Articles for tag: Tulsa Oklahoma

May 1, 2023

Christian Standard

5 Sources for Illustrations to Enhance Your Sermons

By Chris Philbeck  In the 1990s, while serving a church in Oklahoma, I took all my elders to the Leadership Conference at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. During the opening session, our church was awarded a yearlong subscription to SECC’s weekly tape ministry for being the church that came the farthest with their entire board of elders. So, over the next year, I had the opportunity to listen to weekend messages delivered by Bob Russell and Dave Stone.   I still remember many of those messages, including one from Dave about the urgency of reaching lost people. To illustrate the

January 1, 2022

Laura McKillip Wood

Laura-McKillip-Wood

A Bright Future for Resident in Intercultural Ministry

As Katie Hughes made her way to her car at the end of another long school day, she reflected on her day in the classroom. After years of studying to become a teacher like her mom and other family members, she felt disappointed and exhausted in her student-teaching experience. The more time she spent in the classroom, the more she questioned her decision to become an educator. Was this really what God had planned for her? A New Plan Katie talked with her parents and began to take an inventory of the gifts and interests God had given her. She

June 25, 2016

Christian Standard

A Church Family for All People

By Brian Jennings and José Heredia If you walked around our urban neighborhood, you”d find a mix of ethnicities, cultures, and skin colors (about 30 percent minority and growing). You”d meet widows who”ve lived in their homes for 40 years and couples restoring the floors of their first home. You”d also see lots of apartments, several of which house people with poverty, hunger, disability, or struggles with mental illness. A few years ago, the Holy Spirit began compelling us to take steps toward ethnic, generational, and socioeconomic diversity. We have a great church of loving people, but we acknowledged that issues

May 16, 2016

Christian Standard

Trading Places: Learning from a Unique Staff Transition

By Brian Jennings Dave Dunson and Brian Jennings didn”t exactly exchange places on their church staff. But Dunson gave up the senior ministry to move to another staff ministry position while Jennings moved from youth ministry to become the lead minister. Here”s why and how it happened. Highland Park Christian Church has been ministering to people in the heart of Tulsa, Oklahoma, for almost 60 years. In 2004, we first began talking about a future staff transition. Everything about our situation felt unique; we weren”t planning on anyone leaving or retiring. Dave Dunson came to the church as senior minister

January 19, 2015

Christian Standard

Carpet Splitting

By Brian Jennings As a young man still in Bible college, Chuck Thomas was invited to preach at First Christian Church in Gotebo, Oklahoma. The church was searching for a new preacher. Chuck accepted, and drove to the small town the following Sunday. Chuck noticed the church (both the building and the people) seemed split down the middle. Both sides had their own Communion table, and their own elders, who separately prayed and served their half of the congregation. This strange division bewildered Chuck and his wife, Anita. A friendly family invited them over for Sunday lunch. After eating, Chuck

December 19, 2014

Christian Standard

From Jaded to Joyful

Brian Jennings I knew how the game worked. Someone would walk into our church office, request to speak to a preacher, ask for prayer, and then tell a dramatic story of misfortune. They needed money and they needed it now. Their sister was dying of cancer in Nebraska. Their job interview started in 20 minutes on the other side of town. Their friend betrayed them and they needed a hotel for just one night. Each new crisis dealt me two options: cruelty or gullibility. Would I shun compassion or stewardship? The scenario repeated daily. The issues of poverty defeated me.

March 1, 2014

Christian Standard

Five Questions to Ask if Your Child Wants to Be Baptized

By Brian Jennings 1. Has your child studied intently? Encouraging your child to study on her own (along with learning in special classes or church settings) is a great step. You should be studying too, but allow her the responsibility to study some on her own. 2. Does your child feel guilt from sin and love of God? Motives matter. A child may want to be baptized because he saw a friend receive attention, he desires to please his parents, or maybe he really just wants to take Communion. Obviously, these are not the best motives. My experience teaches me

February 1, 2009

Christian Standard

A Great Gathering for God”s Glory (The National Missionary Convention)

By Ziden Nutt From across the Americas and around the world nearly 4,500 people gathered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, for inspiration, information, and instruction at the 61st National Missionary Convention, November 20-23. They came to praise God for what he is doing among those who dwell in every tribe and nation. They came from the smallest of language groups and the largest world-class cities, and places in between. Well over 100,000 registered in support of the convention. The program was designed for all ages, from little Johnnie in a stroller to Harland Cary in his 90s who had spoken at the

January 28, 2009

Christian Standard

Interview with Doug Priest

By Brad Dupray Doug Priest has embodied the theme of the recent National Missionary Convention, “Get Your Hands Dirty,” through his life in missions and ministry. Doug spent 17 years on mission fields in such places as Kenya, Tanzania, and Singapore while also serving in stateside ministries in Los Angeles and Dexter, Oregon. He holds a PhD from the School of World Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary, and has degrees from Northwest Christian College and the University of Oregon. Doug has served as executive director of Christian Missionary Fellowship for the past 13 years. He and his wife of 31

November 16, 2008

Christian Standard

Changing Signs and Signs of Change in a Tulsa Congregation

By Greg Taylor In a little corner of Tulsa, Oklahoma, at the Garnett Church of Christ, we”re trying to be a sign of the kingdom of God in a way we never would have imagined three years ago. Many churches in the past two decades have changed their names, removed the denominational “brand,” and called themselves community churches or “The River” or hundreds of other names. We made a change to our sign, but for different reasons and with a much different approach. The efforts that go along with that change, and the results, have blown our minds. We”ve changed

February 10, 2008

Christian Standard

Compelled by Love

By Chris DeWelt “This is the National Missionary Convention!” With his exuberant sense of humor, NMC Treasurer John Fuller spoke this familiar annual line to an audience that instantly responded with cheers and applause. Some might have wondered why the crowd reacted in this way to such an obvious statement, especially when it was in the form of an offering appeal. Simply put, it is because the National Missionary Convention is a unique annual event. The 60th convention held at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 15-18, 2007, was a passionate, creative, energetic, and moving blessing to all

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