Choice calls for taking action. Once I decide that I am to lay aside unhelpful patterns of living in favor of conduct and speech that radiates God’s life in Christ, I must take some kind of action. I ...

Jesus was constantly at odds with the religious leaders of His day. They regularly tried to entrap Him to disobey their laws and turn the public against Him. Each time though, Jesus masterfully refute...

I hope your Labor Day weekend was full of relaxation. I schedule a vacation each year with friends to get away over this holiday which allows me to “charge up the batteries” for upcoming work. I hope ...

DEAR ABBY: My husband and I just found out we are to become grandparents in seven months. We are very excited, and I can’t wait to spend time with my new grandchild. The plan is for me to spend two to...

Dear Editor, This is addressed to Congressman Brecheen following his town hall this week in Okmulgee. “Congressman, as someone who repeatedly states that the Bible is a source of truth and guidance, I...

Part of the experience of living in a different culture, as we did in Brazil, is encountering things dissimilar to that which we are accustomed. Some of those new things are good and we enjoy them. So...

DEAR ABBY: About eight months ago, I stumbled on my husband watching online porn. He admitted to habitual use but said it was just a stress reliever and he would stop viewing it. Meanwhile, I am plagu...

Speaker and author Ruth Haley Barton, a spokesperson capturing something of the nature of the Christian individual - their makeup and their longings - offers this, “Your desire for more of God than yo...

Interim study season at the Oklahoma State Capitol is kicking off this week, and the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) is not only monitoring several, but we are engaging with authors for s...

It’s crazy to think that we are assured tomorrow. Why? We will honestly never know when our time will come. Death is no respecter of persons. The best and worst, the poor and the rich, the young, midd...

DEAR ABBY: I felt compelled to write to you after reading the “plight” of the parents of the bride of “Ruined Wedding in New York” (April 23). As someone who’s worked in the hospitality field for more...

Meet the Candidate Community Q&A with Chase Nunn • When: Sunday at 2 p.m. • Where: Tavern 56 in Okmulgee • What: Chase Nunn, Okmulgee School Board candidate for Seat 4, will answer questions, share hi...

DEAR ABBY: My sister-in-law is her alcoholic husband’s enabler. He has health conditions that make walking difficult. He falls down often and can’t make it to the bathroom. Being drunk all the time (h...

I’m sure many of us have heard the story of the person who went to their 50th high school reunion. That’s a good amount of years since they had graduated. They bought special clothes and “spruced” the...

“Practice makes perfect.” So goes the saying. Aiming for Christlikeness, in the sense of fully mirroring Jesus’ faultless nature, will likely be a reach too far. Still. Every believer can go a distanc...

On Saturday, Aug. 9, the Oklahoma Institute for Child Advocacy (OICA) partnered with the Foster Care Association of Oklahoma (FCAO) to hold a back-to-school bash for more than 350 foster youth and car...

DEAR ABBY: I recently spent weeks caring for my mom in hospice. I was holding her hand when she took her last breath. I had announced to family and friends her choice to enter hospice. They knew her d...

Growing up, I had several friends, the majority of them were from church. There was Bub, David, Marvin, Tom, Dicky, Bryan and Brian. Some were from the neighborhoods where we lived. (We moved several ...

DEAR ABBY: My husband is going to be 70 next month. He is in good physical shape but has taken up smoking marijuana every day. He says he is addicted. I have told him how much I hate that he uses dope...

My friend Mark is a poster boy to love’s power. Abused and then abandoned by his drug-dependent parents, Mark afterward did the foster-care “tour.” Years later, languishing on city streets and in alle...