Update

Our friend, Doug, passed away early Tuesday morning. The funeral is Saturday. Please keep praying for his family who is left behind and especially his wife, Quaye.

The Glory of it All

Two weeks ago a friend of ours, Doug, went into the hospital not able to breathe because his lung collapsed. While in the hospital he found out he has cancer in his lungs and on his bladder. A few days later he found out the tumor on his bladder is inoperable and has spread to his pelvis. His prognosis is 12-18 months with chemo and 6 months without. He is around our Dad's age (around 55) with a wife, 3 children, and 7 grandchildren. Too young to be going through this.

Tonight Jarod got a text that the family was called to the hospital and for the ministers to come. Our hearts sank. Jarod headed up to the hospital to be with Doug and his family. I put on some praise music here at home. It's what I needed while I prayed and took care of the kids. It's very different listening to songs while praying for someone to live through the next moment and praying for comfort for the family as they will have to say goodbye soon. David Crowder's song "The Glory of it All" came on, and the words just hit home.

"After night
comes the light
dawn is here
dawn is here
it’s a new day
it’s a new day
everything will change
things will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same
we will never be the same"

Praise God for Doug's faith! A faithful servant of His King! Praise God for hope during suffering and for hope that death is not the end! We will never be the same. Our God and King Jesus changes us. Even death can not separate us from Him.

Please pray for Doug and his wife Quaye. Doug is a part of Jarod's praise team and a big advocate for missions. He has spent the last few days telling young people about making the choice to follow Jesus! Jarod texted that he has stabilized for now, but please pray for them as they face this journey.

Retreat, retreat!!

Last weekend was the minister's and spouse retreat. The staff from NCC went up a day early to have time together. It was such a good time for them to all go (minus one staff member who couldn't go b/c of a loss in his family) and spend time together, discuss many pastoral and secretarial items, and to go relax. A very generous family let the staff go to their cabin at Grand Lake and stay for free. It was a gorgeous cabin! It was right on the lake and had enough bedrooms for all the staff. It was definitely a retreat!

On Friday the wives went up to join them. We got there and went to dinner and came back to play games. We ended up staying up till almost 1 playing games and hanging out. These people are so incredibly fun and amazing to be around! This was Jarod and my view from our bed as we woke up on Saturday:
Yes that is the lake with the sun rising behind it! So incredibly gorgeous and a great place to go do devotions at!

We had breakfast together and then had a time to dream for the church. Rob asked us all to share what we dream for Northside. It was so encouraging and exciting to hear where everyone's heart is at. Northside is going in a direction that is about serving and connecting to the community. It's about reaching out to the poorest in our area, the unlovely, and the people who just need help. It's becoming the first century church to each other and to Broken Arrow. I am really excited to see where this takes us. Hopefully I can write more as things progress and begin to happen. All I know is that God has worked in the hearts of our staff and put dreams in place for Him to really work. It will be quite the adventure!

We enjoyed a nice game of bacce ball too. I played alright but it's hard to throw the ball far when my center of gravity has shifted. :-) We ate lunch and headed home and set the stage for Sunday morning. Next year the retreat is going to be longer and hopefully at the same place. It was such a blessing to be together and dream for Northside. I love this church and its people!

It launched!

Jarod has been working hard to get the new website for the church up and running. It's up and going now. Check it out: www.northsideonline.com

Amen and Amen!

Today was such a great day at church!! The worship was awesome to start the service off! Jarod stopped the service at one point and had it go dark in the auditorium. Then on the screen different scriptures speaking of God's love for us flashed one after another. Then he lead into the song "Oh how he loves us" by Crowder. Very powerful and so true. First service our friends son came forward to be baptized. It is his Dad's birthday today too so what a great present for him!

Second service our friend Randy came forward to be baptized! I think I've mentioned him before. He is in our connection group and is very genuine and real in where he has been and the mistakes he has made. He has been coming to church and to our group since this fall, and he is doing an amazing job changing his life and living for God. His wife, Barbara, has now started coming to our group and told us this morning that she won't be too far behind in getting baptized! Praise God! We are blessed to be part of their lives and decision to follow Christ. Jarod and I were talking about it, it was nothing that we said that convinced them to make these decisions. But our group, living out a genuine Christian life and just loving them, was what they needed to see. Our group has embraced these two and loved them for who they are, warts and all. It is God's power working in us to make a difference. I am so thrilled for Randy and for his whole family, who by the way came to church this week with him for the first time, and so thankful to be a part of this! This is Randy and Jarod after service this morning(and did I mention he looks like my Dad?):

I Believe

This was Jarod's article from last month's newsletter at church. Thought I would share it with you. He called it "I Believe:"

"A few weeks ago, on my way home from church, I heard something on the radio that moved me deeply and caused me to worship God in a new way. It wasn’t a worship song or a sermon; it wasn’t even on a Christian radio station. For reasons unknown to myself, on that day, I tuned in to National Public Radio on a Sunday afternoon. I heard an old man, a Catholic scholar as it turned out, speaking about his life’s work: the study of creeds. As a church-goer all my life and a student at a Bible college I was familiar with the Nicene Creed and the Apostles’ Creed, but they were little more than academic for me. I agree with most of what each says (though at points I have arguments) and appreciate them for the effect they’ve had on the Church for centuries, but I’ve never been moved by a creed... until now.
Dr. Jaroslav Pelikan was exploring the different creeds, talking about their origins and the roles they’ve played in the Church and in the arts. He talked about how a community tends to focus in on the creeds in their youth, but as they grow in their knowledge and maturity they desire to write their own statements of faith. One community’s creed captured my heart. Tears welled up when I heard the words being read, and as I read the creed to my wife Laura in our kitchen a few minutes later I could barely make it through.
This is the Maasai Creed, written by Kenyan Christians in the 1960’s:

"We believe in one high God, who out of love created the beautiful world. We believe that God made good His promise by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, a man in the flesh, a Jew by tribe, born poor in a little village, who left His home and was always on safari doing good, curing people by the power of God, teaching about God and [humanity], and showing that the meaning of religion is love. He was rejected by His people, tortured and nailed hands and feet to a cross, and died. He was buried in the grave, but the hyenas did not touch Him, and on the third day He rose from the grave. He ascended to the skies. He is the Lord.
We believe that all our sins are forgiven through him. All who have faith in him must be sorry for their sins, be baptized in the Holy Spirit of God, live the rules of love, and share the bread together in love, to announce the good news to others until Jesus comes again. We are wait- ing for him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe. Amen."

I love the imagery of Jesus on Safari doing good, of the hyenas never touching His body. I love the eager anticipation of His return.

“We are waiting for Him. He is alive. He lives. This we believe.” Amen."

Jarod Anderson, Worship Minister

Strange Way to Save the World

Last Sunday my group of "hand choir" people performed their song. Jarod and another guy named Scott sang the song while they performed. Jarod and I choreographed the hand positions and I taught it to the group. Here is a picture of the group from the Sunday they performed:



Here's a link to where you can watch the performance on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKLLR7ilewI

Brunch bunch

Today started off with brunch with the minister's wives from church. We met at Ihop and basically caught up with each other and prayed for one another. I thought I would take the time to tell you about these ladies so that you can have a little knowledge of who they are:

Sandy- she is our preacher's (Rob) wife. They have 7 kids, 4 of which they have just recently adopted. She stays home and also helps out with the school at church. She is a very kind and sweet woman who sees the best in people. She is extremely encouraging and has a great heart for the church. She and I think a lot alike and have some of the same gifts yet we are different enough that God has a place for each of us to serve. She is a blessing.

Brenda- she is the wife of Jeff who is our administrative man. She is a family therapist. What I like about Brenda is her love for people. She went back to school later in life just so that she could help people. I respect her knowledge and wisdom in this area. She is funny and is easy to be around. We are excited that she and Jeff have sold their house in Perkins and are closing on a house here, and with that she will be able to be around more. (she still works in Stillwater, OK and commutes- she has great dedication to her job which I respect a lot.)

Julie- she is the youth minister's (Ryan) wife. She is a hoot. She is 7 months pregnant with their 3rd boy, which by the way she is a cute pregnant lady. She is very honest and at the same time very accepting of people. She has a great desire to help Ryan out with his ministry, and she does a great job being our preschool director's assistant. She is very good at making people feel welcome and at ease. She has a very funny and inviting personality.

Kelsie- she and Daniel(our discipleship intern) our newlyweds. They just got married this summer. She is a sweet, sweet girl! I love being around her b/c she is very easy to be yourself with. She is kind and fun. She is a great support to Daniel and is also very encouraging to everyone. I hope she and Daniel stay here for a long time.

I wanted to share this b/c I know many of you will probably never meet these ladies, and I they are a big part of my life. Even though we don't necessarily see each other week to week, b/c of the size of the church and with us doing different ministries, we still have a bond. The brunch was great b/c there was laughter and small talk but also sharing of burdens and joys and struggles. We stopped to pray for one another when a burden or struggle was shared. It's great to be with people whom genuinely care for you and accept you just the way you are. It's being the church to one another and loving the way we are called by God to love one another. It was a great way to start off the day feeling encouraged and loved by these women and also to encourage and love them. I am so thankful for all the women in my life (these women and many others) that encourage, love, challenge, and accept me. To you, I say thank you!

Sweet spot

A few years ago at Wyandotte we read a book talking about finding your sweet spot- basically using the gifts that God has given you to do good things for Him. That 'aha' spot or doing something that you know you were meant to do. I'm really excited b/c I know a sweet spot for me, and I'm going to be able to start doing it. I wrote about my experience this summer working with the special needs kids and how much I loved it! Well Northside is going to be starting a Sunday School class for special needs kids, and I am blessed to get to be a part of it! We will be starting a week from this Sunday- I am so excited! I love those children and I enjoy every moment with them. I know that this is where I am meant to serve. Thank you Lord for the opportunity to start serving you in this way!!

A barrel of laughs!

This weekend was the ministers and spouse area wide retreat. Almost the whole staff was able to go, and we had a blast! The retreat was down in Ardmore, OK, which is almost in Texas. We all rode in the church van together on Thursday and came back this evening. In the morning and in the evening we had a worship time with the message being preached by Jim Johnson. He is the lead minister at Sunnybrook CC in Stillwater, OK and he was a professer while we were at Ozark. It was such a blessing and encouragement to see him and get to talk with him. His messages were challenging and encouraging as he preached the book of Phillipians. It challenged me in ways that I wasn't expecting but needed to hear.
But the best part of the trip was spending time with the staff from Northside. I absolutely love them. They are wonderful, godly men and women. They are incredibly fun to be with, and I laughed so much this weekend! We had a lot of time together playing games and chatting, and while the guys played golf on Friday afternoon, the girls went shopping at an outlet mall just inside the Texas border. We stayed up each night talking, snacking, and enjoying getting to know each other even better. I am so thankful to be a part of what God is doing at Northside and to be surrounded by such a great group of people!

What an amazing morning!!

Wow! That's all I have to say! Okay, I'll explain a little bit! :-) This morning was our first morning in our new building. You could just feel the excitement in the air as soon as you came in the front doors! The lobby was full of families enjoying the free refreshments provided by the cafe' and the preschool wing was buzzing with tons of little kids! The worship service was wonderful and Jarod and the praise team did a great job leading us in worship! Jarod put a video together of Northside's journey from its beginning till now accompanied by Chris Rice's version of 'Great is thy Faithfulness.' It is so clear that God's hand has been in this whole journey for this church, and we are honored to be a part of it! There was a baptism in each service and many moments to make you just pause and praise God. As Jarod said so well this morning and as I've tried to say too is that it's not about the building, but it's about what God can do using the building as a tool to reach many! Both services were pretty full- Jarod guesses we may have been near 1,000 people this morning. I can't put into words this morning... it was a great morning!
I'm going to go up to the church tomorrow and take pictures of the inside so you can see what it looks like! Here's a couple more of the outside of the church after they put the logo on.