“What a Gift”

Good News (Wednesday June 22nd, 2011)

How is your day going? Tired? Barely able to open this newspaper as you drink your coffee? Listen carefully to what I have to say: Shake it off. Open your eyes wide, and remember that this is the day you have waited for. You are alive!

I know that seems like an insignificant statement, but if it does, you are who I need to talk to. You have been given a glorious gift! At this very moment, you have what countless celebrities and giants of history no longer possess: life, and the capability of changing things for the better. At this very moment, the great libraries of the world with all their masterpieces are open to you. For nothing, you can read the great books, listen to the works of Mozart or Beethoven, or perhaps even discover a masterpiece of a person to fall in love with.

Today is the day, and God has given us all an amazing and priceless gift. Seize it! You have the capability to enjoy what you’ve been given and to make a change today. Don’t be bored – it’s almost a crime in this amazing world we’ve been given! Go out and build something, have a conversation with someone, go eat in a restaurant and pick whatever you want to eat, no matter what others say! This is liberty and freedom. Our loving father God has given us all these things to enjoy, and our valiant armed forces have worked hard to ensure you and I continue enjoying those liberties. Honor what they’ve done, and make it a true independence day this year.

Of all the wonderful things that await you out there, I have one in particular I want you to think on. If you never have, I want you to go by the library, a bookstore or www.biblegateway.com. There you can access a wonderful book – it’s called “The Message”. It’s the Bible written in common, everyday terms, no Shakespeare allowed. I suggest one small act: read the book of Luke. It gets right into the action, it tells the story of Jesus in plain language and it’s exiting. But here’s the kicker, here’s the main thing about it: don’t tell anyone you are reading it. Sure it’ll take half an hour or so, but just read it – after all how many bible lay collecting dust? Seeing what it says in a whole new way, through easy to understand language, then ask people about it. Just be curious. See what others think about Jesus or the Bible.

I’m willing to bet that you’re going to have the same experience as with Mozart or Beethoven – many have heard the most famous lines, but have they really taken it in? I say this because one of the most precious gifts of this life is Jesus Christ. Without people annoying you, or some super-churchy people in your face, just see what it says on your own, and ask your friends what they think. You don’t want to go your whole life hearing about something, only to find out you like it too late? I’ve heard many people talk about flying in planes, but nothing beats doing it yourself. Listen to the great music, read great books and get back into nature – but take a little time to hear from the Master who created all these things. It isn’t about being “religious” or doing it for someone else, it’s learning from your creator what you were made for. It’s your life – use it and enjoy it for what it was created for, honoring what those men and women gave their lives for so long ago, so that we could enjoy life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

VBS ANNOUNCEMENT! Been to everyone’s VBS by now? Kids crawling the walls? Eager to send them for some growth in the Lord while experiencing the exhilaration of uninterrupted sleep or shopping? Send your munchkins to this year’s VBS at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene! July 19th-23rd (Tuesday through Saturday), so mark your calendars now. The kids will learn and have fun all week long, then meet on Sunday morning for a presentation and performance for the parents. They need fun, you need a break. Let’s minister to the whole family, what do you say?

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

“The American Dream”

I do not do this often (nor have I ever before), but I must recommend an article to all of you – accessible on a website if you have the means, and if you do not, the library stands ready to assist you. The article is “Rethinking the American Dream” accessible at http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2009/04/american-dream200904.

The author, David Kamp, led me to a deep reconsideration of what I pursue in my private life as “the good life” or the American dream. In some of the more salient points, he addresses Norman Rockwell’s paintings of The Four Freedoms. Issued after a speech by Roosevelt pre-Pearl Harbor, the freedoms were depicted in paintings including one you’ve no doubt seen many times, Freedom from Want, an image of an American family eating Thanksgiving dinner around the table. David Kamp points out the simpleness of the curtains, the ordinary nature of the room and the adequate nature of the meal – appropriate to the number of people there, but not extravagant. As he points out, the American dream is freedom from want, not freedom to want.

In these days, we’ve all come to worship success, and have a skewed vision of what the dream was for our forefathers: a place to live, a home of one’s own, enough food and clothing, and peace and quiet enough to raise your children while you went to work and earned your pay. The American dream is not so alive and well as it is twisted and sick now – a shadow of its former self, afflicted by a dread disease: selfishness. But it is not dead yet – still alive, it has endured before and will flourish again, given the right treatment, humility and attention.

As you may now, I am a pastor, and the general perception is that pastors aren’t paid especially well. I looked up my salary in an inflation calculator once, and figured out that my salary is equivalent to your average middle class man in 1955. I could be considered poor by today’s standards, which shocks me! The man in 1955 had to supply a wife and children out of his money including whatever they needed. Unsurprisingly to me, I have a wife and children, and my wife stays home. How do we make it? Because we are well provided for for our needs.

Cable TV is not a need, nor is the latest automobile (though sadly I still make payments on mine). Divorced of the litany of perceived “needs” in America today, one can live comfortably and even happily. Our pain comes in trying to be who we are not – rich mansion owners with the latest trends. Why pursue that life? Could they really be happier than we are? We should really consider.

Our children these days, growing up in the massive shadow of our selfishness, come to see that they cannot fail, and so they cannot deal with it when it happens. My generation was brought up hearing we could be president, astronauts or titans of business. I felt a little alone when, deep inside my self, all I wanted to be was a Dad, and have a good job with a nice home. I have news for this next generation, now teenagers and struggling to come to grips with the disconnect between TV and real life: what you see on television are lies. Not even the people depicted truly live that way, they put on a show. Sure they are wealthy, but marketing makes sure you have something to want.

For our children, the most responsible thing we can do is to tell them that they can pursue anything they want – they simply might not get it. There are humble professions in this world – pastor, janitor, grocery store clerk, barber. But if we tried getting on even one week without these professions, we’d be in sorry shape. If you truly value your children and your future in their world, teach them well. Teach them to aim for the stars but keep their feet planted on the ground, because the truth is we need everyone at Warehouse Market, Ralph and Capitola’s Barber Shop, the Library and the Church. Our town, life and even America itself are richer for the fact that, rather than be failures at something great, we have greatness in our midst – artisans and good hearted people who steadily work at becoming masters of their business and art everyday. This town is America, and it is time to dream anew.

VBS ANNOUNCEMENT! Been to everyone’s VBS by now? Kids crawling the walls? Eager to send them for some growth in the Lord while experiencing the exhilaration of uninterrupted sleep or shopping? Send your munchkins to this years VBS at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene! July 19th-23rd (Tuesday through Saturday), so mark your calendars now. The kids will learn and have fun all week long, then meet on Sunday morning for a presentation and performance for the parents. They need fun, you need a break. Let’s minister to the whole family, what do you say?

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

“You are not forgotten.”

Do you want to come to church? Do you want fellowship with other believers, or just to explore faith in God? Chances are if you aren’t free on Wednesday evening or Sunday morning you’ve found that difficult.

Lately in my church’s life I’ve been thinking on how to reach those people who are simply unavailable on these two days. Time was in our society that Sunday was sacred – everything closed, because even the non-believers knew we all needed rest. But time passed to where we didn’t value people’s lives in society, and we decided that weekends off and a living wage were luxuries to be aimed for, but not achieved in the first job you get. How far we’ve gone astray in caring for our bodies and minds is not the focus of this article, however.

Here at our church we are trying to examine the way things are done, and to change them to fit real needs. I have often wondered if there are any out there who would be interested in a Friday or Saturday night service – or really any night that a majority of people would be free. Would prayer time in the mornings, during the days or at a gathering in a restaurant be something people would enjoy? The great thing about ministry is creativity – you don’t have to do it the same as everyone else. I have an email address here at the bottom of this article. If you want to attend or be included in a church family but have unusual time restrictions, let me know. Are you a waitress or waiter? Do you often have to serve the church crowd, but never be a part of them? I want to hear from you.

We are currently working on an organized effort of visitation for those members of the church who are home bound, or who do not get out as they once did. This is our struggle: to live up the life that Christ has for us. If you want to come and experience that life with us, we invite you to attend church here. We aren’t perfect, and we’d love to have more imperfect people to grow alongside. But the church is not a church without people, and that’s why we need you. We need workers and followers, attenders and lay leaders. We need you! We want to make certain we’re not just working on our time table. If you need different times to meet, or you want to get your kids together during the week, please tell us how we could best minister to you. Suggestions do not make a contract that you have to attend, it’s just you telling us what you need.

God loves you, and designed you specifically for a purpose. If you want to discover it, you’re going to have to go out and get it. It won’t just fall in your lap, this life is meant to be seized! God didn’t make you for sitting around being bored. If you are falling asleep – in church, in life, at work and on the couch, it’s time to wake up. Life is a precious gift given to us, and we can only truly realize what it means to be alive through understanding what the creator made us for. It’s not about just talking – it’s about living. I welcome your thoughts by email or letters.

VBS ANNOUNCEMENT! Been to everyone’s VBS by now? Kids crawling the walls? Eager to send them for some growth in the Lord while experiencing the exhilaration of uninterrupted sleep or shopping? Send your munchkins to this years VBS at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene! July 19th-23rd (Tuesday through Saturday), so mark your calendars now. The kids will learn and have fun all week long, then meet on Sunday morning for a presentation and performance for the parents. They need fun, you need a break. Let’s minister to the whole family, what do you say?

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

“Tragedy in Nonacceptance”

Good News (Wednesday June 8th, 2011)

Recently I read an article on CNN.com about a man named Kirk Murphy, who as a boy, was sent to a research group at UCLA in the 70s. The man who “treated” him was named George Alan Rekers, who earned his PhD through this research. Kirk, as a boy, was subjected to a treatment to try to
make him more “masculine” – presumably for that time a cover for changing his presumed (and later confirmed) homosexuality. The treatment involved such tactics as spanking and the withholding of maternal affection, which are no longer allowed in any ethical course of study.
As a young man, Kirk Murphy lived a life overshadowed by his early experiences, coming out as gay in his twenties, but later committing suicide alone in his apartment. It turned out that the “therapy” to do this included his mother not talking to him or not holding him – punishment if he selected a “girl toy” from a table instead of a “boy toy”. Later at home, he was beaten by his father with a belt based upon a system of poker chips – blue were accumulated if he was “masculine” and red if he was “feminine”.
Kirk made it to 38 years old before he killed himself – fundamentally convinced that he was broken inside, different from everyone else because of his experience. Whether or not the treatment was responsible can never truly be determined, although it seems obvious it played some role. As I read deeper into this story, I wept for this case of tragic misunderstanding and the detrimental effects on a young boy and later man.
When I was a child I had many playmates – perhaps as many girls as boys. While I enjoyed playing army and blowing up enemy fortifications, I was not above playing with my friends next door who had dolls. Often Ken exhibited a bent for wanting to join the Marines, but we played together as innocent children do. I am glad that based upon who I was I was not sent to some camp because I was not as “masculine” as someone thought I should be. I was terrible at sports, read a lot, and generally didn’t want much to do with guns or most of those sorts of things. How I evolved into someone who shoots a rifle on an occasional basis and wound up in the Air Force is a different story – but the story that I was allowed to live out by becoming who I was meant to be. Kirk Murphy didn’t get that chance because he was not loved, he was manipulated and abused by a system that should have helped him.
What is the point of me telling you all this? In my church, the Church of the Nazarene, we affirm that the Bible says homosexuality is a sin. But our highest law is the law of love – to love one’s neighbor as oneself, and not to place yourself in the judgment seat, for that is the place of God. For homosexuals or “less masculine men” in our town, our chief requirement is love, not judgment. God tells us our sins are equal – a lie to your boss is the same on the scale of sin as any other that someone else does, but some sins are easier to hide than others.
I think to a large extent in this department, the church has failed in teaching its theology as well as it should have. Withholding love is as great a sin as homosexuality. We must decide if we want to lead the life that Jesus had for US to live, rather than trying to force someone into it themselves. Once we can lead our lives full of love and compassion, we will be the examples that draw people TO God and do not drive others away.
How did this story come to my attention? Because as it turns out, George Alan Rekers, outspoken anti-gay activist, was photographed returning from Europe with a male escort. I don’t bring this up to call derision upon this man, but to show that when we fail one person, we often fail many others. Had Mr. Rekers been educated as to how Jesus told us to love first, he might not have hurt so many others in his life and perhaps been able to accept himself so that he could work out his relationship with God. That hope remains for him still – and the hope that God in his just wisdom knew how to love and care for his creation Kirk Murphy in death, whose life and time here was cut tragically short.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

“The End of an Era – and a New Hope”

Word of what occurred Sunday evening our time came quickly by rumor. The President was to speak shortly, and on Facebook I received the first hint that it would be about Osama bin Laden. When the news eventually came, many emotions came forward for those of us who lived through those dark days in 2001. I still remember the terror, the quiet of skies without planes, and the general hush that seemed to fall over the country for several days if not weeks.
When we knew that the man who had caused so much death was himself dead, it seemed that jubilation occurred across the land – a terrible enemy was dead. Yet on Facebook as well, much reaction and discussion from pastor friends of mine who debated the reaction to his death. As Christians we are not supposed to “enjoy” someone’s death, even someone as heinous as Osama bin Laden. Yet I felt on top of the world. Why this exuberant attitude? Do I enjoy death? I don’t think so, and I think some of the criticism of the celebration was partially justified, but here’s my take.
Osama represented what one person full of hate can do – a person twisted and motivated by perverse goals and schemes. For worse, he came to be the “face” of the Muslim world to America and much of the West. His actions, and those of his small cadre of fanatics became the way we see an entire religion, and that was not the fault of peace loving people who did not condone his actions. When he died, I think most of us did not celebrate revenge – it was relief that this solitary man hiding in a remote corner of the world could no longer lash out with his hate and violence to terrify the innocent.
We could not, and can not have revenge upon Osama. There is simply no way to measure the lives of thousands, both of innocent victims and heroic military members, against his. There is no such thing as “redemptive violence”. We cannot “improve” the world by killing a man. We can stop his particular actions, but as was worried about, killing one inspires revenge in others. How then can we stop that cycle of hate, violence and malice? Young Muslims overseas have begun to do it for themselves. Tired of the hate and vitriol spewed by their respective dictatorships, and no longer fooled by the idea that Al Qaeda would take over if they were deposed, Muslims in countries across the Arab world revolted against their masters, and are in the process of winning their freedom.
What does this have to do with Christ you might say? This is a religion column, where is Christianity’s response? It is here: in peace and love. Our country cannot be the shining city upon a hill until we love our neighbor as ourselves, be they Muslim, Christian, Sikh or Atheist. Christianity’s beautiful truth is made a lie in the mouths of men who practice violence against other religions to “protect us”. While Muslims fight in other countries to free themselves from oppressive dictators, let we in America make a charge for freedom on our shores as well: none of us are safe in our houses of worship until all of us are safe. Let us work for a world in which the Mosque and the Church are as safe as one another.
Paul told us that as far as it is possible to live in peace with others, we should. We also know from the Bible that governments are allowed to function by God, and that in some cases, they can be instruments of his vengeance and his peace. Let our fighting men and women act in justice to punish the wicked and redeem the peaceful and oppressed, and let us be sensible enough to leave them to it. The only thing that will overcome racism and violence in our country by Muslim Extremists is to make our attitude of Christian love such that, when the extremist full of hatred comes to reap his harvest, he finds only those who know not only that Islam means peace, but that Christ is love, and his followers stand ready to love their brothers, and to lay down their lives for them. With God’s help, may we put these long ten years behind us, and walk arm in arm as brothers and sisters once more.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

Loss

Good News (Wednesday April 28th, 2011)

I think all of you who read my column by now realize, that by nature, I am generally a happy and optimistic sort of person. However, the past two weeks have been quite difficult for me. My beloved Grandmother, Frances Jones, passed away at the age of 90. She had a minor case of dementia, which had progressed further, but she still knew the events of her life and all of her family. When my mother and father divorced when I was very young, I grew up in two places: my mom’s house, and my Grandmommies (which is what I called her).
In a family that did not attend church on a regular basis, I learned from Grandmommie what it was to be gracious and kind, and to think of others before myself. I was no doubt also spoiled rotten, as virtually anything I desired she bought for me. But she also taught me a lesson there – don’t ask for things that will make people say no as well. Ten thousand cups of coffee, trips to Arkansas and Clothes Line Fairs mingle with stacks of comic books and G.I. Joes in my memory of her home during the summers. I might give up any chance to read any classic literature ever again should it mean the ability to perfectly recall those summer days once more.
So what does this nostalgic look back mean for you, my reader? For as much as I remember these things and treasure them in my heart, no doubt you do as well, if you are of a certain age. There comes a day, frightening and terrifying to young minds, when someone truly important is lost to you by death. For me it was a number of family friends up until my father’s mother died. Then my father, now my grandmother. Loss for human beings is hard. True we have the hope of seeing them again in heaven, if they are believers in Christ. This is good news granted, but the next part I do not mean as a slight to anyone. For someone who has lost another, sometimes that doesn’t help as much as you think. Loss is real – and we keenly feel that those we love are not with us and among us, and our selfish selves want so badly for them to be here.
I hope that we members of the clergy do not take a “Pollyanna” attitude towards these things. I certainly try not to, as there are no mitigating factors. We can discuss all day that it was better this way or that, but at the end the loss is still there. There is a fear that I have, which I will share with you in the intimacy of this column, one that gnaws at me when the lights are out and it’s a touch too cold. At the innermost part of my mind, I fear that those I love who surround me are like lights – bright and shining, filling my heart and mind with love and warmth – but that one by one, they are going out, and that in some ways some of the brightest have already gone. I am only 32 years old, but there sometimes seems to be no way to shake that feeling that the darkness at the edge of your heart is creeping steadily inward, and that it moves and creeps when your back is turned, or when you smile at your child.
My only consolation in this fear is that, if in my doubt and worry, this situation is true, that as the light will fade from my eyes one last time, and as I look my last upon this world and the faces of those who love me, that the darkness will be brief, and that the next sight after that is a glorious blaze of light and warmth such as I have never beheld, and that standing there is the one person who made my life able to be lived – Jesus Christ, my savior. It is also selfish, and I am unsure of how these things work in the next life, but I would surely want a few moments at least alone with him, to tell him how things went even though he already knows. I want to hear that I’ve been a good and faithful servant, but most of all I want one of those hugs like I got yesterday – long and lasting, between two people whose hearts have both known loss and sorrow. I know that things grew a little darker for Grandmommie in the last two weeks, but I know that hug is happening somewhere far off, where it’s never cold, and there is no parting again. Until I am there myself, my world will be a little smaller as the tear drops fall.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30.

 

Stick With It

Good News (Wednesday April 13th, 2011)

Do you know exactly how today is going to go? Regardless of your answer I can assure you the answer is no. We, all too often, think we know exactly what is going to happen and how the day will unfold, but God is the ultimate authority on the events of our lives. He does not cause the hurtful events in our lives, but he is there acting to our best purposes in those things that occur. That said, lately I have been very busy doing work on the church. We’ve fixed a lot of things, and so much has been done.
But I have become tired. My enthusiasm is still there, but the constant labor on building materials instead of people is beginning to wear me down. Yesterday I gave a tour of the building to a friend of mine, and he was impressed with all he saw improved, but it only made me more tired. At the end of the day I felt I was worn out and had done very little. But that was yesterday. Today I walked into my church and took a fresh look around. The clutter is cleaned out, the tables are waiting for this weekend’s Easter dinner, and a good friend and church member helped me move many heavy objects to get them where they needed to be.
Our youth center had close to record attendance last night, and I’m going to really have to hustle to get the place fixed up and use our back room so we can have enough space for games and people. I’m already planning a day to devote to it, to get it all ready for the crowd we already have. We are planning a VBS in July, set around our refurbished and newly decorated youth center.
But this is not a bragging column, nor is it an announcement so you know what is going on. Read all those things. Certainly many people worked to accomplish this! It’s true, they did. So what changed between yesterday and today? What made the difference between tired failure one day and a growing, thriving ministry that is gaining people and momentum? Nothing but rest and time. You may not be in charge of a large organization, and perhaps you are simply an employee in a structure over which you seemingly have no control. But you have control over the way you conduct yourself, and the way you rest, and the way that you approach the world. Sometimes, as simplistic as it may seem, you just need to go to bed and get back after it tomorrow morning.
Whether you own a salon, work at the Post Office, or are pastor of a church, YOUR perspective is largely up to you! God has given us all the tools with which we can manufacture a good day or bad day, but he leaves the construction up to us. Joy is a matter of perspective. Are there things going on right now that we’d rather not happen? Sure. Do we ignore those things? Certainly not. But part of being human is taking the good with the bad, and allowing the one to season the other.
If you can do anything today, take the opportunity not to be needlessly negative. Your own life will suffer and those around you will be brought down. Ultimately, if you are having a bad day and you really, REALLY want to irritate people to make them feel bad, try being the most optimistic person around you. Not only will this sunny disposition annoy those in a bad mood, it will uplift those in a good mood, and make those who are grumpy wonder what you are up to.
Remember that each and every day, God made this day for you. The sun rose in the sky, the earth was a pleasant temperature and you had what you needed to be clothed and to eat. Worry or concern past these things is vanity which leads to suffering. Make today the best day in your week!

NOTE: Please join us for Easter service at 10:30 April 24th. We will have a simple service to answer the question “How are we saved?” All too often we hear the story of Jesus, how he lived and died on a cross, but what is essential is: how are we saved by this? We’ll answer that question Easter Sunday and have testimony about how our lives have been changed.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30, with our bible study on Romans concluding this week at 6 pm.

 

“This is It”

Are you ready for an insight to change your life? This is the life you are living. Right now, what you are doing and where you are living is it. Removed of our dreams and fantasies about what sort of life we’d really like, the one we’re in now is it. I don’t say this to depress you – I say it to help you.

Once we get past a fantasy idea of “what our lives should be”, we can properly focus on what they are. Once we know what they are, we can begin to change what we don’t like. This isn’t some pop psychology mumbo-jumbo, we’ve got to take an honest look at ourselves. Honesty with oneself is probably the greatest benefit to anyone. It may take time, but we’ve got to get through the lies we tell ourselves.

For me as a Christian, life is about something that was done and how I react to it – I believe Jesus Christ came to this world and died on the cross to atone for sins I committed – things I did wrong. I don’t have much issue with the fact that I did things wrong because everyone does, but I sure wasn’t proud of what I did. For a long time I was proud and looked down on others, and invited few into what I considered my own private world. What I really wanted was good relationships with other people – honesty and truth, people who cared about me and who I cared about in return. I can say without a doubt that the Nazarene church gave that to me.

But the reason why is more complex: you see a community like that exists because each and every person there has had a similar experience: they knew who they were before they knew Jesus, and they know who they are now. At some point, each person had that moment of clarity in which they said “This is the way things are – and I want to change them.”

We know as Christians that we can’t change every person in the world – there will be liars, cheats and thieves. But we can make a place available where we are not those things. Better still, we make room and invite those very liars, cheats and thieves and tell them that Jesus cares for them as much as he does for us. That’s amazing – and it’s called grace.

Too many people complain about the world yet do nothing about it. Here in our little corner of town, we do the best we can with what we have. We try to love all the people who come in, and lately we’ve had visitors, and we love and appreciate them. This is our chance to change the world – by helping those around us to find a loving home of support and actual life change. It’s funny isn’t it, how people think you have to go half way around the world in order to do something really effective, or to make the world a better place. How many people have we been influenced and changed by who might not have ever left this town? Or who have never been to exotic foreign places? The point is that we are most changed by those we are closest to – our friends, our parents, our family.

We have decided to hold the quietest revolution in the world here: if you come in, and you are honest, we will try our best to love you as Jesus loves you. We don’t have all the money in the world, but money is often easier to come by than love. This world can be a cold and hard place for those facing it alone, but I feel if you give us a chance and you keep showing up, you’ll find a home with us. But as warm and wonderful as that sounds, there’s a key: you have to come. You have to show up, because people don’t love in a vacuum. People can’t get to know you on your couch. Our world is turning so inward – the social places of the past are being abandoned. Church recognizes that you need one another – as God intended. You may want to come, and you may intend to come, but things will come against you to stop you. Ultimately each of us must ask if we want to embrace the obstacles of the world for a fairy tale day that may never come, or if we want to embrace love – as difficult and time consuming and wonderful as it is.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30, with our bible study on Romans concluding this week at 6 pm.

 

“On Hell”

Recently a controversy emerged on a book that is not yet published – and that very few have read. Rob Bell, a young evangelical pastor, is publishing a book called “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Whoever Lived”. Some have already begun to claim that he refutes the idea of hell. To be perfectly honest, hell hasn’t concerned me too much after my conversion, since before it I never feared it much anyway. In America today, hell is a lot like a credit card payment – you can live for today as long as the bill is far away from now. Hell as a concept has lost its teeth. So why do we talk about it? I’ve never given a sermon on hell until this coming Sunday. If you’re curious about what the Bible says (really says!), then by all means join us at 10:30 for service. That said, I’ve formed a few thoughts I’m going to expound upon in my sermon that I record here.

1. Belief: Why would you believe in hell if you don’t believe in Jesus? Jesus warned about hell, but if you don’t believe the messenger, why would you believe the message? Trying to convert someone to Christianity by scaring them with hell is akin to choosing a domestic car over an import before they know what driving is. Negative reinforcement doesn’t work for the most part.

2. Terminology: There is one word in English: hell. But in the original languages the Bible was written in, there are four: Sheol, Hades, Tartarus and Gehenna. Sheol is the concept of where we go when we die in Hebrew thought – what the Jews (and Jesus) believed. Sheol simply means covered or unseen – when you die, no one sees you anymore. You go into the unseen. Sheol was never especially bad as the righteous went there as well. Sheol was a netherworld about which the Jews didn’t have much information.
Hades is the greek word used to approximate hell, because of Greek legends. Tartarus also comes from here, as in Hades (the afterlife in Greek mythology) you had Elysium (Heaven-like) and Tartarus (Hell-like). The problem is when we use those words to give people an idea of what it is like, we invoke false ideas – if we don’t believe in Jupiter or Zeus, why would we believe in Tartarus or Elysium? Clearly the authors of the Bible were getting at something else.

3. Gehenna: Gehenna is what Jesus spoke of, and only one other person used this term. When Jesus says “hell” you are reading “Gehenna” – which was a forever burning trash dump that was unclean. The Jewish people would throw criminal’s bodies in there, with unclean animals, trash, whatever they needed to get rid of. The burning was to keep decay and disease from afflicting the air and the land.When Jesus spoke of being in danger of Gehenna, he meant there was a danger that the nation of Israel would be judged and thrown into the fire of refuse, consigned to the garbage heap. Notice that eternal torment doesn’t enter into this idea? So what then, truly is the idea behind hell? Doesn’t Jesus say there is a Last Judgment? At some point when we make our choice, we will choose how we will be judged.

We will find our answers to what truly happens to us when we die in Revelation. If you want to hear the rest, come visit us this weekend. I’d love to talk with you about what we find in the Bible together, speaking as equals, not as one trying to convert another, but as peers respecting one another.

SCRAPBOOK THIS WEEKEND!: Our scrapbooking get together is March 5th, THIS SATURDAY, from 11 am to 5 pm. Bring $5 for pizza and pop if you like.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30, with our bible study on Romans concluding this week at 6 pm.

 

Let’s Talk

Have you been invited to church lately? It’s getting more rare all the time. And why? Because people don’t want to push their views on people. Not pushing your views on people is laudable I think, and people who want to have civil discourse are to be commended. However, civil discourse is what we want most. Everyone wants to talk together, to see if there is someone who is like them, who has the same thoughts, fears and feelings. If we get really lucky and we find one other person who seems to put up with us as we really are, we tend to try to marry them at the first opportunity.

But what if there were such a place that there may be more than one person who wants to talk, not to browbeat or to hurt, but really just talk about what is going on in each others lives. That place, for me, is my church. We have wonderful people here, and we have varied discussions and let me be the first to tell you, we do not all think alike! But there is great unity there, which is the key.

In this small place, near the train tracks, with no great fanfare or advertising, I think my little church has done something rare: it has made a safe place for those who have questions, for those who think differently and those who may not be accepted elsewhere. But to say this is hollow – to determine if such a place is real requires a visit.

I had a conversation with my mother last week in which I had discussed helping another ministry here in town. She asked, naturally, if deep down I wanted those who benefitted from what we did to attend church with me. I said yes, but not as my primary motivation. I explained that my primary motivation is to help the people that I can, and to love them. I hope they come to church, not so that I can convince them my ideas are best or that I am right, but because that is the place that they can be loved best.

There are many misperceptions these days about churches, mostly because what is misperception in one church is still the truth in another! Unfortunately you just have to see for yourself what kind of place it is. I do my job for one reason alone: to share the love of Jesus Christ. Note that I did not say to convince everyone that Jesus is right, or that I am right. We certainly believe what we say, and mean it, but I am not first and foremost a “convincer”. When my mother had me as a baby, she hugged me, loved me and provided for me. She loved me, and took care of me when I could not do so for myself. At the end of my experiences as a baby, there was no doubt she was my mother. No one had to convince me of that, I had to experience it. Our relationship with God is much the same way.

I am not going to convince you God loves you, or that my church means what it says. To learn the truth about something out in the world, you have to experience it. That means going where it is and finding out, and many times in our past that has been painful. But nothing ventured, nothing gained. I view my role as to introduce you to who God is, to let you experience Him and the way He does things. Convincing is no part of it at all on my part.

I invite you to church to enter into dialogue, to talk together and to ask the really hard questions. We have some opportunities coming up for you to have fun and ask questions (two separate events!)

The first is that on January 21st, a Friday, from 7:00 to midnight we are having a Scrapbook-athon. Bring your pictures and tools, you’ll have a great time. If you’ve ever wanted to scope the place out, its your chance. No presentations, no convincing, just a great evening with friends and family talking about those we love.

The second opportunity is our “Family Class” which begins 9:30 am on Sunday, January 30th. We invite all married couples, single parents, step-parents and would be parents to come and learn with us together. I hope we can provide many more opportunities for us to talk together. God bless you.

- J. Cole Weston is Lead Pastor at Okmulgee First Church of the Nazarene at 711 N. Okmulgee. You can contact him via email at okmulgeenazarene@gmail.com or 918-213-0359. Services are held Sunday at 10:30, with Sunday School at 9:30, with a bible study on Romans at 6 pm.