Adrian Cole

Paul Young's Video Testimony

Here is a link to a video where Paul Young is sharing part of his story about his book “The Shack”. This is not the complete story - but it is all good.

Video Link

An Explanation of the Current Economy Situation

I was listening to "This American Life" on NPR this weekend and there was a segment giving an explanation of the current economy situation. I thought it was insightful and I thought you might find it helpful. Here is the link:

This American Life - Bad Bank

This segment was aired from February 27th to March 1st at http://www.thislife.org/.

Core Beliefs

Most of you are aware that in the fall we did a congregational survey called Reveal. The purpose of the survey is to give us some insight as to where we are as a congregation and individuals regarding some key factors. One set of those factors are “Spiritual Beliefs and Attitudes.” I have used two or three of these in sermons the last few weeks. Let me list them for you:

1. Salvation by Grace
2. Trinity
3. Personal God
4. Christ is First
5. Authority of the Bible
6. Identity in Christ
7. Stewardship
8. Giving Away My Life

These eight key spiritual beliefs and attitudes are listed or ranked by there importance. In other words “Salvation by Grace” would have a higher value in the general Christian community than “Personal God”, etc. The ranking would vary some depending on a particular religious group. The Catholics would have a somewhat different opinion about what constitutes “salvation”. Most all Protestant groups would consider “Salvation by Grace” number one.
New Covenant as a community comes out this way:

1. Salvation by Grace 51%
2. Trinity 82%
3. Personal God 63%
4. Christ is First 56%
5. Authority of the Bible 38%
6. Identity in Christ 43%
7. Stewardship 31%
8. Giving Away My Life 19%

We will be talking more about these outcomes over the next few months.

Changing Habits

In my devotional time this morning the following was the reflective reading after the scripture readings from the Psalms and book of Acts. I thought it was meaningful and thought you might find meaning it in as well.

 

"We seldom get rid of an evil merely by understanding its causes… and for all our insight, obstinate habits do not disappear until replaced by other habits. But habits are won only by exercise, and appropriate education is the sole means to this end. The patient must be drawn out of himself into other paths, which is the true meaning of "education," and this can only be achieved by an educative will…

 

…no amount of confession and no amount of explaining can make the crooked plant grow straight; it must be trained upon the trellis of the norm by the gardener's art."

 

-From "The Practice of Psychotherapy" by Carl G. Jung

By the way the reading is taken from "A Guide to Prayer for Ministers and Other Servants" by Rueben Job and Norman Shawchuck.
 

Bev’s Santa Creations

Hey, Check out the video that the Daily Oklahoman in their "In Style" section of the paper on Beverly and her Santa creations. There is a brief 15 second commercial before you get to her video - Daily Oklahoman There was also a write up about her in the paper on 11/20/08. Enjoy!

O.J. Brigance

Here is the video link to the O.J. Brigance that I talked about in my sermon this morning. Click on this link to watch O.J. Brigance. The title of the video is O.J. Brigance: True courage. By the way at different points on the video you can see Dan and then Sarah in the background.

Facebook

I really was not interested in becoming a part of either MySpace or Facebook. A friend in Hong Kong sent me a message through Facebook. The only way to read was to sign up. I did. What I discovered was not only a way of staying in touch with friends but a new community. I have heard from people that I haven't heard from in years. Old friends. Friends of the family. New Friends. I recently have used Facebook as a way of getting ideas for the new third worship service that is being developed. I invite you to look at my Facebook page. Facebook.

The Walk to Emmaus

After I made the announcement about the Men's Walk to Emmaus this morning someone asked me where it was going to be held. I told them I would put it up on my blog. It will be a First UMC downtown OKC. You can view the Walk Information at the Pioneer Country Walk to Emmaus website at Pioneer Country Emmaus Info.

Training Camp

Dan and Sarah wanted us to come to Baltimore for a couple of days of the Ravens Training Camp. Actually, the training camp is at McDaniel College in Westminster, MD about a 30 minute drive from where Dan and Sarah live. So, we did. Unfortunately, the day before we arrived Dan sprained his foot and is now going to be out for about 3 to 4 weeks of the preseason. Please keep them in your prayers. The pictures in the side bar on the left are from the training camp. Enjoy!

St. Stephen, UMC – Amarillo TX

I had the privilege this week to help lead a staff retreat for St. Stephen UMC in Amarillo. My friend, Stan Cosby, is the senior pastor and this is the first staff retreat they have held since Stan has become their pastor. The first day we did an assessment of each staff member's personality type. Paul says in I Cor 12 that the body of Christ is made up of many different parts each functioning in a unique way. They were surprised at the diversity and balance of the staff personalities.

The second day did a staff assessment using Patrick Lencioni's book The Five Dysfunctions of a Team focusing on the areas where the staff needed to strengthen their functioning as a Team. It was a profitable time for the St. Stephen staff and it was good being with Stan and Susan Cosby.

There were 14 staff members present and we used St. Eugene's Episcopal Church for the retreat.