and say that they were looking for a church. We were so excited and our team was amazing. Connections were made and even one couple told us that they wanted to become a part of the launch team (they also came to our sneak preview service). God has been so good to us so far. I can't wait to see what he will do next!

Work day at Faith Church: Sept. 6, 9am – 4pm. Contact Buddy Davis, buddy@familychurch.tv if you need more information or to volunteer.

In their monthly reports, pastors tell us many other things to Celebrate:

Harold Johnson, Cushing I want to celebrate…Last month our church partnered with Valley Hope to raise money for a burn victim who attends our church. We raised over $500. PTL!

Gerald James, Claremore I want to celebrate…God moved miraculously in the life of a nine year old girl named Breighanna. Her story is amazing. She was saved the day before having a very serious surgery done on her skull. They did not expect her to make it through the surgery. She is now back in school on half days and is recovering well. Her family is now attending our church. To God be the glory!! Fifteen people from the Claremore community joined our Financial Peace University class this time. There is a new sense of revival brewing in our teen group.

Alan McBroom, Davenport I want to celebrate...We had an infant baptized this month. It was a great opportunity to share in the church’s responsibility in raising a child up in the Lord, as well as ministry to many new people.We also served 30 families this month with our clothes ministry!

Jim Wilson, Barnsdall I want to celebrate...We have had Revival Services this month with Marcus Whitworth and some guest Preachers, and saw some new and old faces in the pews. We had a combined morning worship with Pawhuska on the 24th with an all church luncheon afterwards.

Jim Wilson, Pawhuska I want to celebrate… Revival services this month, a combined worship with Barnsdall, new visitors and old friends, and we had one member (Walt Bellamy) defeat cancer this month and get “promoted” to heaven.

Don Nichols, Tahlequah I want to celebrate… A great Planning Session for our Centennial Celebration. Thankful for a Church that has a Heart to reach out to our community during the centennial celebration. We will have a great time at our community wide celebration and the reenactment of the Pilot Point Business Meeting on October 4th

Randy Schuneman, Bartlesville I want to celebrate… Great revival with Stephen Manley. Best I have experienced in 30 years!

Angela Bentley, Bristow I want to celebrate… We had our very first youth rally/revival and it was a great success! One young person accepted Jesus as his personal Savior and several other young people were helped! A few of our Wednesday night youth have been in church every Sunday since the revival! We raised enough funds to pay all expenses, give the band and speakers a love offering, and the turnout was good.

John Whitsett, Tulsa Central I want to celebrate…A really good first installment of my D. Min. program. Our new Student Ministries Pastor, Justin Hedges, arrived and is off to a wonderful start. There is a sense of optimism in the air.

Gordon Smith, Dewey I want to celebrate…“We Care” projects”. Each Sunday School class was asked to come up with one project that they could do in the community for the sake of Christ. For the last several months our “Life Lessons” Sunday school class has been collecting clothes for donation to give away to those in need in our community. On August 10th, we went to a community park and allowed for those in need to come and take what they needed, and we also provided some hot dogs, and something to drink. We were able to touch lives for the sake of Christ Jesus! We tangibly touched so many lives and received the blessing of the Lord as it is states in Acts 20:35, “Remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'” It was a joy to be the tangible hands of Christ to the community of Dewey. Church-Wide Jr. High Camping Trip. We put together a church-wide Jr. High camping trip. It was a lot of work and effort, but we were able to see many lives changed in the process, and despite the extreme heat that we experienced that week, we also experienced the graceful hand of God. We had a great time of fun and games, and we also had a great time of helping our young adults to mature in their faith, and to preach the gospel to those that no nothing of Christ Jesus! One young man, after talking to him about his relationship with the Lord, had already accepted Christ in heart, but he wanted to take another step of commitment in his relationship with Jesus and get baptized, which will happen this month. I also, want to celebrate a loving people here at Dewey. My two year review was this last month, and these fine folks have been kind enough to allow me to continue to serve them in the name of Christ Jesus, of which I am honored and humbled to do so. Our love as a church is continuing to soar, and, as Leo Tolstoy has written, “Where love is, there God is also.” I thank the Lord for what he has already done for our church, for what he is doing for our church, and for what he will do in our church and in our community for the sake of Christ!

Larry Morris, Broken Arrow I want to celebrate...Started training for starting 20 small groups to start in January. Recruited a launch team to develop a plan to start a worship service at the Manna house. Began a new comers class that introduces the ministries and doctrines of the church.

David Stevens, Vinita I want to celebrate...Reception of members Buddy, and Teresa Brown and their teenaged daughter. The family also includes a toddler and a 4-year-old. They have been attending for quite a while but finally wanted to commit. We also have had 6 different people who have come to ‘try the church’ and ended up coming back for several Sundays now. We have almost all of the insulation and sheet-rock back up in the Sunday School/Fellowship Hall annex. We were able to get the new ceiling finished in the hallway and fellowship hall and ceiling fan/lights installed just in time for our Missionary service with David Fraley. The church services have been blessed with the presence of the Lord and a closeness and love among the people. God is Good! Carol Stevens (pastor’s wife) continues to improve. She has been working at the school and using a walker to get around. For the last week she has been practicing with a 4-footed cane at home and at church. She drove her self to work this week. We thank God for all His help.

Gerald Burch, Coweta I want to celebrate… That our Father has supplied the resources for us to purchase an electronic piano, as well as a computer, video player, CD play, and projector, that will allow us to be creative in a variety of ways in different areas of ministry. Also that during a past Youth weekend event God stirred the hearts of our Youth. One young man, whose parents do not attend, has changed his work schedule so that he can regularly attend Sunday and Wednesday service.

NEO Leaders August 2008

S. S.
Drumright +23
Claremore +22
Tahlequah +17
Dewey +13
Broken Arrow +9
Owasso +9
Vinita +4

AM Worship
Owasso +30
Fuente de Vida +25
Claremore +25
Davenport +8
Tahlequah +6
Tulsa First +6
Coweta +2

God is at work. Great days are ahead!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

There are always pastors and laypersons on our District in need of your prayers. I don't often try to forward these requests on to the whole district, but today I am asking you to join in prayer for our Hispanic Coordinator and his wife, Otoniel and Gloria Dannemann. Gloria was detained in Argentina as she tried to leave the country a few weeks ago. The legal procedures have dragged on and the matter is now being referred to a provincial court. This has already been very costly financially and I am not sure the impact his is having on Gloria's job with the Jenks school system. As you can imagine, it is also very taxing emotionally on Gloria and Oto. Also, last Sunday Oto's father, a distinguished Nazarene educator and leader in Guatemala, died. Oto just returned from the funeral and is grieving the loss of his father. Join me in prayer for protection, deliverance, provision and comfort for this wonderful couple.

Each blog I send has a link to pictures from churches or events in NEO. If there are pictures from the shutterfly albums that you want to save, you should be able to go to the album and click on the picture you want. After it is enlarged, right click on the picture, scroll up to "save picture as" and save it to the file you choose on your computer. Let me know if you have any problems with this. We will be deleting some of the old pictures files in September, so save anything you need this week.

Below are pictures from our visit to Dewey last Sunday, August 17:
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Abt2TZizYsWTDyg

Youth leaders may want to check out the following: http://www.acquirethefire.com/ Tulsa, March 27-28, 2009 “Here Comes Trouble”

Tharon Daniels is retiring this month as DS of the Northwest Oklahoma District. He will certainly be missed by not only his District, but by all who serve in Oklahoma. Recently Tharon sent the following article to his district:

The Starbucks Experience
I have been reading a book called The Starbucks Experience: 5 principles for Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary. It is not a book about church growth, but it’s a business book with some simple principles that could apply to the church. In the first chapter, which is a discussion of Starbuck’s first basic principle, “Make it your own,” they emphasize “Five Ways of Being”. Their leaders allow a lot of freedom to their employees, as long as they stick to these five ways of being. These will apply to any business and especially to any church:
• Be welcoming: offer everyone a sense of belonging.
• Be genuine: at Starbucks, being genuine means to connect, discover and respond.
• Be considerate: For Starbucks that means looking out for the environment and for their suppliers, most of whom come from third world countries. Whose needs can you and your church consider?
• Be knowledgeable: When Starbucks leaders ask their partners to “be knowledgeable,” they are encouraging employees to “love what they do and share it with others”
• Be involved: being involved means active participation in the church, in your community and in the world.
There are four other major principles in the book: Everything matters; surprise and delight; embrace resistance; and leave your mark. Those are great principles for any pastor and any church.
By the way, Barbara and I were traveling through Albuquerque, NM a couple weeks ago and stopped at a Starbucks. We ordered our coffees, Barbara got hers but they forgot mine and I had to wait a couple of minutes while they fixed me another drink . . . to make sure that I was satisfied with my experience and to apologize for the oversight, they gave me a coupon for a free coffee drink the next time I am in a store. Instead of feeling slighted, I felt honored.
Blessings, Tharon.

Thanks for being committed to making your church the best it can be ... being a High-Impact Church! You are loved!

Dave McKellips