Encourage: A psalm when we feel clueless
I want to make a confession to all Oklahoma Baptists: I feel as clueless as a small child. This year has made my head spin. As we enter the second half of 2020, I am more confused, not less. We are trying to make decisions about starting schools, playing sports, holding events, balancing budgets; in general, about how to finish the year. Yet, so often we are confronted by a simple reality: We just don’t know. Psalm 131 comes to my...
Petersen hired as OBU dean of students and VP of campus life
SHAWNEE—Brandon Petersen, Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) alumnus and director of consulting at JM2 Capital in Oklahoma City, has been hired as the dean of students and vice president of campus life at OBU. He will begin his duties on Bison Hill effective July 20. In his role, Petersen will be responsible for developing, cultivating and overseeing the transformational student experience on Bison Hill through leadership of campus...
FIRST-PERSON: Five lessons I learned from a COVID-19 spike at our church
MOBILE, Ala. (BP)—In March, April and May, our church staff braced for a wave of COVID-19 cases to sweep through our church family. It never happened. In fact, for the first three months of the COVID-19 outbreak, our church family of about 1,500 only experienced a handful of Coronavirus cases. As far as we know, none of those cases was spread at one of our events. In June, that all changed. Like most churches, we moved to an...
OBU President excited about opportunities at Bison Hill
Oklahoma Baptist University (OBU) President Heath Thomas was a recent guest of the Messenger Insight podcast. Since starting his presidency this year, Thomas has seen unexpected changes occur due to the pandemic in 2020, but he is encouraged by God’s provision and with the prospect of new programs at OBU and the ambition of recent graduates. One graduate in particular Thomas mentioned is Misael Gonzalez who is currently serving at...
Bronson Baker stretches for college athletes
EDITOR’S NOTE: The following is an expanded article based on the 2020 Cooperative Program Prayer Guide for Oklahoma Baptists. For more information, please visit www.oklahomabaptists.org/cp. Outdoorsman Bronson Baker got involved with Baptist Collegiate Ministries (BCM) when he was a student at the University of Oklahoma. Though not a collegiate athlete, he attended a BCM Bible study in the athletic dorm when invited by upperclassmen....
Parents, don’t be afraid to lead your kids to Christ!
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise” (Deut. 6:4-7). While the church does a good job...
