Circuit Writer

What follows is the offering prayer I delivered for the Tahlequah Area Habitat for Humanity‘s annual “Harmonies for Homes” concert this previous Sunday, April 11, 2010, and is based on Habitat’s 6 Mission Principles.

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God of this abundant creation,

We present to you this afternoon but a mere portion of the blessings you have shared with us.

We offer them in the hope that you will bless their use to the greater good of your people.

For just as you promised the people of Israel a place to call home,

We know that it is your Divine desire that everyone have a place they might call home. continue reading…

This is a devotional I originally wrote for 2009 Lenten Series published by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in Oklahoma.

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Devotion for 8 April 2009

Mark 11:12-19

He was teaching and saying, ‘Is it not written,
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all the nations”?
But you have made it a den of robbers.’

- Mark 11:17

Jesus angrily overturning tables in the temple makes for a great action movie, but what does Mark’s short clip really show us as travelers on a Lenten journey?  Jesus’ words point us back to the scripts of Isaiah and Jeremiah. Isaiah 56:1-8 portrays God’s community as welcoming foreigners, gathering in outcasts, creating a house of prayer for all people.  Jeremiah 7:1-15 paints a dark picture for those who deal unjustly with their neighbors. continue reading…

I was recently invited to open a meeting of the Tahlequah City Council in prayer.  What follows is the invocation given at their February 1 meeting:

O Spirit of Holiness …

… who has breathed into our being the gift of life;

grant us thankful hearts that we might be respectful of your graciousness,

and open our eyes that we might see the magnitude of that gift,

in the multitude of earth’s people. continue reading…