Prepare Ye

  This is my sermon from St. Mark Lutheran Church on Sunday, August 19, 2018. The main lesson was the Gospel lesson, John 6:51-58. Because of the focus on Jesus using the verb for eat that is better translated as gnaw , my Bullodogge, Ananias wrote this message.  An audio version is available here . The Preaching Preview is available here . The 60 Second Sermon Summary is available here .  Written by Ananias Bulldogge Campbell, Assistant (to the) Pastor, Covenant Lutheran Churches of Oklahoma City Grace & Good News to you from our Creator & Lord .   AMEN. My Big Guy has started having a text study with other pastors at his office at St. Mark on Tuesday mornings. They listen to a podcast from Minnesota where some professors talk about Sunday’s lessons. Usually, I’m just trying to get something to eat from them, but the people from Minnesota said that when Jesus was talking about eating the Living Bre...

An article from Ananias for the August 5 bulletin.    I got confused when I was riding in the car with My Big Guy. We stopped at a stoplight, and I looked into the car that was next to us. This lady was using a brush and was putting all of this dust on her face. I was really confused and got My Big Guy to look over just as the light turned green. We wound up stopped at the next light next to the same lady, and this time she was using a different brush to put other dust on her eyelids. Then she put some stuff on her lips. My Big Guy told me that she was putting on makeup. He said some people put on makeup to make them feel better about how they look. You people confuse me sometimes. I understand if you want to do things to yourself to make you feel better about yourself. My Big Guy spends time trying to get his hair to look the way he wants it to. Once My Big Guy explained to me that the lady was putting on makeup, I thought about all...

My Big Guy is a TV Star!!!!!!!! { Because we watch a lot of programs and videos on through the internet on my computer, or streaming on our TV’s, Ananias thinks anything on TV is broadcast to everyone. – pBRC ] He has two new TV series. I am SO proud of him. And I’m helping him. His first show is called 60 Second Sermon Summary , and will be available by Tuesday mornings after he preaches. My Big Guy takes his sermon and gives the highlights in just a minute. His other show (He has 2 shows!!) is called Preaching Preview , and that shows up on Thursday or Friday, and is really quick. He gives an idea of what he is going to preach about on Sunday.  ( The YouTube videos for the 60 Second Sermon Summary and Preaching Preview are available here . ) Between those and the recordings of his sermons along with the text he writes up and works off of, you can share the experience of worship with those who don’t, or aren’t able to come to church. That’s what...

My Big Guy got a great big surprise last Sunday night. We were napping on the Ugly Comfy Couch when he got a message on his phone. The bus with the kids coming from the Gathering in Houston from the churches that we served in Wisconsin were going to stop at the Cracker Barrel north of Oklahoma City for dinner, and they called him to see if he could visit. I wanted to go too because I know a lot of them, and they give good ear scratches. But I know I’m not allowed in restaurants, especially after the pancake incident, so I was happy he could see them. When he talked to me about moving here to OKC, he said we would have to leave the people we knew behind. That was tough because they were nice to me. But y’all here have been nice to me too, even though I bark and growl sometimes. In today’s Gospel lesson, Jesus sends his disciples out in pairs to share the Good News of God’s Love and Grace. That’s like My B...

I got a shout out from Bishop Eaton at the Youth Gathering!!!!! Me and My Big Guy were listening to the Gathering Bible Study on Wednesday while we were at Ascension, and Presiding Bishop Elizabeth Eaton starting talking about me. OK. She talked about the Apostle Ananias who I was named after, because she was talking about God using unlikely people to do the work God calls us to do. She talked about how Moses, the guy who was supposed to talk Pharaoh into letting the Israelites leave Egypt, and was supposed to lead them to the Promised Land, was slow of speech and stuttered. She talked about Paul, who when he was known as Saul, was arresting members of the church. But it was through Paul, and his missions and writings, that the Good News of God’s grace as shown through Jesus would be proclaimed to the world. She talked about Ananias who was brave enough to answer God’s call to baptize Paul/Saul, even though he was afraid. When God wants one of us to do...

I have a licker problem. I tend to lick things, a lot. I lick My Big Guy. I lick my paws. I lick my toys. I lick people once I get to know them. Last night, when My Big Guy got up from bed to go to do his duties, I started to lick where he had been sleeping. I don’t know why. It’s just something I do. I guess he took a long time, because when he got back, he was upset because the bed was “all wet and slobbery.” I didn’t mean to make his bed uncomfortable. I look forward to night time when we sleep because then me and My Big Guy are face to face. Almost the rest of the day, I have to look up to him. But when we go to sleep, I can look him in the face, and he can rub my tummy. I felt bad, but My Big Guy told me not to. He put a sheet over where I had licked, and he fell asleep. But I couldn’t. I was disappointed in myself that I let my licking problem take control of me. My Big Guy woke up a little later, and saw that I was sitting up at the end of the bed...

Ananias is writing an article for our weekly announcments, and they will be posted here as well. I don’t know if you all are aware of this, but there are a lot of airplanes that fly around the area by our apartment. I think there is an air force camp or something like that; I’m trying to get more details. A lot of the time, especially at night, when My Big Guy takes me out to do my daily duties, I hear, and sometimes see, these big grey planes flying really low. They make a lot of noise, and at first I thought they were going to crash, but I guess they must land in that area where My Big Guy goes for his Whataburgers. He likes them a lot! I like their fries. When we first moved here, I would hear those airplanes and worry. Now, I hardly notice them. I guess I’m a Big City Bulldogge now. You can get used to almost anything the longer you are exposed to it. I realized that My Big Guy and I had gotten out of a habit. Before we would go to bed, and befor...

Ananias wrote a small article for the weekly announcements for the Covenant Churches. Ananias’ Theological Thoughts Some of you have met me, but for those who I haven’t met yet, my name is Ananias. My Big Guy is the pastor you are installing today. I help him out by getting him some exercise and spending quality time with me. One of the biggest changes I have had since moving here to Oklahoma are these things called stoplights. We didn’t have them in the town we lived in when we were in Wisconsin. There weren’t that many cars. At first, I thought My Big Guy was not that good of a driver. We would be going along, then we have to slow down and stop all of a sudden. I slid off of my co-pilot’s seat a couple of times. My Big Guy explained to me that there is a whole system of these lights that help people to travel all across the city. It is supposed to limit congestion. Sometimes you get to keep going; sometimes you have to wait to let someone ...

 This is Ananias' article (and mine as well) for the newsletters for the churches here in Oklahoma City.  If you finish the article, you can see pictures of the assistant to the Pastor at the front of all 3 churches. + pBRC An Article from Ananias Howdy, y’all!! My name is Ananias Bulldogge Campbell, and I am your new Assistant Pastor. (Actually, Ananias is the assistant to the Pastor for Canine Theology. – Pastor Brian) My Big Guy, that’s what I call Pastor Brian, asked me to write an article for the newsletters while he is trying to find a box where he packed some important stuff. If he told me what it smelled like, I could find it for him, but it keeps him out of my fur for a while. I am a four-year-old Olde English Bulldogge, and have been with My Big Guy ever since I chose him when he came to visit shortly after I was born. I am loyal to My Big Guy, so I may bark and growl at you when I meet you. It’s nothing personal; I’m sure you ...