A ministry. We can do more, we can do better.
Saturday, December 17, 2016
Christ of Christmas!
Friday, November 25, 2016
Feeling Thankful!
He
sits on an upside down pickle bucket sometimes 10 hours a day. His beard was
long and scruffy until he asked a "little hair cutter" to trim it.
"She said oh-oh, well now I'm almost a clean shaven man." He smiled
and rubbed his chin.
He's wearing the same coveralls he's worn for weeks. Says he's worked the new out of 'em. He'll take a shirt or a pair of socks now and then, but doesn't like the clutter, sides somebody will steal the extra.
I met him at the Cricket store a few weeks ago. He had a phone and a couple dollars but he drank one too many and talked about havin' a phone...woke up the next day, no phone, no bucks. So we got a phone that talks to him, and I programmed contacts for him.
He's got cataracts. He sees only shadows with a little color. He can't remember how long it's been since he could see someone's features or read a newspaper. He crosses a major street by judging the distance of the cars by sound. “Been hit by a car four times, keep hittin’ me on the left side, I keep thinkin’ I should back off the curb and get hit on the right side, kind of even things out.”
We’re
praying for eye surgery soon. He's really hopeful! He dreams about seeing the
hot dog and all the fixins' before he bites into it.
Feeling thankful.
Feeling thankful.
I called him today. He answered the phone! Asked him if he likes BBQ, "who doesn't in Oklahoma!" I drove over and stopped across the street. "Little sister, is that you?" We hugged; just a whiff of alcohol and it’s late in the day.
I bagged some sandwiches and chips. He said he would be seein' more guys later and yeah they'd love some sandwiches. I loaded him up.
He never flies a sign, cause he doesn't want to be arrested and taken out of his comfort zone. He sits on the bucket and he climbs into the hearts of others like he did mine, and he always gets just enough manna each day.
He asked for a Gatorade. I suck, forgot drinks. I gave him 5 bucks and reminded him it's God’s money. He held me tight as I asked God to protect him, to remind him that something better is coming, to please let him see again. He patted my cheek and headed into the QT.
“Deni
it’s getting cold and she’s sitting at that bus stop every morning, why won’t
she go to a shelter?” A caring friend has been asking me to check on this lady
for over a week.
I
finally made it. She was sitting there
with holes in her tennis shoes, smoking every last leaf of tobacco out of her hand
rolled cigarette. Her hands are stained from tobacco. She asks me a lot of
questions she wants to be sure I’m legit. A bag sits at her feet and she’s
wrapped in a stained and soiled blanket.
She tells
me she’s at that bus stop every morning, “And it sure is tough to try to make
it without a cup of coffee.” Coffee.
Just like that she had climbed into my heart…
I go
by and check on her and work at breaking her barrier of life events that haunt
her and keep her chained to that life on a bus stop bench. I asked her if she
had any other shoes, “Why? Yours look fine.” She eventually told me she would
love a pair of boots…and toenail clippers. “I can’t get pedicures and manicures
much in my line of work.” She smiled. I
told her about Isaiah 58, In His
service. I told her we don’t ask for funds, we don’t do fundraisers,
but we pray and God provides through the coolest of ways. She cocked her head
and insinuated there was room on the bench for me, “How can you help and not
ask people for money?”
We
had about $30 in our bank account. But, I prayed and told her I knew God wanted
her to have some boots and toenail clippers and He would provide. The next day
we received a donation through Your Cause. Your Cause is an online platform for
corporations to manage one or multiple philanthropic programs including employee
matching gifts and volunteer grant programs. An individual who works for AT&T made a donation
and AT&T matched their gift. Pretty
cool! God gave boot money!
Two
days later I showed up with a brand new pair of boots, some socks and a
complete toenail kit. She started to smile broadly, but noticed I was looking
at her and she said, “They probably won’t fit.” I told her I’d take them back
and get another size.
They fit!
Gratitude
unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It
turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn
a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. – Melodie Beattie
November 24th, 2016,
Thanksgiving, the one year anniversary of my Dad’s death. I didn’t want this
day we stop and take time to thank God for our amazing blessings, to be about
me. I prayed about serving Him today. So, I made some phone calls….
God had put a handful of people
on my heart to see if they would like to go out for a Thanksgiving meal with
us. But, each one I talked to said, “No thank you,” except one. The reasons
were varied, one was finally invited to his sister’s house and he wasn’t going
to miss it, one had just lost her job and her cousin invited her over, another
said no because she is agoraphobic and the thought of going out in public
almost pushed her into a panic attack.
God put these people on my heart
for a reason. The plan wasn’t mine, it was His, I just needed to pay attention
and listen to Him.
When I told the lady who said “yes”
it was just going to be her and I she was relieved. Her life has been filled
with trauma and she too was anxious about eating with strangers. So, we went to
Village Inn and she had a turkey and dressing dinner. All of her children live
out of state, so she would have been alone in her apartment with her cats –all day.
She told me some amazing life events and scolded me for not having a pet. We
talked about God and church and she’s agreed to go with me, “Sometime.” We gave her The Flower Man by Mark Ludy and an
advent devotional by Janet Denison and an envelope that I asked her not to open
until she got home.
As soon as she got home, she
opened the envelope and immediately called me in tears, saying, “Thank you,
thank you, thank you.” We put two $20 bills in the envelope. She is a senior
adult who lives alone on a fixed income. She drives, but only to the store
because she can’t afford the gas to go much further. She never has pocket
change or a few extra dollars in her billfold. Often she has called me because her
electricity is going to be cut off or she needs groceries. She’s exhausted most
of the ministries and agencies that provide groceries because most of them put
limits on how often she can get food. She had to have work done on her car and
she needed help with groceries for three months in a row and Isaiah
58, In His service provided each time because we don’t set limits and
God provided the funds.
She told me she was going to put
gas in her car and go to a park on the other side of town that she loves, “Just
to sit and feel the sun on my face.”
Feeling Thankful.
At
times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person.
Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the
flame within us. Albert Schweitzer
I couldn’t get the woman out of
my mind, she’s all alone at home and too afraid to go out and get a
Thanksgiving meal.
I circled around and went back to
Village Inn and bought five turkey and dressing holiday meals complete with
pumpkin pie!! I drove over to her house
and knocked on the door. She wasn’t going to open it. I told her who I was and
promised not to come inside but wanted to give her something. She cracked the
door open and looked at the bag in my hand. “Happy Thanksgiving, I’m praying
for you.” She smiled and said thank you as I passed the bag to her!!
I showed up at the home of a
hoarder who hasn’t been able to cook on her stove for years and has agreed to
let Isaiah
58, In His service help to slowly and carefully start cleaning out her
home. She said she was trying to microwave something and burned it up…
Then to the home of two alcoholics;
got there just as they started drinking, nothing better than a vodka kiss on
the cheek…
Then to a senior who lives alone
with numerous dogs. He saw me coming and ran outside barefooted. “I was thinkin’
you might be comin’ by with some daily bread…is there pie in that bag?” You
bet.
I
write about the power of trying, because I want to be okay with failing. I
write about generosity because I battle selfishness. I write about joy because
I know sorrow. I write about faith because I almost lost mine, and I know what
it is to be broken and in need of redemption. I write about gratitude because I
am thankful - for all of it. - Kristin Armstrong
As love and thankfulness for our
family and friends is essential, I pray too that your heart is big enough to
reach out to our neighbors who struggle each day to get to work, feed their
family, get medicine without insurance and suffer from loneliness and hopelessness.
Isaiah 58, In His service tries to
love on those God brings to us with quiet actions filled with compassion. With
the hope of showing the character of Jesus through tangible ways so prayerfully
they will begin a personal relationship with Him.
The 12th annual Holiday Helping Hands Project has begun! We have a handful of
families so far, that we will love on this Christmas. If you would like to buy
gifts, wrap and deliver; buy gifts and give to us to deliver or provide gifts
we welcome your “thanks-giving” with open arms.
If you purchase gifts on Amazon,
go to Amazon.smile and plug in Isaiah 58, In His service and we
will be blessed by your giving!
“…We have
not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of
His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in
order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every
way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being
strengthened with all power according to His glorious might so that you may
have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom
of light. Colossians 1:9-12
Feeling thankful for each of you
who pray for us, give to us financially or in gifts in kind. Know that you are
prayed for.
In His service,
deni A. fholer
Saturday, November 5, 2016
The Curse has been lifted!
The
curse has been lifted!!!
This was the
CNN alert I found on my phone after game 7 of the World Series. I am a baseball
fan; both of my nephews play baseball. In fact earlier in the evening I was
running between fields watching them play. My youngest, Pancake, was hoofing it
toward third and did this funky Ninja move to escape being tagged…SAFE!! AND….he
hit an in park homerun!!! Yaroooooggaa!! My oldest nephew, H has become quite the pitcher, 6 strike outs!
I was
psyched! I wanted to high five everyone; do fist bumps and shoulder bumps. On
the way home, I turned the radio up and made a really joyful noise to the Lord,
it was okay that He probably had earplugs in…
It was the
idea that even though I wasn’t playing, I was so thankful that they were doing so
well and I wanted them to know…I was one proud Aunt!
By the time
I got home, I was hopeful and filled with anticipation. Maybe, just maybe the
Cubs would win it all!! I turned the TV on and they were ahead, I mean really
ahead. I just went to the kitchen for a cup of coffee and holy Toledo it was
tied!!
My heart was
beating too fast…and I couldn’t sit still. I got up and moved around the house,
piddling…then I turned the sound off and sort of sneaked by the TV to see what
was happening.
I got on the
computer and pulled up the play by play account of the game. It was still tied
and the feed stopped. THEY CAN’T END A WORLD SERIES IN A TIE, what the heck….RAIN
DELAY..ughh, are you kidding??
It hit me I was
getting up really early the next morning so I jumped in bed, pulled the covers
over my head and thought how goofy I was to be so completely engulfed in the
contagion of a baseball game.
So as I
tried to quiet my mind, I thought of the stories I had read about the Cubs. The
last World Series was won in 1908. A 108 year old woman had been a fan for A
CENTURY and was confident that she was going to finally witness THE win. The
Cubs Chaplain was a baseball player for MSU in his youth and later in life he
was asked to be the Cubs Chaplain, he said, “It was while I
was on the field — and I had tears in my eyes — that it really became clear
that God was saying, ‘This was your dream but now you’re living mine.’ I had
this small plan. God wanted me to be a priest and stay in baseball, which has
been so humbling.'” Then there
was that infamous goat curse…
A little
after 1am I picked up my phone and saw the score, 8-7, they won!!! I was so
excited for them. I’ve never been to Wrigley field; I doubt that I watched any
of their games over the season until the World Series. But, there was that deep
seated need to root for the underdog, come on God, let ‘em win. It just felt
right that they finally won. Good stuff.
As I was
replaying the TV coverage in my head, wow did you see the fans? I mean, they
were holding on tightly to each other, their hands clasped in front of their
mouths, Dad’s holding their kids, faces in buried in shoulders…and some were
praying! This was serious and for a while, nothing else mattered…the focus was forward of what could happen.
On Facebook
were pictures of Cubs ball caps, fans in T-shirts, parents and kids at home watching
the game together, incredible joy on people’s faces.
What I noticed
was a large number of people all praying for the same outcome, for the same
team. And then it happened.
We so needed
this.
See? We can
be united. Even some Cleveland fans commented that it was okay that the Cubs
won…not good, but okay, being gracious in defeat, a lesson for us all.
For 7 games
we put politics aside and we came together. I liked the way it made me feel.
Even though I was anxious, nerve wracked and pacing, it was the possibility
that wow, finally after 108 years, this could really happen, and wouldn’t that
just be the best thing ever. Something really really good could happen.
Come
Wednesday morning when your team wins, be humble. When your team loses be
gracious. How we treat each other is so much more important than a trophy.
Remember, you are an example to every child you are around.
Bury the
hate. Ask the Father to fill your heart with love and respect and ask Him to
fill your mind with possibilities of making a positive difference right here,
right now where we live. Then take action.
No matter
who is elected, the concerns and needs that we go to bed with on Tuesday night
will still be there on Wednesday morning. So take all of that adrenaline,
excitement and victory from the game and turn it into good works.
Remember,
the curse has been lifted…Jesus won!
In His service, deni
Sunday, October 2, 2016
Praying Tulsa!
John Wesley said, “God does nothing
except in response to believing prayer.” For the last 13 weeks, Isaiah 58, In His Service has been putting feet to our prayers. We
started on July 4th at Woodward Park where we prayed for our
ministry, our nation and the future of our Sunday morning prayer time. Our
heart’s desire was to truly travel the city and cover every inch in prayer.
In July we
went to the Education Center and prayed for our students, teachers and support
staff. Then to Maybelle Bridge and we
prayed for our homeless and those who work with them.
On July 31st
we gathered at Reconciliation Park and prayed for our local and national
elections, politicians and leaders; we prayed for us to be reconciled with our
brothers and sisters and to firmly place Hope between hostility and humiliation.
In August we
went to David L. Moss and prayed for the inmates, the Sheriff’s department, the
guards, Police Chief Chuck Jordan and Sheriff Vic Regalado. On the 14th
we were at the Tulsa Housing Authority and we prayed for those in subsidized
housing and those who work for THA, DHS and the Health Dept. The next Sunday we
were at Life Senior Services and we prayed for our seniors, in assisted living,
nursing homes and living alone and we prayed for everyone who works and
volunteers with them. On the 28th we were in the parking lot of
First Baptist Church and we prayed for the poor and for our churches to be
inspired to do lasting and life changing outreach for the poor in our
community.
In September
we asked you to step outside your front door and pray for your neighbors. On
September 11th we took some of our Comanche Park kids to visit Fire
Station 7 to say “thank you.” We even took some delicious Icing on the Top cupcakes
as a gift. We toured the fire station and prayed for our city’s first
responders, fire, police and medical. On the 18th we asked you to
pray for those who you said you would pray for and never got around to it. We
gave you a “do over” day. On the 25th
you were invited to Prayer Drive, Prayer Walk and Prayer Sit for our city
wherever God led you that day.
On September
16th our city stood still. It happened to us. A member of our
community was shot and killed by a police officer and we were thrust into the
national media spotlight.
But, what
has happened in other cities did not happen in Tulsa. There was no violence, no
senseless destruction of property. The
Metropolitan Baptist Church opened wide its doors and invited – everyone –
inside to mourn and wail and cry – together.
And in we went.
Isaiah 58, In His service outreach
of prayer was intentional and divinely guided. We had no idea what lie ahead of
us, but God did. We still do not know
what is before us, but we know we must remain on our knees in earnest prayer.
We believe
we must pray continuously. We are looking for a Sunday or Monday night
gathering place to come together and pray. It will be an open invitation to any
and all to come and join us. Even if only two of us show up in person, we are
reminded that where two or more are gathered, God is in our midst. We want to
pray for you and those you care about because God hears and answers.
"The
prayer power has never been tried to its full capacity. If we want to see
mighty wonders of divine power and grace wrought in the place of weakness,
failure and disappointment, let us answer God's standing challenge, "Call
unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things which
thou knowest not!'" (J. Hudson Taylor)
Know that
you are prayed for.
In His
service,
deni A.
fholer
Saturday, July 23, 2016
Homelessness
He had been
homeless for about 9 months and he’d never been homeless before. He was scared
to death, and he didn’t understand the street rules and kept ticking people
off. Isaiah
58, In His service put him in a motel for a week. He started to become
his old self after two days of solid sleeping. But this is not enough…
She is
addicted to meth. So many times she comes to me so high that she babbles and
cries and asks for help and then would disappear for weeks. She, so far, keeps coming back and never
remembers the last conversation we had. The last time I saw her she was sober and back
with her old man, who beats her when they’re high. She quoted scripture and
said all of the things that we Christians want to hear from lost sinners. But,
there is still no light in her eyes. We
gave her the Bible she requested. We give her backpacks, hygienes, Gatorade,
snacks and socks over and over again because when she’s high everything gets
stolen or she wanders off and leaves everything behind. But this is not enough…
He was a
hard hat guy. He climbed poles to fix transformers and could maneuver just
about everything made by Caterpillar. He was renting a room in a house and all
he did was work and relax. The perfect life to him. Then he got hurt. He had no insurance, no
savings and he needed rehab time. The doctor couldn’t release him to do the
work he’s always done. He couldn’t wrap his mind around doing another kind of
work. He’s on the streets. His camp is an abandoned house. He’s befriended a woman with schizophrenia and
he wants us to help her more than he wants help himself. The heat is really
getting to him, “Can you get so hot that your brains melt?” We give him Quik
Trip gift cards because he loves their sandwiches. We give him T-shirts and
shorts and shoes and lots of Jalapeno crackers, those are his favorite. But
this is not enough…
They’ve been
meth addicts for years. They recently met Jesus and they’re trying to stay
clean. They both have kids that have been taken by DHS. He’s been thrown in
jail numerous times for not paying his fines. Financially with all of the fines
and fees and living expenses, they are starting to sink and those who are
working closely with them are praying they don’t relapse. “I mean I know God is
real but it’s getting worse. We’ll never get ahead it’s like the more we pay
the further behind we get.” Isaiah
58, In His service is helping them with rent so they can try to find a
way through this mess. But it is not
enough…
He was a
professional. He was working a good job, had some of the finer things of
life. He was living life on his terms
and all was well. Then he had a car wreck. Without insurance he has thousands
of dollars of medical bills. He has virtually no support system. He hurts almost all of the time from his
injuries, depression is overtaking him. His car was totaled and he’s living in
a shelter. He is starving for hope, but he told us he works hard at getting
through the day, he can’t believe this has happened to him. He considers
suicide often, “I’m almost out of hope. “ We listen and provide small gifts of
love and encouragement. But it is not enough…
Homelessness.
It tries to consume Moms and Dads, Grandmas, Children, Laborers, Professionals,
literally every walk of life, and sometimes it does, it pushes them to the
brink. It is no respecter of age; there are homeless babies, toddlers, teens,
and seniors in their 80’s. They each have a story, a life before homelessness. They
pray for a life after being homeless. They don’t want to stay homeless but just
surviving takes all of their energy and the system is one big obstacle that
works against them getting back to self-sufficiency. What each of them need is stable,
sustainable, secure housing.
Isaiah
58, In His service loves on so many homeless people. We are always
humbled by their stories. Homeless people are some of the most resilient people
we have ever met. So many have a sense of humor that catches us by surprise.
They are the most appreciative people for the simplest of gifts. We are so blessed for our calling to
befriend, love and help these amazing people.
Housing. Our fervent prayer is
for Isaiah
58, In His service to be a ministry that provides housing. Not just a
motel for a week or two. Not pay rent for a month or two. But, to provide housing
for as long as it is takes. We need emergency housing. We need a safe place for
Moms and kids, when they’re new to town or their house burns down. We need a
place for those who are injured to recuperate. We need a place for those who
have no one, to die with dignity and be surrounded by love. We need a place for
those who are sinking in debt to stay for free so they can pay their bills and
get ahead. We need a place for those who are discharged from a psychiatric
facility to stay and be helped with medications and consistency. We need a safe
place for folks to stay while they are waiting to get into rehab.
Last Friday deni
received a call from First Baptist Jenks.
They had leftover hot dogs and sandwiches and asked if we could give them away.
ABSOLUTELY!! It was an incredibly large container full of food!! We laid hands
on the bag and prayed for the journey ahead, asking God to lead us to those who
needed loving on the most. And to the streets we went…
Just around
the corner was David. He was sitting in the shade and smiled as we pulled over.
He stood up and shook deni’s hand as we introduced ourselves. He said he has
been homeless for awhile, he stays on the streets and stays by himself. A Bible
was beside him and he commented. “You can’t be on the streets without Jesus.”
He took some sandwiches and told us he had been praying for where he could go
to get something to eat.
Douglas was
sitting on his suitcase at the bus stop, Melissa was high and lost, Johnny was
in the enclosed doorway of a church, and Alan thought deni was going to run
over him. He was on his bike and was waving us on. We slowed and yelled,
“Hungry?” He slammed on his brakes and leaned into the car window, “You did say
hungry!” He said he was on his way to fly a sign for him and his friends,
because they hadn’t eaten all day. So, we loaded him up with sandwiches,
“Hallelujah! Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! Praise Jesus!!”
Then there
was the couple drinking beer with nothing to eat. The two guys sitting outside smoking,
thrilled to get a bite to eat. Jarrod was passed out on a sidewalk. We woke him
up and he had been bleeding but we couldn’t figure out from where. He kept
reaching for a hand to shake; so we shook hands quite a few times. He refused
to go to the hospital. He sat up and was trying to figure out where he was. He
took a couple of sandwiches and said he was headed somewhere, but wasn’t sure
where. We drove by later, but he was gone.
We drove
over to a church where a lot of homeless guys hang out. One was yelling and
preaching to no one in particular, a few were flat on their backs, another one
was loudly reminding us he was hungry too. The front man was Dennis. He said he
lost his sister and Dad recently and he was trying to take care, “Of all these
misfits.” We gave him a few bags of sandwiches and he said he would be sure
everyone got something to eat. "I
don’t know why you’re out here tonite but God bless you.”
How cool is
this? One church’s leftovers became a feast to a group of guys and gals who
needed someone to know they were alive and they matter.
Isaiah 58, In His service blesses those God brings alongside us.
Sometimes it’s in big ways where we wipe out a debt and in little acts of kindness
like Jalapeno crackers, bus tokens or Gatorade. We are so thankful that God
uses us to shine a little hope on so many who are desperate for something to
look forward to. But each day the needs get bigger and their lives are
complicated and sometimes it takes everything we have to help someone. As we face each crisis we are reminded,
“God’s got this!” Time and time and time again He provides the moment it is
needed.
Last Sunday
we prayed for those in our school system, many by name. Thank you to those who
sent names of folks to pray for. Tomorrow morning we’re going to pray for our
homeless community and those who work in ministries and agencies loving on the
homeless, like Night Light Tulsa, the Day Center, Salvation Army, Iron
Gate, Indian Health Care Resource Center, Mental Health Association and John 3:16 and many more. We’ll be under the Maybelle Bridge where Night Light Tulsa ministers every Thursday evening. Know that you are welcome to
pray with us!
We also ask
that you join us in prayer to provide shelter. YouAreSpecial.net
has purchased a house and they are
praying for God’s guidance. Join YouAreSpecial.net
as they seek the Father. Please pray for us that we will be obedient in our
role in supporting YouAreSpecial.net
in providing housing.
“Is not this the kind
of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords
of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? Is it not to share
your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter – when
you see the naked, to clothe him, and not to turn away from your own flesh and
blood? Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will
quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of
the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and He will say: Here am I. If you do away with the yoke
of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, and if you spend
yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then
your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the
noonday. The Lord will guide you always; He will satisfy your needs in a
sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a
well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail. Your people will
rebuild the ancient ruins and will raise up the age-old foundations; you will
be called Repairer of Broken Walls, Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.” Isaiah 58: 6-12
Mother Teresa said, “We can cure physical diseases with
medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair and hopelessness is love.
There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread, but there are
many more dying for a little love.”
We will
continue to love on folks, provide the tangible and advocate for them. We hope you will continue to love with us!! Thank you for sacrificing to give gifts in
kind, financial gifts and gifts of prayer! We are touching lives and sharing
Jesus and meeting needs because you are giving first. You are greatly needed and greatly
appreciated!
Know that
you are prayed for.
In His
service, deni
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
Now is the Time...
Now is the Time…
How many of
us didn’t go to church because of the rain. It’s just too hard to get the kids
up, it’s so easy to stay in bed, we can miss just this once…oh wait, didn’t we
say that the last three Sundays??
How many sat
in church and nodded our heads in agreement with the pastor while we looked at
our watch? How many slouched in the seat and played a game on our phones? How
many went into the sanctuary late because we wanted just one more cup of coffee
or we wanted to connect with our buddy about meeting at the gym? We will miss
church to go to the gym, to the lake or just to stay home, “It’s my only day
off.”
Church shouldn’t be
routine. We shouldn’t have the morning activities memorized. It shouldn’t be just
a place of socialization, it shouldn’t be ordinary and plain, it shouldn’t be
comfortable and easy going. We shouldn’t expect things to happen the same every
week.
What
happened to the excitement of going to church? Has attending Sunday school and
church ever been something we’ve looked forward to, something we couldn’t wait
to do? Where’s the anticipation of meeting the living God?
Someone said, “A
relationship with God that doesn’t change your life, is no relationship at
all.” When’s the last time we were transformed, changed, renewed in our
relationship with Jesus?
When was the
last time Jesus was first in our
lives…has He ever been?
Are we
complacent and flat in our walk through life? Are we so de-sensitized by the
tragedies in life that we push them aside and try to convince ourselves nothing
like that will happen to us?
A pick-up truck on the Muskogee
Turnpike rammed a car from behind sending it off of the highway, the truck sped
on ahead. A man attempted to kidnap a 13 year old girl who was with her mother
in a grocery store. An 18 year old man told his step-son to quit jumping on the
bed, when the little boy didn’t stop; the man shot him in the back of the head
and killed him.
Dear Jesus…
A man walked
into a club with a rifle and a handgun and killed 49 people and injured 53. In
a matter of minutes lives ended and hundreds of family members’ lives were
forever altered. None of them thought
that could happen to them…
Is your
heart breaking? Are you shedding tears? Are you crying out to the Father? Or are you thinking, “Oh that’s horrible,”
and then you continue living life the same way….
It. Will.Never. Happen.To.Me.
This is a wake-up call. All of those tragedies took place
in the United States – in Oklahoma. We cannot call ourselves Christ followers
if we do nothing. People are lost, they are miserable, they are full of hate
and they are all around us. We cannot risk doing nothing, we must act. “Whoever claims to live in Him must walk as
Jesus did.” 1 John 1:6.
But, we’re
living as if we’ll live forever. We’re living for ourselves. Isn’t the real
reason we don’t prioritize church is because we really don’t think it makes a
big difference? It just isn’t important enough. Or maybe we think just showing
up will give us brownie points with Jesus.
Because you
know God, really, I’ve got this…
If we go to
church on Sunday and continue sinning the same sins during the week, why are we
going? Do we drink to excess? Are we married but flirting with a co-worker? Are
our stories about the weekend filled with lies? How many curse words fill our
mouths? How many least of these do we ignore? How much are we spending at the
casino? How much porn are we watching?
We live like the world
revolves around us and we live like Pharisees, we claim we know Jesus but we
only do the simple, the easy, the comfortable. Sometimes just driving to church
is just too much effort…
Another
truck driver, kidnapper, murderer is in the making. There is too much at stake
to live life in a fog; to follow the status quo. We need to step up and start
paying attention. We need to blanket Tulsa with prayer and love. Because “it’
could happen here, to you, to me…
It’s time to
fall on our faces in repentance and ask God to fill us with Excitement, Joy,
Courage, Fearlessness, Passion, Empathy and the Desire to do His will,
No.Matter.What.
Luke 10 is a life group at First Baptist
Church. We have been having class for the past 5-1/2 years. We started the
class because we saw a need. We wanted to be “the” life group that anyone could
come to and feel welcome. Outcast, misfit, mentally ill, drug addict,
alcoholic, poor, retired, business owner, teenager, manager, doctor – a place
to encounter the living God. We were
blessed to see God in action through us as we reached out to many folks over
the years. Visitors came and left but we had a core group of folks who have
been a part of the class for the entire time. We did as God called us, but now
it’s time to do the harder work..
Sunday, July 10th is our
last class. We can’t
wait on them to come to us, anymore…we are going to go out to them…
To end Luke
10 we have been doing a book study of Barefoot Church
by Brandon Hatmaker. Brandon was talking with a couple that was “done” with
church. The wife said, “The church needs to care more about the poor! They need
to fight injustice! They need to help the orphan and widow in their distress!
They need to do what they say they’re about!” Brandon was a pastor of a
mega-church and he said, ”We as church leaders tell our people to go. We tell
them to be good news. And we assume they
do. We assume they know how. While we’ve been charged to `equip the saints’ for
works of service, the brutal truth is that most of us have reduced our
expectations of `serving’ to a once-a-month tour of duty as an usher or
greeter. We’ve settled for serving ourselves and serving as an event rather
than serving those in need and living a new way of life that Jesus has called
us to…There’s got to be more to church than this.”
So Brandon
and his wife Jen left the mega church and planted a church, Austin New Church. The book offers testimonies of how they
surrendered all to Christ and left the pews and moved into the communities,
“Creating service-based, missional communities that end up being surprisingly
as much about evangelism, discipleship, and real-life transformation as they
are about serving others…more than anything, this book is about a
Christ-centered gospel. By His example and through His teaching, my hope is
that we are continuously being challenged to be good news to a lost, broken,
and dying world. That God would open our eyes more and more each day to the
needs of our community and world. That we would see it as the church’s
responsibility to lead the charge in making a difference, not just on our own
church campus, but also in our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our city, our
nation, and our world.”
This is our fervent
prayer. Let our churches start teaching their congregations about the poor; let
us learn about resources and needs and gaps. Then let us step into those gaps
with love. Let us love by going out to the lost and the poor and the miserable
and the lonely. Let us ask the Father to set our hearts on fire for Him again.
To wake up on Sunday morning excited and full of anticipation of what the Holy
Spirit will do! We will look forward to going to Sunday school and church.
Nothing will keep us from going because Jesus is moving and we are starving to
be a part of His movement. Not just on Sundays but every day of the week.
Don’t you miss Him?
Look around at this world…now is the time to surrender all.
Today was
the kick off of “Putting Feet to Our Prayers!” Some of us joined hearts at
Woodward Park this morning. We put feet to our prayers. While we were at the
park, YouAreSpecial.net gathered on a hill in Sapulpa and prayed at
the same time. There is power in prayer. Maybe some of you prayed at
home with us. Maybe you didn’t come because well, it is July 4th and
well I didn’t even know where Woodward Park was, the car needed gas, well we’re
going to a Fireworks show at 9:30pm tonite. That’s okay, you have more
opportunities ahead…
Join Isaiah 58, In His service on Sunday, July 17th at 7am at
the Education Service Center at 3027 S. New Haven. We will pray for our
teachers, students, support folks, school board, superintendent, etc. We’ll
finish in time for you to get to church and Sunday school, filled with the Hope
of Jesus!
Then on
following Sundays we will meet wherever God leads us! We will pray in agreement
and pray for restoration and healing and hope!!! I will send out an email the
week before so you will know where we’ll meet. If you can’t come you can pray
in agreement with us as we pray for our city leaders, churches, nonprofits,
first responders, retailers, colleges, etc. We will pray for those we have
taken for granted, for those we’ve ignored, for those we disagree with.
Our prayer
is that you can come and pray and restore your relationship with Him and go to
Sunday school and church totally in love with Him again. Maybe you will be so
stoked for Jesus; you’ll go back to your church and ask about doing more for
the poor. Maybe loving on the least of these will once again be a priority.
I’m praying for radical
and reckless commitment to serving the poor and that one church will risk
everything for the least of these. Tulsa New Church!?
God is
waiting on us. We live like our God is small and unimaginative. He’s waiting on
us to trust Him with everything. May Jesus become our first priority again.
Serving
Jesus is risky.
Stepping out
of the norm is scary.
I surrender
all.
Will you?
https://youtu.be/CQA9YtcN1UA Love Comes
to Life!
Know that
you are prayed for.
In His
service,
deni A.
fholer
We
can do more. We can do better.
“Create in me a pure
heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Do not cast me from Your
presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your
salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. Then I will teach
transgressors your ways and sinners will turn back to You.”
Psalm 51: 10-13
Sunday, June 19, 2016
Father's Day
Father’s
Day.
I lost my
Dad just 7 months ago. I’m never ready for when the wave of grief sweeps over
me. When I hear the word “papa” which is what his grandsons called him, it gets
me. I was walking out with a patient as he was being wheeled to an ambulance
and instantly I was back walking out with my Dad’s body to the hearse. Gosh, I
miss him.
My sister
made a collage of pictures of us with him. Memories I am so thankful for.
Pictures I can glance at and immediately be transported back to the event that
the picture was taken. Good stuff.
Dad’s you
are so important to your kids, your grandkids, how you treat your wife and your
daughters, essential. I was listening to the Christian radio station and Mark
Hall with Casting Crowns was being interviewed. He said he and his son are
walking through the book of John, “For John the Baptist to know what his
purpose was, just to point to Jesus, amazing.” He said he tries to catch his
son doing the right thing. “Hey man, you looked that elder in the eye and shook
his hand, just like I taught you, that was awesome.” He said he tries not to
add a “but” as much as he used to, “That was great but you need to….”
There is
nothing more important than a Godly man in the life of a child. I talked to a
woman in her 60’s the other day. Her life is miserable. She is sad and bitter
and feels she is worthless. When I asked her what she could be thankful for,
she said, “That I didn’t kill myself because then he would of won.”
The “he” was
the man who was supposed to be a father to her. He berated and ignored and
mocked and abused her. She has never met Jesus and she is full of hate and
confusion. “Why? Why? I can’t stop the pain, I can’t throw the memories
away.”
Dad. The
words you speak to your children will reverberate in their ears for years to
come. Good or bad your impact will have a lifelong effect in the lives of your
children. How you treat them; remember you will see that behavior again when
they get old enough to model it. You will ask them, “Where’d you learn that?”
They will answer, “You.” So choose your path carefully…they are watching and
learning and emulating everything you do and say.
Doubting the
importance of a Dad in the home???
Incarceration Rates. "Young men who
grow up in homes without fathers are twice as likely to end up in jail as those
who come from traditional two-parent families...those boys whose fathers were
absent from the household had double the odds of being incarcerated -- even
when other factors such as race, income, parent education and urban residence
were held constant." (Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and
Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University cited in "Father Absence and
Youth Incarceration." Journal of Research on Adolescence 14
(September 2004): 369-397.)
Suicide. 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes (Source: What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities? )
Behavioral Disorders. 85% of all children that exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes (Source: What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities? - see link below)
High School Drop Outs. 71% of all high school dropouts come from fatherless homes (Source: What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities? - see link below)
Educational Attainment. Kids living in single-parent homes or in step-families report lower educational expectations on the part of their parents, less parental monitoring of school work, and less overall social supervision than children from intact families. (N.M. Astore and S. McLanahan, American Sociological Review, No. 56 (1991)
Juvenile Detention Rates. 70% of juveniles in state-operated institutions come from fatherless homes (Source: What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities? - see link below)
Confused Identities. Boys who grow up in father-absent homes are more likely that those in father-present homes to have trouble establishing appropriate sex roles and gender identity.(P.L. Adams, J.R. Milner, and N.A. Schrepf, Fatherless Children, New York, Wiley Press, 1984).
Aggression. In a longitudinal study of 1,197 fourth-grade students, researchers observed "greater levels of aggression in boys from mother-only households than from boys in mother-father households." (N. Vaden-Kierman, N. Ialongo, J. Pearson, and S. Kellam, "Household Family Structure and Children's Aggressive Behavior: A Longitudinal Study of Urban Elementary School Children," Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 23, no. 5 (1995).
Achievement. Children from low-income, two-parent families outperform students from high-income, single-parent homes. Almost twice as many high achievers come from two-parent homes as one-parent homes. (One-Parent Families and Their Children, Charles F. Kettering Foundation, 1990).
Delinquency. Only 13 percent of juvenile delinquents come from families in which the biological mother and father are married to each other. By contrast, 33 percent have parents who are either divorced or separated and 44 percent have parents who were never married. (Wisconsin Dept. of Health and Social Services, April 1994).
Criminal Activity. The likelihood that a young male will engage in criminal activity doubles if he is raised without a father and triples if he lives in a neighborhood with a high concentration of single-parent families. Source: A. Anne Hill, June O'Neill, Underclass Behaviors in the United States, CUNY, Baruch College. 1993
Drug Use. A study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services concluded that fatherless children are at a dramatically greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse. Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. National Center for Health Statistics. Survey on Child Health. Washington, DC, 1993
Online sources for the above data:
What Can the Federal Government Do To Decrease Crime and Revitalize Communities? from the National Institute of Justice, 1998, page 11
Cynthia Harper of the University of Pennsylvania and Sara S. McLanahan of Princeton University cited in "Father Absence and Youth Incarceration." Journal of Research on Adolescence 14 (September 2004): 369-397.
The Kingdom grew by two today! A Mom and a Dad said yes to Jesus!! They have two children. The focus of their household has forever changed. As they get to know Jesus more and more, their example as Godly parents will have a lifelong impact on their kids. But, the coolest thing is that they now know the forever love of Jesus Christ. The kind of Love that can change the world, one kidlet at a time!!
Know that
you are prayed for.
In His
service,
deni
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