National Day of Prayer on May 2nd 2013

 

National Prayer by Greg Laurie

2013 National Prayer

Father, we come to You to pray for our nation, the United States of America.

How You have blessed us through the years, Lord! We rightly sing, “America, America, God shed His grace on thee.” Yet we see trouble in our culture today. We see the breakdown of the family, crippling addictions, and random acts of horrific violence.

Lord, we need Your help in America. In recent days, we have done our best to remove Your Word and Your counsel from our courtrooms, classrooms and culture. It seems, as President Lincoln once said, that we have “forgotten God.” But Lord, You have not forgotten us! You can bless and help and revive our country again.

Scripture tells us that “Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people” (Proverbs 14:34). Lord, in Your mercy, we ask that You would exalt our country again. We have had a number of great awakenings in America. We have experienced times of refreshing, and revivals that changed not only the spiritual but also the moral landscape. As the psalmist said, “Will You not revive us again, so that Your people may rejoice in You?” (Psalm 85:6)

That is our prayer for America today, Lord. Send a mighty spiritual awakening that will turn the hearts of men and women, boys and girls back to you. You have told us if we will humble ourselves and pray, and seek Your face and turn from our wicked ways, that You will forgive our sins and heal our land. (2 Chronicles7:14)

Forgive us today, Lord, and heal this troubled land that we love so much.

We ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ.

more info here >>>

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

OKGrassroots

Good Guys Don’t Always Wear White Hats!

Not long ago some of the Tapp family came to visit me in Bartlesville. We went to some meetings together and visited with friends and had a lovely time. While they were here, I borrowed Kenny Bob’s hat (briefly) and this picture was taken.

It is one of my all time favorite photos of me — genuine smile on this one.

Thanks for the visit and for making my day!

Blessings,
Sandie

Beatles Bash in Bartlesville set for April 20th — Thanks WCSPCA!

Washington County SPCA Event Featuring Liverpool Legends April 20th

Community Center Event — Tickets available online NOW!

Click on pic — Events Page for Community Center

Saturday, April 20, 2013 7:00 PM Liverpool Legends  [buy tickets] WCSPCA presents Liverpool Legends Liverpool Legends Beatles Tribute Band, are four talented musicians and actors who were hand-picked by Louise Harrison – sister of the late George Harrison of The Beatles. Liverpool Legends perform songs spanning the entire career of The Beatles and on through the solo years. With precise attention to every musical detail, along with costume changes, vintage instruments and special effects, Liverpool Legends will make you feel like you are watching the real thing! Together, these four lads will bring you “The Complete Beatles Experience.”

If you would like to help more and sponsor the event — please contact the Washington County SPCA here >>>
More information on sponsorships available here >>>

[Editor's note: If you are a Republican Delegate to the Oklahoma State Convention -- please note that this event is on the same day as the Convention in OKC, but the state conventions are 'usually' over by mid afternoon; you should be able to do both events. Hope to see you there! /sc]

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them and OKGrassroots

Liverpool Legends Concert to Benefit Washington County SPCA Tickets Available Now! PreConcert Party for Sponsors

Dear Washington County Friends,

The Washington County SPCA invites you to become a sponsor for our first annual fundraiser “We Get by With a Little Help From Our Friends” concert featuring the Liverpool Legends which will benefit our shelter.

The primary source of funding for “We Get by With a Little Help From Our Friends” is from corporate and individual sponsors, such as yourself. The Washington County SPCA receives no governmental funds for our adoption facility or our many services provided to members of our community.

This exciting event will be held at the beautiful Bartlesville Community Center’s Performance Hall on April 20, 2013 at 7:00 p.m. It will be a fun evening that will kick off with a preconcert party open only to our sponsors and their guests. Then your guests will move into the performance hall for a trip back to 1964 (one year before our shelter first opened to the public) with a celebration of the Beatles music.

As you may be aware, the Washington County SPCA has provided City Impound services for Bartlesville, Copan and Ochelata, an adoption facility and spay/neuter assistance to Bartlesville and all of Washington County since 1965. The funds provided by this event will be to fund our operations. These operations encompass the care for the animals in our adoption facility and low cost/free spay/neuter services to area residents’ pets.

Your sponsorship will help assure the continued success of the Washington County SPCA. Enclosed please find more information on this exciting event and its sponsorship levels. Do not hesitate to contact me with any questions or concerns.

I look forward to speaking with you at your earliest convenience.

Sincerely,

Donna Gustafson
Member of Board of Directors
Washington County SPCA

Fall 2012 Newsletter (pdf format)

[Editor's note: There are lots of ways that you can help make sure our furry friends are taken care of in this community. Please volunteer some time, donate some money, share this informations with a friend, sponsor this event, attend this concert, adopt an animal into your family, and help to save a pet today! Thanks to our local SPCA and all who make this community safer for people and pets every day! Blessings/sc]

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them and OKGrassroots

Protect Your Gun Rights Event with Larry Pratt and Craig Roberts in Tulsa March 13th

 

Protect Your Gun Rights!
Sponsored by the Tulsa County GOP Men’s Club.
March 13th, 2013

11:30 am to 1:00 pm

Stokely Event Center
10111 East 45th Place, Tulsa, OK 74146
$10 per person (includes lunch)

Special Guest Speakers:
Larry Pratt
President of the Gun Owners of America

Marine Ret. Lt. Col.
Craig Roberts
Author

 Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them and OKGrassroots

 

Washington County Republican Convention – Order of Business and Rules – Saturday March 2nd

[Editor's Note:  Joe Beffer has asked me to post the proposed rules and order of business for the Washington County Republican Convention on Saturday March 2nd. There is also a link to the Oklahoma State Party Rules and Platform included in this post for reference.  You may contact Joe via email jmbeffer_RMS@hotmail.com if you have any questions./sc]

WASHINGTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

Report of The Rules and Order of Business Committee

SECTION 1. Order of Business

WASHINGTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN CONVENTION Arvest Bank
March 2nd, 2013

12:00pm – Registration Open

1:00pm – Convention begins

1:30 – Registration Closed

1. Welcome Grace Farmer
2. Invocation John Kahre
3. Flag Salute Connor Whitham
4. National AnthemTBD
5. Report from County Chairman and Vice Chairman  Grace Farmer, Chairman ‐ John Kahre – Vice Chairman
6. Special Guest – Congressman Jim Bridenstine – 1st Congressional DistrictIntroduction by State Senator John Ford
7. Legislative ReportState Senator John Ford, State Representatives Earl Sears, State Representative Steve Martin
8. College Republican’s Report Connor Whitham – Oklahoma Wesleyan University College Republican Chairman
9. Credentials Report Mark Keesling – Credentials Committee, Chairman
10. State Convention Grace Farmer
11. Election of Convention Chairman
12. Treasurer’s Report Alex Schuettenberg – Washington County Executive Committee, Treasurer
13. Approval of the minutes of the last convention Convention Secretary – TBD
14. Rules Committee Report Joe Beffer – Rules and Order of Business Committee, Chairman
15. Resolutions Report Charles Daniels – Resolutions Committee, Chairman
16. Nomination Committee Report Dan Wimberly – Nominations Committee, Chairman
17. Other Business

Adjournment

SECTION 2. RULES OF PROCEDURE

A. PERMANENT ROLL

The permanent roll of this convention shall be that proposed by the Credentials Committee and approved and adopted by this Convention.

B. ACCREDITATION

1. All issues of accreditation of delegates, or the contest, authenticity or other disputed matters related to accreditation and seating of delegates shall be referred to the Credentials Committee prior to its report to this Convention. Acceptance and approval of the Credentials Committee shall be conclusive of each such issue.
2. An alternate may become an accredited delegate if certified by the Credentials Committee before the Credentials Committee report is accepted by this Convention.

C. VOTING

1. Only accredited delegates to this Convention as reflected by the roll of this Convention, as reported by the Credentials Committee, and as approved by this Convention, shall vote on its deliberations.
2. Voting upon all matters presented to this Convention shall be, preferentially, by voice vote or standing vote. The Chairman, if in doubt of the result of any vote, may call for a roll call vote. Any delegate may call for a roll call vote with or without a secret ballot, if approved by at least twenty‐five percent of the delegates to this Convention.
3. In the event of a vote by call of the permanent roll of this Convention, the Chairman shall appoint three tellers of the vote. One teller shall be the Secretary of this Convention and shall conduct and report the voting under the direction of the Chairman.
4. A quorum shall be equal to the number of the accredited delegates present during any given vote.

D. ELECTION OF WASHINGTON COUNTY OFFICERS

1. Election of County officers shall take place at Conventions falling on all odd numbered years.
2. The Chairman of this Convention shall first call for the Report of the
   Nominations Committee. Following its report, the Chairman shall accept nominations from the floor, and seconds, thereto, for the office of Washington County Chairman.
3. Sponsors of each nominee will be allotted a combined total of (5) five minutes for nominating and seconding speeches and/or for the nominee to speak in his or her own behalf. Nominees and sponsors will speak in the order of their nomination.

4. The voting shall be as prescribed in Section 1 (C) of these rules, except that in the case of a contested election, the vote shall be by secret ballot.
5. A candidate shall be deemed elected upon receiving a majority of the votes cast. A majority is defined here as any amount greater than 50.0 percent.
6. Following the election of the County Chairman, the Convention
   Chairman shall call for nominations from the floor, in turn, for the offices of: County Vice‐ Chairman; the State Committeeman; the State Committeewoman; District 1 Committeewoman; and District 1 Committeeman. The election procedure shall be the same as that for the Washington County Chairman. Per state party rules, the County Chairman and the County Vice‐ Chairman shall be of opposite genders.

E. SELECTION OF DELEGATES TO THE STATE REPUBLICAN CONVENTION

1. Any delegate to the Washington County Convention electing to be a delegate at the State Convention on April 20, 2013 at the Magnuson Hotel & Convention Center in Oklahoma City, must nominate himself or herself, in writing, to the Secretary of the County Convention on or before Friday, March 8 2013.
2. The Chairman shall then call for a discussion and motion as to the type of delegation to be adopted (i.e. “Open Delegation” or the “Delegate‐Alternate Type Delegation”)
3. Voting shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 (C).

F. RESOLUTIONS

1. All resolutions, whether substantive, declaratory, or endorsement, must be presented to the Resolutions Committee in writing before it begins its deliberations.
2. All resolutions contained in the Resolutions Committee report shall be presented first collectively to the Convention for its approval.
3. Any delegate may request, from the floor, to have any resolution in the report, considered and voted on separately.
4. The remaining resolutions shall then be put before the Convention and voted on collectively.
5. Voting shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 (C).
6. Other resolutions, endorsements or motions of a declaratory nature considered and not brought forth by the Resolutions Committee, may be brought to the Convention from the floor under the order of business titled “Other Business”. Any such resolution shall first be submitted, in writing, to the Secretary of this Convention (prior to the conclusion of the Resolutions Committee Report) and then read to the Convention by the Chairman of the Resolutions Committee.
7. Any resolution proposed from the floor shall require approval from 20 percent of the accredited delegates. Voting shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of Section 1 (C).

G. GENERAL

1. Any “Other Business” to be brought before the Convention shall be submitted, in writing, to the Convention Chair prior to the call for “Other Business”. Any such motion shall be read in its entirety to the convention and shall require 20 percent of present delegates to be moved to the floor.
2. The rules of this Convention as set forth in this report may be suspended or amended by the affirmative vote of two‐thirds of the votes cast by the accredited delegates to this Convention.
3. Any delegate may appeal a ruling of the Chair. Such appeal may be granted only upon the approval of twenty‐five percent of the accredited delegates to this Convention.
4. Debate on any issue shall be limited to a total of six minutes, evenly split between the affirmative and the opposed.
5. Any action of this Convention not specifically covered by the foregoing rules shall be governed by Rules of the Republican Party of Oklahoma as interpreted by the Chairman of this Convention. The Rules of the Republican Party of Oklahoma includes the latest edition of Robert’s Rules of Order.
6. Any delegate who attempts to shout down, disrupt, or hinder a delegate recognized to speak shall be warned by the Chair to cease. The second breach of this rule shall result in expulsion and forfeiture of the delegate’s right to participate in the convention.
7. Guests or observers are not allowed in the area reserved for delegates to this Convention. They may not participate in or vote on any action taken on the floor of this Convention.
8. Any motion to adjourn, qualified or unqualified, shall be out of order until after the conclusion of that section of the convention business entitled “Other Business”.

Attached to these Rules and made a part hereof is an ORDER OF BUSINESS for the Washington County Republican Convention 2013.

Respectfully Submitted by:
Joe Beffer, Tim Hazelwood, John Kahre, Greg Mathers, and Candy Roberts

Oklahoma State Party Rules 2011 (pdf format)

Oklahoma State Party Platform  2012 (pdf format)

Washington County GOP Precinct Chairs

Clouds over America Conference in OKC February 8-9

For a report from the Clouds over America Conference in OKC 2013 

via Gary Kilpatrick please visit OKGrassroots here >>>

CurryClouds13 AD (pdf format to download complete flyer for event details)

Featuring:

Nathan Dahm – State Senator on Sound Money

Jon Echols – State Rep on Surveillance & Facial ID

Dan Fisher – State Rep on States Rights

Hon Sterling Lacy on Beating Discouragement with Hope

Kevin McAfee on Hollywood vs Morality

Dr Duke Pesta on Freedom Project and University Ugly

Pastor Paul Blair on Candidate Experience

Bob Donohoo on Strategic Activism

Tim Gillespie on OK Gun Legislation

Charlie Meadows on The State Chamber Has Changed

Jenni White on Common Core Curriculum

For more information call 405-348-9991

Note:  There is a fee to attend (see pdf flyer for details)

Conference sponsored by Oklahoma Conservative PAC, Oklahoma Chapters of The John Birch Society and Reclaiming America for Christ

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them and OKGrassroots

The ‘Absurdity’ of Gun Free Zones

 *** How to create your own gun free zone! ***

crop this sign and put one in your yard or business…

    watch this video to see how well it works!

Published on Jan 11, 2013

via 1/2 Hour News Hour/Fox News

over 74,000 views at time of posting

Related post here via Al Adask >>>

My favorite comment there via Yartap:

Another new door or yard sign:

Due to the price increase on Ammunition….
DO NOT EXPECT A WARNING SHOT!
Thank You for your understanding.

Related post on FGST site >>>

For more information on the right to keep and bear arms, I recommend Gun Owners of America and OK2A and OKGrassroots in Oklahoma.

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

End Wiretaps Without Warrants — 4th Amendment Event in OKC

By Oklahomans for 4th Amendment Rights

Saturday, February 23, 2013  12:30pm

• 1st Floor Rotunda at State Capital. NON Violent, NON Partisan Gathering of concerned OK Citizens standing up for our 4th Amendment rights.  Speakers: Amanda Teegarden, Executive Director OK-SAFE, MC and Ryan Kiesel, Director OK ACLU, and Amy Stepanovich, EPIC Drone Policy and Privacy Expert.  The time is quickly running out for us to stand up for our constitutional rights. If we don’t speak up we will never be heard.

Flyer for event – updated!

Posted by Sandra Crosnoe for Finding Gems & Sharing Them

Special thanks to Trina for the flyer!

Taking the Law into Your Own Hands

Taking the Law Into Your Own Hands

My wife and I [Joseph Hebert] recently took the class to get our concealed weapons permits here in Oklahoma. We’ve been here six years, so I guess it’s about time. We used to have our permits in Texas, but had to relinquish them when we moved here. Even then, after writing letters and lobbying hard to get the concealed carry law passed, it was several years before we actually got the permits. I guess I’m just not that big of a gun nut.

Still, it got me to thinking about the line delineating self-defense and taking the law into your own hands. I don’t have a problem with people defending themselves, or their families, or even their neighbors and property. But no one should take the law into their own hands. Should they?

Of course we all know that it is wrong to take the law into your own hands, by which I mean seeking one’s own justice, retribution or whatever you choose to call vengeance, but why? Stated simply, it’s wrong because God said “Vengeance is mine. I will repay,” (see Hebrews 10: 30). It is not for you and I to take upon ourselves that which God has reserved for Himself.

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians get the impression that if we forgive those who sin against us, they’re getting away with something. They are not. Understand first that when we forgive we do so for our own sake, not theirs. Note that God said “I will repay!” God will meet out justice against them, and our forgiveness doesn’t change that. What it does change is us. Instead of carrying around emotional baggage of hatred and bitterness we let it go and move on, growing in Jesus and spiritual strength.

And don’t think that God’s vengeance exists only in the next life either. I would refer you to Romans chapter 13. There Paul makes plain that all governmental powers exist because God ordained them, and for a purpose too.

But if thou doeth that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain; for he is the minister of God, an avenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

Romans 13: 4b

This verse should make two things painfully clear to anyone willing to see. First, it is folly to believe that God’s vengeance will be forestalled until the next life. Second, if it is wrong for you and I to take our own vengeance, is it not at least equally wrong for the government not to?

Indeed, there are going to be any number of governors, judges, legislators and other officials who will be held to answer for their failings. Today judges seem more interested in rehabilitating prisoners than punishing them. But is it their place to “rehabilitate” prisoners?

God did not charge the government with rehabilitating men, or reforming them or whatever you choose to call creating anew. It is God, not government, who makes men new creations. And when governors and judges try to make this part of the judicial system, they are usurping God’s role in the lives of men.

So yes, we should forgive, but the government should punish and leave the administration of God’s mercy and grace to Christians and the churches.

Or should they? Maybe it’s not so simple as that. Consider the first part of the verse just cited.

For he is the minister of God to thee for good.

Romans13: 4a

As tempting as it might be to blame our cultural crisis on an out-of-control liberal government, perhaps the blame is more rightfully our own. It’s certainly true that governments around the world have taken onto themselves many functions that God left to the churches and to Christians. But, we cannot ignore the fact that the churches and Christians have been all too happy to let them, and the results have been tragic.

Take, for example, healing the sick. Look at healthcare everywhere that it has been taken over by government. Who in England or Canada stayed to get free health care in their own tax-funded systems? Those who had a choice spent their own money to come to America where they could still find private sector health care, often administered in hospitals with names that reflected Christian denominational association.

What about education. God’s Word tells us the family is responsible to educate their own children (e.g. Deuteronomy 6: 7; 11: 19), but once again we find governments doing what God intended others to do. So tell me this. When our elected officials go to Washington D.C., do they put their children in those same public schools they impose on others, or do they send their children to private schools?

No, if God intended the government to be His minister to us for good, then we have no one to blame but ourselves when the government takes over those responsibilities that we shirked.

Consider caring for the poor? Do widows and orphans and the infirm look to the church for their needs? Or do they turn to the government? And when people turned to the government for help, did the church stand up and say to the government, “No! It’s not your place to care for the poor. That’s our job!” Or did pastors and deacons and congregations across the nation look at each other, quietly holding their tongues, enamored of lucre and forgetful that the money they thought of as their own was in fact the Lord’s, and silently think how much nicer their sanctuaries and worship services could be once they didn’t have to spend so much on handouts?

Of course, we’re not the first to disobey God, to subvert His will to the slaking of our own lusts, only to try and obfuscate our disobedience as though it were service to Him. Once upon a time God told Saul to wipe out the Amalakites, right down to every last sheep and ox. God was very clear that none should be left alive. Still, when Samuel showed up at their camp he found something else.

And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said unto him, Blessed [be] thou of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD. And Samuel said, What [meaneth] then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

I Samuel 15: 13 – 15

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD [as great] delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey [is] better than sacrifice, [and] to hearken than the fat of rams.

I Samuel 15: 22

So tell me this. Which do you think God is most impressed with? Our finely appointed sanctuaries or our state-of-the-art multimedia audio/visual systems? Or might He have preferred that we care for the poor? Does anyone really believe that He might one day say, “When you amplified your voices through mixing boards and projected my words onto screens for all to see and hear, you did it unto me?”

No, that’s not right. Oh yeah! I remember now. He’s going to say …

Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did [it] not to one of the least of these, ye did [it] not to me.

Matthew 25: 45b

So if the government is taking over responsibilities that it was never intended to bear, it’s at least in part because we chose disobedience as our course. And make no mistake, the consequences of our disobedience are tragic.

Are the poor cared for? Is their circumstance improved? Or are they now condemned because of our disobedience?

Think about it for a moment. Are the poor grateful to God for their provision? Are they grateful to anyone? Are they humble in their asking for, and appreciative when they receive, help? Or are they now emboldened with a sense of entitlement? Does their sense of pride make them more or less amenable to accepting God’s grace? Or do they now look upon charity, the very definition of Christian love, with disdain, as though it were evil?

Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe unto [them that are] wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight! Woe unto [them that are] mighty to drink wine, and men of strength to mingle strong drink: Which justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!

Isaiah 5: 20 – 23

So no, I don’t think the poor have been well served on our watch. They are made prideful and unthankful toward God. With vanity they think government handouts are their goodly due, protecting them from being humbled, and they despise Christian charity as an affront to their pride. In other words, they call evil good and good evil, all because we all too happily allowed the government to usurp our responsibility.

Yes, in time every judge that uses our First Amendment to protect filth-mongers like Larry Flynt and Hugh Hefner, while also using it to prevent high school students from praying at their own graduations, will stand before God to answer. And God has already told us what He’ll say to them. He is going to say, “Woe unto you, who justify the wicked for reward, and take away the righteousness of the righteous from him!”

When judges and government officials fail to do as God ordained, they will be held to account. Many judges like to point out that ignorance of the law is no excuse. Similarly, even if they refuse to admit it, those judges derive their legitimate power from God, and He will hold them accountable, both for failing to do what they should and for trying to do what they shouldn’t.

But don’t think that we are blameless in this. We didn’t just allow this, many of us welcomed it. Indeed, many of us caused it by refusing to do as God required of us. Eve blamed the serpent, Adam blamed Eve and God both. Saul blamed his soldiers. Let’s not you and I try to blame anyone else. Even if the government insists on doing what it shouldn’t, that’s no reason for you and I to not do as we should.

So what exactly is it that we’re supposed to do? Just care for the poor?

What we are supposed to do is love God above all others, love our neighbors as ourselves, and love our brothers and sisters in Christ as He loved us. In this is the fulfillment of all the Law. In other words, we really should take the Law into our own hands.

Originally posted here >>>

[Editor's note: Special thanks to Joseph Hebert for permission to reprint and share some of his articles here on Finding Gems & Sharing Them.  He is a believer and a scientist and has recently challenged my thinking and touched my spirit on many levels.  I hope you will delight in the wisdom he brings to issues we as a society are currently wrestling with.  May we hear the Lord above the noise and serve Him well with our time and treasure! Sandra Crosnoe]