Swingin' in OKC

This stop on my journey is in Oklahoma City at Southern Nazarene University. Good to make some new friends and connect with some old! Great to see some of my Bel Air (Mike, Katelynn, Weston, Austin, Andrew, Bambi, Denise, the Moots [Hannah is huge!!] and a few others) and Mid-Atlantic friends (Renee thanks for not throwing anything at me!). Also great to see my brother Kevin who is here with a team. As soon as I finish this post I'm headed to meet with him for a late lunch.

One quick thing that struck me - I was in this restaurant that stands as a place keeper for the 60's. It had all 60's (and a few 70's) stuff on the wall and as decorations. While it was a little entertaining to see, I wondered how much this is like a lot of our churches. Do we put things up on the wall that tell us the story of yesterday? Do we play only music from a by-gone era? And if we do is that so bad?

A highlight for sure was the chance to walk in the sanctuary at St. Luke's United Methodist Church in Oklahoma City. You probably have never heard of it - I hadn't - but it has the most beautiful glass windows I have ever seen. They are not stained glass but have that look. The artwork is actually printed within the glass and it is spectacular. We met with Jason Johnston who was kind enough to share with us all his knowledge on the glass and the sanctuary. There are no pics on their website yet of the glass, but he said that they are redoing their site and will have some up soon. I hope so. I could have spent weeks looking at them.

How does this compare to the 60's diner? Well there is a whole beauty and art issue here, but I guess my heartburn is that if we only tell that story and don't reimagine and tell our story of God at work today, then perhaps we've missed the point all together.

Next week I have vacation and I'm so looking forward to it. I'm tired and trying not to let it show.

DCLA was awesome and a huge help to me and the NYC team. I learned so much from some of the event coordinators as they did their trouble shooting, dealt with convention center staff, oversaw medical issues, etc. It was just plain great. I met some new friends there too which is always awesome! I also walked a LOT. Meanwhile... Carol and the kids PLAYED! They are having a great time with Maryland friends and being back in the east!

I've been invited to preach on Sunday at Bel Air and am excited and slightly nervous to do so. I haven't preached since my last sermon there and I have this mixed feeling of pressure and joy to be with them again. Anyway it should be fun!