Encourage: A reflection & a challenge
As I read the minutes of the 33rd annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma, I found a pleasant surprise. The convention gathered in Shawnee, on Nov. 16-18, 1938. Early in the minutes the Report of the Credentials Committee lists every registered messenger. Under the Bs, I notice two familiar names, Mr. and Mrs. R. E. Bivins. Can I tell you a little about Ray Bivins? When Ray Bivins was a boy, he lived in...
Encourage: Use spiritual tools
You can do just about anything if you have the right tools. What tools do we need to use to build and repair our nation? Most everyone agrees that our nation is facing some serious challenges. Christians live with a deep sense of burden and obligation to be salt and light. We want to be good citizens who help build up and not tear down. What tools should we use? On Independence Day, we will celebrate the freedom of the United States...
Encourage: Pray & vote
From voting on State Question 788, which would give marijuana a dangerous foothold in Oklahoma, to the nominating of candidates for various statewide offices including Governor, the 2018 Oklahoma Primary Election on June 26 promises to be a consequential one. The significance of this moment should remind Christians of our opportunity—our duty—to exercise the right to vote. The right to vote was earned by the sacrifices of many men and...
Encourage: Fatherhood foundations
Malachi lived in a day and age when society was sick. From priests to people, from marketplace to the home, he saw injustice, selfishness and corruption. He looked forward to the Day of the Lord, a day when things would be set right. Malachi assumed that a society that is rotten must be restored at its core. “He will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers…” (Mal. 4:6). Our...
Encourage: Pray for the SBC
When I became pastor of a church in Oklahoma, there was a chairman of deacons by the name of R. C. Hall. I was 27, and he was 72. He helped me in more ways than you can imagine. He loved me, encouraged me, protected and advised me. He was also a master of one liners. He could plant a nugget of truth in your heart through a short memorable saying. For example, the church had been through a season of division just before I arrived....
Encourage: Commit camps to prayer
Falls Creek was born from prayer and a burden for souls. Under pressure, the founders of Falls Creek, J. B. Rounds and W. D. Moorer, were receiving complaints about their selection of Falls Creek as the home of a summer camp for Oklahoma Baptists. Parents did not want to send their children to such a “deserted place.” So in late July 1917, the two men walked up Buzzard Hill discussing all the things that were wrong with the location....
