Oklahoma Christian University - and we are Baptist!

Now I have to tell you we are died in the wool Baptist but these Church of Christ folks have something very special to offer.  Their students love this school and they obviously have a great heritage but tonight I am going to let you in on a secret and that is how one of their alumni effected my life almost 40 years ago.  But first I gotta tell you about these pictures.

Preston and Sherri Coale - OU Basketball Coach -

Tonight there was an appreciation dinner for the donors and supporters of OC and Curtis Jantz invited Preston and I to share in this event.  I am sure it is because Preston and I are two of their biggest fans (well Preston is the biggest in enthusiasm and I am the biggest by weight).  Five years ago Preston and I decided we wanted to do something together and OC is very close to our house so we decided we would try their basketball.  Jason Taylor, above, welcomed us to the EAGLES NEST as a red shirt freshman as he knew us from Henderson Hills Baptist Church.  We did not know he was playing ball there but it turned into a great relationship and the entire team and staff welcomed us with open arms.  (refer to the blog story How to reach a Dad's heart? OC Eagles ) Well tonight was special as Stephanie Findley and Dan Hays were honored for winning over 500 and over 600 games respectively.  What an accomplishment! A highlight was Sherri Coale who played at OC and of course is the OU Women's coach spoke and inspired us.  What a great night.

Now, for the rest of the story.

 In 1971 during the summer I had a roommate during the summer named Norman Voss and we sold books together in Kentucky, yes another bookman.  He was a student at OC and during that summer we became good friends but he got me real POed (PUT OUT - bet you thought it meant something else).  You see I was raised in the Methodist Church and had some great teachers like Vea Harris.  What happened that summer with Norman was he made me think about why I was a Methodist and I realized over the next several months that I was a believer but in words only.  I had learned about Jesus and God and I also realized that even the devil and Judas and lots of folks believed in Jesus but obviously their relationship was flawed.  There is more to this story but let me summarize for tonight:

What did I learn from the Osage:

•  It is good to believe but you need to figure things out for yourself so that it has real meaning (personalize it)
• I believed in George Washington and Jesus but I did not have a relationship with either
• Planting wheat produces wheat - planting good seed produces good seed
• Harvest what you plant - Norman planted and someone else harvested, Thanks for planting OC

 Thanks for your time,
gary@thepioneerman.com