Northeast Oklahoma District Church of the Nazarene

Prayer Requests

· Dr. Sammy Bonee, former pastor of Claremore Church, passed away on Christmas Day · Rev. Larry Brinkley, long time pastor and leader in NEO, is moving to Kansas to be near his son, Mark · Mandy Alsop’s mom has ovarian cancer

How to Make New Year’s Resolutions that You will Actually Keep!

Harvey Mackey offers the following advice: Making a New Year's resolution is like setting any other type of goal.  You have to choose wisely if you want to achieve something significant.  Remember that a good resolution, like a solid goal, usually has a few definable characteristics: · Focus.  Set a definite target:  "Lose 10 pounds by June" is better than "Lose some weight." · Challenge.  Your resolution should be neither too difficult nor too easy. · Commitment.  Share your resolutions with others - that will help you work on them. · Presence.  Write down your resolutions in detail, and post your list where you'll see it often. · Vision.  Visualize the results you want to achieve every day.

Holy Convocation January 10-12 at Family Church

This is not a conference; it is a time of prayer and fasting, a gathering of people from across the country who are desperate for an encounter with God and for His glory to fall upon them. On Tuesday, January 10th the Holy Convocation will begin at 10:00 am. It will probably wrap up each evening around 6 pm, or as the Lord leads. Feel free to come and go as you would need to. For those of you planning on coming, if you haven't already, would you please email DanBohiMinistry@aol.com  and let them know the number in your group so they get a good count to make sure we have enough room at the Church?  Thank you!

Thinking About Evangelism vs. Compassion

"Engage" is the name of the global missions magazine for the Church of the Nazarene. You may want to look at the article "Mission: Is it Justice or Evangelism?" (at least the intro and conclusion). It is a good exercise to think through your approach of compassionate ministry events and evangelism. We can care for the needs of others in very tangible ways but when and how does proclamation come into this picture? And should it? Can compassionate ministries be evangelistic without compromising the "pure love" value? Is compassionate ministry evangelistic by its nature? Or do we have to be more intentional than just "handing out water", giving away baskets of food, or giving a night of lodging? Give this some thought. It will make a difference in how you do both evangelism and compassionate ministry. How do you blend the two?

Are Your People Orange? by Dr. Don Nations

I participated in a First Experience class at a church this past Sunday.  The class briefly reviewed the history of the church, its values, how to get involved, etc.  During the review of the values, time was spent on the one that stated “We are Orange”. Everyone was asked to say their favorite color on the count of three.  As you can imagine, people had different favorite colors and the result was a confusing garbled response.  Then everyone was asked to say “orange” on the count of three.  The result was quite different.  The group responded with a unified “orange”. The point is this: everyone in your church has their favorite things – songs, styles, traditions, mission projects, etc.  If everyone goes about pursuing their favorite thing, then the result is a confusing garbled message and few things are done in an excellent manner.  If, on the other hand, everyone will surrender their favorites and come together to support the greater purpose of the church, then the church is unified and can accomplish great things. Do the people in your church check their preferences at the door and proudly proclaim “We are Orange”?

Grace and peace,   Dave