Dear
NEO Family,
What
a great day to be a part of the Church of the Nazarene! In the forward to
Carl Bangs' book, Phineas Bresee, Pastor to the People, Scott Daniels
says he hopes we will glean from Bresee’s life:
1)
Bresee’s passion for the poor. “We can get along without rich people, but not
without preaching the gospel to the poor.”
2)
Bresee’s Wesleyan optimism of grace. Bresee led Nazarenes into many of
the darkest corners of sin in his day because he was convinced of the
transforming power of God’s grace and Spirit to bring light into darkness, to
bring holiness out of sin, to bring life out of death.
3)
Bresee’s commitment to unity on essentials while negotiating and leading an
incredibly diverse group of people.
Bresee’s
spirit is alive and well in NEO. I was at Cushing
Sunday and saw the way this church is reaching to the poor and broken members
of their community. The Food Pantry has been a door of entry into the lives
of those in need. Because of the love of Pastor Ned McCarty and the Cushing
congregation as they extend a cup of cold water in Jesus name, many in the
community have begun attending the church and found hope and healing in their
lives. They are witnessing the power of God’s love to transform lives and
relationships.
I
was with Pastor Steve Brown and the Cleveland Church on Tuesday evening for
revival services with Elaine Pettit. Evangelist Pettit preached a challenging
message on end times, acknowledging the diversity of interpretation allowed
within the Nazarene church while giving a clear Biblical presentation on her
viewpoint (unity with diversity). At the conclusion of the service, the altar
was lined with people seeking salvation, sanctification and healing.
Every
week I am hearing reports of revival and renewal from our pastors. God is at
work. I also love the spirit of teamwork I see across our District. A good
group from Pawhuska, along with their Pastor, Tony Siebels, was at Cleveland
nightly for the revival. We are better together!
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This
Friday evening starting at 7:00pm (doors open 6:00pm) Central Church is
hosting a concert with The Digital Age (formerly David Crowder Band) and
Bellarive (they were our camp band this past year for NYI camp). We are
pleased to add an additional guest artist, Lexington Heights. We still
have plenty of tickets available for our Nazarene family and would love youth
groups, college groups, and anyone who loves worship music and worship
experiences at their finest to come out for this event.
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New
Starts
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One
of the Key Initiatives of the USA/Canada Region is Multi-faceted Church
Planting. A key component of implementing that initiative is the training
provided by Dynamic Church Planting International. I have been hearing
wonderful reports of the impact this training if making on Districts across
the US. We are closing churches faster than we are starting them in NEO. We
need pastors and leaders helping us start new churches in the next three
years. Dynamic Church Planting International is offering training nearby in
Carthage, MO on Dec. 9 – 13. I would love to see 10 people in NEO joining me
in attendance at this conference. Eventually, I hope every pastor in NEO will
receive this training. The registration is only $35 and the Carthage Church
is offering free housing (either with a family in their church or sleeping on
an air-mattress in a classroom.)
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Our
denomination provided another helpful parenting webinar last Monday evening.
Dan Martin with PUREHope gave the parents on the call a great tip for getting
a FREE filter for your router. You can get this filter here. This
is just one of the excellent things we learned. Click
here to watch the recording and learn more.
We
have one parenting webinar left: The
Legacy, Monday, October 28th at 7:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time.
This webinar will discuss what parents are handing down to their
children. God has specifically called us as Christian parents to
instill in our children love and knowledge that will lead them into deeper
relationship with Him. Many parents today have bought into the message
of our culture, that the most important thing they can do for their children
is to give them a good education leading to financial security and
well-being. Our hope and prayer for parents is that raising disciples
of Jesus Christ will be their number one objective.
Click here to register. Once you
register, you will receive an email with all the information you will need to
join the webinar.
If
you have any questions, feel free to email us at DiscipleshipPlace@nazarene.org.
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