Dear NEO family,
What an absolutely wonderful week this has been weather wise! Whenever we have rain and temperatures in the 80’s during the last week of July, we feel blessed in Oklahoma. I hope the week has also brought showers of blessing to your life, your family and your church.
Some have asked about pictures of that beautiful girl born in Dallas on July 19. I just happen to have a few pictures of Elliana Nicole Mitchell that I can share:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerimitchell/sets/72157621690238657/
At one of the workshops I attended at General Assembly, Merritt Nielson spoke of the need for small group gatherings (Sunday School, home groups, etc) that compliment the large congregational assemblies. In the smaller groups people make friends (otherwise they make tracks…out the door); in the smaller group, people’s input is valued; the smaller group- Sunday School in most of our churches – is the church organized to carry out the Great Commission in tangible and practical ways.
Whatever you call these small gatherings, they need to…
Provide opportunity to study God’s word
Encourage life change
Cultivate relationships
Promote participation
Reproduce leaders
Provide care
Multiply and divide
District Boards meeting this month: Your input needed. Our District Sunday School/Discipleship Board, our District Nazarene Youth International Council and our District Nazarene Missions International Council will all be meeting in the next three weeks. How can these District teams resource ministry in your church? How can they serve as catalysts for growth at the local level? We welcome your input.
I want to celebrate… (from Pastor's monthly reports)
Stephen Hundley, Cleveland...we had a great Baptismal Service, this month. Having Spirit-filled services every week. Praise God!
David Stevens, Vinita… “There are no little people, no little places.” Francis Schaefer. There are so many wonderful things about serving as Pastor in the smaller group. We really enjoy the closeness and fellowship of Vinita Nazarene. During July we had the usual Sundays with low attendance because of vacations. On those Sundays there is a strong sense of closeness and fellowship. We also had a couple of Sundays with higher than average attendance, and so our average increased over last year. We have every indication that the growth trend will continue with new people attending, and everyone saying they love this church.
Alan McBroom, Davenport...8 kids going to Kids Kamp and having an eternal impact on their lives! Vacation is good! We served dozens of people this month with our clothes ministry, the “Clothes Closet.
Jim Wilson, Barnsdall…Many of those suffering physical ailments in the church are making full recoveries.
Jim Wilson, Pawhuska…Attendance has been up, a new order of service is helping us connect in worship, and Pastor Jim received an encouraging review.
Jim Thornton, Tulsa Hills…Dedicated two more children.
Dwain Young, Horton Chapel… Horton Chapel provided a Sponsor for Children's Camp and we sent and paid the way for eight girls to attend. Next week, August 5,6 and 7 we will be having VBS.
John Whitsett, Tulsa Central… Harold McKellips is feeling remarkably better in the wake of getting the injection in his back! And---although numbers have been down with people on vacation, we’ve had really good services marked by a sense of God’s presence. The Sunday of our VBS program had a number of guests present.
J.J. James, Claremore…On July 19th we dedicated our new Family Center and Parking Lot. We are all glad to be at the end of this project and look forward to using these tools to reach out to others in our community.
Casey Hollingsworth, Miami New Life…The church overwhelmingly voted to accept the building committee’s 3 phase building plan. This has helped to create much excitement and unity around a central purpose in our church. We can’t wait to get things going!
Angela Bentley, Bristow… a great hunger for God, a burden for the lost, and persevering spirits in our people, even in the midst of many trials. The Holy Spirit has been present in mighty ways in our services with the entire family gathering at the altar for anointed times of prayer. We are anticipating great things from God in our future. God miraculously provided funds for 11 teens to go to camp. Only one of these teens had ever been to camp before. He continues to do amazing things in our youth. Our commitment to reaching the lost and ministering to the “least of these” provided us an opportunity to minister to a segment of people we might not have interacted with before through the tragic death of a young man connected to our youth outreach. We are hearing reports in the community that we are becoming known as the church where people can go when they have nowhere else to turn. Praise the Lord!
H. Gordon Smith, III, Dewey…The Wilson family joined our church this month, and have been ongoing faithful attenders, and it is great to have them committed to our church. I would especially like to celebrate a man who 2 months ago was so far from the Lord, and his marriage, family, and life was falling apart. He re-committed his life to the Lord this last month, and he is on fire for the Lord, and his marriage is being restored! The transformation has been tremendous! Praise the Lord!
Don Cowan, Sapulpa… New Children’s program – Boomerang Kids; Decisions for salvation made at Kidz Kamp; New families coming to the church .
Wayde Normandin, Chelsea… This past month we had four teenage young ladies make a commitment to God, themselves, their friends and their future mate to a lifetime of purity including sexual abstinence until the day they enter a biblical marriage relationship.
NEO TOP LEADERS (in attendance gain over last year's averages)
Sunday School/Discipleship
Tulsa Family +251
Fe y Esperanza (new start) +25
Sapulpa +17
Sand Springs +13
Bristow +12
Hominy +7
Skiatook +7
Davenport +1
Tulsa Hills +1
AM WORSHIP
BA Connection (new start) +96
Fe y Esperanza (new start) +30
Bristow +16
Wagoner +6
Pawhuska +5
Tulsa Central +5
Cleveland +3
Miami New Life +3
Vinita +3
Collinsville +2
Sapulpa +2
Tulsa Living Hope +2
Grace and peace,
Dave McKellips
3 comments:
The Nazarene Revolutionary Guard has declared a holiness jihad on all the emergent heretics who have invaded our denomination. We vow to arrest all the evil participants of this heresy. We will send them to re-education camps where we will torture them with Gaither videos and Stan Toler sermons.
We will celebrate the success of this Insurgency by holding a good ole' Nazarene potluck where all of us can pig out at the buffet and show our fat bellies to all the world to see. Drinking and smoking are still considered sins according to our Holy book (aka: The Manual), but obesity is allowed under the rules laid down by the College of Cardinals (aka: the GS's) in Lenexa.
We encourage everyone to pray five times a day toward our Mecca in Lenexa and ask God to help us spread the message of holiness. We require that every good Nazarene make a hajj to General Assembly once in their lifetime. By making this hajj, your sins will be forgiven.
Long live the Insurgency! Long live the Revolution! Long live the Nazarene Revolutionary Guard!
The Elite Nazbollah Covert Strike Force has mobilized for an impending attack by agents of the evil organization known as "Naznet". Naznet guerrilla communications have been intercepted by the Nazarene Revolutionary Guard Special Ops Intelligence forces. These communications show that an attack is imminent. Our Magisterium in Lenexa has been warned of this plot.
We implore all loyal Nazarenes to rise up and defend the Holy Church. These infidel heretics have been known to spread their propaganda in order to brainwash the masses.
We ask all Nazarenes to read the Holy Book (The Manual), and seek the guidance of the written word. As one of our GS's said to the incoming GS, "may the Manual guide you in everything you need".
Rise up.......the day of liberation is near.
Long live the Insurgency! Long live Nazbollah! Long live the Nazarene Revolutionary Guard!
Greetings in the name of holiness jihad. May God grant our former archangels Paul, Jim, and Nina peace as they continue the mission of converting this world to Nazarendom. By order of our newest archangel Stan, we will be dropping leaflets of the new 2009-2013 Nazarene manuals to our friends who are lost in places like Africa and China. I'm urging all of my jihadists to fast for 40 days and meditate on the manual. As our senior archangel Jessee said "may the Manual be your guide in your decision". We are calling on all proclaimed Nazarenes to downsize their homes and send the money to Lenexa so we can continue the work of our jihad. Solicit donations from friends and I say, "steal if you have to". My God grant us the srength to continue this work.
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