4 DAYS THAT CHANGED THE WORLD
Lifechanger Church in Claremore, Oklahoma celebrated Easter this year with a 4 act drama centering on the first Easter. Thursday night depicted The Last Supper, Friday the crucifixtion of Jesus, Saturday the dismay and confusion of the followers of Jesus after he had been killed, and Sunday celebrated the Resurrection of Jesus. I attended Thursday and Sunday performances but missed the others due to my attendance at the other churches I belong to, Vision in Tulsa on Friday and CedarPoint in Claremore on Saturday. The performances I attended were magnificent, especially considering that none of the characters were portrayed by actors, all were members of Lifechanger Church and have regular jobs to support themselves. They worked for several weeks learning their parts and portrayed the characters quite well. I have been told about how good the Friday and Saturday performances were and that there are pictures and videos posted online but I haven’t seen them yet. I am technologically challenged so I will link here: and hope you are better than I at finding the videos, sorry!!!!!
The idea for this production came to our pastor, Dr. Ted Estes early one morning when God interrupted his sleep for a revelation of how to celebrate the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. Dr. Estes is always quick to obey even the subtlest of ideas he receives from the Holy Spirit and members of his flock are always blessed by his obedience. There are times that I wish I could be in two places at the same time and this week had two of them, both Friday and Saturday. The services at Vision and CedarPoint were also wonderful and I don’t regret attending them at all. Either way I was going to miss out on Friday and Saturday because blessings abounded at all three churches, as is the norm. Lifechanger Church is an exceptional body of believers led by Dr. Estes and his wonderful wife, Ginny, and I am very happy that God led me there a few years ago. Through that affiliation I was introduced to Pastor Don Couch, and his wife Kay, of Vision Ministry in Tulsa and now I am part of three magnificent church bodies, including CedarPoint Church, Pastured by Rick Burke, and his wife Tina, in Claremore I attend Vision on Friday night at 7:00 p m, , CedarPoint on Saturday night at 6:17 p m, , Lifechanger at 10:00 Sunday morning, after which I go back to CedarPoint for the 12:02 p m service and back to Lifechanger at 6:00 Sunday evening. On Monday I attend Celebrate Recovery at 7:00 p m at CedarPoint, led by Pastor Tracey Morgan and his wonderful wife Shannon. . God must surely be pleased with all of these pastor husband/wife teams because they are all wonderful shepherds for God’s flock.
I encourage anyone looking for a church to belong to to try out each of these and see which you like the best, or do as I do and opt for more than one because you won’t be disappointed in any of them if you are looking for a place to worship of the One True God, Yahweh, and being taught His Word in a direct and honest manner. I have been both challenged and greatly blessed by my membership in all three of these church bodies. There are no pretenses at any of them, only a desire to help each member grow closer to God. There are many fine churches with very good pastors but none can be any better than those I have become involved in. Rick, Ted, Tracey, and Don have enriched my knowledge of and relationship with Jesus Christ, the Savior of all, through the time I have spent under their tutelage and I am very thankful for all of them. The MOST IMPORTANT thing is if you haven’t accepted Jesus Christ now is the time to do so as tomorrow could very well be too late. None of us knows how many years, months, days, hours, minutes, or seconds that we have left and delay isn’t good for any of us. I had a stroke that should have killed me or left me mentally unable to make that decision but didn’t, by the grace and mercy of God. I had made the decision to accept Jesus many years before but I wasn’t living for Him much when I suffered the stroke. I wasn’t living a bad life but also wasn’t doing anything to improve my relationship with God. Through this experience I have grown closer to God and daily proclaim the salvation through Jesus that is available to all. I have had the privilege to be mentored by fine pastors and prayed for by them and the fine people in their congregations. Having a relationship with God through Jesus doesn’t mean nothing bad will ever happen to us but it gives me the confidence that when bad things happen I am not alone and can depend on the fact that The Great Physician has my future and my health firmly in His hands. One day, hopefully very soon, My body will be restored to pre-stroke status, of that I have no doubt. The only question is when I will see the manifestation of the healing granted to me on the day Jesus rose from the grave.
I submit this in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, in faith, with the responsibility given to me by Almighty God to honor His work and not let it die from neglect.
Bob Russell
Claremore, Oklahoma
April 21, 2017
