Oklahoma Christian University House Church!!!!
We have been getting our hearts ripped apart and spit on and stepped on and we’re loving it!
Our mission statement is basically to get out of our apartments, dorm rooms, houses, etc.; and to go out into the city.
We can’t wait to do some good in the city!
Youth, 6-12 grade, tonight, OCT 23,2007 WE ARE GATHERING to celebrate who God is and everything that he has done in us, through us, to us as a community. Again we do this every 4 wednesday and today is that day! We plan to eat together at 6:30 so come hungry, then worship, and reflect together. Come hungry, and come expecting. God is so good and we want to celebrate and share in Him together. Look forward to seeing all of you tonight!
Can you remember who it was in your life? I remember, it was this goofy, little, quirky, college-student named charlie. You know what he did, he came and took me out to lunch once a month, he showed up at my basketball games every once in awhile, he spent intentional time with me asking me questions about my life and also sharing with me about his. You know what was at the core of his, it was the man Jesus. Everything this guy did reflected Him, well of course not everything, but through my lenses this goofy, hilarious guy reflected everything I wanted to become, a passionate follower of Jesus. You know I don’t know who I would be without CHARLIE in my life, but I can tell you this I look back at what was at stake for me at 15,16,17, and 18 years old and I can’t tell you how thankful I am to God for sending me Charlie. Charlie knew what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus and because of it He called me and my high school friends to that life and that changed everything in me. This story isn’t intend to just be cute and sweet, it is intended to probe the question. Who would you be without______. I think as believers we all have someone to put in that blank. What I want to propose to you, The Bridgeway Church Body, do you want to BE in that blank. I know I have a bunch of Jr. High and High Schoolers who long to have someone to put in that blank. Obviously, Jesus is the true blank filler, hehe; however I Know that relationships are the car that drive young/all people to Jesus. I long to bridge that gap with ones who have hearts to see the next generation rise up as Followers of Jesus, taking His Kingdom with them wherever they go. If you long to impact and point young people to Jesus, call me, find me, email me and we can begin that process ASAP!
We’ve been having an ongoing Absalom conversation about the quantities of sugar in the American diet. Everything is so sweetened here and we’re not just talking about ice creams and chocolates (in as far as you can call Hersheys chocolate). To a European palate, American bread is sweetened to taste more like cake, salads are generally delivered to your restaurant table swimming in sugared dressings (this being the South, albeit masked by a spiced up BBQ flavour), and fruit is served not as dessert but alongside meat and vegetables as something ’savoury’. Recently Hannah went out to lunch with a few of her friends and was served a scone and lemon curd as an appetizer (she did the American thing and asked for a take-out box to bring it home in! It was then eaten at the proper time - for afternoon tea). Meanwhile I was at a working lunch the other day and the bread to accompany my soup was homemade Danish pastries. Delicious, but odd. Maybe that could be the new motto for the dollar bill?
Hannah’s latest thesis is that the USA must surely consume more than half of the world’s total sugar production. I think it would be so, except for the quantity of sugar that my Indian friends put in their tea.
So I’ve done a little research. Annual sugar consumption per person in the UK in the 1600’s was about 7 lb. Jumping the Atlantic, by the early 1800’s in the USA it was about 12 lbs per year, in 1980 it had shot up to 124lb, in 1997 it was 152lb, whilst today presumably (and judging by the average girth) the figure has continued its inexorable upwards progression.
In case I lost you there, this means the typical American consumes half a pound of sugar each day and over 5 tons in a lifetime.
Second helpings, anyone?
Common table sugar represents about 20 to 25 percent of the daily calorific intake of the average American. It is estimated that 75 percent of all sugar consumed comes from processed food. All this has an impact. As USA Today charmingly put it, “Children’s consumption of soft drinks is up nearly 500% since the 1950s. And kids are fatter than ever.”
The same newspaper reported recently that requiring larger belt sizes costs Americans about $36.5 billion per year, which equates to the amount of money needed to fund 730,000 more school teachers. Whilst this does sound an implausibly high figure ($100 a year per person??), nevertheless even if it’s only 10% of that sum, it is enormous. Oh yes, and there’s the little thing that studies have linked a high sugar intake with an increased risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature aging.
But the good news is that everyone here has perfectly straight teeth.
As one of our English friends emailed to us, “I’ve been reading your blog with great amusement! You’ve settled in a strange land… which is quite biblical I suppose.”
