Talk about gift cards, my girl’s got em

 

The Spero Project

I wanted to highlight a blog I’ve found myself going to frequently. The Spero Project is a group of people who are bringing hope to Oklahoma City daily. They connect resources of the local church with the needs of a large refugee community in Oklahoma City.

This website is full of great information on everything from missional living to small group resources. The info is there because they live the missional life and are passing on the knowledge. So head on down the block and check out what Brad and Kim Bandy are accomplishing right here in OKC. I anticipate ProjectOKC and The Spero Project will be teaming to reach OKC with Jesus Christ’s love in a very practical way through 2009.

-Rex Barrett

Great Quote

I’m sitting at a great coffee bar in OKC reading Relevant Magazine and sipping tea. I just read a quote that caused me to do something I’ve never done, text a blog post using my phone. The article is about the legacy of President Bush, a man I’m not entirely happy with, but has shown great leadership in the area of helping to solve the AIDS crisis in Africa. It hit me that while we may disagree on many issues there are many we can agree on and I want to focus on that positive. The following is a quote from President Bush.

“A president must have a firm set of principals from which he will not deviate. I believe in the universality of freedom, and I believe freedom is universal because of an almighty God. It’s not just freedom from tyranny that the U.S. must become involved in, I believe it’s freeedom from disease, freedom from hunger, freedom from deprivation. If you believe in the universality of freedom, then you should not shy away from your duty.”
President Bush

Let’s not shy away from our duty. I was asked the other day why God allowed children in Africa to die so horribly. The immediate answer the popped out was this, “God isn’t allowing it to happen, our inaction is allowing it to happen.” What can we do to be better stewards of this life God has given us?

-Rex Barrett

Toms Shoes for the holidays

Anyone who has hung out with my family knows we have a penchant for TOMS SHOES. We all wear them, we even purchased a wee pair for our small footed little guy. They are comfortable, stylish and most importantly each pair we buy provides a pair of shoes for someone without.

Take a look at TOMS SHOES and buy a pair there. Their story is really fantastic and when people ask you about your shoes you can pass on a story of giving and blessing others.

Watch this video and join in on the effort to give away 30,000 pairs of shoes!

-Rex Barrett

I’m over being emergent

The term “The Emerging Church” is getting me in trouble, I might stop using the word. As I’ve gone through a pretty serious transition in my life I get questions like, “do you still believe in Jesus?”, “do you think all of the Bible is true?”, “you do believe God made everything and evolution is of the devil, right?”. The questions have been interesting and the answers have been fun to give!

I believe many of the questions I get are related to guys labeled as “emergent” saying shocking statements. The term has been used to describe everyone from Mark Driscoll to Rob Bell even Brian McLaren. They are all so different but still labeled emergent? The only words I think applies to all of them are “white dudes”.

Dan Kimball is the guy who wrote the book on the emergent movement way back in 2003. I’ll let him communicate what I’m trying to say as he does a much better job of it!

Although I am finding that the term [emerging church] has become so broad now and so confusing, it is very important to know that I am not by any means stopping being involved and pursuing the heart and mission of what the term “emerging church” originally meant. At least in how I was personally using it when I wrote the book 6 years ago.

I can’t defend or even explain theologically what is now known broadly as “the emerging church” anymore, because it has developed into so many significantly different theological strands. Some I strongly would disagree with.

And that is my point friends… It is impossible to judge the theology of a person (me) deemed emergent based on other people deemed emergent. The way to find out what a person believes is to make the call, send an email or chat over some coffee. Personally, I’d welcome the contact.

special thanks to neue ministry & Out of Ur for inspiration

-Rex Barrett
image via tonx

Crosstown Church: Sept. Prayer Mission

Crosstown, a church plant in downtown OKC, is hosting a “prayer mission” on September 30th from 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm. They will meet at Myriad Gardens and begin to pray for God’s peace to be spread through our city.

Please consider joining them as they work with a network of other believers to impact Oklahoma City for Jesus Christ. Find out more information by contacting Ben Janssen and check out Ben’s website, From Christian Legalism to Christian Hedonism. 

-Rex Barrett
image via marrngtn (Manuel)

McCain vs Obama vs Third Party

My wife just laughed at me. I mimicked her giggle and asked what was so funny. She didn’t answer… I just told my wife for the first time who I was voting for.

You see, there are people out there who think that my frustration with John McCain publicly must mean I’m for the other candidate. I want to be clear, I am not endorsing Barack Obama. I admire both men, each of them have good ideas. Each of them care deeply about our country. Why else would they put up with the public scrutiny and negative attacks? They are masochists if you ask me. Shoot, all I did was run for state representative and I’m still an emotional wreck.

Both candidates are offering solutions to what they perceive the problems of America to be. To demonize one guy and raise the other to sainthood is a moral failure and a logical failure.

So, here we go. I will not vote for either candidate. This is Rex Barrett talking, not the staff of ProjectOKC, they fall on all sides. I have determined that the only solution to this personal dilemma I’m facing is to write in the only one I know capable of turning this world around.

You might think I’m stupid for my answer, but we Oklahomans don’t have a third party option. Thanks a lot for a fair ballot initiative Oklahoma politicians. The Libertarian can’t be on the ticket, so I’ve decided who I’ll vote for.

I’m writing it in… Jesus for President.

-Rex Barrett
image via DJOtaku

Winding down summer

I stepped out my front door this morning into a surprising and refreshing wall of cool crispness. Momentary excitement coursed through my mind… “Surely it’s too soon,” I muttered. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help crack a smile at the thought. With anticipation, I inhaled deeply, the fresh frosty air icing my lungs. With my lungs at capacity, I pursed my lips and as if blowing out a candle exhaled with expectation. The billowing vapor cloud leaving my mouth was exactly I what I was looking for. After all, seeing one’s breath can mean only one thing…

Christmas is coming!

-Luke Barrett
image via Zach Schwoebel

leaderman or servant leader

Today I will be going for the unheard of triple re-post. What I mean is, Anne Jackson stole this from brant hansen’s blog and I, in turn, stole it from her blog. Be sure to hit their links up so they know we all care. Plus you’ll find great info on their sites.

The truths of these points hit me deeply. I want to be one who serves and loves others but sometimes mistakes “Servant Leader” with “LeaderMan”, the guy who can do it all.  Lord, please help us to really care about your people, our brothers and sisters.

—-

LeaderMan: Wants a platform on which to say something

Servant Leader: Has something to say

—-

LeaderMan: You almost feel you know his family, because he’s your Leader

Servant Leader: You allow him to influence you, because you know his family

—-

LeaderMan: Wants you to know he’s a Leader

Servant Leader: You’re not sure he knows he’s a leader

—-

LeaderMan: Loves the idea of the Gospel, and the idea of The Church

Servant Leader: Loves God and the actual individual people God brings across his path

—-

LeaderMan: A great speaker, but self-described as, “Not really a people person.”

Servant Leader: Makes himself a people person

—-

LeaderMan: Helps you find where God is leading you in his organization

Servant Leader: Helps you find where God is leading you

—-

LeaderMan: Gets together with you to talk about his vision

Servant Leader: Just gets together with you

—-

LeaderMan: Resents “sheep stealing”

Servant Leader: Doesn’t get the “stealing” part, since he doesn’t own anyone to begin with

—-

LeaderMan: Wants the right people on the bus

Servant Leader: Wants to find the right bus for you, and sit next to you on it

—-

LeaderMan: Shows you a flow chart

Servant Leader: Shows you his whole heart

—-

LeaderMan: A visionary who knows what the future looks like

Servant Leader: Knows what your kitchen looks like

—-

LeaderMan: If it’s worth doing, it worth doing with excellence

Servant Leader: Not exactly sure how to even calculate “worth doing”

—-

LeaderMan: Talks about confronting one another in love

Servant Leader: Actually confronts you in love

—-

LeaderMan: Impressed by success and successful people

Servant Leader: Impressed by faithfulness

—-

LeaderMan: Invests time in you, if you are “key people”

Servant Leader: Wastes time with you

—-

LeaderMan: Reveals sins of his past

Servant Leader: Reveals sins of his present

—-

LeaderMan: Gives you things to do

Servant Leader: Gives you freedom

—-

LeaderMan: Leads because of official position

Servant Leader: Leads in spite of position

—-

LeaderMan: Deep down, threatened by other Leaders

Servant Leader: Has nothing to lose

-Rex Barrett
image via

Summer Paralympics, Courage and Beauty

I was just catching up on my RSS feeds when I came across a link to this story on Gizmodo. You’ll see a few photos here, but make the jump to the other site which shows 32 beautiful images of the Paralympics Games, happening now, in Beijing.

The stories are touching, from people born blind to veterans with their legs and arms blown off, you’ll see the persistence of the human spirit. God created us in such an amazing fashion and it is powerful to see these inspiring athletes push past their disability and accomplish their dreams. I’ll say, these stories are the ones that should be broadcast on television right now. Real courage and beauty, this is what justice looks like.

Be inspired to do that “impossible” thing you’ve always dreamed of doing.

-Rex Barrett
images via AP & Getty

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