Jesus – Jerry Lout ⚬ Writer ⚬ Speaker ⚬ Mobilizer

January 2, 2025January 2, 2025

Out Of The Chute

Okmulgee’s Rodeo Grounds sat north of town and directly across the road from our modest acreage along Highway 75. Tuesday evenings in the weeks leading up to the annual rodeo found cowboys, their “spurs ‘ajingling”, mounting their steeds. It was calf-rope-practicing night and on occasion my brother and I ventured onto the grounds to take in the action.

At the nod of his head to the guy manning the livestock chute, the cowboy signaled his, “Let’s GO”. Our perked-up ears caught the sharp clang of a chute gate opening. Perched atop the corral fencing Tim and I watched, mesmerized as a terrified calf lunged forward into freedom, only to lose that freedom in mere seconds if the Oklahoma cowboy got lucky.

At the start of a year I see the livestock chute as an apt illustration.

Here I am among earth’s inhabitants numbering in the billions. The ball drops. Midnight strikes. A master of ceremonies shouts of an infant new year just born! High fives, kisses and hugs and ‘Yippees!’ follow.

The clanging of the chute flinging open. And each one of us gets propelled into . . . What? Routine pursuits, turns in the road, exploration of belief?

To the unsure, the seeker, the disillusioned regarding faith. Simply be assured the Lord Jesus is indescribably good and utterly worth exploring and even pursuing in the new year just dawned. Hearty prayers your way.

To the Christ-follower we may be drawn to emerge from the chute humbly offering up an old but timely ‘yielding prayer’. Like one practiced among our Wesleyan friends at the start of each year since 1755. Navigating its ‘old English’ language calls for rallying the imagination but is wonderfully doable.

I am no longer my own, but thine. Put me to what thou wilt, rank me with whom thou wilt. Put me to doing, put me to suffering. Let me be employed for thee or laid aside for thee, exalted for thee or brought low for thee. Let me be full, let me be empty. Let me have all things, let me have nothing. I freely and heartily yield all things to thy pleasure and disposal. And now, O glorious and blessed God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, thou art mine, and I am thine. So be it. And the covenant which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in heaven. Amen.*

May your Twenty-Twenty-Five meet with good at every turn.

December 26, 2024December 25, 2024

Merry Memory

Savoring the yuletide season still, we thank a dear campus ministry friend for the following,

One day leading up to Christmas a few years ago my husband and I invited some internationals to help us decorate our Christmas tree. Included in the group was an older couple – visiting scholars at a nearby university.

While the two men busied themselves stringing lights on the tree and about our door and windows, I welcomed the wife to help me set up our nativity scene.

“What is a nativity?”, Molly asked.

“It’s a scene made up of carved figures, symbolic of Jesus’ birth.”

My new friend followed with another question, her expression communicating sincere curiosity, “Who is Jesus and why is this so important?”

While Molly’s question gave me momentary pause, I immediately sensed the wonderful gift God was offering me in this moment. That I might share something of the greatest story ever. How exciting! What followed was remarkable.

Into those coming minutes, I felt my whole being somehow charged with supernatural energy. The near-tangible presence of Christ continuing strong. And, with the placing of each nativity piece – Mary, Infant Jesus, Joseph, the domestic animals of the stall and the rest – this supernatural “energy” did not diminish.

What inexpressible joy, sharing with this dear lady from a far away land the reason we celebrate Christmas. Why we believe Jesus is who he says he is, why he came to earth. And that Jesus not only gives us Christmas but gifts to us an everlasting, personal & intimate relationship with God. Fulll of joy, peace and love.

My friend Molly was so enthralled, listening intently, asking questions to make sure she was understanding.

As we finished the decorating she said, “I want to know more about this Jesus.”

My husband and I made sure she had a Bible and from that day forward she has been reading the Bible and has, for some time now, been participating in a Bible study with someone who speaks her own language.

Although my friend has not yet confessed faith in Christ, her heart is so soft and her questions give evidence that the Holy Spirit is still working to draw her further and further into his wonderful Light. And, even though this couple has returned to their own “restricted-access” country, we still communicate. Continuing to see God working!

A true Christmas miracle!

While our yearly calendars mark the arrival and the passing of Christmas Day, the present reality of “God with us” continues on and on and on. Until the long awaited day of the final Maranatha. . . “Come, Lord Jesus!”

September 5, 2024September 4, 2024

Barometric Pleasure

Retired television personality Don Woods stood there smiling, relaxed before the mic.

“Back in my earlier days as a TV weatherman”, he began, “our radar technology was nothing like we enjoy today.”

Among our Thursday luncheon guest speakers over the years, we managed to garner an occasional sampling of hometown celebrities. Don fit the bill.

For decades Don had garnered an impressive viewer following, largely due to the presence of his adorable stick cartoon character – Gusty. Every evening as the cameras rolled Don would offer up the coming days’ forecasts while simultaneously sketching an action scene featuring Gusty – wind, ice storm, lightning, sunshine. Gusty’s actions reflected the nature of whatever conditions might lie ahead. We hoped too, for the benefit of our students (nearly none of whom had heard of an Oklahoma twister), that Don’s talk could include a cautionary element, given our spot in the heart of Tornado Alley.

Picking up on his radar theme, Don Woods went on,

“One morning in the dead of winter I arrived at my office to be greeted by my boss, the KTUL station manager. “’Don’”, he said, ‘we just got a call from one of our viewers. Says he has a request,” ‘Would you please have your weatherman come out to my house and shovel the six inches of ‘partly cloudy’ off my driveway!’”

For our students coming from regions of the world where snow never fell, the account required a little explaining.

Along with being a popular meteorologist, Don was a follower of Jesus. He had brought to the luncheon a collection of small, illustrated gospel booklets of his own creation. Fittingly, the illustrations featured images of his little sidekick Gusty.

August 8, 2024August 7, 2024

Traction

A long Obedience in the same Direction.

Eugene Peterson’s book title strikes a chord in the heart of any who long for a joyous, unmasked walk with the Lord.. Apprenticeship to Jesus, while not for the faint of heart, yields dividends worthy of whatever time, effort and steady believing are called for.

Journeying with my ragamuffin C.R. buddies in the care of Roger’s guidance resulted in my celebrating more than one ’Twelve-step completion day’ event. I had been called upon in each of the nine-month-long treks to go toe-to-toe with an artificial defense mechanism. Denial. Some counselors contend that patterns of denial serve as a means for the brain to justify one’s addictive actions. I resonate. But am amazed at the power of raw honesty when embraced over the long journey of transformation.

Once an esteemed leader who had given many decades in godly service was approached by a young man with a question. He hoped to glean wisdom from the Christian sage regarding the pervasive fight against sexual sin. “Dr. D”, he asked, “could you tell me at what age a man moves beyond having to resist the pull of temptation?”

The minister (now in his eighties) responded with a query of his own, “Young man, once you learn the answer to that question, would you please inform me?”

Professor Willard of USC makes a masterful case in understanding that “grace is for whole life and not just for forgiveness. Grace is God acting in one’s life to accomplish what one cannot or will not do on one’s own. Grace is not opposed to effort, but to earning*”.

Leaning in to embrace and act upon such truths – continuing my pilgrimage in wholeness – brings immense assurance. Praises ever. To the divine father, to Jesus the beloved Son, and his indwelling Spirit.

May 23, 2024May 22, 2024

Not Alone

The art of love is largely the art of persistence, says Albert Ellis.

The level of persistence marking English-Corner Volunteer Jeremy, yielded up both natural and spiritual fruit for his international friend.

Reading and gossiping Lewis’ Narnia allegories together, week after week, flipped the switch to the proverbial light bulb of Nguyen’s mind and heart. The roots of conversion to faith in Christ promised to run deep from early on. The engineer scholar, together with his sweet wife, soon shifted their postures from spectator to all out players in the adventure of a vibrant faith.

“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.” Quotes such as this one uttered by Isaac Newton provoke mild envy (why hadn’t I said that?). One of Nguyen’s “friendly giants” was Tran.

The Tran family had years ago fled to America as refugees. Received by a loving Christian community in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma they gained first hand witness of the nature of Jesus lived out. The Tran family wholly embraced the gospel as Christ found a home in their hearts. So transformed by love, the household wasted no time throwing open the gates of their own hearts and home in Christian hospitality. (Tran family meet the Nguyens.)

Faith was never meant to be done alone. I first heard the phrase from Youth Pastor Jason Jackson. Attentive observers tend to marvel when seeing the pithy adage played out in real life.

Added players in the kingdom – common local folks yielding to Spirit-promptings – linked up with the Nguyen family. Beau and Mary Ann, Vicky, Debbie, Jeremy, Ken and Karen and others. Each adding a crucial link.

When heartbreak struck (that familiar occurrence in a fractured world) a small band of friends was in place to help cushion the blow. The Nguyens would not be going it alone.

May 16, 2024May 15, 2024

An Allegory

Jeremy and Nguyen first connected at English Corner. The E.C. term grew out of a phenomenon long ago in urban China. When locals discovered spots either in a city center or on a school campus where the English language could be heard and practiced without formality. The Winfreys (Ken and Karen) launched English Corner at our local university. They stewarded it year after year, Wednesday nights, seeing droves of students (mostly new and mostly shy on their first visits) flourish in both English skills and cultural relationships.

“Could I introduce you to a collection of popular readings? A lot of people in our culture have grown to enjoy them through the years. A British professor who taught at both Cambridge and Oxford Universities produced the series.

“They are fantasy stories and the writings pull a lot of narratives together in a seven-volume adventure series.”

With this, Jeremy, a gentle soul and committed volunteer, set the stage for conversational practice for Nguyen for months to come. Nguyen, a family man (wife and young son), though inundated with doctoral studies, was keen for staying engaged.

In due time through the course of their readings, the alluring draw of a centerpiece figure in the readings – a fierce but benevolent lion presented in allegory – captured the student’s imagination. Discussions linking meaningful principles featured in the fictional narratives with a range of Biblical truths gave rise to further heart stirrings. Nguyen soon yielded over – heart and soul, body and mind. Embracing a sure faith issuing out of the life and work of Jesus Nguyen crossed the threshold of belief and never looked back.

Shortly his wife followed suit. The glow of salvation beamed bright over their young lives. The Nguyen household were enveloped and nurtured in a community of love comprised of local area Jesus-followers of varied denominational stripes.

These were times of growing, of anchoring the soul secure – ahead of gathering storms.

April 25, 2024April 24, 2024

Taste Sampler

Puzzling or Amusing, which is it? Both perhaps. . .

Cross-cultural workers meet up with any number of puzzlements, leaving one off balance enough to keep the journey intriguing.

The slight-of-body PhD scholar smiled sheepishly as he related a kind of tug-of-war he was in with their nine-year-old daughter.

“Jerry, you know that Bible for children, the one with many pictures that you gave us?”

Noting my nod, Mr. Tang went on. . .

“Well, my daughter and I, we fight over it. She finds the book very interesting, and so do I! So, when she is reading it, I want to read it, and also the other way around.”

For those like me, not raised in a society where the world’s most popular (international best-seller-book ever) is virtually a banned product, the reaction is astonishment.

It is remarkable really. How could a brilliant scholar with multiple degrees to his name find such a widespread piece of famous literature nearly inaccessible?

The entrance of your word gives light*

At Mr. Tang’s tug-of-war description, I couldn’t help smile. The mental image of a distinguished petroleum engineer husband and father pitted in a feisty back-and-forth with his fourth-grade daughter over the Holy Bible. Amusing to be sure. Yet, moments later the weightier, more sobering implication settled in.

Here is nine-year-old Angie, brought by her warm-hearted and, yes, atheist parents to the Land of the Free.

Angie (perhaps from simple curiosity at this point) yearns to take in the stories of God and Jesus. This, while her mother and father – grappling with the thousand adjustments called for in adapting to a new land and culture – carry their own yearnings. Daddy himself nurtures an appetite of some kind or other sufficient to sneak in bits of Bible reading during moments when his daughter isn’t on guard.

Can this household – others as well – be gently introduced to further samplings of the life-giving Word? Lead us, Father.

April 4, 2024

Overflow

Turning onto Xanthus Ave that Thursday evening, I glanced at my watch. “How will this go? Who will show up? Will I be on my game (whatever that means)?

The young lady of last night’s call had suggested the newly-arrived grad students I was preparing to meet were open to learn something of the story of Jesus. “Had any of these scholarly young men ever seen a Bible?”, I wondered, Influenced and shaped as they likely were by their homeland’s official doctrine of atheism.

A niggling question played at my own conscience, “How mindful am I of Jesus Christ in the course of my routine days?”

Dialing back the musings, I eased the car along the curb before the Jesus Inn. Minutes later I was settling into easy introductions and conversations with our new arrivals. The easy part was much to the credit of Weili, her cheery personality mitigating any sense of awkwardness. “At last,” I thought, smiling, “we have a face to go with that sing-song voice from the phone visit!”

That first evening at Jesus Inn – engaging, laughing with, welcoming the newcomers – served as a treasured early catalyst for us at the university. Propelling the ministry forward slow-motion, as we inched our way to becoming a truly transcultural family. We (students, volunteers, friendship partners) could with God’s help, steward a faith culture flowering in deep-hearted care, engaging throughout in meaningful acts of service.

Now – three decades in – the miracle of good seed planted, and of lives yet being changed for the good, stands as evidence that any misgivings or nail-biting angst earlier on were mere distractions. Several of the Jesus-Inn graduate students with their specialties (geology – information technology – petroleum) have proceeded wonderfully forward, bearing fruit within their fresh-discovered faith.

Issuing from the overflow of a young lady’s renovated heart.

March 28, 2024March 27, 2024

A Pulsing Contagion

“Hi Jerry! I’m Weili!”

The cheery voice streamed from the phone. Her accent had the musical lilt of a young Far Easterner, which clearly pulsed with excited urgency.

“I have just recently come to Tulsa from California where I have been studying at a university.”

It’s always a refreshing sound, a cheery voice at the opposite end of a telephone line. Weili caught me a little off guard with her next words – strung together with enthusiasm – high speed.

“Jerry, I am a Christian. I met the Lord there in California. Now I’ve heard about the work you are doing here in Tulsa, and I have a request!” She continued with barely a pause,

“Please come to the Jesus Inn tomorrow night. Bring your guitar! Several new grad-student guys just arrived from my country, and you can sing some songs and tell them about Jesus!”

I smiled at the spunk of this girl I had never met, Somehow she knows of our presence on campus and that I plunk guitar strings now and then. Adding to the mix, I mused, Weili seems a young lady overflowing with boundless joy, and a heart just bursting with evangelistic fervor.

Her spirit (all that I really had to go on) sparked inside me both an element of intrigue and a sense of adventure. Her child-like eagerness felt contagious. Who could not like this person? I thought with a smile.

Finally she paused, making room for a response.

“Well, Okay Weili, If it’s alright with the Jesus Inn folks, I’ll see you there.”

The ‘Inn’ – a string of aged houses lining a stretch of city block near the campus – had gotten launched as an in-residence place offering help and hope to a young generation back in the 1960s. Gordon and Susan Wright, along with ‘recovered-and-in-recovery’ volunteers – together with the Wright’s own children – had long stewarded the unconventional space.

To a long parade of the homeless, the hippied and the bedraggled – from lost and afraid flower children to strung-out , disillusioned druggies – the Jesus Inn became a haven of refuge. A place of hope.

“Lord”, I whispered the next evening as I gathered Bible and guitar and headed out the door, “please meet us, please guide.”

February 1, 2024January 31, 2024

Constant Gains

We know of people who opt to change their proper name. Visiting the United Kingdom, I am sometimes tempted to tweak my surname. Hardly any of our British friends would think it a compliment being called a lout.

A few days after tackling my new duties on campus, I met a delightful student from East Asia.

“Hi, my name is ‘Constant’”, he smiled.

“Happy to meet you, Constant. I’m Jerry”. The introduction marked the start of a rich friendship. A couple days passed. My phone rang.

“Hi Jerry, it’s Constant. Do you have a minute?”

In time I learned the rationale behind my new acquaintance’s name change. Realizing his given name might prove tough for some Oklahomans to pronounce and wishing to take on a name reflecting his ambitions as a student, he simply landed on Constant. Staying focused and constant – not getting distracted or sidelined from studies. Things he knew were called for in his engineering pursuits. Makes sense! I thought.

“Sure”, I responded to his request over the phone, “what’s up, Constant?”

After a short visit, which included suggesting a few tips to ease his concerns over navigating English with a certain professor, I offered that Constant and I begin weekly meetups for conversational practice. He liked the idea.

I suggested two o’clock the following day.

“Yes, that time is great. At my apartment!”

Carrying forward with the Tuesday sessions over the next three years, our friendship grew. It was gratifying, making my way week-by-week to Constant’s apartment, seeing his second-language skills excel month after month. The English reading exercises we tackled featured an uncommon (for him) curriculum resource. Opening the New Testament week by week, we took in a narrative, then another – Tuesday after Tuesday – from the life of Jesus.