For a Christian, an economic system is a means to an end - a mechanism for exchanging goods and services...nothing more.
We steer our lives by a higher value - the love ethic of Jesus. Central to our bearing the cross is our acceptance of Jesus' love and our attentiveness to the needs of others...
Compassion will be our guiding light, our rule in life. Justice will lead us to faithful stewardship - to care for an work on behalf of others in the global community.
Shalom will be our reward.
-Ann Hagmann, Climbing the Sycamore Tree
Saturday, October 27, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Eating the Bread of Anxious Toil
The following passage is taken from one of last week's thematic readings from A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God:
"As we grow older, we tend to become control freaks. We need to control everybody and everything, moment by moment, to be happy. If the now has never been full or sufficient, we will always be grasping, even addictive or obsessive.
"If you're pushing yourself and others around, you have not yet found the secret of happiness. It's okay as it is. The moment is as perfect as it can be. The saints called it 'the sacrament of the present moment.'"
-Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs
"As we grow older, we tend to become control freaks. We need to control everybody and everything, moment by moment, to be happy. If the now has never been full or sufficient, we will always be grasping, even addictive or obsessive.
"If you're pushing yourself and others around, you have not yet found the secret of happiness. It's okay as it is. The moment is as perfect as it can be. The saints called it 'the sacrament of the present moment.'"
-Richard Rohr, Everything Belongs
Christ be in Your Head, and in Your Understanding...
Every week, Rev. Judy Cox dismisses the Word & Table service at OKC First Church of the Nazarene with the following blessing. We've come to love it as we try to get better at living it out!
"Christ be in your head, and in your understanding.
Christ be in your eyes, and in your looking.
Christ be in your mouth, and in your speaking.
Christ be in your heart, and in your thinking.
Christ be at your end, and at your departing.
Amen and amen!"
United Methodist Book of Worship, #566 (modified)
"Christ be in your head, and in your understanding.
Christ be in your eyes, and in your looking.
Christ be in your mouth, and in your speaking.
Christ be in your heart, and in your thinking.
Christ be at your end, and at your departing.
Amen and amen!"
United Methodist Book of Worship, #566 (modified)
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Speaking Tour: Northeast Oklahoma District, September 23-30
We have been graciously invited to conduct a mini-tour of churches on the Northeast Oklahoma District from September 23-30!
A brief schedule of our speaking engagements is as follows:
Tulsa Central (9/23, AM)
Muskogee First (9/23, PM)
Wagoner/Coweta (9/24, PM)
Sand Springs (9/25, PM)
Miami (9/26, PM)
Okmulgee (9/27, PM)
Broken Arrow First (9/30, AM)
Tulsa Regency Park (9/30, PM).
Feel free if to send us an e-mail if you'd like more information (or directions)! :)
-Aaron & Brit
A brief schedule of our speaking engagements is as follows:
Tulsa Central (9/23, AM)
Muskogee First (9/23, PM)
Wagoner/Coweta (9/24, PM)
Sand Springs (9/25, PM)
Miami (9/26, PM)
Okmulgee (9/27, PM)
Broken Arrow First (9/30, AM)
Tulsa Regency Park (9/30, PM).
Feel free if to send us an e-mail if you'd like more information (or directions)! :)
-Aaron & Brit
Word and Table Servcies: Liturgical Worship in the Wesleyan Tradition
One of our favorite things about our time in Oklahoma this semester has been the opportunity to attend Word and Table services on (most) Sunday mornings at OKC 1st Church of the Nazarene. The services are led by our good friend, Rev. Judy Cox, and emphasize the roles that liturgy and tradition have played in Wesleyan worship services since the church's very beginning.
Our first Sunday back was a few weeks ago; the following is a brief synopsis of the liturgical worship format and content that we've come to appreciate as a supplement to our "normal" worship services. Liturgy, Judy noted, celebrates (and demands) "the work of the people...as we worship with our bodies: speaking, standing, singing, smelling, thinking, listening, eating, and drinking."
The worship service incorporated a number of different liturgical elements, including responsive readings, hymns, and Scriptural texts. We were particularly inspired by Judy's sermon, however, as she highlighted the historical background of the American Holiness movement in general and the Church of the Nazarene in particular.
John Wesley, she pointed out, simply wished to renew and reform the Anglican church; in the same way, Phineas Bresee wished to renew and reform the Methodist church. "Remembering means reliving where we have come from, and what we have believed," Judy noted. "We (Midwesterners) are not necessarily all Bible Belt Baptists," she gently pointed out. "And if we want to discuss what our church really believes, we have to go back to the Articles of Faith that it was founded on." It sounds so simple when you put it that way! :)
After sharing communally in the Prayers of the People and Passing the Peace, we joined together in praying The Great Thanksgiving before celebrating Communion together. "because we are Wesleyans, we practice an open table," Judy reminded us. "If you know that you need Jesus, you are welcome here."
Amen!!!
Our first Sunday back was a few weeks ago; the following is a brief synopsis of the liturgical worship format and content that we've come to appreciate as a supplement to our "normal" worship services. Liturgy, Judy noted, celebrates (and demands) "the work of the people...as we worship with our bodies: speaking, standing, singing, smelling, thinking, listening, eating, and drinking."
The worship service incorporated a number of different liturgical elements, including responsive readings, hymns, and Scriptural texts. We were particularly inspired by Judy's sermon, however, as she highlighted the historical background of the American Holiness movement in general and the Church of the Nazarene in particular.
John Wesley, she pointed out, simply wished to renew and reform the Anglican church; in the same way, Phineas Bresee wished to renew and reform the Methodist church. "Remembering means reliving where we have come from, and what we have believed," Judy noted. "We (Midwesterners) are not necessarily all Bible Belt Baptists," she gently pointed out. "And if we want to discuss what our church really believes, we have to go back to the Articles of Faith that it was founded on." It sounds so simple when you put it that way! :)
After sharing communally in the Prayers of the People and Passing the Peace, we joined together in praying The Great Thanksgiving before celebrating Communion together. "because we are Wesleyans, we practice an open table," Judy reminded us. "If you know that you need Jesus, you are welcome here."
Amen!!!
Saturday, September 15, 2012
9/16: OKC 1st Church of the Nazarene
Hey all!
This Sunday (tomorrow) we will be speaking in the 10:30 AM worship service at Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene.
If you'd like to come here about what God is doing in European coffeehouse ministry...or you just feel like cheering us on...feel free to come on out!
Aaron & Brit
This Sunday (tomorrow) we will be speaking in the 10:30 AM worship service at Oklahoma City First Church of the Nazarene.
If you'd like to come here about what God is doing in European coffeehouse ministry...or you just feel like cheering us on...feel free to come on out!
Aaron & Brit
Sunday, September 2, 2012
In the United States, for now...
Well folks, that title says it all.
After 2+ years as volunteer missionaries in Poland...plus another whirlwind month of speaking and working in churches and coffeehouse ministries in the UK...we are finally back home in the United States.
For now. :)
We will spend the next 4 months working, teaching. speaking in churches, fund-raising, and generally preparing for our next multi-year volunteer missions assignment: helping with coffeehouse ministry projects in Manchester and London, UK.
This is fun, and tiring, and exciting, and scary...all at the same time. :)
Please continue to pray for us as we seek God's will for us during this short time back in the States. We are trusting him to provide adequate energy, transportation, and employment while we're home, as well the funds we'll need for our next volunteer assignment. He's never failed us yet!
We'll have more details for you soon...as always, thanks so much for your prayers and support. We could NEVER have made it this far without them! We love you!! :)
Aaron & Brit
After 2+ years as volunteer missionaries in Poland...plus another whirlwind month of speaking and working in churches and coffeehouse ministries in the UK...we are finally back home in the United States.
For now. :)
We will spend the next 4 months working, teaching. speaking in churches, fund-raising, and generally preparing for our next multi-year volunteer missions assignment: helping with coffeehouse ministry projects in Manchester and London, UK.
This is fun, and tiring, and exciting, and scary...all at the same time. :)
Please continue to pray for us as we seek God's will for us during this short time back in the States. We are trusting him to provide adequate energy, transportation, and employment while we're home, as well the funds we'll need for our next volunteer assignment. He's never failed us yet!
We'll have more details for you soon...as always, thanks so much for your prayers and support. We could NEVER have made it this far without them! We love you!! :)
Aaron & Brit
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