Nehemiah

I love the book of Nehemiah...that is where my devotionals are right now and I almost don't want to stop reading once I get started. God laid it upon Nehemiah's heart to go to Jerusalem and rebuild the walls and gates of the city so that the city of David would not be a reproach. Once it became known what his business was there, some people mocked and scorned him and did everything they could to prevent him from doing what God had laid upon his heart to do. Nehemiah didn't let their actions or their words prevent him from being obedient to God. The Bible tells me that there is "nothing new under the sun" and as I read the book of Nehemiah, I am reminded of that fact. God will lay things upon our hearts to do for Him and when others find out what our business is, they mock and scorn us and fight against us, even to the point of telling us that we don't know what God's will is. Will we become discouraged by their words and actions or will we be like Nehemiah...obedient to what we KNOW God is asking of us? Words hurt, we second-guess ourselves, but if we truly recognize the voice of the Father...then we can, with confidence, be about His business and know that He will give us the strength and the grace to fulfill His will. That is exciting to me, how about you?

I do realize that I sort of left you hanging with the last post titled, "Day 1" of our 21-day fast. I had intended upon sharing what God was showing me each day...but...got side-tracked and never got back to it. I can report that God blessed each one of us that participated in the prayer and fasting. It seems that we have a clear focus, as well as direction. We are able to recognize when the enemy is coming against us quicker which makes it easier to combat his attacks. While we don't have all the answers to all the prayers that were prayed, we do have a peace that God is working all things out for our good and when all is said and done, He will receive all the glory and honor for the progression of the work here. We are all just vessels for His use and are willing to be used as He sees fit.

The first week of March, Sister Jessica Stanley will be moving here from Virginia. We are excited and looking forward to having her help with the work here. We have also found a building with an acre of property for $129K which is a steal in OKC. The building is in good shape, with old, but well kept carpet, beautiful pews, altars and pulpit and lots of potential for adding on as needed. It is less than a minute from I-35 with a neighborhood of houses to the west and apartment complexes to the east...a lot of outreach potential. We have sent letters out to all of our churches in our region asking each member/church to prayerfully consider donating to our building fund as God will lead them. Some are simply hoping for enough to come in to cover a good down payment of approximately $20K...but I serve a BIG GOD and $129K is nothing in comparison to how He blessed David and Solomon...I am trusting God to provide all of it and then some to cover all the minor improvements that need to be made and all the initial costs involved. Am I being presumptuous in expecting God to provide it all and then some? I don't think so. My God spoke the worlds into existence...He is THAT BIG! Why shouldn't my faith, in Him, be THAT BIG? It is in knowing that what I am asking is an impossibility in the eyes of man, that makes God's answer so great and causes Him to truly receive the glory and honor. With man, it is impossible, but with God ALL things are possible! If we can't believe God for BIG things, then what is the point of believing Him for the piddly things? That may seem a little warped, but let me share one of my biggest struggles...I've never had a problem trusting God for the BIG, impossible things...it has always been the piddly things that have tripped me up (mainly because I just didn't want to bother God with something I thought I could handle myself) until one day I realized that He IS faithful in the BIG things and He is even MORE faithful in the piddly things...most people struggle with that in the other direction, they trust God for the little bitty things but can't seem to trust Him with the huge things. So...I have come to the conclusion that regardless of the size of the need...I need to trust Him in a huge way...He will bless us over and above what we can imagine and I have a HUGE imagination...so I trust Him to do what He has promised.

Right after we arrived in OKC...an anonymous donor felt led to start out our building fund with a donation of $200.00. We also had donors, who are not affiliated with The Church of God, who committed to sending a set amount each month to help get the work going through December 2009. God has truly blessed us with people who are listening to His voice and are being obedient. We are thankful for them and we are praising God for His provision. While we were at District Convention this past weekend...the Churches from Broken Arrow and West Tulsa, provided lunch for all who attended, for a donation and all the money donated was given to us for our building fund. It was a very pleasant surprise for us and we are truly grateful for all those who so generously gave. With human eyes, it seems that it is all moving too slowly, but...we are determined to follow God and wait for His timing rather than trying to lead Him and move too quickly. We are also doing a candybar fundraiser. We expect the shipment to arrive on Monday, 15 February. We will be selling assorted candybars from World's Finest Chocolate, for $2 each.

God is also moving upon our hearts to be givers, not just receivers. We have a ministry within our Church called "Helping Hands" and it is to send funds to specific countries for specific needs. This is one of those areas that God has given us direction, letting us know of two specific areas and needs that He wants us, as a church, to give to. Our General Missions Coordinator decided to forego the annual missions calendar with requests for prayer for different countries each month and decided to ask specific regions within the U.S. to pray for specific countries for the entire year. A week after our church agreed upon the countries and needs to pray and support, I found out the countries that our region had been asked to pray for in 2010. I was so excited because the two countries our region had been assigned were the two countries that God had laid upon our hearts. I love confirmations like that! I know that we are a small, new work with limited funds, but we cannot expect God to bless us financially and to meet our needs if we tie up our purse strings and refuse to help others who are also in need. I am so grateful for the men of our local congregation, who take the business of the Church seriously enough to pray and get God's mind on the decisions that we have to make and aren't willing to lean on their own understanding or what "appears" to make sense" or what seems to be the easiest, least costly way. Too many decisions have been made because it "seems to be God laying the answer" at our feet, without any real effort on our part, only to have it backfire later on. I would much rather have our men pray about every jot and tittle than to lean on their own ideas, opinions and human understanding. This is God's work...once again...we are just vessels for Him to work through...we absolutely need His leading in all that we do.

Please be in prayer for us as we seek to raise the funds for purchasing a property, whether it is this one, or another. Also, pray for the work here...we had a young man (11 years old) attend our October Youth outreach and since December, his mom, sister and sister's boyfriend have been coming with him. God is bringing new faces into our midst and we want to be a blessing to them and see them grow in Him. I think that pretty much brings you up to speed on what is happening in OKC. God be with you and keep you...

Until next post...

Day 1

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing (forgiving) their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." (2 Corinthians 5:17-19)

Like you, I've read these scriptures many times, but this morning it clicked...God has given us the ministry of reconciliation...what does it mean to reconcile? The 1935 Webster's dictionary says that it means to cause to be friendly again; restore harmony; reunite. Scripturally, it means to bring back into a right relationship with God. We were born as enemies to God because of the sin of Adam, but through the blood of Christ, we can be reconciled to a right relationship with God and once we have been reunited with Him, we become ambassadors of Christ, reaching out to others to see them reconciled and forgiven.

It is so exciting when God opens up my understanding to what His Word is saying and shows me how to apply it to my life. I trust He is doing the same for you.

New Year...

So...how do you start out your new year? Do you make resolutions that you may or may not keep? Do you set goals for yourself? Normally, I just go with the flow...whatever happens, happens. This year is a bit different for us...following a year of big changes and life threatening events and the first week of the new year starting out with serious problems and death...most all of our congregation is feeling the need to do some serious fasting and praying. Starting tomorrow, we will be embarking on a 21-day fast together as a church. If you read in Daniel, chapters 1 and 10, you will find that Daniel did a 21-day fast where he drank water and ate fruits, vegetables and nuts and refused meats and breads. There are a few of us, who will be starting the "Daniel fast" with a complete fast, meaning no food...and the rest of us will do just the "Daniel fast". The reason we are doing this is to find God's will for this congregation, for this year, to know what He would have us focus on; we need workers who are committed to reaching the lost for Christ; we need finances to do whatever He leads us to do; we need the health to keep going, we have some serious health issues among our congregation and we need healing for those issues; we also want to see souls saved this year and added to the Church as God leads them and then we have our own personal things that we need God's direction on. I prayed in the New Year, but don't feel that I have the direction that I need for this year...so this first month of the new year is a good time to find out what God wants of me and for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how God directs this congregation and the work here in the city. We've had others, from other parts of the country, choose to join us in fasting and if you want, please join as well.

Now...some have asked that I post some pictures from Christmas, so I'll add some from the night the Church went to see the Christmas lights in Chickasha.

The tunnel of lights... front row, Pastor Ray and angel baby, Lilli; back row, Nick, Sherry, Sheyanne, Samantha, Darren, Larissa, Jeremy and Heather.

We are missing Amy, Madison, Emma, Kaylee, Lydia, Kim and Ethan because they

didn't get the memo that we were walking through the park rather than driving, so they were somewhere in the nice, warm van while the rest of us were shivering and laughing at the craziness of being out in the cold.

I'll have to add more pictures later...blogger is uploading rather slowly and I have other things that must be done.

Sister Tammi

Just a thought...

What is it that keeps you going to church, serving God, doing what is right? Throughout my life, I have heard many excuses why people stop going to church, why they stop serving God and ultimately, stop doing what is right. The vast majority of the excuses have to do with others..."the church is full of hypocrites!"..."they hurt me really bad!"..."the leadership isn't handling things the way I think they ought to!"...etc...

I realized a few years ago, when it seemed like hurt after hurt was heaped upon more hurt, that I couldn't serve God or attend church or do what is right based on what others did. There were moments when it seemed the pain would never end and that my heart would be ripped out of my chest. There were those who were going through the motions, talking the talk, but most definitely NOT walking the walk who were criticizing me. Friends turned their back and walked away and it was in those moments that I realized that the only way to continue serving God and attending church was for me to keep my eyes upon HIM...to do what I KNEW was right. I learned in those moments that I could either keep my eyes on Him and walk on water or I could be like Peter and look at the waves swelling around me and sink every time. I have to trust what God has shown me in His Word and revealed to my heart. I have to hold on to that in order to walk on water...

So...what will you choose to do in this new year? Focus on Christ and walk on water or focus on people and sink? I pray that you will choose to focus on Christ and find the joy and peace that comes from walking with and serving the One who chose to give His life so that we might have everlasting life.

Merry Christmas!

Sister Tammi

Way behind....

We've been busy since the last post. I'll apologize now for living in slothsville and not updating as I should have. You know that I've fallen behind when my mother-in-law asks if I'm going to shut the blog down. :o) I will admit...with the new website up and running, the thought had crossed my mind...but...it just isn't as personal as a blog...so I'll do my best to post more often for those who are wanting to keep up with what is happening here.

In the last post, we had a not so pleasant experience at the shelter. However, the very next trip...we met a young woman, with five children and one on the way, who had gotten out of an abusive relationship. Her only wish was to find some place safe for her children to lay their heads at night. One of our congregation, knew of some places where she might qualify for housing and gave this woman her phone number, telling her to call the next day and she would take her to these places and get her name on the list. Sister Sherry did take her around the next day and just last week, got a message from her, letting us know that she was thinking of us. We haven't seen her and her children at the mission, so the natural assumption is that she has found a place to live. We have had several trips to the mission since then and have been blessed to talk to those that we have served, to find out what their story is and how they got to the place they are presently in. On our last trip, we met a young lady, who has become disillusioned with the way the world is and decided that she wanted to try to make a difference, so she came down to the mission to help. You could tell it was her first time, there is a look of uncomfortableness on one's face the first time they come to help. Brother Adams and I both had the opportunity to speak with her. We gave her one of our cards and invited her to church. From the conversation, I didn't get the impression that church attendance was a part of her life, but I am praying that if she continues to help out at the mission, the more she gets to know us, the more impressed she will be to join us in service. I think that all us of had a picture in our minds of how we were going to go BE a blessing to those unfortunate souls at the mission...it only took us a few moments, during the first trip, to realize how blessed WE were by being there. We were also thrilled to have Sister Jessica, from Virginia, join us for one trip to the mission. She was very nervous, having never done anything like this before, but by the time we left, that nervous expression was replaced by a look of wonder and a desire to reach out to people like she never had before.

Every Tuesday evening, in October, Brother Rob had a youth service entitled, "What's In Your Backpack." The first night, we had four young people, 1 regular and 3 visitors. Brother Rob challenged those four to do all they could to have 20 people there by the last service. They had 17 for the final service...we allowed them to count Brother Robs 3 oldest daughters to make their 20. Brother Rob started them out with a game...then we served supper...chili dogs, chili, pizza, cookies, ice cream sundaes...not all on the same night, I think they even had nachos one night. After they had played and eaten...then they all went into the sanctuary to watch a short video and Brother Rob talked to them about the topic of the night. The last two services, they were all in the altar, shedding tears and revealing their hearts...it was an awesome session. You know how you do VBS and youth events and then once it is over, all those visitors never darken the doorstep again? Well...the first three visitors that came that first night...are still coming. Brother Rob has a heart for the youth and the youth felt that love. He did an awesome job conducting this youth event. We are also thankful to Sister Amy for planning and preparing the food and to Sister Sherry, who crammed as many kids into her vehicle as she could and made sure to find extra vehicles for those she couldn't cram into her's.

In November, all but 3 of our congregation, attended Family Retreat. Four of the visiting youths from the Backpack series, attended the retreat and one received salvation while there. We also had one saved during service the Sunday prior to the retreat.

Everyone, in our local church has been hit with this virus that is going around, but God has been so good and gracious to touch us and give us strength and the ability to continue doing what He has called us to do. He has blessed us all so much and we are very grateful for His leading. We are excited to see what 2010 holds for The Church of God in Oklahoma City.

We pray that you know Jesus as Lord and Savior, that you feel the peace that only He can give and that you will share the blessing of knowing Him with all you come in contact with now and always. Have a safe and blessed Merry Christmas!

Sunday Morning Ministry

Since we aren't able to have a Sunday morning service, YET...we have decided to minister in the community, as a church. We went to the City Rescue Mission and volunteered to serve food to the homeless and the poor. We are starting out by doing it every other Sunday morning, but I'm fairly certain that it will become an every Sunday morning event for those of us who were present this past Sunday. It was amazing and heartbreaking all at the same time.

I'm a behind the scenes kind of gal, so when asked to help serve food...I had no problem. The rest of our crew were asked to serve water, pickup trays when the people were finished, to have conversations with those who were being fed, to make connections with them...as Brad said, "what we do back here (the serving line) brings them in here, but the real ministry is out there, making connections with those you are helpless and hopeless." It was amazing for me to watch as Brother Rob and his twin girls, Emma and Madison, went around striking up conversations with all kinds of people. For those of you who know Brother Rob, he doesn't meet a stranger and is rarely at a loss for words and it is really cool to see God working through him. My husband tends to stand back and get a feel for the situation, but once he gets started, it is hard to slow him down and before too long, he was striking up conversations all over the place too. The biggest blessing for me, was to see my sister, Kim, who has such a heart to serve, ministering in such simple ways as laying a hand on the shoulder and speaking softly to the people, asking if she could get them more water or take their tray or simply listening when they wanted to talk and to see my very energetic, 7 year old nephew, having the time of his life, offering water to everyone, including those who had water. He was so excited that he could help too. I was blessed to be able to have conversations with those on the serving line and in the kitchen and to hear their testimonies of how God had delivered them from drugs and alchohol and was helping them to raise families in the way they should go and not the way their parents had went.

At the end of our shift, my husband came to me and asked if I would go with Brother Rob to talk to a woman whose family, of 6, had recently ended up in the homeless shelter. Both parents had recently lost their jobs, causing them to lose their homes and they had come to Oklahoma, from California, trying to find new jobs, but were now at the CRM. The wife was frustrated, feeling helpless and had arrived at hopeless and didn't want to live anymore. So, I went with Brother Rob and walked right in to a hornet's nest, due to a situation that was occurring as we were going over to that side of the building. By the time I met the woman, her hopelessness had been replaced by anger and she said to her husband, "So, is the church going to help us or are they JUST going to pray?!" That is why I referred to that meeting as a hornet's nest, because there was no way to walk into it without being stung. In that moment, Brother Rob and I both got a glimpse of the helplessness and frustration these people were feeling, because as a church, with a vision of helping those who have fallen upon hard times, those with addictions, those who are helpless and hopeless, we realized at that moment, all we had to offer them was prayer and the Word of God and while those are two very powerful things, in that moment, it wasn't enough and because we couldn't help them in the physical aspect, the door to minister to them spiritually, was being closed.

I've never been one to beg or plead, especially for money, but the ministry that God has called us to in this city is one that takes money, more money than a few bake sales, doughnut sales or any other kinds of sales can raise. I'm begging, pleading for those who read this blog, if you have a heart for missions...don't just raise money for foreign missions, we are doing our part for October World Missions too, but remember that right here, in the U.S. we are surrounded by mission fields and it takes money to minister to those who are lost, hopeless and helpless. Spread the word that we need help, if you want to help, contact me and I'll send you mailing information, if you can't help financially, PRAY that God will provide the finances needed, PRAY that God will provide workers. If our neighbor knocks on our door and asks for bread and we send them away by saying, "be filled" and do nothing to meet that physical need, then what good have we done. We can give them spiritual food, but if they are struggling to have those physical needs taken care of, they will not accept the spiritual food that we've offered. Help us reach this city of 1.2 million people.

Up and running!

Brother Nick, Brother Rob and Pastor Ray have been working on a church website and it is now up and running. It is totally awesome. God anointed them as they worked on it and they did a great job, so check it out and let them know what you think: www.tcogokc.com.

Sister Tammi