Fireworks in the Rain.

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My youngest is at the National Youth Gathering in New Orleans. My oldest is still at home so he, my husband, and myself braved the 113 heat index and headed out to the ball park on Friday night. Storms started looming overhead while a northern cool front came in to meet the heat. Both fronts collided directly over the field leaving a bright gaping hole in the center of the sky. I was a little worried at first, afterall we do live in tornado alley.

There weren’t any tornados, just a glorious rain shower. It felt wonderful to be soaked by rain instead of by sweat. They called the game for a short while until the storm passed and we were able to return to our seats. The rain stayed away just long enough to finish the innings. And then almost as if on que the rain started at the same time the Friday Night Fireworks began.  Everyone in our section ran for cover expect for the three of us.

I have to say watching fireworks in the rain is about the most fun I’ve had all summer.

ID Ten T Error (IDIOT error)and yahoo friend finder

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Hi there — if you landed here because you received a facebook friend invitation from me but don’t know who I am and googled me to find out. I’m so sorry — I used Yahoo Friend Finder this week — and I accidentally hit the accept button before I could filter out appropriate names. Friend finder grabbed my entire address book and has been sending friend requests willy nilly all week. 

Thank you for stopping by and I promise not to play with anymore internet toys before breakfast.

Modern Evangelism: Your Church Sucks, Come to ours instead

Deana16 Comments

I am a sword carrying idiot. I’ve been known to wrecklessly wield my good intentions at people and not only cut their ears off, but their heads as well.  This blog post is as much about me as it is THEM.

 

Remember when there used to be ethics in advertising? There was a day when companies would spend their ad dollars on themselves without ever once mentioning the competition. I miss those days. I could be wrong, but I think Burger King was the first nationally known company to advertise against someone else. That someone else being McDonalds.  It was only a matter of time before everyone followed suit and today some companies go so far trashing the competition that the only name I remember from the commercial is the other brand. Yeah that’s effective.

Politicians do the same thing. They spend their advertising budget slandering their opponent without ever saying what they themselves stand for.

What saddens me is churches and some pastors are following the same path. Not just in my LCMS world either. Follow Twitter for a while and you’ll see what I mean – pastor’s world-wide trashing other pastors and churches for being different.

You’re going to hell and I’m not and let me tell you why. – ooh love me some piety. With an opening like that, I don’t even want to be in the same room as you, much less be stuck with you for eternity.

The emergent church this.

The liturgical church that.

This conference is horrible and ours is much Godlier – wanna know why? No not anymore, I send my kids to that and you just accused me of being ungodly for doing so. Besides – the horse you’re riding on is so high, I can’t hear all the way down here in the gutter you act like I live in.

Marketing 101 says “Don’t waste precious resources (dollars and time) talking about someone else’s brand. Talk about your own.

Every worthwhile communication skills book I’ve ever read tells me not to start with you statements. You statements are confrontational and achieve nothing more than putting the other person in a defensive position. People don’t hear anything past a slam; it’s ineffective and childish. You’ve just told me I’m an idiot, bad parent, ungodly, whatever for supporting X and you want me to listen to you? Fat chance bub.

Insulting me – which is what happens with you statements, doesn’t make you look better in my eyes, it makes you look like, well… a donkey.

Imagine if we spoke to our spouses or kids like that? You never take out the trash. You’re lazy why can’t you keep the house looking the way I like it? You never listen to me. You… you… you…

Problem is, the real issue is rarely about you and really about me — I have a need that is going unmet and I while I may not be intentionally blaming you for it, I’m going to defend it even if it means cutting your head off. You statements breed rebellion or worse – little deaths of esteem, trust, respect and maybe even the relationship.

The only thing that can heal that is the supernatural touch of Christ.

Remember Peter and the night in the garden? He cut off the ear of a Roman soldier sent to take Christ to Pilate.

John 18: 1When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it.

 2Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. 3So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons.

 4Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?”

 5″Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied.

   “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) 6When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground.

 7Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?”
      And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”

 8″I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” 9This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”[a]

 10Then Simon Peter, who had a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant, cutting off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)

 11Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?”

The Gospel of Luke Chapter 22 states this as well: 

47While he was still speaking a crowd came up, and the man who was called Judas, one of the Twelve, was leading them. He approached Jesus to kiss him, 48but Jesus asked him, “Judas, are you betraying the Son of Man with a kiss?”

 49When Jesus’ followers saw what was going to happen, they said, “Lord, should we strike with our swords?” 50And one of them struck the servant of the high priest, cutting off his right ear.

 51But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him.

Poor Peter – just hours before this little skirmish he told Jesus he was ready to follow him to prison and even death. But Jesus knew better. Peter was passionate to be sure and his passion was actually a stumbling block for the progression of the church and the Gospel. Peter wound up being humbled through incredible failure – he denied knowing Jesus three times.

I’m a former Shaolin Swordsman. I know how heavy swords are and how to properly wield them. The laws of physical science also prove that Peter wasn’t going for the guard’s ear. He was wielding that sword perpendicular to the ground and going for his head. Fortunately the soldier ducked.

How does that apply to today’s world? Well meaning (I hope) and passionate people – people like you and like me – are wielding verbal swords at each other – intending I believe to defend Christ – only we mess it up and cut each other’s ears and heads off with you statements and arrogant piety, and Christ has to intervene and tell us to stop.

My passion for truth can be a stumbling block for many – and it takes the hand of Christ to heal the ears I’ve cut off in my life.

My actions in my life have also denied Christ a time or two. My sword has probably turned more people off than on when it comes to the Christian faith.

I “get” Peter. I understand his love, his wellmeaningness and his passion. I used to carry his sword with me and wielded it any chance I got, confusing those who disagreed with me, with the enemy. Maybe that is why I kinda like some of these younger missionaries I see passionately supporting their stand. They are in the Gethsemane season of life – praying lest they fall into temptation – defending Jesus with all their soul and might – thinking they know what lies ahead, but they really don’t. Not yet. They are living on the dark side of the resurrection if you will. And what I mean by that, is they see the Law – Jesus having to suffer and die for our sins – and they have not lived long enough yet to see the Gospel – The Ressurected Christ, the grace and mercy bestowed upon our lives. They’re not there yet.

They too will be humbled and they too will be restored – just like Peter and the rest of us sword carrying idiots – and soon enough they will learn how to fish again.

Who is the swordsman in your life? Is it you? Or is it someone else. How do you deal with swords that come your way?

This blog post written by Deana O’Hara for Redemption’s Heart. All rights reserved. July 16, 2010

Wordless Wednesdays: Bridges

Deana4 Comments

Bridges can be crossed

burned

faced

and feared.

What comes to mind when you think of bridges?

Letting Go and Trusting God

Deana4 Comments

People ask me about Letting Go a lot. I’m not sure why I get asked, but I did write a short  piece on it a while back and that does prompt questions. (http://deanaohara.com/2009/07/11/letting-go-let-go-and-let-god/)  forgive me for the lack of appropriate hotlinking, wordpress seems to be fritzing on me tonight.

I will share that that one piece gets more hits than all of my other stories combined. I guess letting go is a big topic for people today. What I know today will change tomorrow. Life has a way of doing that. Letting go means a lot of thing – to me the phrase Let Go and Let God is reflected beautifully not only in Proverbs 3,5-6 but also in the serenity prayer — posted here in it’s entirety. My favorite line? “Taking as He did, this sinful workd as it is and not as I would have it; TRUSTING that he will make all things right if I surrender to his will.”

Allison Bottke (God Allows U-Turns and Setting Boundaries at http://www.allisonbottke.com/ ) wrote this in her blog today ” And I thank God for the ever-increasing knowledge that if we obey God’s calling, He will provide the needed strength.”

There is more truth in that statement than there are hairs on my head – and if you know me you know that I have hair bigger than the state of Texas so that is saying a lot.

 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen

Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways acknowledge him,
and he will direct your paths
Proverbs 3, 5-6

I Want You to See Something about Ablaze

Deana2 Comments

For up-to-date Synodical News Check the Synodical Convention Link. They have tabs built within that allow you view live streaming video of what is really going on down there. I love it!

I’ve been talking about our Synodical Conference this week and while doing so I realized that I use the terms Ablaze rather interchangeably. This has been confusing to people, especially to those outside of our Lutheran Circle. Let me clarify if I may.

There is ABLAZE! which refers to our Synodical Mission Program (something our family and home congregation supports) and there is Ablaze, the church plant in Northern Broken Arrow which is sponsored by The Lutheran Church of Our Savior. I didn’t pick the name – so don’t ask me why we named it that, I don’t know.  I realize that unless you are part of our group, it’s really hard to distinguish what I’m talking about. Most of the conversations this week have been about the ABLAZE! initiative. For today’s post, I will be talking about Ablaze Church.

While some church plants receive funding from their districts, others are privately funded. We at Ablaze Church do not receive a dime of the Fan into Flame funding, and we are okay with that. There is another church plant in Bixby that does get district assistance and they need it more than we do.  Thier Vicar (who is under direct supervision of a local pastor) has to raise his own salary and funding for his church and deserves a livable wage. Our pastor is already earning a salary from our home church and the time spent at Ablaze is 100% volunteer. He does not get compensated for his time there – and neither do the rest of us. We are all volunteers. All funding we receive is courtesy of our home congregation and private donations or tithes made by Ablaze families.

Our little mission start began on Easter weekend in 2006. We rent space from Liberty Elementary School and meet on Saturday nights with Bible Study at 6pm and services beginning at 6:30. Because of the rental costs and rules of the school we have to be out by 9:00 pm.  Also because of rental costs, we can really only afford to be there one night a week. That does not leave a lot of opportunities for outreach which is why we host events from time to time.

Ablaze church is a 100% a mobile church. What that means is we have a trailer locked up at our home congregation across town. Every Saturday at 3:00 pm, a group drives out there, loads the trailer and drives it back to Liberty, 30 minutes away. The doors open at 4:00pm and for the next two hours we are unloading our trailer, setting up the cafeteria and running sound checks.

Can you imagine if the elders of your church had to do that every Sunday Morning? They arrive to a building with no pews, no sound system, no pulpit, no coffee or snacks, no Bibles or hymnals and they have to set everything up before church can begin?

Services at Ablaze end by 8pm. We have a short time of fellowship and our team begins to take down the sound system, pack up the nursery and the bibles and books and load everything back into the trailer. We pray and are back on the road to Our Savior’s garage by 9pm. Once there, our team unloads the trailer and puts the sound system back inside the church to protect it from the climate.

We’ve been doing this every Saturday for 4 1/2 years.

We've added new faces since this photo was taken, but this is Zion's Fire.

Yes, we have a praise band called Zion’s fire to lead worship. And yes, they do contemporary Christian songs as well as reworked hymns and original compositions. We also have confession and absolution, and pastor Dreier delivers not only the children’s message, but the sermon as well.

We decided early on that we wanted our signature outreach event to be the Easter Egg Hunt.  Most churches today are only doing hunts within the privacy of their own court yards, for their own congregations. We wanted to be different. We wanted to reach the young families in the neighborhood. And so we opened our first weekend with 4,000 eggs and about 100 prizes. It was cold and snowy that day and we expected at most 100-200 people.

Pastor delivering the Easter Egg Hunt Devotional to about 500 kids

750 people showed up that day, filling the cafeteria. People were standing in the hallway to hear the message. And we were blown away. Seeing the need in the community, we went bigger the next year and planned for 8,000 eggs.

Over 60 volunteers gathered to stuff eggs and help with the hunt.

We made a few mistakes with the hunt in 2007.  I’d gather that anywhere from 1,500-2,000 people showed up and we were only expecting 1,000 at the most. We didn’t want to turn people away and yet, our building could not contain the crowds. We learned a lot of hard lessons that year. This event failed on many levels. There was a crowd gathering outside while we were worshipping inside and even though people were stationed out there to guard the eggs families were lining up, a child yelled “go” and like that, all 8,000 eggs were gone. We learned a lot that year. We learned that we needed to be 100% outside. We learned to shorten the service. We learned to combine this with a food drive, to equip team members with walkie talkies, and to have security present. Did the results of this event keep us from trying again?

No. In 2008 we tried again, this time with 12,000 eggs and instead of placing them out in the field before hand, we roped and sectioned it off and placed eggs after people arrived. We also asked families to donate a can of food for Neighbor for Neighbor as they came onto the grounds.

We filled over 35 crates of food for Neighbor for Nieghbor.
Tupper Teaching the Children about the Resurrection - being a new creation in Christ using Balloons.

We also did something unusual. We hired a clown to deliver the message. That is not a typo folks. We hired Stephen Smith, otherwise known as Tupper the Clown, to deliver the message for our hunt.

Do you see how many kids are there? We couldn’t count them. A lot of these families probably have a home church and a lot of these families don’t.  Several families have joined Ablaze church as the result of these egg hunts. And all of these families are invited back to Our Savior for our Easter morning worship services.
For those curious or even offended about the use of a clown to deliver the message that day, Steve Smith is an ordained minister and preachers kids to boot.  He owns and operates Christian Sanity Theater and performs throughout the state teaching children about science, history, and Jesus Christ. You can learn more about him by clicking here to see his websight.  I have personally hired Steve for personal parties as well as fundraisers. He is very gifted.
We’ve done other events as well including a fall festival. We wanted to do something to counter Halloween.
We invited various bands to come perform. This photo is the Axis Worship Band from Rhema
We also invited Christian Comic Michele VanDusen to provide CLEAN FAMILY FRIENDLY entertainment.
Michele VanDusen bringing laughter to the stage.
Local rancher and member of Our Savior Lutheran Church, Dale Brookshire brought his chuck wagon for eats.
Everyone Enjoyed Dale's Authentic Cowboy Chuck Wagon
And again we have the children. That come out to Ablaze either on Saturday nights or for our events.
Neighborhood children enjoying a wet inflatable during Fall Fest
And of course, no church event is complete without pastor Dreier proclaiming the gospel of Christ.
Ablaze Church in Broken Arrow meets faithfully every Saturday Night at Liberty Elementary School in Broken Arrow. We hold various events throughout the year in order to reach out to the community. We also transport Ablaze youth to Vacation Bible School at Our Savior every year.
We are presently looking at a permanent home for ourselves and need your prayers that God would lead us in the right direction very soon.
Next week, I’ll talk about some of the things Our Savior Lutheran Church in Tulsa does for their LOCAL community as well.

Convention Updates: And Links to the Reporter

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People are asking me how the convention is going. I don’t really know because I’m not there. But man I wish I was now.  I am however susbcribed to updates, and while I’m not allowed to copy the President Kieschnick’s opening speech – or any of the press releases in my blog, I am however, allowed to publish the links to them.  For my non-Lutheran readers who would like to know what is going on in Houston right now feel free to check out our news releases. Better yet, you can subscribe to these updates for free by checking out: http://www.lcms.org/pages/convention.asp?NavID=13524

While I am not present, I have read Synodical President Kieschnick’s opening speech. I loved it. Included in his address is an explanation of a statement he made early on that offended a lot of people – When he said “This isn’t your Grandfather’s Church”, he was referring to the world we live in and not what other people made it out to be. While a lot of us knew what he’d meant all along, many did not and I’m glad he clarified. His address also speaks of the malice and gossip presently ripping our synod apart. He sounds more pastoral than politician to me. It’s a wonderful speech and I hope you read it. Law and Gospel in true Lutheran form. I love it.

President Kieschnick’s full speech: http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/2010%20Convention/gbk_report.pdf

 For more information on our Synodical Convention, please sign up for the free newsletter or at least check out the web page http://www.lcms.org/pages/convention.asp?NavID=13524. 

I’ve shared this in the past. I have removed my self from all but two blog rings and all social networks except Facebook because I could not handle the hatred, malice and gossip among my own brethren. Yes I deleted a pastor last night – his snarky remarks were more than I could take. I even stopped reporting on our church plant lest I be thrown into the political arena that surrounds LCMS today. I used to spin. My heart would break and I would get angry over the cruel satire and blatant lies. I would draw my sword and defend our stand.  I don’t do that anymore. Today, I let people talk and I ask what I hope are leading questions. If I get a nasty response, I move on. Bad enough I was getting it from my own church at times. I didn’t want it here. and I still don’t.

You are free to comment on my blog so long as your comments are courteous and respectful. I reserve the right to delete anything I consider to be off topic or just down right snarky.

Random Sillyness

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Two rather cute young gals came up to our seats while we were at a Driller’s Game Monday night. They asked my boys if they would like to participate in a contest during the 6th inning and before asking what kind of contest, my boys said yes.

Turns out, they were blindfolded and had to take turns putting lipstick on each other. They were competing against girls and the winners were determined by who could get the crowd to chear the loudest.

These are MY boys we are talking about. They know how to work a crowd. They won hands down.  And ya know, I am pretty  proud. Is that wrong?

These Shoes are Made for Walking

Deana4 Comments

“My Grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 now, and we don’t know where the heck she is.” — Ellen Degeneres

If you are all wondering where I’ve been for the past two weeks, I am happy to report that I have been released back into the wild. Doc say’s I’m fit and ready to go.

Well, not fit per se’, seems I’ve gained ten pounds since my surgery. The weight gain puts me (uhg) 60 pounds over my target weight. He very politely side stepped that note ( nice man) and simply said I could now start a program, just start slow.  Walking would be good. That and riding my bike. Just don’t over do it.

Me? Overdo something? Never. Unless you count my years in Tai Chi and Shaolin — maybe training for three hours a day was a bit much for a relaxing hobby, but I had a goal. I wanted to compete in China and to do that I had to place in Regionals, and then I needed to place in Nationals. I would have made it to China too, if I hadn’t blown out my ACL playing on the church softball team.

I don’t over do things at all.

Okay, maybe a little. But I’m learning.

I think I’m off to a good start. I stopped at Wal-Mart to buy milk and found these really cute work out clothes that I just had to have, because if I’m going to work out, I’m pretty sure people don’t want me to do it naked. And while I was there, I stopped at Payless for sneakers.

Oh yes, Payless shoe store. I like that store. I can usually find a buy one get one half off sale just about every time I go. I walk in the doors and the first thing I see is a poster of a pair of women’s legs that rival the lamp from A Christmas Story- minus the fish net stockings of course. These legs literally go up to the ceiling and are attached to pretty pair of  Champion Shoes. The poster goes on to tell me how these tennis shoes have three different patented technologies that will tone, firm and perform liposuction, all for $29.95 plus tax. What a deal.

Yes I bought them. I’m a sucker for visual advertising and I too want to believe if I own these shoes I will look like the gal in the poster.

Posters lie. I’ve had these shoes for six days now and my legs don’t look anything like the ones in the window. I’m apparently supposed to walk in them in order for them to work. Figures.

Who wants to walk when the heat index is over 100? I’m too busy driving around in my air-conditioned pick up truck saying hello to everyone I haven’t seen in a few months. I plan on walking, starting today. Who knows, maybe I’ll like it so much that instead of driving my truck over to say hello, I’ll just walk over.

 But for now, I’m thinking a walk to the park is probably good enough.

This post written by Deana O’Hara for Redemption’s Heart, July 1, 2010. All rights reserved.

Disclosure of material connection. No goods or services were provided in exchange for my writing about Champion Shoes or Payless Shoes Store.

My Garden Shed, she is finished!

Deana5 Comments

Do you remember a few weeks ago when I blogged about wanting to redo our garden shed?

Well it’s finished!

The picture to the left is our shed before we painted it. – I was in a patriotic mood the year we bought that shed and wanted our home to be red, white and blue – a color combination very popular in New England, but not so popular in Oklahoma. I wound up choosing a more color neutral pallet for our house so that it would fit in with our neighborhood that prefers beige to everything else. What worked for the shed was rejected for the main house. I still like the colors, but it is time for a change. And wow – did I change it.

Not being able to work in my garden is probably the most difficult part of my recovery from surgery. I love working in my gardens. Something about it is peaceful and comforting. Still, just because I can’t physically work in them doesn’t mean that I cannot plan them.So that’s what I’ve been doing — working through new plans.

I told you a few days ago about how I was on the Better Homes and Gardens pages and got inspired to redo our garden shed. I thought my husband was going to hold his breath until he turned blue in Home Depot and I still walked out of the store with watermelon, Green Apple, and Lilac paints.  I am a blessed woman.My oldest painted and I helped as I could. Yes, DH thinks he deserves canonization for it, but Lutheran’s don’t canonize, so the poor man is out of luck.

This cute sign (Above) – Plant Grow Bloom was purchased from Amanda’s Gift Shop on E-bay

The metal flowers below were purchased from Lowes Hardware store.

If you look closely, we had to use special brackets (purchased separately) at the top of the wire sculpture. The hardware that came with the flowers was not sufficient to attach to the wall.  The watermelon color is by Glidden and the green and lilac are Behr.  I wanted all three in Behr, but you are not allowed to cross brands. Meaning, I cannot pick up a Glidden color card and ask the Lowes guy to mix it in a non Glidden paint and vice versa.  Nothing against Glidden, it’s a great paint, I just prefer Behr for longevity. Having said that, I really like Glidden’s exterior color pallet this year, it’s bright, and very versatile.   

The watermelon was a little intense, so we used lilac with the green apple on the sides.

Side view -- now to go back and add the landscape.

So that is my new garden shed. Pretty hunh?  Being the only female in my house, I’m pretty much the only one who likes it. My husband has jokingly told me his tools may not be able to live in such a place. And even though he’s not on the same artistic page as I, he does agree this project and these colors have not yet killed him.

We still have landscaping to finish. Pea gravel for the front of the doors, some flowers and maybe a rose-bush or two.  I have a wisteria that I need to move and will probably put it next to the shed for stability. The white picket fence in the back ground is new as well. My dogs were destroying the fence line and have broken the main gate too many times, which is why we split the yard this year.  

And that is how I spent my recovery time – blue printing and planning my gardens. I have more to come and as time and the doctor allows, I’ll be busy. 

Have a great day ya’ll and don’t forget your sun screen.

On a side note, I was linked to from Shed Building Master’s Class  last week.  What a huge compliment. If you want to know more about building your own shed, please be sure to check them out. It’s a really nice and professional looking piece.