MOORE—More than a dozen members of the Oklahoma Conference of Southern Baptist Evangelists (OCOSBE) and a huge senior adult choir combined to provide a stirring preamble to the 2014 State Evangelism Conference Jan. 27 at Moore, First.

Jim Burkett of Broken Arrow opened the OCOSBE annual session, speaking on “Why Christianity is a Factual Faith.” The president of Foundations Ministries International stressed the importance of Christians being able to defend their faith.

“Do you realize the greatest apologist who ever lived was Jesus?” Burkett asked. “What was He doing when He was showing many infallible proofs during those 40 days (after His resurrection)? We call that ‘Apologetics.’ It’s not just defending the faith. It means you are making the case to the intellectual, factuality of the world view claims or the claims of Jesus.”

Joey Dotson of Fairfax followed Burkett with his testimony, sharing how he overcame a birth defect, as well as a near drowning as a young boy.

“The two most important days in your life are the day you were born and the day you discover why,” he said.

Marty Brock, preaching/music evangelist from Cushing, used James, Chapter 4 as his text, and said America is committing “spiritual adultery,” which begins as “one, we (believers) lose our focus on God; two, we become lax in our following God; three, we lean toward flirting with the world.”

The result, Brock said, is “the church will lose its joy and power.”

However, the cure is to acknowledge that Jesus still loves us and to align ourselves with His plans, cleanse our hands, purify our hearts and humble ourselves.

“We are as close to the Lord as we want to be,” he reminded those present.

Steve Mowery, preaching/music evangelist from Claremore, used John 12:26 as his focal verse, where Jesus says, “If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me.” Mowery said he was shocked at statistics that revealed that some pastors spent only 24 minutes a week in sermon preparation.

Referring to the Lord’s call to follow Him, Mowery said, “If we’re not spending time with Jesus (In His Word or through prayer) how can we expect to be where He is?”

Referring to Acts, Chapter 4, Mowery said those who were “educated” were shocked at the boldness of Peter and John’s preaching before they realized that they had actually been with Jesus.

“It’s time for an awakening, brothers,” Mowery said. “Do the work of the Master, and God will honor you.”

“God has a purpose for us,” said Craig Hobbs, evangelist from Haskell, who concluded the OCOSBE session. “The Lord is waiting for us to turn to Him because He has something to say.”

In addition to the speakers, music evangelists on the program included Craig Stuke of Chickasha; Sandy Stacy of Oklahoma City; Bobby and Jeannette Smith of Muskogee; Becky Wright of Tahlequah; Rusty Vineyard of Edmond; YoYo Collins of Salina and  a large Senior Adult Choir made up of men and women from churches all over the state.

OCOSBE officers elected for 2014 at the session include President, Charlie Keim, Tahlequah; Vice President, Mowery, Claremore; Secretary, Sandi Collins, Salina; Music, YoYo Collins, Salina; Pastor Advisor, Dale Ritter.