Forgive us, Lord, when we lift up only seconds of hurried prayer during the frantic rush of the day. Transform our prayer life; draw us into a constant conversation with you. May our very breath be a song of thanksgiving and our footsteps be a dance of joy as we learn to pray without ceasing! Amen


Dear NEO Nazarenes,

A week from tonight we begin our Spiritual Renewal Weekend. I am already checking the weather and the early forecasts look good. Our special workers, Dr. Tim Stearman and Collin Campbell, are prayerful and anticipating great things. I thank you for the “soul work” you have been doing in preparation for this powerful weekend. Let’s keep the prayers flowing. A time of corporate prayer is planned for next Wednesday evening, 7pm at Central Church. Join us as we participate in a “Concert of Prayer”

As you are praying, please remember some of our pastors with family needs. Hominy Pastor Carl Brown lost his father last week and is in Washington for the memorial service. Tulsa Hills Pastor Jim Thornton is planning a quick trip to Albuquerque to be with his Dad who has been in poor health and is having new tests this week. Other parsonage families are dealing with prodigals. And we have eight churches needing guidance as they look for new pastors or associates.

Dr. Toler has writeen to inform us of a new radio initiative that the Board of General Superintendents is producing with World Mission Broadcast. The new radio feature is being broadcast on our district by the Oasis Radio Network at 90.5 FM in Broken Arrow/Tulsa and 88.1 FM in Coweta/Tulsa. The program airs weekends at 7:50am and is called The Way of Holiness. Very soon it will be streaming on-line at www.isaiah358.com as well.

Last Saturday was our District Children’s Quiz which qualifies quizzers for Regional Quiz on June 11 and it determines our Top Ten Quizzers in Blue and Red Levels. Here are the qualifiers:

Blue Level: (85% or better - 255 or more)
1.Abby Magness 300 Broken Arrow
2.Greg VanPelt 290 Broken Arrow
3.Drew Magness 280 Broken Arrow
4.Hannah Shaw 280 Regency
5.Sierra Busking 280 Owasso
6.Sienna Busking 275 Owasso
7.Quinten Willcox 275 Bartlesville
8.Carley Huffaker 265 Central

Red Level: (85% or better - 190 or more)
1.Jonah James 215 Claremore
2.Yaakov Ewell 210 Claremore
3.Lauren Force 210 Owasso
4.Luke McComber 200 Broken Arrow

A big thanks to Rachel Bess and all quiz directors and parents for helping our kids hide God’s word in their hearts!

SNU would like the opportunity to recruit any of the student athletes at your church to SNU to play intercollegiate athletics for our teams. SNU offers sports in football, men’s and women’s basketball, men’s and women’s cross country, men’s and womens soccer, women’s volleyball, women’s softball, baseball, women’s tennis, men’s and women’s indoor and outdoor track and field, men’s and women’s golf. If you have student athletes in high school that participate in the above sports and have any desire to pursue their sport at the college level, send their name, phone numbers and email addresses to Paul McGrady (pmcgrady@snu.edu) so he can follow up with them. Paul’s office phone is 405/491-6338.

I am thankful for the recent emphasis of civil discourse by our denominational and government leaders. Yesterday was the 50th anniversary of John Kennedy’s inaugural address. We often remember the speech for the "ask not" sentence. These words from his speech are also worth repeating: “So let us begin anew -- remembering on both sides that civility is not a sign of weakness, and sincerity is always subject to proof. Let us never negotiate out of fear, but let us never fear to negotiate. Let both sides explore what problems unite us instead of belaboring those problems which divide us.”

I look forward to being with you next weekend! You are loved!


Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

One of the good NEO laymen looked across the table and said to me this week, “Pray that I am doused with salt so that I will remain thirsty for God….I am desperate to see God work in our community!” I believe God honors desperate prayers. I have been reading in I Samuel in recent days. In chapter one it tells us Hannah kept on praying to the Lord (v. 12) in desperation. She acknowledged to the priest Eli that she was deeply troubled and pouring out her soul to the Lord (v.15). Eli responded, “Go in peace, and may the God of Israel grant you what you have asked of him.” And God did hear her prayer and granted her request. Praise God, He still draws near to us as we humbly and wholeheartedly seek him!

Rev. Fred Wenger will be leading a prayer revival at Tulsa 1st Church this weekend. Services are at 7pm on Friday and 6pm on Saturday. Fred has been a long time friend and has been used of God to help shape me and many other servants of Christ.

The 22nd annual edition of Southern Nazarene University’s Commission Unto Mexico was filled with experiences of “love in action”.For the 115 participants from the U.S.A., those “love in action” experiences happened during mobile medical clinics, construction projects, soccer clinics and daily children’s ministry events, all organized in conjunction with six churches in northeastern Mexico. SNU Senior Sarah Etsell from Moore, OK summed up the feelings of this year’s participants by saying, “I had an amazing time.”

This over-the-New-Year’s-holiday mission trip has often been billed as “a Work and Witness adventure for all ages.” This year’s December 27 to January 3 trip to the coal mining region around Sabinas in the Mexican state of Coahuila was no exception. The participants included some entire families, including a family of four from Ohio and a pastor and his wife and three children from Great Bend, KS. The oldest participant was a 71-year-old retiree while the youngest was a nine-year-old boy. Many on the trip live in central Oklahoma, but there were also participants from seven other U.S. states. Five different denominations were represented although the majority of the participants were from Nazarene churches.

SNU is planning to return to the same region next year, as it is one of the safest portions of the country with many needs for help. A big thanks to those from NEO who participated: Rev. Geoffrey Gunter, Paul Fuhrmeister, Paula Gettys, Adrian Castoe, Liberty Gettys, Peter Lauchlin, Michael Fuhrmeister and Terry Westhusin.

NEO DISTRICT LEADERS – December 2010

Sunday School/Discipleship Average Attendance
Tulsa Regency Park +80
Tulsa Fuente de Vida +40
Owasso +20
Tulsa Hills +19
Drumright +17
Wagoner +17
Tulsa Fe y Esperanza +15
Collinsville +11
Sand Springs +7
Tulsa Reg Pk Hispanic +7

AM Worship Average Attendance
Tulsa Regency Park +54
Tulsa Family +53
Barnsdall +17
Tulsa Fuende de Vida +15
Owasso +13
Tulsa Reg Pk Hispanic +12
Collinsville +8
BA Connection +7
Wagoner +6
Coweta +4
Pryor +4

Thanks for your partnership in the work of Christ in NEO! You are loved!

Dave McKellips

Dear NEO family,

Happy New Year! I trust you had a wonderful celebration of the birth of Christ and are off to a good start in 2011. As I am writing, I am watching the Sooners play and trusting they will finish strong and join the Cowboys and Golden Hurricanes in bringing bowl victories to the state of Oklahoma.

How did 2010 end for you? Our lives are a mixture of pain and sorrow, but in the midst of it all God continues to lead and provide. Pastor Rodney Amos ended the year with an unexpected loss as his brother-in-law, Bill suddenly passed away. On the other hand, Pastor Brady and Carrie Wisehart had a wonderful answer to prayer. Carrie had what the doctors were confident was a malignant tumor removed from her leg a couple of weeks ago. When the pathology report came last Tuesday, the report now listed it as a cyst that is cancer free. Physical therapy will needed for full range of motion but no long term problems are anticipated. Praise God! Aren’t you thankful for a God who we can trust with our lives and our future!

Concert of Prayer next Thursday. Our theme for Spiritual Renewal Month is “Desperate: Hungry…Broken…Believing.” We believe the key way we can prepare for God to break in is to be on our knees in prayer. We kick off a monthlong emphasis on prayer with a Concert of Prayer this Thursday, January 6, 9am at Tulsa Regency Park Church. All pastors and leaders are urged to join us for a morning of worship and prayer led by Nathan Covington and Marci Marquis.

Our quadrennial conference on mission and evangelism, M11, will be in Louisville on February 21 – 23. Visit the M11 website http://www.m11conference.org/

H. B. London encourages and challenges pastors every week with his Pastor to Pastor newsletter. Below is one portion of what he wrote this week and I think all will benefit from his New Year’s challenge:

2011: AN OPPORTUNITY FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
Remember the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it"? Well, the truth is, just because "it" is working (whatever "it" is) does not mean "it" cannot be improved upon.
I would think that many of you are having a great deal of success doing what you are doing the way you are doing it, but does that mean you are closed to some new ideas? Even the best concepts and methods can grow tired and mundane without some positive overhaul. 2011 could be an opportunity for you to make some very positive changes in both your ministry and personal life. For instance:
CHANGE: Could your "alone" time with your Lord use some fine-tuning? Are you giving Him the "first fruits" of the morning?
CHANGE: Not to meddle in your private lives, but have you been taking care of yourself? Physically, have you had your annual check-up? Are you getting appropriate exercise?
CHANGE: Is there a person in your life, be it family or friend, that disagreement, bitterness, or misunderstanding has hindered that relationship? To begin 2011 with a clean slate would be a positive change, right?
CHANGE: Have you had an opportunity to step back and look at the way you lead, you worship, you pastor and you plan? What would positive change in any of those areas look like in 2011?
CHANGE: If you could hold a mirror up to your life, what one characteristic (not cosmetic) might need some attention — patience, sense of humor, attitude, work ethic, compassion, problem solving, etc.? What? 2011 could be a year of positive change in one of these areas.
CHANGE: Do you need to make a "major" change? Like moving on to a new opportunity? Or being honest about the leadership in your staff or congregation? Without leadership in place, your best efforts will be jeopardized.
For me personally, and for our outreach to the clergy worldwide, I am anticipating 2011 to be a year of positive change. It will not be easy or without its moments, but it will be positive. Allow me to paraphrase a thought:


God, grant me courage to make changes that need to be made;
Patience to deal with those things that cannot or need not be changed;
And a heart for those I serve to help facilitate positive changes in their lives and circumstances.
"See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?" (Isa. 43:19).

I am believing with you for a very positive 2011. Happy New Year, My colleague!

You are loved!
Dave McKellips