Sept. 28 Today’s Prayer
Help us, Lord, to forgive our enemies, leave the past behind and embrace a new day. Amen. 
Concert alert!
Oklahoma City fans of gospel recording artist John P. Kee, if you are looking for something to do tonight, head over to Fifth Street Baptist Church at 801 NE 5.
John P. Kee and New Life will present “a night of praise and worship” at 7 p.m. at the church. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the concert is free. 
I liked Kee (pictured) back in the days when he was with Commissioned and his music continues to draw people.
More Christian concerts are on the horizon.
Check this out:
Sept. 16 — Ernie Haase and Signature Sound, 7:30 p.m. at Southern Hills Baptist Church, 8601 S Pennsylvania. Tickets are $20, available at the church on day of the concert, by phone at (800) 965-9324 or online at www.iTickets.com.
Sept. 18 — Andrew Peterson, 6:30 p.m. at Covenant Community Church, 2250 N Mustang Road (now Yukon Parkway) in Yukon. 354-9338.
Sept. 19 — Sanctus Real, 7:30 p.m. at the Chesapeake Energy Center at the State Fair. Admission is free with paid admission to the fair. Information: www.okstatefair.com.
Sept. 24 — FFH, 6 p.m. at Southern Hills Baptist Church, 8601 S Pennsylvania. Information: 682-1636.
Sept. 24 — Ivan Parker, 6:30 p.m. at Del City High School auditorium, 1900 S Sunnylane Road. Tickets are $20 for reserved seating, $15 for general admission and $10 for balcony. Tickets available at the door. 677-2330.
Oct. 8 — Third Day, Peter Furler of the Newsboys and Trevor Morgan, 7 p.m. at the Mabee Center on the Oral Roberts University campus, 7777 S Lewis in Tulsa. www.iTickets.com; www.mabeecenter.com.
Oct. 27 — Brandon Heath and Dave Barnes, Tulsa Convention Center. www.iTickets.com.
Nov. 5 — Gaither Homecoming Tour featuring the Gaither Vocal Band, the Isaacs, Gene McDonald, Charlotte Ritchie, Gordon Mote and others, 6 p.m. at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. www.mabeecenter.com.
Nov. 12 — Two Friends Tour featuring Michael W. Smith and Amy Grant, 7 p.m. at the Mabee Center in Tulsa. www.mabeecenter.com.
Nov. 17 — Rock and Worship Roadshow featuring MercyMe, Jars of Clay, Hawk Nelson, Group 1 Crew, Matt Maher and Disciple, 7 p.m. at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. www.iTickets.com.
There are more, I’m sure, but these are the concerts I know of right now. If you know of one that’s not on my list, give me a shout-out. Eventually as they come up, we’ll print these in the paper and I don’t want to miss anyone.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Sept. 1 Today’s Prayer
History has seen evils on this day; Lord, we pray for Your protection. Amen. 
Aug. 31 Today’s Prayer
Wednesday, Aug. 31
Forgive us, Lord, when we stumble and look only toward the pleasures of this life. Amen. 
Justin Bieber gets his praise on … again
I have a teenager in the house so I ended up seeing a bit of MTV’s Video Music Awards last night.
I thought it was interesting that Justin Bieber, when he accepted his VMA, thanked God and Jesus, with an emphasis on Jesus. He made a pretty bold statement; even my daughter remarked about it.
Of course, like every year, there were stories resulting from the VMAs. Well, Justin’s acceptance speech was among them.
Here’s what folks are saying:
Fox News: God and Jesus become hot trending topic thanks to the VMAs.
ChristianPost: Justin Bieber delights Twitter fans by making God and Jesus trending
VillageVoice.com: God and Jesus did really well as the VMAs.
By the way, quite a few recording artists thanked the Lord during their acceptance speeches at the VMAs.
I’ve always found that so ironic, given the nature of some of their music lyrics and videos, at least for some of them. But, I don’t judge them. They are free to thank whomever they want.
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
June 29 Something to Think About
Every now and then, I get an e-mail or tweet about religion and spirituality that causes me to stop and think about a particular issue.
From now on, I’ll try to pass some of these on to others through this blog.
Today’s “something to think about” comes in the form of an article published in the June 2011 edition of byFaith magazine, the web magazine of the Presbyterian Church in America.
The article “If Grace Is Received, It Must Be Given” was written by Robert Petterson, pastor of Covenent Presbyterian Church in Naples, Fla. 
“We can’t come to the altar asking for more grace from God without going to our brother and sister and giving them the same grace we are begging for from God,” Petterson writes.
Read the entire article here: “Grace”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Pope on Twitter: Seeing is believing
Watch a video that shows the historic moment when Pope Benedict joined the Twitter world.
June 27 Today’s Prayer
O Lord, we pray that doubt and suspicion will not invade our view of life. Amen. 
Camping to leave radio show
Charisma magazine’s online component, Charisma News Online, is reporting that Harold Camping (pictured) is leaving his radio show, a weekday segment called Open Forum. 
Camping is the founder of California-based Family Radio who made headlines worldwide when he infamously predicted — falsely — that Jesus would retun to Earth and take all believers to Heaven on May 21. Camping called it the beginning of the end of life on Earth as we know it. He had numerous followers, many of whom quit their jobs, withdrew their children from school early and made other life-altering decisions based on prediction.
Camping suffered a stroke earlier this month and a spokeswoman for his radio organization said he is still in the hospital recovering.
Read Charisma’s story here: “Doomsday Prophet Camping Leaves Radio Show”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
Oprah used the ‘J’ word
OK, it’s been a long day, but I’ve finally found time to post this because I knew people were going to be talking today about comments Oprah Winfrey (pictured in an AP Photo here) made during her show’s finale on Wednesday. 
I did not get a chance to watch the show when it originally aired at 4 p.m., but I caught it later at 11 p.m.
With all of her talk about spirituality and such, I have never heard Oprah say anything about Jesus but she did during her last show.
In fact, she seemed to credit Jesus for her show’s success.
“People often ask me what is the secret to the success of this show — how have we lasted 25 years. I non-jokingly say, ‘My team and Jesus,’” Winfrey said during the finale.
“Because nothing but the hand of God has made this possible for me.”
I think of everything else she said during that broadcast, that would be the thing that would stire the most comment and it looks like I am right.
Oprah has long been lauded for her generosity, her caring nature and her forthright manner. However, she has been criticized by many in certain faith community circles for her shows on books touting New Age ideas. And then some folks said Oprah, over the years, regarded herself as a religion or created her own blend of religion.
In case you are curious, here is some of the commentary about Oprah’s comments using the “J” word:
CBN.com: “Oprah’s Jesus Comments Reignite Faith Debate” (This link has a video of Oprah’s monologue embedded in it)
The Washington Post’s On Faith blog: “Oprah Winfrey: Spiritual Leader”
HuffPost Religion: “Spirituality, not Religion on ‘The Oprah Show’”
CNN: “Oprah Says God Behind Success of Show”
Belief.com’s Windows and Doors with Brad Hirschfield: “Oprah Winfrey Show’s Final Episode: End of a Religion?”
Urban Christian News: “In Final Show, Oprah Credits God For Making Her Career a Success”
Carla Hinton
Religion Editor
