I want church members who...

Desire to be part of something bigger than themselves.

Are broken hearted over the lostness of our community.

Are comfortable being uncomfortable....okay so maybe that doesn't work
Understand that following God often necessitates a huge level of discomfort.

Are tired of apathetic Christianity.

Who want to see thousands and even millions of people come to know Christ through the ministry of of their church.

Are sold out to the vision of Oasis Church.

Who understands the huge need for relevant churches in America.

Understand that worship is an everyday action.

I don't want church members who...

Have nothing but a feed me mentality.

Just want a good church home.

Can't put aside their preferences for the cause of Christ.

Can't fully buy into the vision of Oasis Church.

Think the pastor's job is to sit with them at the hospital.

Find it easy to say the phrase "that isn't my job."

Are overly concerned about how the church spends their money.... It's not your money anyway.

Love to criticize others for being less holy than them.

Think that they have it all figured out.

Can't meet someones need for Christ just because they aren't dressed nice enough.

Don't understand that worship is what you do all week.

Have no real desire to see lost people come into their church.

P.S. I'd like to end this post by saying that I think we have the most awesome group of core members ever. Just thought that I would like to put this out there.

Sunday night ponderance

So, here are some random thoughts

Camping for cans went great. (over 850 cans)

I really enjoyed spending time with everyone this past weekend. I love you guys.

We were in the index journal on page 3 of todays paper.

My family is precious.

The core group meeting was good today I think. I sure learned some stuff.

I don't know when I'll get time to write a quiet time to go along with the core meeting today.

I feel like we are riding a tidal wave and we are about to start seeig some effects!

I'm ready to launch today!

I am so blessed and excite to be a part of gods amazing plan through Oasis church!

I so love our core group!

It would be really cool if ponderance were a real word...

God

The last post was about Anxiety, this one is about Excitement. Things are really coming togther with camping for cans. We have a sign up beside chick fil a, people are asking about it and are excited about it. I spoke with Jodys RV who had earlier agreed to bring a camper to draw attention and Jody said that he would be glad to have a couple of RV's over there. Jody also wants us to use his trailer to store the cans . Thank you so much to Jody's RV! Sunny 103.5 is so excited about partnering with us and they gave us a cut rate deal because they want the food bank to be flooded. I heard the radio spot on Sunny that will be playing all week and it pumped me up! God is amazing. I love how He always blows my expectations out of the water. We love you Lord! Bring some cans! Let's give the food bank more than they can stock!

Anxiety

Every time that we do something I always get anxious. So many thoughts run through my head. One thought that I always seem to deal with is "what if no one shows?" I always wonder that, and it never seems to be an issue. As I was reading tonight in Psalms, mainly Ps. 136, about all the amazing things that God has done in the past, I felt so stupid because we serve an amazing God and after all that He has done a little canned food drive is easy. Please pray that there will be a huge response with camping for cans. If our God can do all that it talks about in Ps. 136 then imagine what He might do this weekend!

Random thoughts

Here are some more random thoughts.
-I love reading my wifes blog. She is so good at blogging. I take notes from her often.
-we had staff meeting tonight. Eric and Matt are so amazing.
-Our core group is amazing too. Thank you guys for jumping all over our angel tree kid and everything that we do. I love you guys!
-KG is sick, I've been thinking about you girl. Get better soon.
-Morgan has been sick too but you would never know it. She actually has walking pneumonia...Did I spell that right (Curt thinks to himself)
-Wrestling is awesome
- Wrestling takes up a lot of time.
-I wonder sometimes if the devil laughs at how busy I am... We all are?
- typing on this phone is so annoying!
-Come and camp with us next Saturday for Camping For Cans. It's going to rock!

What are you eating?

Tonight I left half of my dinner on my plate in the kitchen to put the boys in bed. When I came back down to finish eating, Morgan was rocking Campbell and my bread looked like a little mouse had been nibbling at it. I new immediately what had happened. Morgan was watching me the whole time and when I looked at her she silently pointed at Campbell because Campbell was asleep. We just smiled at each other. I can't tell you how much it thrilled my heart to know that my daughter had been eating from my plate. At that moment I felt like God was saying so clearly to me "Thats how I feel when you eat from my plate, I just wish it would happen more, because I have so much that I would love to give you."

How often does the father sit down and see that you have been nibbling at His food?

Core Group Today

Today was a good day with the core group. we met at Billy Wade and
Courtney Peacock's house. Thank you guys so much for letting us meet
there! Here are a few random thoughts.

Our core group is so amazing.

I'm so excited about meeting at the YMCA.

Billy's grass was very lush

I enjoyed seeing everyone.

Christmas isn't very far away.

I love my wife, but I don't know how she puts up with me sometimes.

Billy and Courtney's dog is cool.

The muffins were really good.

I'm thrilled about camping for cans!

I'm anxious to find out about liability insurance for using the Y pool
for baptism.

I'm tired and I'm not ready to go back to work.

I'm still celebrating the three gold medal sweep by the Calhoun Falls
Wrestling Team!

Curt Hanna
Pastor of Oasis church

Let's all get stoned!

So I was reading Acts 7 about how Stephen, a godly man, stood up to all of his persecutors and spoke the bold truth. He said very simply that those men had killed Jesus, God's Son. He told the complete truth, with boldness and faith. I'm just thinking that I really need to speak the truth more, and if it gets me stoned, then so be it. If I speak the truth and I get stoned, then hopfully God will have the next Saul standing by watching it all take place. I truly do need to quit worrying so much about getting stoned. Really, I think we all should quit worrying about it so much. Hey, why don't we all just get stoned!?
There is one thing to take note of. The last sentence of Acts 6 seems to indicate that Stephen didn't have a look of hatred on his face. I think that Stephen spoke with severe humility, and we should make sure to do the same.

Partnership

On Thursday, many of our core group members spent the evening at the YMCA helping with their community carnival. We wore our OC shirts and had a few opportunities to speak with people about what we are doing. As good as it is that we had the opportunity to speak with some folks about The OC, the best thing is that we had the opportunity to show the Y that we are serious about being a partner with them. For us, the YMCA is a perfect community organization to partner with because they have Christian values and they effectively connect with a huge amount of people in the community. At the event, I had two wonderful conversations with two of the leaders of the Y. They are so excited about the potential of partnering with us and we have got to show them that we are serious about being an asset to them. I want to say thank you to the Y for all the ministry that you do and thank you to the core group for being so willing to do all that you do!

The long haul...

Just about anyone can do just about anything for a short time, but few people can be consistent. As a matter of Fact, this consistency, or this ability to persevere is what separates one time wonders from true legends. You all know what a one time wonder is right? The bands who make it with one song as a hit single and then you never hear from them again. I'm not referring to bands though, I am referring to life. God has no desire to see us be one time wonders. His desire for our lives is that we persevere as champions of Christ. Some days I really fell like I'm just dragging through the day. Other days I feel like I'm flying on cloud nine. Life is such a roller coaster ride. We have got to do our absolute best to keep our eyes on the goal, especially on the days when we are dragging. And lets be honest, there are always going to be a lot more hard days than there are easy. I hope that at the end of life, when it's all said and done, I will be one of the legends of faith, and that the OC will be a legendary body of believers.

Sunday update

I must say that I really enjoyed being with the core group yesterday. We talked about the builders of the wall in Nehemiah and the similarities that we as a core group have to this group of builders and the similarities that we need to have with the builders of the wall. We also discussed some service and outreach project possibilites. We are really looking forward to December. The whole group seemed to be really enthusiastic about going ahead with another Movies In The Park in December. I don't know if that's what we will be doing, but we'll see. God has greatly blessed us. Please pray that He will continue to do so. We want so badly to see lost people fall on their knees for Christ.

Get it!

As I spend countless hours absorbed in the world of church planting, I wonder sometimes if we as a group really get it. "What does it mean to get it?" You ask… Well…The moment you are reading something and you suddenly stop reading because you get this feeling in your stomach much like the felling you get on a roller coaster when you are just about to go over the top of the first hill. You know…the moment when you’re not going fast, but the coaster is just picking up speed. You get this feeling of excitement about the ride that is about to take place and yet there is this nagging thought in the back of your head that says “Hey…What’s it gonna be like if this thing flies off of the rails?...” A wonderful anticipation and excitement and all at the same time this huge sense of fear. I love the look in a persons eyes when he or she gets it…They always have such a new found passion.
So what is it that we are supposed to get? Well…when you suddenly are overwhelmed with this sense of urgency and responsibility to tell as many people about Jesus as possible. When you look out at crowds of people and your heart is broken over lost souls, such to the point that it drives you like a freight train. Then you realize that you hold the answer to every problem any of those people have ever had or will ever have. Then you think “I’ve GOT to tell them! GOT TO!” There is such anticipation at this time. Then suddenly there is a drop in your heart when you realize that you don’t know very many lost people well enough to tell them about Jesus because you’ve always been so caught up with being with other Christians. Then you realize that you’ve rarely been a disciple of Jesus at all, but that for most of your life you’ve in fact been a disciple of some established order of right and wrong. This is a heart breaking reality when you get it, but it carries with it such anticipation because you now have a new perspective of what it means to be a disciple of Christ and not a disciple of man’s regulations. Then you begin to see the freedom that you really have in Christ; The freedom to sit with a man who is smoking a cigarette or drinking a beer, and to truly enjoy the company of that individual. The freedom to not spend every waking moment with other Christians, and to not listen to Christian music all the time and not spend most free time in a church building. The freedom to go into a bar and spend time with someone who needs Jesus. When you get it, you can truly say that the church is not a building and you can really mean what you say. When you get it, you can be a real close friend to a lost person, maybe even their best friend, and you can spend truly significant time with them. You can even have lost people over to your house on a regular basis. And when you really get it, you see that you not only have the freedom to do and not do these certain things that you have felt obligated to your whole life, but you will see the NECESSITY to do and not do those things. When you truly get it, you are struck with a very real sense of fear, guilt and disdain of who you have always been as a Christian, and you are overwhelmed with the need to change your whole lifestyle. When you get it, you get such a real look at your own self righteousness. That’s what I mean by “Do we get it?” That’s what we have all GOT to get before we can move on with this church plant. It’s about lost people becoming disciples of Christ.

P.S. If you felt a little uncomfortable while reading this blog, then you almost certainly don’t get it!

Movie in the Y...

Well, the Movies in the park after dark went really well. We estimate that we had around thirty new contacts there on Saturday night. I want to give a big thanks to The YMCA. We had to move everything inside the gym to deal with the wind and rain. I also want to say thank you to North Side Baptist for allowing us to borrow a projector and screen and also to Brewer FCA for coming to help us out. And as always, thank you to the core group for all that you guys did. You all rock!! We look forward to the next time we get an opportunity to show a movie in the park after dark, or in the gym. You can go to my wife's blog to see a few pictures. www.morganhanna.blogspot.com

Scaredy Cat

As I was reading the other night, I came across a couple of verses in Ephesians Chapter 6 verses 19-20 where Paul asks the church to pray that he will preach the gospel fearlessly. I really need all those who are praying for me to pray this same prayer that Paul requested for himself. When I preach the gospel I find that sometimes I worry about what people are going to say…how they will criticize. What really troubles me about my fear is that I’m not afraid of what lost people will say. When I deal with fear as a preacher, it is always fear of what Christians will say. Why is that? Should I really be so afraid. I mean, who are we really preaching to anyway. I’ve really grown out of this fear for the most part, but it does still come back to haunt me every so often. Now I do have people who counsel me, and I do have people who I have requested to confront me on any doctrinal issues that may concern them from what I teach. But Let’s face it, Christians are going to heaven. If you are offended at what I say as a preacher, and you already know Christ, then my advice to you is to get over it. From what you proclaim, you will make it to heaven to worship with me, even if you hate my guts. Don’t get me wrong, my objective is not to offend people, but it is also not to shy away from saying what is true for fear of offending people who don’t want to face the truth. The gospel message is hope for the lost, so let’s take it to the lost. Why was Paul in Chains? Well in short, he was in chains because the self righteous religious zealots of his day claimed that he was starting a revolt… That’s why Paul asked this prayer in Ephesians, because he knew that his life could end at anytime, simply because of religious zealots who convinced the Romans that he may be starting a revolt. Let’s preach to the lost and quit worrying so much about whether or not we will offend those who already hold on to the hope of Christ.

Core Share Time

This blog is specifically for our core group members, but anyone can give some input. As you know, one thing that we want the core group to do is participate in one project per month. There are two basic types of projects that we as a core group will do. The first we call service projects. These service projects occurr when we as a core group do some sort of service looking for nothing in return but simply an opportunity to serve the world...as you know, serve the world is the third part of our four part purpose statement. The second type is called an outreach project, and this occurs when we as a core do something to reach out and try to let the community know who we are. These outreach projects are intended to help us build a name in the community so that we as a church can more easily facilitate you as believers in reaching the lost. So, service projects are for us to serve the world and outreach projects are to help us get our name into the community. What I need from you as our core group are some specific suggestions of service and outreach projects that we can do each month. We can't do everyhing, but we would love to get some ideas. Please leave comments or email us about your ideas. Be as specific as possible. Our first two projects will have been outreach projolects, so November's will need to be a service project. We need suggestions for both types of projects. I love you guys, you are awesome!

Full steam ahead for the movie

Well, it's official. We got our licensed copy of the movie in the mail today. Any of you who read my blog regularly know that we will be showing Over The Hedge this Saturday at 7:30 at the YMCA in our first public effort to begin to build a reputation in the community with families who have young children. Have I ever mentioned that I am so excited about our partnership with the YMCA? I think that I have mentioned it a couple of times...Anyway... The Y is co-sponsoring this particular event with us and we are so so blessed to have them on board. The Y is such a wonderful organization to be partnering with. Gray, the guy in charge of the Y, has such a passion for ministry and Jesus. It is so hard for me not to jump ahead and do more than we need to be doing because there are so many possibilities for ministry when it comes to partnering with the YMCA! I'm in the office right now and I've got to finish getting my thoughts together for our staff meeting tonight. Can I just say that I love my staff! They are awesome. We are going to continue our discussion from last week about vision and direction. Last week was so productive and I anticipate just as much if not more productivity tonight in the area of vision. We frequently speak about how are hearts are broken over the lostness of our community, and that's what I love most about Matt and Eric. These two guys are truly broken hearted about lostness. By the way core group, don't forget your homework. Hey, one last thing, LOVE JESUS AND LOVE PEOPLE...THE REST WILL FOLLOW.

Gathering

The core group gathering was really great today. I enjoyed seeing everyone. It's always good to get a hug from Samantha. My ribs are still recovering. Any of you who have ever gotten a hug from Samantha know what I mean. I feel like we really got on target with our vision and I'm excited about what is next. Don't forget to give out your cards this week and to do your homework. I think that we will be back in Nehemiah next time we gather together on the 19th. I'm so excited about what I think God wants to teach us next from Nehemia. I love you guys.

HarvestFest

So we went to HarvestFest tonight and it was great. Great job on the stage Lee. I'm really excited about the core group meeting in the morning. We are going to talk about some things with our vision and we are going to talk about some ideas for some up coming stuff and then we will pray... See you in the morning Core.

Movies in the park after dark

I just wanted to take a minute to remind the core group about our next out reach event. We will be showing Over The Hedge at the YMCA in an effort to get our name out to families with young kids on October 11 at 7:30pm. This Sunday we will discuss some ideas about how we can make this event special and we will be talking about a lot of other things. I want to say thank you to the core group for all they have done and I'm sure will continue to do. While I'm giving thanks, I want to give huge props to quick copies. During this church plant they have been so so so supportive of us. Quick Copies, we love you guys. YMCA you guys are awesome too! We are so excited to be partnering with you guys in this next outreach event.

Jesus, the traveler Part 2

Continuing from the last post...God doesn't desire that we cut ourselves off from the world, but He does want us to give Him priority over everything else. Jesus' humble life only re-enforces what He constantly taught in scripture... Man cannot serve both God and money. Let's look at the American church for instance. I think that America is one of the most difficult places for God to work. Why?... Because we have so many other things that take our attention and allegiance. The Church in China is flourishing. Why? Because Christ is all that they have to cling to. We are so blessed to live in a nation where we are free to worship and I love this Nation with all my heart. That's why I am so passionate about church planting. I truly believe that we have got to plant churches to reach this Nation for Christ. Has God called me to live such an uninhibited life as Christ did? I hope not, because if He has then I've missed my call. I have in my possession on this earth more than I think Christ ever had, most all of us do, and yet, we are not nearly as effective at spreading the gospel. Should we all sell everything that we have and start traveling around, preaching wherever we can find? I doubt that He is calling all of us to do that...but I do know that if we ever did do that, we'd be called freaks... Just makes me wonder how long it would take us to crucify Christ if he were preaching today... my guess is that it would not take too long.

Jesus, the traveler

first off, I'm typing this on my phone so there may be many typoes and it may have to be shorter than I would like. The question posed by phillip in the comments of my last blog was why do I think Jesus came to earth in such humble circumstances and then chose to remain in the same humble state? Well, I think that the qustion answers the question. Jesus humbled himself to show His love for us and to teach us how to act...with humility. So #1 to be the ultimate example. Also, there is some scripture that talks about a camel, a needle and a rich man. The fact is, the easiest way, maybe even the best way to keep your motives pure is to do without... Without what you ask? Well...Anything. Anything that may take your focus off of God. That's where a monks logic makes sense, but what a monk doesn't take into account is that God has designed us for fellowship, not seclusion. I must continue this when I am near a computer. Any thoughts so far?

Jesus...

So, I wonder why we think Christianity has to be so civilized. I mean, many times it seems to me that we have been satisfied to label someone Christian simply if they dress well, act good and eat healthy...oh wait, we never really pay attention to what we eat as a spiritual issue. Anyway,...So I wonder if we ever think about the fact that Jesus many times slept w/out a roof over his head. As He said, "The Son of man has no place which He can lay His head." From what I understand, if we follow Jesus, we may not sleep on the same pillow two nights in a row. It just amazes me how we don't like to think about the truth. Here is one for example...I don't think that Jesus always smelt very good. I mean think about it, I take a shower every day and put on deodorant every day...nether of which Jesus did. Does it make you uncomfortable to think about the fact that Jesus was musty quite often...I know that it makes me a little uncomfortable. We should never ever dumb Christianity down to simply dress well and act good and tell people about Jesus. I think I want to write a book... I'll title it "Untamed Christianity" Oh wait maybe that one has already been written... Barbarian way...Erwin McManus...check it out if you get a chance. Comment some thoughts if you get some time...

Much Apology

Many of you know that right now I teach music...I had to get a job...I do love music though. Anyway, the reason that I am writting is to tell every teacher that I ever had that I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING SUCH A JERK IN SCHOOL TO YOU!!... Not that I have any kids that remind me of myself years ago... It's amazing what Christ can do in someone's life... if you don't believe me then just come to school with me one day and I'll point out some kids that are just like I was in school. God has done a miracle in my life... If you've never given your life over to Christ, you need to know that He wants to do a miracle in your life too.

We have a staff meeting tomorrow night. I always look forward to spending time with my staff. they are awesome guys.

Blog Attempt Take 2

So I feel like I haven't been doing to well with blogging...I don't know why, I mean I blog at least once every 4 weeks.... So anyway, I'm going to try it again. I'm going to try to blog more often, but much shorter blogs. So here is the first. Today some of the core team visited North Point Church lead by Andy Stanley. I must say that it was a wonderful experience to hear Andy speak about God's desire to be glorified in each of our lives and God's willingness to do whatever it takes to get our attention. I am so excited about what God has instore for OC!

Together

Over the last few days I haven't really been able to watch much of the Olympics due to the fact that we had our cable turned off to prepare for what is to come financially. However, I have caught a little here and there. Something that I noticed in every event was that no matter how bad things would get in any of the team competitions, the team would always be there to encourage each other. One particular event where I really noticed this taking place was in the beach volleyball games. As I watched a little, I saw the Americans lose a significant lead over the team that they were playing...I don't remember who it was, but they were foreign...Anyway, what really struck me was how the same teamate kept making mistakes over and over. There is no telling how many years those two guys had been playing volleyball, hoping to play for a gold medal in the Olympics one day. Yet, no matter how bad the one guy did, his teammate was always positive to him, always giving him highfives and shaking his head yea, as if to say that's okay.
As we plant this church, my hope is that we as a staff and as a core team will always move forward toward the goal, no matter what we face, no matter how many mistakes we make. I'm not saying that we just want to go out and make a bunch of mistakes and hope for the best. What I am saying is that I want us to give it as much as we have and fight for the gold, but even if we go down in flames, we go down in flames together...as a team.
While I was trying to get some stuff done today, the boys were watching Narnia. I love Narnia, it is an awesome movie. One of the greatest parts is where Peter looks at the guy beside him just before they are about to run into battle, you know, the guy who is part horse...anyway...they are about to run into battle, and Peter looks at the horse dude and says "Are you with me?" and the horse dude looks at Peter and says "To the death." Wow, what a statement. So what about it team,...Are you in this? Are you with me?

What?! #7

I really feel that I must conclude the What?! series of blogs, so this will be the last one.
In planting this church I have heard some really crazy things about what people are wondering about Oasis. I've even heard that we have been called a cult, which is a very serious accusation to level against a church. Please, before any of you ever say that about Oasis church or any other church for that matter, please remember that you will have to stand before God and answer for it. What I want to share with you today is the simple fact that I believe in Jesus. I believe that Jesus is Lord and the only way anyone can get to heaven is to place their faith in Him and the sacrifice that He made on the cross. I do not think that anyone can get to heaven by just being a good person, or even by being a really great person. Christ truly is the only hope that we have as human beings. My desire is to see people in Greenwood come to know Christ. Ever since I came to know Christ, I have been part of a Southern Baptist church and currently my theology still lines up with the SBC. In saying that about the SBC you also need to know that I also believe that in heaven we will be worshiping right alongside people from many other denominations. As a youth pastor I always had and still do have really great relationships with Youth pastors in other denominations. As a pastor, I hope to have significant relationships with pastors who are not affiliated with the SBC. I believe in Christ, I believe His death on the cross is the only hope that we have.
To be honest, I have been amazed at how quick people seem to doubt me. My intention with the next few statements is not to brag, but just to be honest about how I feel. For three and a half years I served at Harris with integrity and passion. I think that if you ask anyone at Harris about my time there, they would be glad to affirm that I served there with integrity as far as they know. I really enjoyed the time that I spent at Harris and it was very very hard to make the decision to leave there. I have served in every area of my life with much integrity, and yet it seems like that means nothing to anyone. I really need those who know my character to stand up and defend me. I'm hurt by how I've been doubted. I have never given anyone any reason to doubt me and my love for Christ. I am hurt more than anything by the way my wife has been treated. She has had things said to her that no one should ever have said to them. I am utterly amazed at how quick people will abandon others. Do what is right! Stand up and defend me if you know me! If you don't know me, then don't speak up. If you hate my guts, then I'm sorry for anything that I ever did to you. I'd love for you to tell me what I did so that I can apologize. I love Christ and I want to see people come to know Christ, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is also nothing wrong with people following the call that God has placed on their lives. Will we make some mistakes following that call? Yes. Does that negate the call?....NO. I'm willing to admit that I have made some mistakes, but God is still calling me to plant this church, and that's what I'm going to do.

What?! #6

So, here we go again with the What?! Stuff. The next concern that I would like to address has to do with guidance. Some people have asked me if I have sought any council about the whole idea of planting a church. I think that their idea may be that in my enthusiastic youth, I just decided to start a church because of some hair brained idea. I must say that if anyone ever thinks that, then they are far from the truth. As I began to deal with the idea of church planting early in 2007 I sought several friends who are also in the ministry. Later, after I really began to realize that God might have been calling me into church planting, I spoke with Frank and David, my pastors. Then David and Frank were supportive enough to allow me to go to the state convention and learn more about church planting, and I would like to say thank you to them for that. At that point I knew that God was calling me into church planting. As time went on I sought council from a plethora of sources. In the course of time I spoke with approximately 4 Associational missionaries and former Associational missionaries. Several other pastors and associate pastors, and at least 20 or more church planters or former church planters. Not to mention many, many other Godly men and women who have had a great influence in my life over the years. As a matter of fact I still seek council on a very regular basis in this process of planting a church. I have received a tremendous amount of support and advice throughout this process. Please, if you are at all thinking about supporting Oasis church, and you are wondering if I have been hasty and fool hearted, just know that there are many older and wiser people in my life who give me solid advice. By the way, I do always seek council from the ultimate source of wisdom through prayer. I am committed to do everything that I can to honor God in everything that I do. If any of you who genuinely care about me ever think that I am out of God’s will, you have my full permission to confront me. Otherwise, I’m assuming that you will be fully supportive. Thank you all for your generosity and support.

Break from the What?!

Well, I just need a break from the "What!?" series, so I figure that you do too. Today, Crosspoint Bluffton, which I am interning at, had their core worship with the some interns in Hilton Head, so we went to Savannah to a churched called Late Church. I don't have time to explain the name "Late Church". Anyway, Late Church is a church who specifically targets college - young 30's. They also meet in a theater, both of which are very much like our vision for Oasis. I must say that it was wonderful to see another church successfully doing what we are wanting to do. We found out about Late Church from Mike and Barb Danyi, a couple who we met a few weeks ago. Mike and Barb are probably in their early to mid 50's and they are passionate about reaching college through young 30's. Many people who hear about the vision of Oasis think that they can't have a part in our church plant simply because they are outside of our target audience, but that isn't the case. We desire to reach all age groups as Oasis church, but our worship style will be designed more for a younger audience. We currently have many people involved with Oasis who are outside of our target age audience, but they are passionate about reaching college through young 30's. We hope to have many more people join in with our church plant who are older and who have many years of experience, so that they can mentor the younger audience which we hope to reach effectively. Are you passionate about God? Are you passionate about reaching the younger generation for Christ? If you can say yes to both of those questions, then there may be a place for you in our core group. Who knows?... Maybe God is calling you to be one of our Mike and Barb Danyi's.

P.S. We hope to bring Mike and Barb up to speak about older people in churches with younger target audiences.

What?! #5

I know, I know. I don't blog very consistently, but I have plenty of excuses, although, I won't make any.



In my previous posts I explained what I have been teaching to our core group. Now I want to address some other possible legitimate concerns with our church plant.



First question. "What are you doing to teach the children in your church plant?" Well,...



You need to know that I am very passionate about children and youth. I have no intentions of cutting our children short. My belief is that any children who are involved in a church should be taught exactly what the adults are being taught, for the most part, but on a different level, using the same principles. We have currently set up a volunteer led ministry for our children, which is led by two very capable and passionate individuals. By the way, thank you to those two persons! Everyone who is involved in our core group is expected to volunteer about once every two to three months. What are we teaching our children?... well, the exact same thing as our adults. Love God, Love others, Serve the World and Make Disciples. We are teaching them what it means to BE the church. We are teaching them about evangelism, missions, service, Christ crucified and anything else that we teach our adults. I am very passionate about seeing every ministry in a church tied into the vision of the church. Many times we allow our children's ministry to become a baby sitting service and I don't think we should ever be satisfied with that.



One last point to leave you with. Do you think that there were children's ministries in the New Testament churches?... I don't... Well... I don't think there were. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think that there was any organized form of ministry to children. How did children learn in New Testament culture? Well, they learned through an apprenticeship program, and their teacher was usually their mom or dad. Kids learned how to do what their parents did. It was built in their society for parents to teach their kids. Who teaches our kids today?... Usually just about everyone other than mom and dad. Now we can get into a whole argument about home schooling and public schools, but that's not the issue here. My kids go to public school and my wife is a public school teacher, but I don't think that should ever be an excuse for me to not teach my children. In today's society I think we want everyone else to take care of what we are responsible for taking care of, like our children. Maybe, just maybe, we should be teaching our children at home and not always expect schools, coaches and the church to teach them everything. If you haven't figured out my next statement yet, here it goes. Our greatest ministry as a church plant is to teach our parents to love thier children with every ounce of their being and to teach their own children about Jesus and what He has done for them. Should we have a children's ministry in a church?... Yes, but it should never stop there!

What?! #4

Just so you know, this blog will make no sense what so ever unless you read the two previous posts first. Our core group currently meets most every Wed. night. On occasion, we do visit other churches on Sunday’s, but on the Sundays that we don’t do anything at all I have asked them not to go. When you pick yourself up out of the floor, please continue reading. Do I think that church gatherings on Sunday mornings have finished serving their purpose?... No, I don’t. That’s why we will begin meeting on Sunday mornings at some point. But let’s get something straight. We will only be meeting on Sunday mornings because that is the most convenient time for most people. My hearts desire is to eventually offer a mid week service that is exactly identical to our Sunday morning service for those who have to work on Sundays. So what about those people? Will I ask them to also attend on Sunday mornings?... Absolutely not. Part of my vision for Oasis church deals with the importance of gathering times, therefore I will seek to teach my core group that our emphasis should be on Christ and Christ alone, not on anything else. We currently don’t have music or preaching during our Wed. night meetings. I simply teach them. I don’t preach yet. I can see Jesus on the hill now during the sermon on the mount, "alright Peter, pull out the guitar, it’s time to have worship." That’s a laugh. You know what I think Jesus would say to us today? I think he would say, “what do you mean it’s time to worship?” Haven’t you been worshiping all week?... Don’t hear me wrong. I think that churches need to be doing what they are doing. But I also think that they need to be emphasizing that nothing should ever take the focus off of Jesus, and many of our churches are teaching that. However, our established churches would be hard pressed to cancel Sunday mornings to teach that lesson. If they did it may inspire a mutiny… We tend to refer to a church mutiny as “letting the preacher go.” We as a new church plant are afforded the unique opportunity to teach that lesson in a special way, and we are going to take that opportunity while we have it. If we have to be labeled a cult simply because we don’t currently meet on Sunday mornings in order to teach our people what it means to be the church, the bride of Christ, then so be it, label us a cult if you want. But I’m not teaching anything beyond scripture.

Tune back in next time for the next blog in the series “What?!” Where I will address some possible legitimate concerns with my teaching.

What?! #3

Just so you know, this blog post will not make any sense what so ever unless you read it with What?! #2 and #4. Picking back up with 2 Kings 18:1-4, In the latter part of verse 4 it says “for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it.” The problem wasn’t that the snake was no longer useful, the real problem was that the Israelites were no longer focusing on God, they were focusing on the good thing that God had given them. So when else is a good thing no longer a good thing?... When the good thing takes the focus off of the good God who gave the good thing, that’s when it is no longer a good thing. I truly do believe that church on Sunday morning is a good thing, but I do have a problem with the mentality that a Christian can’t grow unless they are involved with a body of believers who meet every Sunday at 11…We’ll make an exception though, we can move it earlier if we need to in order to get out of the service in time to go to a restaurant and have a waitress serve us, the same waitress that we just bad mouthed because she wasn’t at church. Never mind the fact that she has three children, her husband just ran off and left her and isn’t paying child support and she has to work three jobs to pay the bills. If she wants to make it to heaven, then she should be at church on Sunday just like me…Oh, but I would prefer that she die and go to hell as long as I get my meal with a smile….give me a break! Jesus says in Mark 9:42-50 that we should get rid of anything that causes us to sin. I’m just wondering, if you are someone like me who has grown up in church all of your life, do you think that there has ever been a time in your life when you placed more importance on Church on Sunday morning more than on Jesus Himself? If we want to be honest, I believe that all of us who have grown up in church can say yes. With that hard truth in mind, I am currently seeking to teach our core group to understand that a church service should never take the place of Jesus in our list of priorities. That is the simple lesson that I am trying to teach in a very real and practical way. More in the next post.

What?! #2

In Numbers 21:4-9 The people began to complain about God and as a result God sent venomous snakes among them to kill them as a punishment. They later asked for forgiveness and God instructed Moses to make a bronze snake and put it on a pole. If anyone was ever bitten by a snake, all they had to do was look to the bronze snake and they would be healed. For the Israelites at this time, the bronze snake was very much their salvation. I think that we can all agree that the bronze snake was a very good thing. Jesus even referred to the bronze snake when he spoke about Himself on the cross in John 3:14. So, was the bronze snake a really really good thing…yes, I’m pretty confident that it was. There are some pretty wonderful things about the church that exist; music, preaching, worship services, air conditioning and many other things. These are all good things. Will they still be good things tomorrow?...Yes. My question for you is "at what point is a good thing no longer a good thing?"...Well, when it is no longer useful, it is no longer a good thing. I think that this occurred with the bronze snake. In 2 kings 18:1-4 King Hezekiah actually breaks the bronze snake. One has to wonder why he broke the bronze snake which was such a wonderful salvation to the Israelites, right along side other objects that were completely pagan idols? Well, first, the bronze snake had served it’s purpose. I think that is very obvious. But I do believe that it went much deeper than that. I would imagine that Hezekiah would have had no problem keeping the snake around, I mean wouldn’t it have been wonderful the keep the statue around to remind the people that God delivered the Israelites from a punishment that they put themselves under?...Wouldn’t it have been great to remind the Israelites of the compassionate God which they serve?... I believe that there was a much more important reason that Hezekiah broke the bronze snake. More in the next post.

What?! #1

As soon as I felt God calling me to plant a church, I followed Him with much hesitancy. At first my delay in following His call was simply because I loved doing what I was doing where I was doing it. Many people knew that about me. But through the process of following God’s call on my life to plant a church I became hesitant for an altogether different reason. I know that in the history of church planting there seems to be a level of controversy that follows most any church plant. Why?... Well, I have my speculations that I may share later, but for right now we’ll just chalk it up to what I think is the biggest one…New church plants are usually different, and we all know that anytime something is different people are hesitant to accept it as valid. Noah, built a boat…different, David was passionate about defending his God even though he was a little kid…different, Paul preached against circumcision…different, Jesus…well…He tore down almost everything known to be sacred to the Jews…very very different. What do all of these guys have in common? Well, if you haven’t guessed yet, they were different. But more than just that they were different, they were not very well accepted. So anyway, church planting is different and not always accepted very well. Don’t get me wrong, I do understand where most Christians are coming from. Of course, some just want to cut the head off of anything that doesn’t look, act, smell, dress, talk, sing or think like them. Anyway, for the simple reason that controversy seems to follow church planters, I didn’t want to be a church planter, I’m not very big on dealing with controversy, I’m not a confrontational type person. But let’s get to the point. Over the past few weeks I have heard a few accusations leveled against Oasis church. The number one accusation and worst so far, is that we seem to have the characteristics of a cult.

The next series of blogs will deal with some of the concerns that have been shared with me by people who I believe genuinely care for me, my family and our church plant. For that reason, the blogs that I will write over the next few days are for two types of people. #1. People who are legitimately concerned about me, my family and the Core team. #2. The core team. The next few blogs are not for people who don’t genuinely care about me, my family or the core team. They are not for anyone who is just looking for some juicy gossip. They are not for anyone who is not willing to at least entertain the idea that I may be teaching biblical truths. If you already have your mind made up that I am trying to start some sort of cult, then don’t waste your time reading this, just keep on spreading your gossip and maybe you will get a life one day.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG SERIES.

#1. To address possible legitimate concerns to people who actually care about what we are doing.

#2. To solidify what I have already been teaching to our Core group.

A FEW THINGS THAT YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW.

#1. How long will this series be?
I don’t know, I’m guessing about 8-12 blogs

#2. How often will I blog?
I don’t know, maybe once every couple of days

#3. Will there be any name calling?
Maybe…Na, just kidding.

My desire is to help people understand what I have been teaching and what I will be teaching. It’s not to stir up anymore controversy. So don’t get your hopes up if you are looking for some great gossip…I mean, great conversational information.

P.S. If you have any questions or comments, please be honest, don't back down. You can even leave it anonymous if that makes you feel better...that's why I allow that option on my blog.

Wow!!

So, I am reading through Psalms right now and tonight I read Psalm 29, and as I read the last part of verse 9 where it says “and in His temple all cry, “Glory!”, I couldn’t help but wonder “Is it possible to enter into the presence of God and not cry out to Him “Glory!”?... There have been times in my life where I felt like I simply caught a glimpse of Him and in those times I was simply in awe of Him…I could only say “Glory!”. But really, have any of us really been in the presence of God?... Have any of us really experienced His awesome power in its fullness which David speaks about in the 29^th Psalm?... I wonder sometimes if some of us have actually been in His Temple, but we just refused to open our eyes… God is such an awesome God. He is so far beyond our understanding… More than we can ever conceive… How can we encounter Him in any way without being completely changed? How can we enter into His presence and go back to who we were before? The capability of humans or the lack there of absolutely leaves me so speechless. Do we at all understand the God we serve? I think we have a long way to go. Thank Him that He is patient, abounding in love and slow to anger, otherwise we’d have no hope…none!

Screaming...and an update.

So, I was sitting in the chair tonight holding Campbell, admiring all her features. I wonder if God ever looks at us and is totally amazed by his creation…I know that when I look at Campbell I am totally amazed at God and I have to give him the glory for His creation. Morgan once told me that when a mother walks out of the sight of her baby, that the baby cries because she thinks that her mother is gone…forever. I also wonder who asked the baby if that’s why she screams to the top of her lungs when her mother leaves the room….anyway. The point is that a baby desperately desires to keep her mother in her sight, where she knows that she is there for her. I wonder what would happen if we tried to keep God in our sight that desperately. What if we kept our eyes so focused on Him that we knew His every move before He made it. Campbell seems to know when Morgan picks her up if she is going to feed her, or change her diaper, or put her down for a nap, or just play with her. What if we knew God so well that we knew exactly what He was going to do as soon as He started moving? Are you watching God with great anticipation of what He is going to do? Do you have any idea of what He is doing so that you can move with Him? Do you scream for Him when you feel like you’ve lost sight of Him? Do you even care to be in His presence?.....

UPDATE:

-The Family and I had company all week with some teenagers from Greenwood visiting us this week. They helped with service projects, baby sat and entertained us. It was great to get to spend some time with them. They are leaving tomorrow. I hope that they come back before the end of the summer.
-The Bluffton area newspaper featured and Crosspoint in an article today. Click here to see it.
-I miss being in Greenwood.

Reckless Faith

So, I was going to write about my devotion that I read the other day, but I can't communicate it to you as well as the original author, so just read this excerpt and know that it really spoke to me and I hope that it speaks to you too.

This comes from My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers


"...Peter...walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid.." (Matthew 14:29-30)

The wind really was boisterous and the waves really were high, but Peter didn't see them at first. He didn't consider them at all; he simply recognized his Lord, stepped out in recognition of Him, and "walked on the water." Then he began to take those things around him into account, and instantly, down he went. Why couldn't our Lord have enabled him to walk at the bottom of the waves, as well as on top of them? He could have, yet neither could be done without Peter's continuing recognition of the Lord Jesus.
We step right out with recognition of God in some things, then self-consideration enters our lives and down we go. If you are truly recognizing your Lord, you have no business being concerned about how and where He engineers your circumstances....
...If you debate for even one second when God has spoken, it is all over for you. Never start to say, "Well, I wonder if He really did speak to me?" Be reckless immediately-totally unrestrained and willing to risk everything-by casting your all upon Him.

Any of you who know me know that this devotional had to speak to me, but just so that you know, it didn't speak to me because I feel like I have done as well or better than Peter when he stepped out of the boat to go to Jesus. To be honest, I feel like I've got a long way to go before my feet are even over the edge of the boat. Right now I think that I may be standing up in the boat at the most and saying to myself, "Hey, there is Jesus and I want to go to Him!" So if you want to pray for me, please pray that I'll step out of the boat every chance that I get and walk to Jesus, keeping my eyes focused on Him. I'll leave you with the last little part of the devotional from Oswald Chambers for June 18th, and I encourage you to be reckless...Immediately when you hear His voice. Even though you will almost certainly sink at some point, He'll be there to catch your hand.

You do not know when His voice will come to you, but whenever the realization of God comes, even in the faintest way imaginable, be determined to recklessly abandon yourself, surrendering everything to Him. It is only through abandonment of yourself and your circumstances that you will recognize Him. You will only recognize His voice more clearly through recklessness-being willing to risk your all.

Excitement

Well, after several days with no legitimate furniture, one of the families that we have met here in Bluffton finally felt sorry enough for us to let us borrow their extra dinning room table that they had in storage. Morgan was so excited to have a chair to sit in that she has refused to move for the past 6 hours 36 minutes and 22 seconds and counting. She is currently still sitting in the same spot as the picture that you see... So I assume that you know I am joking, but we are excited to have chairs to sit in. A big thank you to Russell Whitfield and family.
Since we are on the topic of being excited about simple things. I have to wonder how often we don't get excited about things that we used to get excited about. um...
-Dates with our spouses...for some, I know I still do, but we don't have nearly enough dates.
-Our Children...hm...do you still get excited about your children...they are a gift from God.
-Our Job...Is it a calling or just something that pays the bills?...(these dots are meant to encourage you to take some time to think...)
-How about our spouses in general?...
-Excercise?...I know I have my spells when I get excited about exercising...they don't last long, but I'm not saying that is okay. Physical health should be a priority.
-How about life in general?...Do you ever think "Who sucked all my life out and what do I do to get it back?"...Maybe you could talk to Jesus about that?
-Speaking of Jesus, and I know you knew that I was going to get to him...When was the last time that you really...legitimately...truly got excited about Jesus?..."Man, you cut me deep Shrek, real deep."

Blog Students

I've had a really hard time with blogging lately, I have found that it is more of a burden than anything. My goal is to figure out how to blog in such a way that it is a release for me, and informative or inspirational to those who read it. So I guess I would call myself a student of blogging. I recently read two blogs about how to blog and I want to post the links here because I have a lot of friends who have also started their own blogs. These two blogs were helpful for me, maybe they'll help you too. Blog #1 and Blog #2 I hope that this helps some other folks too. Please be patient with me, I'm still trying to get this blogging thing down.

Curt...what exactly are you doing?

Even after all this time in Bluffton I still get questions about what I am doing exactly in Bluffton. I don't mind the questions, I actually appreciate them, but here is a little info that may help. I am currently interning at a new church plant in Bluffton, SC. The name of the church is Crosspoint Bluffton and my official title is Interim Youth Minister. Crosspoint has not officially launched yet, so they don't have any regular worship services on Sunday mornings. My main goal by the end of the summer is to try to build a base of students for the actual Youth Minister when he/she arrives later this year. There is only one student in the current student ministry of Crosspoint Bluffton, so my goal is to simply go out into the community and form relationships with teens that I have never met and eventually grow that into some form of bible study. As simple as this may sound, it is just about the hardest thing that I have ever done in my life. I am learning so many lessons and I am excited about the potential of this summer. It is true that I get to spend some time at the beach having fun, but I also spend a lot of time building relationships on many other fronts beyond teenagers. I'm currently building relationships with people in my neighborhood, the local business owners and managers, the church staff of Crosspoint, the staff of other churches in the area, and I am also leading Oasis back home and am in constant communication with several mentors and with the state convention. Not to mention that I have a wife and three kids, and I'm so glad that God has provided the opportunity for them to be down here with me. I'm taking notes on everything that I see, and preparing for more formal training in August. I am also trying to find time to communicate with people about the possibility of partnering with Oasis Church to help pay my salary. These are just a few of the things that I have going on right now and I hope that it sheds a little light on what exactly I am doing in Bluffton and with Oasis too. For the Core team. Continue to strive to walk closer to God in your personal walk. For all those who read this, please be praying for My family and myself and for Oasis church. Thank you all so much for all that you do. For the next few blogs I would love to just answer some questions. So if you all could just post comments with questions that you would like to ask me pertaining to anything really, but specifically my internship this summer and Oasis Church, I would love an opportunity to answer them. I'm sure that if you are wondering, then others are too.

Just an update

I don’t really have anything to say tonight. So I’ll just give you a quick update about what is going on.

-Me and the Family returned to Bluffton yesterday at about 3:30am.

-Intern Matt and I went to a local FCA rally and made a good contact with the local FCA Director.

-We spent some time today on Tybee Island with Thomas, Sally and Lila Moore, some of our good friends from Greenwood.

-We are all currently sleeping in the floor of our house because we don’t have any furniture yet…it’s kind of like camping…without the fire…

-I enjoyed getting to be with the core group this past Wed. night. It was good seeing you all.

-We had a reality check this past Wed. in the core meeting when we came to the realization that we have 27 youth and children in our core group…That scared me…it isn’t something that we were expecting or that we were prepared for. It is one of those surprise praises though. God is blessing what we are doing and I have to give Him all the glory for it.

-Continue to pray that God will continue to meet all of our needs and that we will follow Him faithfully wherever He leads.

-Thank you to all those who are involved with Oasis Church in any form or fashion.

Pain...

The last couple of days have been very painful and testing. My Papa was taken off life support yesterday. As of now, all church planting plans are at a stand still, and will be until we get through this. My Papa is a precious man. One of the most familiar things that I remember about him is his hands. I can remember when he would hug me or just touch me, his hands were always so rough and calloused. My Papa always had a garden and he worked very hard to grow vegetables in the red South Carolina clay. He was always a hard worker. I remember shucking corn and shelling peas on their porch and under the oak trees. At that time in my life, I did whatever I could to avoid work. Now I understand the importance of working hard. There are two men in my life who have taught me what it means to have a good work ethic. The first is my father. He would always tell me and still says to me, "If you're going to do something, don't do it half way." The second is my Papa. His calloused hands were always a reminder of who he was and what it meant to work hard. As I held his hands in the hospital I noticed a definite difference in the way his hands felt, they were no longer calloused. I've known for a while that it has been tough on him having to sit in a chair at his home, but when I felt his hands in a less aged and softer condition, a tough reality sunk in, for some time my Papa hasn't been able to be the Papa I've always known him to be...A hard worker. Who is Alvin Jones to me?...He is a hard working faithful man. He has always loved his family and his wife, my Nana. I have had some jobs that created callouses on my hands, but right now I have a calling that causes callouses in my spirit and on my heart at times. As my dad says "Son, if your going to do something, don't do it half way." And to the man who taught me the importance of a callous or two. Thank you for the lessons, thank you for the love, thank you for being you. I love you Papa!

Enemy Territory.

So, this morning as I was walking around in my pajama pants when I realized that I was wearing my USC pajama pants. Now this is usually not a very interesting tidbit of information, but you see, as I was walking around getting ready for the day I realized that I could not leave my room while wearing those pants. Not because they are a little too tight or anything like that, but simply because if I left my room with those pants on I would given definite identification that I am in enemy territory. Some of you may remember that I told you a couple of days ago that I am staying with Carl Martin, the lead pastor of Crosspoint Bluffton, but you see, Carl is not just some pastor. Carl was Strong Safety on the 1981 National Championship Clemson Football team. Austin was gazing at Carl's jersey, football pants and national championship ring just last night. So when I say that I would identify myself as an man who is in enemy territory, I'm really serious. Carl is a great guy, and he just shook his head when I told him I was going to write this blog. It's a blast staying here. But here is my question for you. Is it obvious when you are in the enemies territory? Are you so marked with the blood of Jesus and smitten with a passion for Christ that the Devil knows who's team you are on? We need to be serious. We do have an enemy, and he is in this fight. We better be serious about who's team we are on. I hope that there is never any question about who's team I'm on...What about you?

Are you really fine?

Today as Austin (My brother-in-law) and I were going from place to place just simply trying to meet people in the Bluffton/Hilton Head area, we had the fortunate opportunity to meet a young lady who wasn't so excited to see us. After speaking with her for approx. 20 seconds about one of her coworkers who we were trying to locate, I began to introduce myself. As I held out my hand, which most people in America understand as the universal sign of "hey shake my hand", she looked me right in the eyes and crossed her arms. I thought that maybe she didn't see my hand, so I awkwardly acted like I was just putting my hand on the nearby counter. Any idiot could have seen that I was embarrassed. then I proceeded to tell her who I was and I offered her some information about the church. She then proceeded to give me a "you're wasting my time" look and said "I'm fine." I then said thank you and you have a nice day. After leaving I began to think back on the occasion and realized that even before I ever gave her any inclination as to who I was, she was standoffish. So, my thoughts are this. Why was she so unenthusiastic to speak with me for just 45 seconds or so? Does she not like the coworker that we were looking for? Did someone pee in her cornflakes that morning? Is she just an unusually unfriendly person? Or did she have a legitimate reason for being rude? I know that when life is hitting me hard I tend to be rude. So I like to think that she was experiencing something in life that was making her day not so great. So my thoughts then became this. Why, when we are obviously frustrated, do we fill like we still have to say "I'm fine"? Why can't we just say "I really am not in the mood to hear you speak or take any information from you"? I guess it's maybe a last ditch effort to be polite. I don't really know. Finally my question for you is this. Are you really fine? Maybe you just need to be honest with God, or a friend, or anyone. Maybe you just need to be honest with your spouse?.........dramatic pause as God deals with you............I scratch my chin and look at you....... If you aren't fine, then maybe you need to forget the last ditch effort to be polite, just be honest.

UPDATE:

-We are still looking for a place for My family to stay this summer. We thought that we had somewhere to stay, but it all fell through on Monday.
-There is a possibility we will have something by tomorrow. Not exactly what we wanted, but exactly what we need....God knows what He is doing.
-We are constantly adding more and more organization to Oasis Church.
-I have an amazing staff!
-Austin and I are currently staying this week With Carl Martin (Crosspoint's lead pastor)
-We are looking forward to having several people on the core team come and spend the weekend with us and experience Crosspoint's preview service.
-I am totally stoked about all of the support that has been given to me, my family and Oasis Church.
-I am beginning to think that I need to figure out how to do shorter blogs.
-There is currently only One youth in the youth ministry of Crosspoint Bluffton. So gathering a group of young people for the church is going to and has already presented some challenges. It's mainly just relationship building right now....with strangers...and that's not easy.
-There is so much more, but I'm tired and I have a lot more to do tonight and you've already stopped reading this. Good night.

What are you running from?

So today is my first day in Bluffton for the summer. I have been looking forward to this for several weeks now. I'm not much of a writer so you will have to bear with me as I learn some things. It's been absolutely amazing to see how God has put His plan together in the lives of my family, this church plant, so many other people and even my own. He has freed me up to follow Him with such a blind faith, and it has been a challenge and a true blessing. As I write my very first blog I have ever written, it makes me think of how many opportunities we have to follow God into uncharted territories. We have many opportunities to follow Him, and almost always, if not always, when we follow Him it will be a very uncomfortable experience. The human tendency is to run from anything that has the potential to make us uncomfortable, even if it is the call of God...especially if it is the call of God. Today after My brother-in-law and I arrived in Bluffton at Carl Martin's house (Carl is the lead pastor/planter of Crosspoint Bluffton) we spoke with Carl a while and eventually began to settle in when Carl called me upstairs to his office to look at some rental houses online. As I walked up the stairs I began to think about the fact that Carl had his family pet upstairs with him...which by the way, is a ferocious beast. It seems as though for every step I took up the stairwell I recalled a different story that I had heard about Carl's Family pet..."She bit all three of our Associate pastor's children." "When we lived in Pickens she bit a UPS man." "The other day she attacked a pit-bull and bit it in the face." These were not comforting thoughts as I prepared myself to walk into the lair of this ferocious animal. Needless to say, as I topped the stairs, there she was, staring me right in the eyes. From that point on everything happened so quickly that I don't know how to explain it. The first thing I remember was the huge 12 inch fangs protruding from the mouth of the beast, the last thing I remember was the point when I realized that I had leaped completely over the rails of the stairwell to find myself hanging about 12 feet over the first floor. Attached you will see pictures of that exact ferocious animal, and let me tell you, looks can be deceiving. What you see right now is not what I saw when I was staring certain death in the face. Now as funny as it may be that I literally jumped over a stair rail to run from that little innocent creature (as some would cal her) I do have to ask you this question. What is it that you may be running from in life? I can tell you that for about 6 months I ran from the call of church planting, and I didn't get very far. We can run from a lot of things but when we run from God we always get caught. For some, they get caught the day they die. I don't suggest that you wait that long. For some, they get caught the day that their actions they have been keeping secret for so long are exposed to the world. This isn't a good option either. Yet, their are a few who are willing to give up before they ever get caught. I like this option. Some of you may refer to it as surrendering. So what are you running from? Is it a call that God has placed on your life? Is it sin in your life that you know you need to deal with? Is it giving someone forgiveness? Is it just the fact that you don't want to commit everything to Him? Or are you just running from a little dog? Whatever you are running from, the best option is always to surrender...unless of course you are running from a one foot tall 20 pound beast with huge 12 inch fangs. If that is the case, then run...run very very fast.