Sunday sum-up

A couple of things before we get into the Sunday sum-up.
1. This coming week is going to be awesome! I'm really looking forward to sharing what I feel God has to say to Oasis.
2. Our next series "Partial Truths" is going to rock your face off!!
3. I'm hoping to share very soon about one of the opportunities that we have this summer as a church. Be there this Sunday to find out about it.

This past Sunday we talked about real relationships and how Oasis is dependent on it's members to have real relationships with real people. Here are a few highlight thoughts.

-You can not establish and maintain a real relationship without serious effort.

-Most Christians are entirely too passive when it comes to their relationships, faith and most everything else in life. We are often times willing to pray about anything... or at least say we will... but we are very hesitant to actually do anything.

-You have got to be confident in yourself and in your God if you are ever going to maintain a healthy relationship.

-Needy friends are annoying friends. Suck up your whinny attitude and realize that the world doesn't revolve around you nor should it.... If it did, we'd all be in real deep poo!

-Forgiveness should be consistent in our relationships as believers. However, it seems to be what we lack more than anything else.

-If you want to see a bitter human being just go into most any church in America and hang around for a business meeting. You'll likely hear about how Joe is still mad at Betty because her dad painted the walls the wrong color in 1978... Man, Church people are so good at holding grudges.

-The God that we claim to follow is a God of Love, Grace, and forgiveness. Yet it seems as if our relationships are lacking those three things more than anything... Why?

-Commit today
-to put effort into your relationships
-to find your self worth in Jesus
-to forgive

Sunday Sum-up.

Today was our second week in or Flashback series. Last week we talked about what it means to forget your first love. This week, we talked about broken hearts. Here are some highlight thoughts.

-The fact is, most of us respond inappropriately to pain when it occurs in our lives.

-We talked about 4 main questions to face when dealing with pain.

1. Do I even need to respond to the pain?
-Some pain, and some people who inflict pain in your life are just not worth responding to.
-When it comes to people, the best way to know if you should even respond to what they have to say about your life is to determine if they love you, or if they are just being selfish.

2. Is relieving the pain a sufficient response?
-Some pain in life will go away with time.
-Sometimes you just need to cope with the pain until it goes away.
-Many times though, even with this pain, there is something to learn.
-Learn what you can when you are afforded the opportunity. Even if... Especially if those lessons come with pain.

3. Do I need to respond to the source of my pain?
-Many of us go through life just trying to cope with pain as if it will eventually go away. but the fact is, much of our pain stems from something in our past that has got to be dealt with head on.
-Maybe today is the day that you need to determine to get help with the pain that you are carrying around.
-Maybe start by talking with a friend
-Maybe just admit that you need to see a counselor.

4. Will this pain make me better or bitter?
-Pain is a necessity in life.
-God uses pain to draw us closer to Him.
-Unfortunately, pain is a result of sin.
-Is the pain in your life a direct result of your own sin?... Maybe you just need to confess your sin to God, repent, and draw near to Him.
-Is the pain a result of someone else's sin?... Maybe you need to deal with the affects of what their sin is doing in yours and other peoples lives... maybe you need to confront them...

Always remember...
-Pain is necessary-Somehow it fits perfectly into His perfect plan
-Pain is beneficial-You have a choice... Will it make you better or bitter?
-Pain is temporary-one day, He will wipe away all of your tears and sorrows.

My hope for you is that God would disturb your heart in a tremendous way!

I'm tired... Good night!

Just back away from the door.

It has been forever since I blogged. Typing this at 11:30 pm reminds me why I quit blogging. I have something that I felt like God was saying to me so clearly today and I just wanted to share it. I have three kids, and on occasion one, two or all three will tag along behind me every step that I take. My little girl is the most proficient at this. Often times I'll be outside and she stands at the door and cries to come out with me, so I open the door and let her out. Then, naturally at times I will be inside and she wants to come in with me, so I let her in. Now when I let her come out with me I have no problem opening the door because I just pull it open and she comes out. however, our screen door on the back porch opens out, so when she wants to come inside with me, I have to get her to back away from the door before I can open it. Otherwise, if I open the door I'll knock her down the steps onto a hard patio. We run into this problem every time that she wants to come in. She stands right outside the door with tears running down her face begging me to open the door, and I bend down and talk to her through the screen and explain that she has to move away from the door before I can open it. It's really quite a heartbreaking scene. Her tears break my heart, but I can't do anything to help her until she backs away from the door. She does everything that she can to try to get in. She hopelessly stands on her tip toes and tries to open the door, she knocks on the window, she cries, and she begs her daddy to let her in. But not until when she finally listens to me and backs away from the door can I open it, and I don't hesitate to open it. Then she comes in, I give her a hug and kiss, I comfort her and we move on... until we find ourselves in the same position in a couple more hours.

As we experienced this same drama a few times today, I felt like God was saying something so profound to me. I felt like He was saying "See Curt, that's exactly what you are doing to me. I want so badly to open some doors for you and Oasis, but you are doing everything that you can to open those same doors. You are reaching for the door knob, but it's not yours to turn. I just need you to stop trying to open those doors. Just back away, wait on me, and I won't hesitate to open them for you. You are just so impatient. You are my child, don't you think that it would delight me to have you in my presence? Just back away and let me open the door." I don't fully know what this means yet, but over the past few months I feel like I've been in the process of understanding it. We'll see where it takes us.

Oasis, I love all of you guys. There is no doubt in my mind that God wants to do amazing things in our church. You are so dedicated. You just get it. You get that Oasis exists so that lives can be changed, so that Jesus' name can be made famous, and that rocks my face off! Let's just step back and see what kind of doors He will open for us. It's His presence that makes the difference. We can't force anything amazing to happen. Let's just follow Him and see what doors He opens. Keep in mind though, that we have to work hard to follow him. I'm not saying I want us to be idle. Let's do our best to stay right on His heels as He works. Beg Him to open some doors. Pray that I will have the wisdom as your pastor to know which doors to back away from and wait on Him to open. Thank you for charging the gates of Hell with me. I love you guys!