Curt Hanna

April 2011 newsletter

2011-04-30T19:28:00.001-04:00

I am so excited to write this newsletter! So much has happened the past 6 weeks. There is no way that I can share everything, so let me just hit the highlights. Our "Why the Y?" series was incredible. It was such an honor for me to be able to share how God has placed us as a church in the Greenwood YMCA and what that means for our church. Being a church IN a YMCA and not just a church AT a YMCA means so much more than 99.9999% of people realize. It means being part of what I believe could be one of the greatest church plant movements in history.... Literally! The end of April will also be the end of our "Can You See Him?" series. This series, too, has been very powerful! Over the past six weeks our attendance skyrocketed to numbers that we have never seen! Our average attendance is up from where it was at this time last year by 250%! That is so incredible! While all of this and so much more has been taking place, we have also had the opportunity to support The FCA on the campus of Lander, where God is also doing incredible things! The first week of May will be our next baptism! Awesome! God is moving in peoples hearts and changing people's lives. It's unreal to think that what God is going to do is even more amazing than what He has been doing both in and through Oasis Church! Thank you so much for your prayers and support! Those of you who made a three year commitment have only 2 more months until you finish. Please, lets finish this stage of the church plant strong!

Moving Forward!

2011-04-28T14:54:00.002-04:00

Oasis, I LOVE YOU GUYS! You are amazing. You are head over heels in love with Jesus and so willing to do anything short of sinning to see people meet Jesus and to see His name made famous in Greenwood. Your passion is an inspiration even to me as the pastor! I want to take a minute to share where we are and where we are going.
God has absolutely been blowing up our church!... All for His glory! Our attendance is up 250% from where it was this time last year, and our attendance is up 311% from December. We have outgrown one room and really have outgrown our current room. We will be having a baptism this Sunday after Church. Also, I really do believe that this is going to be one of the biggest, if not the biggest service we have ever had!...
The future of Oasis Church is going to be insane! Even with the fact that our college students are going home for the summer, with all that God is doing, I wouldn't be surprised to see attendance continue to climb as we go into the summer. Here's the deal. We are out of space. We have always said that we as a church will do whatever it takes to see unbelievers become believers and right now, we have very few empty chairs for unbelievers to sit in. That's a major problem... But it is such a great problem! We currently at best can fit 100 chairs in our current room. we always want to make more space when we see 70-80% of our chairs fill up, b/c that is typically when churches see attendance level off. So... we had 77 this past Sunday, we can set up 100 chairs.. um, that's 77% full.... WE NEED MORE EMPTY CHAIRS! In order to have more empty chairs we need to do one of two things, we need to move to the gym or we need to go to 2 services. We currently don't have the finances to make a transition to the Gym. In order to go to the gym and do it right, we need somewhere in the realm of $15,000 to $20,000. We have a commitment to be excellent in what ever we do and right now, if we transition to the gym with what we have, let's just face the fact that the music and seating arrangement would be like crap. We need some major upgrades to go to the gym. So apart from a major Donation or a significant amount of new tithers, we are going to need to go to 2 services very soon. I know that the idea of 2 services isn't very comfortable, but comfortable believers isn't our goal. And do you know what I really hate... Unbelievers going to hell because church people aren't willing to do something uncomfortable to see lost people meet Jesus! I hate that! I really do believe that you as Oasis won't hesitate to make this transition when it comes our way, but I just want to make sure that we keep our focus. The next phrase will be very important to us as a church for the future. "Empty seats at optimal worship times." What this simply means is that Our optimal worship time is 10:45am, meaning that's where we need the empty seats because that's when unbelievers are most likely to attend. When we make the transition, we need our volunteers to roll with it, and we also need our attenders to be willing to come to the 9am service. I don't know yet when we will be making this transition, but just know that God is doing amazing things in our church and impacting tons of lives. Now we just need to do our part by positioning our church so that we can receive all of God's blessings. Oasis, let's do this... Lets Move Forward!

Being a pastor in a YMCA!

2011-02-20T20:43:00.003-05:00

Being the pastor of a church in a YMCA, I often times get the question "So when are you guys going to get your own building?" I usually respond with "We have the biggest indoor baptistry of any church I know (The pool) and we have a rock wall in our kids area. We have a better building that we could ever build. Why would we leave it?" Then I try to take the opportunity to explain why we really love being in the YMCA and why we plan on never leaving the Y. So I'll try to keep this short, but I want to take this opportunity as Gray's (or Mr. Stallworth or the CEO of the YMCA, however you may refer to him) as his guest blogger, to Share why we love the YMCA.
There are so many details that I could share about our journey as we have really embraced the call to be a church IN the Y and not just a church AT the Y. However, for the sake of time, let me just share a few highlights of why we love being a portable church in the YMCA. First, there is absolutely no better way for us to be good stewards of what God has blessed us with. We meet in the Y's facilities on Sunday morning and when we finish, those facilities are used non-stop all week long. So there are no big buildings that sit empty while our church members aren't there. Not to say that church buildings are bad... because the aren't... they are necessary. However, God has given us an amazing opportunity, and we want to hold on to it. But the facilities are really just a very small part. Second, The Y already has all the programs we need for outreach. As a church we don't have to look into starting programs for our members and for the community. If our church members want to start a soccer league... Already done! If we want to reach out to people outside of our church all we have to do is join in on anything that the Y is already doing! Think about it. How many churches do you know that have 5,000 people from the community come through their doors every week?... Um, I can think of one... Oasis Church. Why would we ever leave that? Third, the YMCA is an amazing Christian organization, rich in history. As a church, we get to help the Y sow Christian values into the lives of people in our community. Most people see the Y as just a "Swim and Gym", but the Y is so much more, and we are committed as a church to helping the Y plant Jesus values into every area of peoples lives; Mind, Body, and Spirit. The fact is, A permanent church in a YMCA is a win, win, win. We win as a church, The YMCA wins, and most importantly the community wins.There is so much more that goes into this aspect of why we love being a church IN the Y and not just a church AT the Y, but maybe I'll have another opportunity to share in the future.

February Newsletter 2011

2011-02-20T20:43:00.001-05:00

As I am writing this, we are wrapping up our New Year's Revolution Series and I must say that God has really revealed to me what excites our church. I guess the best way to put it is "give it away". We've been talking about the potential each of us has and the potential that we have as a church to make a kingdom impact in this world. We asked some basic questions like are we really using our influence for God's glory? and how can we specifically use our influence for His glory? This Sunday, which will have already passed by the time that you get this newsletter, we will announce that our church is going to raise $5,000 to dig a well for people who have no access to clean drinking water. Our church has been waiting eagerly to hear how exactly we will be "giving away" our money. This is how we want to influence the world as a church. As individuals, we want to be consistently pouring kingdom principles into the lives of others.
If you would like to donate to digging the well, you can mail your contributions to PO Box 49772 Greenwood, SC 29649. Please be sure to mark it "Living Waters"
This February we will be doing a series called "I Killed Jesus". Please feel free to listen to our podcasts. It's going to be an intense series where we talk about God's Mercy, Justice, and redemption. We will also talk about the importance of sharing the gospel and our potential as a church to take the gospel into our community.
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our sin; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

January Newsletter 2011

2011-01-18T08:23:00.001-05:00

The past month has been a really exciting time in the life of our church and in my life personally. On Jan 1-3 We took some of our college students to Passion, a conference for young adults, in Atlanta, Ga. I was fortunate enough to get to tag along and I must say that I was encouraged and challenged to see the faith and excitement of this generation! I have always told our church that God has a history of using young people to change this world and expand His kingdom, And I am convinced that this generation will be no exception.
We are currently in our New Year's Revolution series and God is rocking our church. This series is really challenging our church and me personally to imagine what could happen if we would actually use the influence that God has given us to invest in the kingdom, to give hope to the hopeless. We have no idea how powerful of an impact we have the potential to make in this world.
We will begin Financial Peace University on Feb. 23rd. Anyone can sign up by going to the front desk at the YMCA or by emailing the church at Web@ogreenwood.com. We will meet every Wed. at 7pm and the course will run for 13 weeks through May 18th. The cost is $93 per household. If you want to take the class and don't have the money, please email us and let us know. This course is well worth every penny. I suggest to anyone who is able to take this course, to please do so. I believe that there are so many people who want to give to kingdom causes, but they feel too constricted because they are too far in debt and just don't know how to budget their money. Can you imagine what would happen if only a small portion of christians would begin to budget money in their personal finances for kingdom impact?
Thank you so much to all of you, our supporters, for all that you are doing!

December Newsletter 2010

2010-12-21T19:05:00.000-05:00

It's the holiday season and we are all so very busy. Oasis is just finishing our "OC Christmas" Series. We've been taking a look at Mary's call to birth the savior of the world. We've learned about the fears she may have faced and how she responded to the call on her life. It's been a really powerful series. In January we will be in our "New Years Revolution" series. We'll be looking at how God has the power to move in our lives in revolutionary ways. As we progress into this new year I look forward to all that God has in store for us. I've been spending time in prayer and I am really excited to put some challenges in front of our church. In my heart right now there is nervousness and excitement for the next year. Please continue to pray for us as we try to spread the hope of the Gospel. Thanks to each of you for your support!

Discussion time

2010-11-07T21:58:00.002-05:00

Today at Oasis we really put a lot of answers and questions out there. This blog is just in case anyone wanted to open a public dialogue about any issues. So here is your chance!

2010-11-04T15:51:00.003-04:00

This past series was really awesome! It was titled Heterosexual Homophobe and I can honestly say that this has been the most exciting series that we have done since launching over a year ago. We handled many topics such as discrimination, Racism, Homosexuality, Hate and so much more. I want to encourage anyone to listen to the past podcasts. Thank you so much to my staff for the ideas and encouragement. I have an amazing staff! The next series coming up is "You Asked for it" Wow, it's going to be intense. We received questions that will blow you away. Click HERE if you want to listen to the past podcasts.

Sunday Sum-up.

2010-09-12T17:22:00.003-04:00

Today was pretty awesome!... other than my daughter throwing up on the way to church. Needless to say, Morgan and Campbell had to stay home today. She seems to be feeling better, but she has been sleeping most of the day. The message was straight up honest today. If you have any questions about the Holy Ghost and how He works in our lives, then you need to check out today's podcast and the rest of this 4 week series. Here are a few highlights from today.

-The Holy Spirit is mentioned over 800 times in scripture.
-The second verse of the Bible talks about the Spirit of God.
-There are churches that would refer to themselves as "Spirit Filled" that really weird many Christians out.
-There are also churches who are the exact opposite and would never dare even mention that the Holy Spirit has any authority.
-I believe the more biblical stance is somewhere more in the middle.
-The Holy Spirit is our Counselor, Comforter and so much more!
-Many believers aren't living a spirit filled life because they either aren't aware of the Holy Spirit or simply resist the Holy Spirit.
-You cannot continuously resist the Holy Spirit because eventually you will grieve Him and He may stop pursuing you.
-There are 3 different ways that the Holy Spirit ministers to us.
1. He comforts us.
2. He counsels us.
3. He convicts us.
Do not resist His conviction!

P.S. Next week is going to rock! don't miss it! We also have a series coming up next that is going to be very interesting. It's going to be called "Heterosexual Homophobe" Before you start calling me a heretic, you may need to hear the podcasts. And yes, it will blow church people up!

The Past Few Weeks... and next week.

2010-09-06T22:24:00.005-04:00

Wow! The past few weeks have been awesome! Since I last blogged we have finished the Are you man enough series and we just wrapped up the are you woman enough series. This past series was so powerful for anyone to listen to, especially for the females. I encourage any female to download all three podcasts and listen to them. I actually only spoke for one week of this past series. The first week we had Carrie Booth come and speak. As a teenager, Carrie dealt with Anorexia and literally almost died. Her testimony is amazing! The Second week I spoke about self confidence and much more. To be honest, I was really worried that I was going to stink it up when I spoke, but God had some amazing truths for our ladies that week. Yesterday, we had Emily Jennings speak. Emily and her husband serve on the campus of NGU and she is very passionate about building real relationships in hope of promoting Christ in the lives of others. I must say that what she had to say will resonate with any female. To get our podcasts, you can just go to www.ocgreenwood.com and click on the podcast tab, or you can go to iTunes and type in the keyword "ocgreenwood." Check it out!

P.S. Please give us some feedback if our podcasts are making an impact on your life. We love to know when God is using us to impact your lives. Also, the next series coming up is called "The Ghost". We will be talking about the Holy Ghost, how He works in our lives, and what this means for us as believers.

Sunday Sum-up.

2010-07-25T21:56:00.003-04:00

This past Sunday we started our new series called "Are You Man Enough?" and it was awesome! But first here are a couple of announcements.

-We will be doing three movies in the park this coming fall. One per month beginning in August. They will be a blast!
-We will be helping with the Homemade Genius festival in Ninety six on September 11th. We will have the opportunity to connect with a lot of people. We will be there from 6-9 that Saturday night. We will set up a lounge for all those who are at the festival and will be hanging out and giving away free stuff. It will rock!
-I definitely want to tell you about Communiversity on the campus of Lander. It's an awesome opportunity to let the Lander Students know who we are. We actually picked up Evan last year at this event. He began attending the church after we gave him some toilet paper. He is now our worship leader!
-We need volunteers for each of these events, so if you would like to help, either email the church office or sign up at the guest services table on Sunday. Our ladies at guest services will have more details for you, so don't hesitate to take some questions to them.

-Now for today. I don't know if I can really recap without making you think that I am crazy. so if you read this and you wonder if I'm insane... then please listen to the podcast.

-Today we talked about how we as men are called to love. Yet somehow, we have this idea that real men are incapable of loving.
-I said that there are two things that men need to know about love.
1. It takes a pair... No, not like two people... A pair... you know....
-Seriously, love is risky... It's actually more than risky. When you choose to love you WILL certainly be hurt and it takes some stuff to put yourself out there in love and open yourself up to be injured emotionally.
-The fact is, God was the first one to put Himself out there and love, and he was also the first one to experience a broken heart. He created humanity and all creation and immediately, man sinned against him. After this sin, God had to reconcile the relationship. and this leads us to the next reason that it takes a pair to love with all that you are.
-Love takes sacrifice... Sacrifice is required in love. When Adam and Even sinned against God, they realized their nakedness, they realized their sin. In turn God had to make the first sacrifice of all time. He had to kill animals in order to cloth their nakedness. God shed the first blood of all creation. He had to make the first sacrifice.
2. It takes a man to love!
-In 1 Corinthians Paul talks about love in chapter 13. As a matter of fact, we call this chapter the love chapter. It is a scripture that is frequently read in wedding ceremonies. What I find very interesting is that in this same chapter, Paul talks about putting childish ways behind you and being a man. Guys, it takes a man to love!

There was so very much more that I shared today, if you get a chance, please listen to the podcast... It very well could change your life. The word of God is powerful!

Sunday Sum-up.

2010-06-27T22:24:00.003-04:00

This past week we had the opportunity to help Lake Russell Baptist Church with their new church facilities. I want to say a special thanks to Brandi, our do all, amazing staffer... Also known as our administrative assistant. She was there almost every day keeping things straight. she was a huge blessing to me because I wasn't able to be there nearly as much as I needed to be. Thank you so much Brandi. Also, a huge huge thanks to my wife for still loving me after this crazy week. I had a ton of stuff going on with my business, we have a home study for our adoption process that we have been trying to get ready for, and we had the mission week with Lake Russell. Not to mention that all of this took place on the week of her birthday and I didn't get home on her birthday until 10pm. She is amazing! And also, thanks to all of you who helped this past week. Lake Russell was so appreciative for all that you guys invested in their church and the kingdom.

Here are a few highlights from today's message:

Often times, we worship the sabbath instead of worshiping Jesus.

3 things we need to know about the Sabbath.

#1. -We are no more holy or right whether we observe the sabbath on Saturday, Sunday, or any other day.
Romans 14:5-6a

#2. -We value the object lesson over the lesson.

Colossians 2:16-17

The fact is, God has given us the example of the Sabbath to teach us about heaven, and we completely miss the point. We end up being more excited about keeping our day than we are about celebrating Heaven as the true sabbath rest.

#3. -It's a shortcut to righteousness.
-Observing the Sabbath makes us feel good about ourselves.

Colossians 2:20-23

-Going to church on Sundays can often times be nothing more than something to make you feel good. As if you have done better than those who didn't go to church.... because it's the right thing to do.
-It doesn't matter if you observe the sabbath for yourself... for your own ego... If that's why you go to church, then you would have been better off to just stay at home.

Does your faith go beyond Sunday?

-John 4:21&23

What do you do when you are not at church... and why do you do those things? Is it to honor God or to puff up your ego?

P.S. Hey... Perfect religious people... get over yourselves... you're not that great!

Sunday Sum-up.

2010-06-17T23:03:00.003-04:00

I have literally not had time to write a blog this past week until tonight. Sorry for the late post. I HAD to post about this past Sunday even though I'm late.

First, a couple of important things
1. We will be having no service on July 4th. The 4th is on a Sunday this year, and we want all of our volunteers and attenders to be free to spend time with their families.
2. Our mission week is next week. If you want to sign up for a time to help build Lake Russell Baptist Churches new church building, please let us know. You can email the church to tell us when you can be there. Our email is Web@ocgreenwood.com

Okay, so this Sunday was amazing. I really felt like the Lord worked in the hearts of everyone in attendance. The greatest thing was that we had a guy give his life to Jesus!... That's what it is all about! YEA!

Here's a few highlights.
-We read from John Chapter 4
-Read it and listen to the podcast. God's word is POWERFUL!
-Jesus HAD to go through Samaria.
-Jesus went to the most sacred places of the most lost people, and yet that is exactly what the church tends to teach it's members not to do.
-Jesus went to Jacob's well in order to abolish every ounce of hatred between the Jews and the Samaritans.
-The culture of lost people is our current day Samaria and the church is doing no better than the Jews did reaching the Samaritans.
-Churches are fighting over paint and carpet, meanwhile people are dying and going to Hell because we don't have time to share the gospel because our petty arguments are taking up all of our time.
-One of our greatest challenges is that we tend to worship our sacred places more than we worship the Savior.
-Our love for our sacred places are keeping people from the Gospel!

-Are you worshiping the church, Sunday, the church building , or just the idea of church, instead of worshiping Jesus?

-Let's choose to be part of a new church. A church that is filled with "True worshipers" who worship in spirit and in truth.

-A guy met Jesus this past Sunday! Heaven is one more person crowded! That's why we do what we do. We are so blessed to be part of God's gospel of salvation!

Sunday Sum-up.

2010-06-08T23:12:00.004-04:00

Important Announcement: Summer mission.
We will be helping Lake Russell Baptist Church with building their new church. This will happen only two weeks from now. So you don't have much time to sign up. The dates are June 21-26th. For those who would like to participate, please let us know when you can help. You can basically help at any time during those days, even if it's a day after work. I'm so excited that we get the chance to help a church that has been so supportive of us from day one. Lake Russell has supported us financially, in prayer and through the encouragement of their pastor. Oasis, Let's blow Lake Russell away with how much we help them. If you don't know how to use a hammer or a paint brush, don't worry, their is something for everyone. You can sign up several ways. Sign up by emailing the church at web@ocgreenwood.com, going by the guest services table over the next two Sundays, or just by telling one of the staff. Bring some friends if you want... that would rock! This is an amazing opportunity to help the kingdom advance. Let's do this full on!

Sunday Sum-up

This past Sunday I just talked to Oasis as a family about what I so desperately want our family to be like.

-First off, I promised Oasis that we would never play it safe. Our church will always be a go hard or go home church. The problem with so many American churches is that we just want to be comfortable. The only problem with this mindset is Jesus... and the Bible!

-I shared three family rules that we will constantly break at Oasis.

-1. The Perfect family rule.
Oasis will never be a family of perfection. We will always be a church full of screwed up people. Because if we weren't screwed up then what would be the purpose of Jesus hanging on the cross? Besides, who gets the glory when God does amazing things through messed up people?... He does! So if you think you are too messed up to go to church, then Oasis is just the place for you.

-2. The Predictable family rule.
Oasis will never be a church that tries to control you and turn you into some sort of Christian robot. Church people can be so stupid when it comes to telling christians what they can and can't do. I had a guy tell me that I needed to burn my Guns and roses CDs years back... man that would have been a huge mistake! "Every Rose has it's thorn...".... Guitar solo..... YEA! The most powerful thing I can do for you as your pastor is to teach you about the freedom that comes with Christ and then Unleash you to do crazy things for Jesus!

-3. The Passive family rule.
Christians are so good at coming up with spiritual reasons that they don't have to do anything... "But God says get along with everyone." Yea, but read that whole verse and read it in context. Do you really think that Jesus was aiming to get along with everyone when he consistently called the pharisee snakes and a brood of vipers.... Um.. NO! The spiritual cop out is a skill that is well acquired by many church people. It's like this... If your grandmother is lost and laying on her death bed. DON'T call me to come and pray for her... that is a cop out so that you don't have to talk to her. Get on your knees beside her bed, pray for her and share the gospel with her. Just because I'm the pastor, that doesn't mean I have a red phone on my desk with a direct line to God. However, I do have Him on speed dial... but so should you if you are a believer.

Commit today to serve Jesus boldly and faithfully.

Sunday sum-up

2010-05-31T13:43:00.002-04:00

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.

2010-05-23T22:56:00.002-04:00

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.

2010-05-15T23:24:00.004-04:00

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!

Sunday Sum-up

2010-02-07T21:31:00.003-05:00

Today was amazing! Have you ever had those weeks when everything seems to be falling apart? Well, there were a few occasions when this past week felt like one of those weeks. for some reason though, even with all the stuff that came my way, I felt like God was saying to me "I'm in control". So I didn't worry, but I did wonder how this Sunday was going to go. We knew coming into this week that we were going to be short on volunteers and then I found out that we would be short 4 more volunteers. We knew this morning where everyone was and the fact is it's just life. None of them were just skipping out, they just had life things to do. So we set up this morning with a MAJOR skeleton crew, and after cutting a few corners, it went really well. Then came the thing of "what if it's just us few volunteers?" Well, it wasn't. We had a great crowd and even picked up three brand new volunteers officially. We talked about the purpose statement of Oasis, which is "Love God, Love Others, Serve the World, and Make Disciples." I also talked a little about my journey and how Oasis Came to be. If you would like to know a little of what Oasis is about, and why we are planting this church, then listen to the podcast. You can search for it on I-tunes with the key word "ocgreenwood" It will pop right up. You can also go to our podcast tab on our web site. Today was awesome... and yes, we really do shoot sacred cows in the forehead, throw them in a ditch, and spit on them as we walk away. :)
BIG REMINDER:
On March 7th we will be at the Homemade genius building for our worship service instead of at the YMCA and we will be starting 15 minutes earlier at 10:30 instead of 10:45.

Baptism

2010-01-31T19:29:00.002-05:00

Today we had our first baptism since we launched in August. Baptism is always very exciting to me because it is such a beautiful picture of Christ, His sacrifice on the cross, and new life in Him. If you've ever wondered why Christians baptize, I encourage you to check out the podcast.
Next week we begin a seven week series about the very simple, but difficult issues that new believers always face called Discipleship 101. Other members of the staff will get an opportunity to teach during this series and I'm very excited that they are willing to share their hearts. You will be floored by the passion in these guys. I encourage you to be there for this next series if you've ever had any questions about everyday life as a believer.
Just a reminder to Oasis. Unleash is coming up on March 4th and we need to know by this coming Sunday if you would like to go. I encourage anyone who can possibly go to please make it a priority. I promise you that you will be amazed at the inspiration and passion that flows out of New Spring church. I'm so excited to get to share a little next week about how Unleash conference helped to inspire the existence of Oasis Church.
Oasis, also don't forget that we have Movies in the park coming up and we also have our public launch coming this September!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-12-27T21:01:00.003-05:00

Today was a good day at Oasis Church. Attendance was low as I'm sure most churches also had low attendance this holiday Sunday. However, today was awesome because everyone seemed to be very excited about gathering together to worship today. We actually set everything up an hour or so ahead of schedule and tore everything down a good thirty minutes faster than normal, which was odd since we were short handed. Like I said, for some reason, everyone was very excited and moving at a rapid pace to prepare to spread the message of Jesus. I'm very excited about the next few months because churches typically see good attendance during the first few months of the year and I'm hoping to see a lot of visitors and there-by people accepting Jesus!

I have been taking a break from blogging if you haven't noticed, but I did want to take a minute tonight just to give a quick update. Here are a few random thoughts.

-We hired a worship leader as of lastt week. His name is Evan Beaver and he is amazing! he has a staff blog, so check him out at www.EvanatOC.blogspot.com

-Christmas was great. I always love celebrating the birth of our Savior.

-I'm excited about our discipleship 101 series that we will be starting in a few weeks! If you know anyone who breaths, invite them. There will be much to take in.

-We launched a new series this week called Girls and Glitter and it is going to rock!

Guest Blog (Eric Hawthorne)

2009-11-30T20:48:00.003-05:00

This weeks guest blogger is Eric Hawthorne. Eric is our creative pastor and I must say that he does a fantastic job! Thanks Eric for all that you do and for your passion for Jesus!

I find it odd that Curt would ask me to be a guest blogger because I have my own blog to contend with. But, since I never blog there, why not blog here. That kind of sounds like a Dr. Suess Book.

A few weeks ago, Johnna and I were riding with some good friends to a Clemson football game and I was asked a deep and profound question. "What's so good about the iphone?". Well rather than answer this question in this blog posting, allow me to share with you what I realize looking back on the conversation. I have recognized that I have become an advocate for products and services among my friends and family. There is nothing new about this concept, some call it word of mouth and others call it bragging. If you pair my love for all things Apple with my passion for consulting others about the latest technologies, I would say I have a pretty powerful testimony. It doesn’t stop with the iPhone either. I recently found myself proclaiming Kasasa Checking the best investment since gold. Even while I write this, I fight the urge to explain what Kasasa checking is and how it works. The question I'd like to pose is simply this; what are you an advocate for? Or better yet, who are you an advocate for?

If you know Jesus, then you should be spreading the word of Christ. Not just saying; "hey, Jesus is awesome", but rather being passionate about God's word as though you believe in what you're doing in your life. You should be unable to stop talking about his grace, mercy, and love. So much that people around you actually see how amazing Jesus is -> to be quite possibly so convincing that others believe in your product, your service, your savior.

Guest Blog (Meredith Haynie)

2009-11-11T22:12:00.003-05:00

This weeks guest blogger is Meredith Haynie. She is an awesome follower of Christ. She joined in with Oasis about 10 months before we actually launched. So she's been part of the core group almost from the very beginning. Here is what she had to say about what God has been doing in her life through Oasis.

Oasis Church has changed my life in more ways than I could ever explain. Before finding Oasis, my life (during my college years) revolved around partying, drinking, and going out. I made decisions that I still don’t understand how God could ever forgive me for or why He would. Even though I was doing these things I still claimed to be a Christian. During that time being a Christian, to me, was simply believing in God and calling on Him when I had no one else to call on. God was not number one in my heart and He fell pretty low on my list of priorities. Looking back, I now realize that not a single part of me was acting like a child of God, I knew Him and knew what He expected of me but I was too wrapped up in the “fun” life to worry about God. That “fun” life began to take a toll on all aspects of my life- school, family, relationships, etc. For years I continued this party life until one day I could no longer deny the need for some major changes in the way I was living. I stopped the partying and drinking and began to try and rebuild my relationship with Christ. I knew I could build it back up to a certain point on my own, but to get where I wanted to be with God I needed a church and a church family that could help me through the difficult, trying times.

For way too long I didn’t find a church home, I tried to do it all by myself. Not because I didn’t want to find one, but I never felt confident enough to go to a new church by myself because of the fear of looking like an outsider. However, about a year ago, a friend and I were talking about church and I was telling her the issues I was having with finding a church in Greenwood when she told me about Oasis and invited me to come. I decided to go the next Sunday. This decision has proven to be one of the most amazing and life-altering decisions I have ever made.

That first Sunday, a year ago, when I walked into the Oasis service I knew I was finally where God wanted me to be. I felt so accepted and welcomed by everyone. But more than that, I felt God’s presence. I realized immediately that these people were REAL. Their love for God was real and their desire to bring people closer to God was real. It was not a show like I have seen before; it was real people simply doing what God had called them to do. I have never been as happy as I was that day, when I knew I was finally doing what God wanted me to do.

Since that first Sunday, my relationship with God has grown immensely. Because of Oasis I am truly experiencing God’s presence in my life now. I smile just thinking about Him, I love talking to Him, and I have the most amazing, indescribable feeling knowing that He is right there with me no matter what. I now know what being a Christian really means, but more than that I know what it feels like to be a true Christian, no other feeling in this world can compare to the feeling I have knowing I have given my life to Christ. Oasis gave me a second chance and a new life, a life that revolves around God and fellowship. Without Oasis, I don’t know where I would be today. Not only have I developed a new, deeper relationship with God through Oasis, but I have also made wonderful friends who I know I can count on for years to come. Oasis has shown me what God is all about. Being a part of Oasis has renewed my spirit, my faith, and my love for life.

God is so incredibly AWESOME! He knew exactly what I needed in my life…Oasis Church.

Oasis, as your pastor, I want you to know what a difference your love for Jesus and your love for others is making in the lives of people. Just keep being real! Meredith, thank you for your love for Jesus, for all that you invest in Oasis, and for all that you invest in my children!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-11-08T19:44:00.003-05:00

"You can be a christian with out being a fanatic." Really?! Seriously? I've heard this statement before, and every time that I hear someone say it, it gives me chills. Why is it okay to be fanatical about something as long as it doesn't have eternal significance? Perfect example... Sports. Now I love painting my entire body orange or garnet just as much as the next guy, but let's face it, most all of us have an easier time with fanatical behavior at a sports event than in our morals, actions and beliefs. Today was our second week in our practical atheist series. A practical Atheist is someone who says that they believe in God, but they live as though He does not exist. Here are a few thoughts from today. The basic mindset that we sought to challenge is "Hey, you can love Jesus without going crazy about it."

-ANOTHER PERSON CROSSED OVER FROM DEATH TO LIFE TODAY!!!!

-Christians have a distinct ability to make God want to puke.

-Jesus gave everything for us, but we don't want to give much of anything to Him.

-When it comes to Jesus, here are a few things that we are stingy with; time, money, possessions, family, relationships and much much more.

-Lukewarm Christianity is an oxymoron.

-Yes, I did say nipple today in the message...Sorry, I didn't know that it is a "bad word."

-Listen to the podcast from today, I feel sure that it will challenge you. www.OCgreenwood.com and click on podcast.

-Our volunteers are AMAZING!

-I don't really think that nipple is a bad word.

-People's lives are being changed because there are people in Oasis church who choose to love!

-I'm so looking forward to this weeks guest blogger. One Miss Meredith Haynie.

Morgan Hanna (Guest Blogger)

2009-11-04T22:45:00.002-05:00

So this week's guest blogger is none other than my own beautiful wife. Here's her thoughts.

I was 17 years old when I went on my first missions trip. Lake Russell Baptist Church took a leap of faith and sent 3 fearless leaders on a van with 13 teenagers to New Brunswick Georgia to do missions for Golden Isle Ministries. I remember it like it was yesterday, the not so air conditioned gym, where we slept, ate and showered. The wake up calls from our cook at 5:30 am came way to early because our nights didn't end until well after midnight, yet, we made it. We moved our ministry from place to place, setting up our sets, making things from scratch, working our fingers to the bone to get things "just right" because we had to give God our best. From that trip on, our motto was "set it up, take it down". To this very day we all know exactly what that phrase means, it is engraved on every single part of our being because we knew what it meant to pitch in and give it all for God's glory. The phrase seems silly and yes we still get so tickled thinking about those amazing adventures that we sometimes wet our pants from laughter, but that phrase is now one of the reasons Oasis Church means so much to me.

Portable church....whoever heard of a portable church? I never had until my crazy, insane, Christ following husband informed me that a portable church is exactly what Oasis would be. Now, 10 years after our first mission trip, Curt and I and the rest of Oasis is setting up and taking down, just like God had planned for us so many years ago. I'm not sure I can explain this because I am terrible with words, but being portable has taught my kids and I a valuable lesson in what church really should be. Church isn't a building.....seriously??? YES, seriously! Church is the body of Christ, the people who gather together, worship together, fellowship together. Church is about forming relationships with new people, inviting them in and then sending them out to continue the cycle. Church is NOT about the color of the walls, the flowers in the vestibule or the size of the auditorium, church is your congregation. My prayer is that Oasis NEVER has a permanent building.......we don't want to be content, we don't want to become complacent! If every single church we plant is portable, then so be it. I'm prepared to "set it up and take it down" for the rest of my life, are you? Oasis is preparing me for the next step and even though I am uncertain of what that step may be, I know that God is preparing my heart and the hearts of those who need to be reached. Thank you God for allowing me the opportunity to serve you in this life, I am so unworthy.

My wife is so amazing! To this day we still laugh about "set it up, tear it down." We had no Idea what God was preparing us for. Morgan, I love you so much. I am blessed to the nth degree to spend the rest of my life with you!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-11-01T21:53:00.002-05:00

Today was awesome! The highlight by far was that one person at Oasis Church gave their life to Christ today! That is so freakin' awesome! That brings the total to 4 people who have given their lives to Christ since we launched 14 weeks ago! I feel like we have been going for years and yet I feel like we just started last week. I am sooooo full of excitement for what God is doing in our presence. Steven Cathcart led worship today and I must say that he did a fantastic job. I've known Steven for years and I love him dearly. He has more musical talent in his pinky toe than most people have in their whole body. I absolutely LOVE that he has a desire to use his talent for God's glory. Today we began our series entitled "Practical Atheist". What is a practical atheist you ask....? A practical atheist is someone who believes in God but lives as though He doesn't exist. A recent Gallup poll has shown that some 94% of Americans believe in God or some form of God. Yet, how many people actually live as though they believe in Him? This is a huge issue in the American church. Here are a few random thoughts from today.

-So many of us claim to know God, but our actions tell a completely different story.

-God expects us to strive for perfection, but He doesn't expect us to attain perfection... That's what Jesus is for.

-Someone gave their life to Christ today!

-We can so easily miss who God is due to our blind conceit.

-Our volunteers ROCKED IT OUT today!

-I love our volunteers!

-I love our staff!... As always, I'm am looking forward to this weeks staff meeting.

-Hell is one person less crowded today!!

-If you are really all in with God, instead of fixing your life, He will ruin it... In a really good way!

-We have got to understand what it means to fear God.

-If you missed today, listen to the podcast. www.ocgreenwood.com then click on Podcast.

-We saw salvation take place first hand today!!!

-Many people made a renewed commitment to God today! AWESOME!

-I absolutely LOVED the new bulletins today. Eric did a fantastic job on them.

-I love how our volunteers own the call that God has placed on their lives.

-Jesus took on YOUR SIN!... Yes YOURS!

-If you are coming to Oasis next week BRING A FRIEND!... or 10, it could change their eternity!

-Remembering a quote from this week, "People aren't looking for friendly churches, they are looking for friends." Oasis, it is soooo imperative that we be completely real with people!

-We've got camping for cans coming on Dec. 4-5th!

-God is AMAZING!

Laura Beth Fields (Guest Blogger)

2009-10-28T21:44:00.005-04:00

So I was thinking the other day about some awesome stuff that has been happening in Oasis Church and I wanted to share some of it with all of you, so that you can celebrate with me. I decided that it would be stupid for me to try to describe what's been taking place when I could just let people tell you first hand. So I'm going to try to have a guest blogger each week to share with you how God is using Oasis to impact their lives and the lives of people that they know and love. Our very first Guest blogger is Laura Beth Fields. She is such a sweetheart. I encourage you to read what she has to say, and give God the glory. So, without further jabbering, here is Laura Beth Fields.

This past Sunday was amazing to me, it was the best service we've ever had at Oasis. I brought my Brother, Nephew and Cousin with me. We had a packed house!!! The message was on fire and my boys were completely focused and quiet . After church, my little nephew came running out and told me he made some new friends and learned to forgive others. My heart began to smile. On the way home the only thing the kids talked about was church and how much they enjoyed it, and how cool the preacher was and that they wanted to come back every Sunday. I think i drove almost the whole way home with tears streaming down my face. I was so overjoyed I thought I was going to burst, and i still feel like i am going to burst with joy. God is doing some major things in my life and in my heart. He knows exactly what I need and where I need to be, and that's Oasis! I was welcomed and accepted right away. They wanted me as much as God wants me! When I come home from church, I am ready for the week to fly by so I can come back. I have never been so hungry to hear Gods word before, and I have never been fed the way I've been fed lately. The layers of hurt, shame, fear, bitterness, guilt and doubt are being stripped away week by week. Before I re-dedicated my life, I forgot what it was like to have joy and happiness in my heart. I also forgot what it felt like to have control of my life . I had no rules to follow and no boundaries I couldn't cross. My morals and values had been buried. But most importantly my soul and my very being was decaying, right before my eyes. I can't even begin to describe how thankful I am to God for His love and mercy, and how thankful I am for Oasis church! Everyday i am reminded of my past, but God reassures me of my future and everlasting life!

Now that is FREAKING AWESOME! Kids and teens excited about church! A life restored by love, grace, mercy, acceptance...... and JESUS! A value and moral system restored. Hope Restored. A LIFE RESTORED BY THE POWER OF A RISEN SAVIOR! The love of a church family. Oasis you people are amazing! I am so proud to be the pastor of such passionate people! Do we have everything figured out?...NO! Are we perfect people?... NO! as a matter of fact, that's the whole deal. We are all really really screwed up people and we know it. Jesus is what makes the difference in our lives. The thing about Oasis is that you guys are real. Keep it up Oasis. For all of you reading this, Thank You for celebrating with us. Give God the Glory. It is His power and His salvation that changes lives!

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

Just a quick update

2009-10-26T21:53:00.002-04:00

I just want to take a second and remind everyone about the November 6th show at Homemade genius. Standing small and a few other bands will be there. The show starts at 8:30. Come on out and buy some snacks and listen to the great music. The proceeds go to help homemade genius.

Prejudices (Sunday Sum-up.)

2009-10-25T20:21:00.007-04:00

Today was intense. It was a hard message for me to preach. We had a lot of audio, video and lighting elements and I must say that our production team did a fantastical job! Seriously! If you listen to the podcast, just know that it won't do justice to what happened today. But listen to it anyway if you missed. Warning though: if you are churched, it may be a hard pill to swallow. I know that it was for me. Here are a few random thoughts.

-Our preferences are often times prejudices.

-We had a packed house today!

-Jesus is stirring the hearts of people with excitement about what is happening at Oasis and in Greenwood.

-We had a family today who is planting another church in Greenwood. It's called New Vision and they meet in the Greenwood Community Theater once a month right now. Dickey is a great guy and a great friend. He loves Jesus with all that he is. God is doing something amazing in Greenwood now!

-We make big statements with our small actions that come from our prejudices.

-Your kids know why you want let them spend the night in the home of people of other races! It speaks of your heart to your children... Just so you know.

-When we get to heaven, we will be worshiping with people of all Nations, tribes and languages. The same people that we treat as second class citizens will be at the feet of Jesus right beside us. At the great white throne! Why can't we worship beside them now!?

-We didn't talk about this today specifically, but when it comes to interracial dating, here is a statement that I think is ridiculous. "Well you don't see redbirds with bluebirds." man! a friend reminded me of that statement today after church. I've heard that so many times, and before I knew Jesus I bought that crap. I didn't just buy the crap, I took it home, cooked it and ate it... yea, ate the crap! But you know what I realize now... It's just a load of crap!... You know what, by that same logic we could justify walking up to visitors who come into our homes and humping their legs as a welcome.... Seriously! we've all seen the dogs that hump peoples legs. When I was growing up, we had a little black poodle that would hump everyone's leg. Needless to say, we got rid of the dog. But I mean, if we are going to justify our actions and prejudices by what we see in the animal kingdom, then HEY, let's at least be consistent. Why don't we all just start sniffing each other's butts every time that we see each other. If you are going to be prejudice, please find a better way to justify it.

-Jesus went to the socially unacceptable places and showed grace, mercy, love and kindness to those who were referred to as dogs back in the day.

-I'm so sick of justified hate in the church!

-I think that often times, the most prevalent prejudice from church people are of those who we deem dirty and hopeless. Oh, we would never say it, but our actions say more than our words could ever say on this issue.

-The first and greatest commandment is to love the Lord, and the second is to love your neighbor. You can measure how well you are really living up to the first commandment by measuring how much we live up to the second command. If we truly love Jesus, the rest WILL follow.

-BEER!

-Wow, how many of you cringe at that word? Maybe for legitimate reasons, but is it because there is a prejudice within you?

-We have got to take active steps to tear down the walls of prejudice in our lives and the walls that we build in the lives of others.

-God commands us to share Jesus with the world, but we tend to actually build walls between people and Jesus with our preferences... Prejudices.

-I'm going to post the videos that we used in our gathering today on Facebook and You tube.

-Here are the you tube links

-Video #1

-Video #2

-Video #3

Jibberish

2009-10-19T22:18:00.002-04:00

So Today I was sitting on the porch putting new strings in my boots while waiting on my family to get home. When they pulled up, my wife rolled down the back window to reveal a sweet little girl talking away 90 miles per hour. The only thing that I could understand was Hey Daddy! owjdonvnvnalk jasdlnueuj kjhgunfhwaponzghfgh. You know, even though I couldn't understand anything but "hey daddy", everything that she was saying completely thrilled my heart. Let me ask you this. When you talk to God, Do you think that it's the words or the attitude with which you speak the words that matter the most? Do you think that it's the fact that you give God lip service on occasion that matters most to Him or the fact that even though you don't fully know what you are saying to Him, you say it with such complete adoration for who He is?
God's desire is for us to completely adore Him for who He is. You may say "Well, I want to adore Him, but how can I control what I feel?" My response would be "How much time do you really spend getting to know Him? How much time do you really take to learn who He is?"

Sunday Sum-up

2009-10-18T20:38:00.005-04:00

Porn and masturbation were that topic of the message today. I know, not the most thrilling topic, but considering the fact that 70% of men struggle with porn and 25% of women also struggle with porn, don't you think that the church should be talking about this issue. Yea yea, But that's just the perverts that don't go to church right?... Um, wrong. These statistics are just the same in the church.... seriously. I can hear some people saying in their holier than thow voice, "But the pulpit just isn't a place to talk about that issue." Well, I happen to think that you would be wrong if you said that. Here is my logic. Church people are struggling with this issue, but no one wants to talk about it because it's just taboo. Well how about this, why don't we forget taboo for a change and think about grace and mercy. That's what Jesus would do, even if he didn't have a bracelet to remind Him. Here's a few random thoughts from today.

-We ALL sustain sexually impure injuries at an early age.

-We have no idea how to deal with these injuries because no one wants to talk about it.

-We'd rather have people in the church suffering through Hell on earth thinking that they are the only sicko dealing with lust, pornography and masturbation; rather than talking about the issue with grace, mercy and love.

-Today's message was not a comfortable message to preach... The cross was infinitely less comfortable for Jesus.

-Pornography, Lust and masturbation is wrecking marriages right now, today.

-For all of those who deal with this issue. Jesus Loves you, I love you and you are not some weird sicko.

-However, just because you're not some sicko, that still is no excuse to not pursue holiness as we are called to by God.

-Here are some practical steps to deal with this issue in your life.
#1. Bounce your eyes. You will see things that make you deal with lustful thoughts. Whether it's a magazine in the checkout line, an email, a pop-up on the web, a scene in a movie or TV show or just someone of the opposite sex at the mall, you will deal with it. But just because you WILL SEE that doesn't mean that you HAVE TO LOOK. When you see something, immediately look somewhere else. Bounce your eyes.
#2. Capture sinful thoughts. When you do see something. do what ever it takes to capture the thought. When you deal with the thought, you can do a lot of things. Call a friend, read the bible, turn off the TV, beat the TV with a baseball bat, unplug the computer, Go for a walk, read a book... Whatever it takes. You can go to www.XXXChurch.com and get software for your computer that will email every web page that you look at to a friend. Good stuff! There's a lot of other stuff on that site too for parents and teens and women and men and all sorts of great stuff. If you are dealing with this issue go to this site now!!!
#3. Run for your life. Seriously, run.

-Please, if you deal with this issue, please listen to our podcast. God loves you and He wants you to have a life of freedom.

-I have sooooo many more thoughts, but this blog is already really long.

-Don't justify this sin in your life. I know that it is a struggle, but it is not right. I'm not going to plead my case for this right now but you can listen to our podcast online from today to hear in more detail. www.ocgreenwood.com then click on "podcast" or just search in the itunes store with key word ocgreenwood.

Worn down, Worn out...

2009-10-13T21:36:00.007-04:00

So I was sitting in the foyer of Chili's waiting to have lunch with another gracious pastor who is chalked full of wisdom, and I noticed that just before the door that enters into the restaurant, there is a worn down place where people have to stop and pull the door open in order to walk through into the restaurant. I just starred at it for a while and I felt like God was saying to me. "You know Curt, in your life there are going to be some spots that are worn down with a lot more stress. but what you cant see right now is that those spots that are full of stress are just like that spot in the floor that you are looking at. They will always exist at those places where you are about to enter into something sooooo good." Just like the worn out spot on the floor at Chili's is just before the door that leads into the part of the building that has so much great food, our stress spots in our life will be just before the doors that lead into times where God will do something amazing in our lives. If you are feeling crushed right now, just remember that just like grapes in a winepress, God crushes you to get the good stuff out. I'll leave you with this quote from Reggie Joiner "God doesn't use perfect pictures, He uses broken people."

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-10-13T21:08:00.004-04:00

So sorry that it has taken me a few days to get this blog up. This past Sunday was AWESOME! I'm serious when I say that. God put some things on our minds and hearts that I know will strengthen marriages. Both currently existing marriages and marriages for the future. If you are married or plan on getting married some day, please take some time to listen to the podcast. Here are a few random thoughts from Sunday

-Sex and Marriage go hand in hand. Don't plan on having a successful marriage if you don't want to work at having a successful sex life.

-A healthy Sex life begins the day that puberty starts.

-We need to be teaching our children even before they reach puberty, to protect their marriage bed. this requires difficult/awkward conversations.

-I will not hold back from talking about a Godly perspective of sex from the pulpit just because there are some teens in our service. I LOVE our teens, and I'm going to do everything in my power to teach them what God wants in their lives... by the way, you ladies ROCK!

-Men have got to learn how to bounce their eyes... and women too, but especially men.

-Women need to learn how to bounce away from negative emotional thoughts about their spouses.

-Please don't bash your spouse! PLEASE!

-Just like smokey the bear says..."Only you can prevent Adultery."... okay so he actually says something about forest fires, but it is the same principle... take preventative measures.

-Adultery begins with YOU!

-We have got to do everything that we can to protect our marriage bed.

-The divorce rate of church people is no different than that of the unchurched...... Um, what is that saying.... Well, I know what it says to some people. I appears that Jesus makes no difference in our lives. We have got to fall in love with Jesus!

-Speaking of people calling themselves Christian but not living it. The next series that we have planned is going to ROCK! It's called "Practical Atheist" ... Gonna be intense! soooooo intense!

-This coming week is going to be a hard one to preach, but it is going to be jam packed with tough truths. Do everything that you can to be there! Set your alarm... don't hit the snooze bar... too many times.... BE THERE SUNDAY....BRING A FRIEND!!!!

Quick Thoughts

2009-10-05T21:35:00.004-04:00

Here are a few quick thoughts.

-This past Sunday Eric, our creative Pastor was speaking with one of our teenagers and he mentioned to her that he could use her in the creative area on Sundays. Her response was "I'll do whatever I need to do." That's why I love our church. Oasis will do whatever it takes to see people's lives changed.

-We had some technical difficulties with the podcast for this past Sunday, so it won't be available. I am so sorry, but as a young understaffed church, these things will happen. Just wanted to let you guys know.

-Eric and I will be going to Catalyst conference tomorrow. We will be gone through Friday. I'll be giving updates on Twitter. Please be praying that God will use this conference to speak to us.

-Thank you so much to all of the volunteers in Oasis Church. You guys are amazing!

-I just started the process to be a book reviewer for Thomas Nelson publishing. I'll be starting my first book in a few days.

-I have an amazing family. My children are growing up too fast.

-On Sunday I'll be talking with Oasis about beginning our first small groups!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-10-04T20:42:00.003-04:00

Today was intense. Not the most comfortable message that I have had to preach, but I know that God spoke to people in a powerful way about their struggles. This was the first of a 4 week message series dealing with issues that we typically don't deal with in the church, because let's face it.... Christians don't deal with things like adultery, pornography, gossip, overspending, excessive gaming, drugs, alcohol or anything like that... Or maybe it's just that we're all to ashamed to admit our struggles because of how we know other Christians will look at us. Today we talked about addictions in general. Here are five practical steps to take to deal with addictions. If You want all the details, you'll have to listen to the podcast.

#1. get your addiction out of your territory.
If you deal with porn, cut off your internet. If you are a shopaholic, get rid of the sales paper. If you are addicted to gaming, get rid of your gaming system. If you are an alcoholic, get rid of the alcohol... even the wine.

#2. Make sure that your addiction doesn't have a team.
If you struggle with lust, don't hang out with perverts. If you are a recovering alcoholic, don't hang out with people who drink. If you love to gossip, don't hang out with people who gossip.

#3. Make sure that you don't deal with it alone.
God has put us on earth together to do life together. Find someone that you can confide in and let them help you and pray for you.

#4. Have an easy thought for when you are tempted.
Make sure that you memorize some key negative results of what will happen if you give in to your addiction.
such as, broken marriage, fatherless children, cancer, heart disease.

#5. Don't take that first bite.
Do what ever it takes to avoid the first bite. As long as you don't take the first bite the ball is in your court, because the first bite is always so good.

Sorry Sally, didn't mean to make you want to molten chocolate lava cake. I'll work on that message about cokes.

If you are dealing with any form of addiction, this is a website that has a few resources. http://theelephantinthepew.com/?page_id=21

Also, for those dealing specifically with an addiction to porn, here is a great site. www.xxxchurch.com this is also a good site for anyone who just would like to make sure that they protect themselves and their family from ever dealing with the affects of pornography. They have some great accountability software that will email every page that you visit each day to anyone that you specify.

Take hold of your addiction today!

This and next Sunday!

2009-09-27T21:32:00.002-04:00

This Sunday was great. We had our first new official volunteer... So excited about having you LBz. We also tore everything down in record time today! We are getting this thing down to an art form.

Next Sunday is going to be the beginning of an new intense message series. It's called Elephant in the pew and we are joining with 5 other churches to talk about what God has to say on some very important and often times taboo topics. Here are the next few week's topics:Addiction, adultery, pornography, and prejudice. Please invite your family and friends. God can change lives over the next few weeks, but people need to have to opportunity to hear the message. BE the CHANGE!

Rick Warren

2009-09-22T21:26:00.005-04:00

In my experience as a church planter, I've noticed that it is difficult to find Godly pastors who have time to pour into your life. I have two Pastors who have been hugely supportive to me, and to Carl Martin and Phil Keowan I want to say, from the bottom of my heart "thank you." You have had a part in every life that has been and will be touched through Oasis. The other day I had an amazing experience. Rick Warren of Saddleback church began following me on twitter. I thought that it was so cool that he took the time to look up church planters on twitter and that he cares enough to follow people like me, so I sent him a quick note to tell him thank you for caring. I did not expect him to respond, but he did! That's right, Rick Warren of Saddle back church, the Author of Purpose driven life actually took the time to respond! I don't say that because I'm bragging on me, I say that to brag on him. A lot of people can say that they believe in and support church planters, but few people, especially people of his status actually prove it on such a personal level. Thank you Rick for being and encouragement. It came at a much needed time! Thank you God for Calling Godly men Like Rick!

Hey Oasis, This is Rick Warren's message for Oasis Church, word for word.

"Curt, we're in this together man.Tell your church we're partners in ministry &that I asked you to tell them I prayed 4 u & them! rick"

What an amazing dude!
JESUS get's the glory for that one!!!!!

P.S. Clay, this mid week post was for you man!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-09-20T23:06:00.003-04:00

Today we were in the third week of our "One Man's Journey" Series. Here are a few random thoughts, some related to the message and some not.

-Living as a follower of Jesus is an amazing experience.

-Living as a follower of Jesus doesn't guarantee you that you will always have the "Warm Fuzzies."

-If we are not willing to abandon the normal (What we have always known) we are guaranteed to get the same results that we've always gotten... and for the huge majority of us... The results of our normal lives isn't usually God using us to do AMAZING things... Why? Because we refuse to give up the normal...

-Was it Albert Einstein who said that the definition of insanity is "doing the same thing expecting different results."?

-Hey... FYI... Jesus' methods weren't normal then and they're not going to be normal now.

-Just for the Super Spiritual... Yes, normal is a relative term, but by normal, I mean our normal every day lives... Get off of your high horse!

-If Jesus came today instead of 2,000 years ago, I'm sure the results would be the same... Yep, I think that we'd crucify Him. We'd make some pretty good Pharisees.

- When we abandon what we've always know to be... our normal... we are going to deal with some difficult emotions. If we're not careful, we can confuse the emotions that occur with abandoning the normal with the Holy Spirit convicting us of sin. Abandoning the normal will rarely feel right, but what we feel isn't what's important. What's important is what's actually right.

-People WILL abandon you when you follow Jesus.

-You MUST be willing to abandon EVERYTHING if you're actually going to follow Jesus ANYWHERE that He calls you.

-Jesus abandoned everything for you!

-If you are one of our attenders and you would like to volunteer on Sunday mornings, please let us know. You can email us at Web@ocgreenwood.com or you can just let the ladies know at the Guest Services table on any Sunday morning.

-For those of you who are pouring your lives into Oasis, Thank YOU!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-09-13T20:24:00.003-04:00

Today was awesome! The volunteers did an amazing Job. We had a lot of people out sick and EVERYTHING still got done. You guys rock!
Here are a few thoughts from the day.

-I LOVE to see people excited about church!

-Pansy Christianity has got to stop!

-The YMCA is doing a fantastic job with the renovations.

-Jesus matters far more than any of our agendas, including my own.

From John 9:6-12
-There are four things that you need to know about for when God wants to do something amazing in your life.
#1. Many times you will FEEL like God is spitting in your face.
#2. God will ask you to do some RIDICULOUS things.
#3. God will place the right people around you at the right time.
-Is He calling you to help someone do something ridiculous today?
#4. God will ask you to follow Him blindly before He gives you sight.

-Today, my son on his very own, suggested ways to reach out to other children and get them into church! AMAZING!

-I wonder if Jesus actually hocked a loogey.... How do you actually spell loogey....?

-Jesus loves you!

-Please invite your friends over the next couple of weeks. Help them to see what God wants to do through their pain.

Ready

2009-09-12T21:53:00.003-04:00

I know that I'm a couple of blogs behind and for that I am sorry. I am so excited about tomorrow. Carolina and Georgia are currently playing the highest scoring game in the history of all history and yet, all that I can think about is tomorrow. Since I last blogged we have seen another profession of faith. That is sooooo awesome! last week we were able to be a presence on the campus of Lander University for the first official time since launch. Many of the Students seemed very excited about Oasis and we hope to see some of them over the next year. Tomorrow is week 2 of our "One man's journey" series. If you have anyone who needs to know how God wants to use the pain in their life to do some amazing things through them, please invite them to Oasis. I truly believe that God has an awesome message for many of us over the remaining 3 weeks of this series. Lord, help us as a church to do what's right no matter how hard it is, and grant us the wisdom to know what's right. Break our hearts for the lost and heal our broken land. We love you Dad! Amen.

Sunday Sum-up

2009-08-16T20:23:00.002-04:00

Today was absolutely AMAZING! From the time that we showed up this morning, the core team was on their A game. Kevin was right on with the music. The lights and sound and video were all top notch. Guest services, VHQ and OC Kids were on it. However, I'm not just bragging on our core group for doing an awesome job, although I am bragging on them. What I am so through the roof excited about is that people's hearts were stirred. Most importantly 2 people gave their lives to Christ today! That is so freaking awesome! You can't see me right now, but I cannot sit still. I have been so overjoyed all day long. Everything that we have done over the past year and a half was worth it today. This is the third week in the life of Oasis Church and Hell will now be 2 people fewer and Heaven will now be 2 people more crowded. My hope and my prayer is that this is just the beginning. Here are few thoughts from today.

-Church planting is necessary!

-OC Kids does an amazing job. We had a kid arrive today who's mom said that he would cry the whole time, yet when he left, he left with a huge smile and he told me that he had a bunch of fun. Wow! kids enjoying church. That's a noble idea.

-2 people met Jesus today!

-Pastors who don't worry about reaching young adults simply because they don't have money, really piss me off!

-People are dying and going to Hell! What are you going to do about it?!

-2 people met Jesus today!

-Our core group is amazing.

-I am so fired up right now. God is awesome!

-I'm ready for next week.

little girl lesson

2009-08-12T22:12:00.002-04:00

So, I was taking a shower... I know, not the way you want something that you are reading to start... Anyway... I had the door closed, naturally, and my little girl who is about 1 1/2 years old starts knocking on the door. She always knocks on the door. Every time that I get a shower as a matter of fact, she knocks on the door. The routine is always the same. She just jabbers, and I can only assume that she is telling me about her day. This particular night she was telling me about her baby doll. I could hear her knocking the baby's head into the door. Every time that she knocks on the door and jabbers away about what ever it is she is telling me, I can't help but smile. I take such delight in my daughters joyful noises, even though she doesn't always know what to say or how to say it. Every now and again she'll say something recognizable like baby or Brooks (her brother's name), but it's 99% jabbering. I was thinking, a lot of times I have no idea what to say to God or how to say it, but I imagine that He just delights in our joyful efforts to talk to Him. Think about it... God knows everything, so what can He learn from us. He understands our thoughts, and our desires are no mystery to Him. We have no piece of information that is of value to Him. Something tells me though, that He delights in our attitude of joy that we so ineptly try to express to Him... Even if we have no idea what to say or how to say it, our joyful jabber makes Him smile. Try to pray, even if you have no idea what to say or how to say it. He delights in your joy!

Sunday Sum-up

2009-08-09T21:36:00.004-04:00

Today was our second official week as a church and I must say that yet again, our group hit it out of the park. Everything looked really great this week and we actually had several visitors, 5 to be exact. Now many people would look at 5 visitors and measure it against the 40 that we had last week and call it failure. I however want everyone to know that we have got to celebrate today. Yes, last week was amazing. I mean, we ran out of chairs for goodness sakes. That is awesome! But let's think about today. we have 25 core group members, so 5 visitors is 20% of our group. In a church that has 100 in attendance, that would be 20 visitors. In a church of 500, that would be 100 visitors. In the world of church planting, a 20% visitor to core ratio is awesome. We have got to celebrate today!
God moved in our midst today and many people left with a renewed commitment to God. Today walls were broken down and hearts were shattered with a real sense of repentance. Here are a few random thoughts from today.
-There are far too many church people who are just not passionate in the least about Jesus.
-The reason that we are not passionate about God is because we are not committed to Him.
-We are more likely to keep to our commitment of watching a football game, playing golf or exercising than we are to keep our commitment to God.
-Religion stinks! we'll talk about this on week 4 of the revolution series.
-Church planting is essential! we'll talk about this next week... among some other great stuff.
-Jesus is passionate about you!
-If we treated our relationship with our spouse like we treat our relationship with Jesus, how long would it take us to get a divorce?
-Yea, I do believe that there are a ton of teenagers who are more in love with Jesus than many adults.
-I think that many of us have lost our first love... didn't talk about that today, but that is a real problem for many of us.
-The first line of Psalm 51:12 needs to become the cry of our hearts.

Oasis Launch!

2009-08-02T23:08:00.007-04:00

So, as you can tell, we start them early. Today was it! Launch day August 2nd, 2009. I must say that I am so amazed by our Core group. Everyone was there and did an amazing job. We had approximately over 60 people in attendance today, which is pretty awesome considering our core group is only about 20 people. Thank you to everyone! Any one of you who prayed for us, supported us financially or helped Oasis in any way, you had a part in today's launch. Tomorrow night we will sit down as a staff and really talk about all that took place, but right now I want everyone to know that I believe God placed seeds in some people's hearts today that we will get to see sprout. Today we began a 5 week series entitled Revolution. I truly do believe that God wants to do amazing things in the life of the Church and in the life of Oasis and I am so excited about all that He has in store for us.
Here are a few random thoughts from today.

-We have a huge responsibility to spread the Gospel of Christ!
-I believe that many church people aren't passionate about Jesus because they don't truly believe in the hope that Jesus offers.
-Hope is the catalyst for passion.
-Jesus is passionate about us!
-Church is not a country club, but that is often times what we make of it.
-What have got to have a sense of urgency.
-People are dying and going to Hell every day!
-Please come and attend during this Revolution series if you want to understand why we are planting this church.
-Get over yourself...
-Fall in love with Jesus...

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-07-27T16:32:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday was awesome! This was the last practice set up before launch and we are very excited about next week. Everything is ready from the front door to the kids area to the worship. We even had a guest worship leader who did a fantastic job. His name is Kevin and he will be back for our Launch. Please continue to pray for us. Pray that God will use Oasis church to bring people to Jesus!
A message to the core group...
Please call some people for this Sunday! Remember that we are not advertising. We are having a soft launch, which essentially means that we are DEPENDING on our core group to invite people. You guys have been amazing, please know that the next several weeks is what we have been working for and we have got to invite people, lots and lots and lots of people.

The last practice

2009-07-25T17:23:00.002-04:00

This Sunday will be the last practice set up. We launch next Sunday and I am very excited! I can't hardly believe it. I don't think that reality has really sunk in just yet. Our Core group has been working very hard and my hope and my prayer is that everything that we have done so far will be part of bringing people to Christ. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been so supportive. For over a year many of you have been sending in financial support and praying for us... you are amazing people! Over the past couple of weeks there have been many extra donations and much extra prayer. Thank you! We launch August 2nd and the service starts at 10:45am at the YMCA. come early and hang out a little. The whole core group will be there at 7:50 although I don't expect any of you other than the core to be there that early. However, we do have a few friends who are coming in for launch to help out a little. Mike West, a good friend who has always supported us, is coming in from North Carolina. Morgan and I are so excited. The first message series is called "Revolution" and it is a five week series. The series will explain to everyone who attends why we are planting Oasis. Week three will be especially interesting. Again, thank you for yourd support. Be praying that people will meet Jesus through Oasis Church.

'Bout to Launch!

2009-07-14T21:03:00.002-04:00

These are some pictures of our core group preparing to Launch on August 2nd.

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-07-12T22:46:00.002-04:00

Today was the second of four practice set-ups and it went great. We got to set up the lights and sound for the first time and it went really smooth. We still have a few material things to get, but for the most part we have what we need to launch. We still have to get all of our signage. Eric has been working very hard on the signs and they are going to be awesome. Here are a few things that we set up today. Guest check-in table, Children's checking table, VHQ area... this is for our volunteers, Children's area... we still have a few things to get for the kids area, and in the worship area we set up lights, sound, pipe and drape, chairs, projector and a few other odds and ends. Hopefully I can get a few pictures posted on the blog this week, if not then they will at least be in the next newsletter. The real work over the next several weeks will be making sure that we have effective systems in place to deal with visitors and supplies and such. The core group is doing an amazing job! Thanks again to everyone for the support and prayers.
Don't forget that launch is August 2nd at 10:45am if you can make it.

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-07-05T21:42:00.003-04:00

Today was absolutely awesome! For the first time we rolled the pods off of the trailer and set everything up... Everything that we have right now. We still have a few more things to get before launch, but overall, we have most everything. The Core group was awesome. Everyone pitched in and worked so hard. We had a guest worship leader who did a fantastic job, we at breakfast in the VHQ section and The worship area was great. I was blown away by the excitement and hard work. This week we will focus on filling in the gaps. Thank you to all those who have been praying and supporting us financially. I do believe that people will meet Jesus because of your support. The next three weeks we will continue to set up as practice and then on August 2nd... Launch!

You can watch this video to get an idea of what a portable church is.

This Coming Sunday

2009-07-01T22:05:00.002-04:00

This Sunday is going to be so intense and so awesome! The Core group will all meet at 8:30 am to set everything up that we currently have. There are several more items that we need to acquire, some of which will have to come after launch, but we will have a lot to do. It's going to be amazing. Only 4 weeks to go until launch. Thank you to everyone who has continually shown us support. Let's do this thing!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-06-28T22:41:00.002-04:00

Today was the last official day of our Launch team phase. This coming Sunday we will have our first trial set-up. We built pods yesterday and it was a looooong day. For those of you who don't know, Pods are simply storage containers with wheels on them. Everything that we use on Sunday mornings will be stored in Pods during the week and on Sundays we will roll each Pod to it's area, take everything out of the Pod and set everything up. When the service is over we will pack everything back into the Pods and roll them into the trailer where it will stay until the next week. This set-up and tear-down is what we will practice for the next 4 weeks. We have a guest worship leader coming this Sunday and I am very excited about it. The next 4 weeks is a good time for anyone to visit who may want to help us launch. We officially launch August 2nd. We also have a video up on the Website that anyone can take a look at. It's just simply a few words from the hearts of our core group about why they would love to have you join us. Today we talked about what's going to happen over the next 4 weeks and how we need as a core group to have our hearts completely focused on Jesus. At staff meeting tomorrow we will finalize a few more things for launch such as signs and things of that nature. I love you core group. Remember to be spending time with Jesus!

P.S. you can take a look at the video by going to www.ocgreenwood.com

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-06-14T21:12:00.002-04:00

Today was great. We got to use the new screen and projector for the first time. The crew set up the pipe and drape to get measurements again in order to fit the screen in just right. Sarah brought the computer for the first time and did a great job. Matt did awesome with the music, Eric did awesome with the screen and tech stuff, Hick and KG of course handled the pipe and drape and everyone helped clean up afterwards. We have an awesome core staff. In two weeks we'll be having our Pod day and we are really looking forward to it. I'm very excited about it. Pod day is June 27th, Location is still TBA. Sarah just finished the video and she did a fantastic job. We'll be posting it sometime soon. The video, for those of you who don't know, is just a few clips of people in our core group that we hope will inspire others to get involved.

Here are a few thoughts from today.
-God is not concerned with our convenience, He is concerned with the salvation of people.
-If you are a believer, your desire to be convenient has the potential to send people to Hell.
-If you are an unbeliever, your desire to be convenient has the potential to send you to Hell.
-When people tell me that they just need to get some things straight in their life before they get into church what I really hear them saying is "I'm just not ready to give up doing some things that I know are wrong because I love them more than Jesus."
-I wonder how frequently I choose convenience over Jesus? It breaks my heart to start listing.
-If we took a shower as often as we pray, our spiritual lives would smell just like our bodies, and most of us would stink!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-06-09T22:26:00.002-04:00

So I'm sorry for being late on this one. I've been really pushing things to get a tree business going this summer. For those of you who don't know about my tree climbing fetish, it would take time to catch you up... so... anyway. Just a few thoughts from this past Sunday.

-We invest in what we value, and we value what we invest in.
-Try writing down your regular weekly schedule... not what you want it to be, but what it actually is.
-Where do you spend most of your time?
-What comes in second and third?
-Determine what you do because you have to do it... AKA work for some of us.
-I love my work, so I have to pace myself with it.
-Determine why you spend time doing what you do and if you should spend as much time with those things.
-What should you be spending more time doing?
-Jesus invested in us through the cross because He highly values us.
-He paid the ultimate price because He loves us ultimately.
-I really do believe that if more people could honestly evaluate their priorities through the simple exercise of actually writing down where they spend their time. Marriages and families would be saved.
-Notice that I didn't say businesses and bank accounts would be saved.
-Dude, half of all marriages end in divorce.
-Church people don't have any better statistics.
-I wonder where the Devil has a strong hold on us?...
-Umm, Marriages maybe... Just a thought
-How fast can an affair happen?...
-Faster than any of us can conceive...
-The bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, so in other words "Be afraid of God". So if we should fear someone as good as God, shouldn't we fear the possibility of infidelity?... I think that we have got to be afraid, because fear will keep our guard up.
-Always be on guard.

Safety (Sunday Sum-up.)

2009-05-31T21:59:00.004-04:00

Today was really exciting because it was the last day of our breakout planning sessions. The past 4 weeks we have had a quick devotional and then we broke into our 4 different areas through which our services will function in order to plan, and I must say that it has been interesting and exciting. First off, Core group, you are amazing. Thank you so much for your excitement and planning. I can't wait to start going through your lists tomorrow night at lead staff meeting. Second, beginning this week, we want ANYONE who has the slightest thought that they may like to come join in and help us launch to decide now that you will visit with us with in the next several weeks, preferably some time in June. We meet at 10:45 AM at the Greenwood YMCA each Sunday. If you have any questions, you can contact the church by email at web@ocgreenwood.com or you can call the church office at 864.229.2105. Heck, just call me if you want, my cell is 864.344.8381. We want to make sure to answer any one's questions who may like to be involved. You don't have to join Oasis Permanently. Just come out and help us through August or September and then go back to your home church if you like. This is your opportunity to be a missionary in your own community. Hey, how easy is that... You can be a part of missions and still get to sleep in your own bed! It's almost like brownies in a box... just too easy.

Just a few quick thoughts from today.

-Yes, I did say that safety is not a biblical value.
-For some reason, we tend to teach our kids that if it's not safe, then it's not of God... That is just a lie straight from the pit of Hell.
-Yea, we do have to protect our kids. Yea, we do have to think about safety. But we can't determine if something is God's will simply by asking "Is this the safe thing to do?"
-Judging from most of the disciples in the New Testament, we'd be more successful at determining God's will by asking just the opposite question. "What's the most dangerous route?"
-If Safety were a biblical value...
-Inner city kids wouldn't get reached.
-The Church in China would be non-existent.
-Homeless shelters would close their doors.
-Many many missionaries would come home
-Any Pastor with a child would need to quit the ministry and get a safer job for his family
-Jesus would have really been off the mark when He decided that His Father sent Him to DIE on a cross.
-The Apostles would have kept their mouths shut and never told anyone about Jesus!

Here's a question that could truly change your life... "What are the beliefs that drive you to determine what God's will is for your life?" I know that safety used to be one of mine years ago... Until I started BELIEVING the bible!... That's a serious statement, not a joke. If you really want to believe the scriptures, then allow them to challenge the things that you've always assumed were true.

6 years ago....

2009-05-30T19:11:00.000-04:00

As of today, Morgan and I have a son who is 6 years old. It's so hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday Morgan was telling me that she was pregnant. I can remember being so worried in the hospital room because Brooks' heart rate was dropping sporaticaly. Oh, I can remember the anxiety of watching his heart rate. I kept buzzing the nurses and asking them if they were paying attention to the monitor and they would reassure me that they were watching, but they were just being to calm and seemingly unconcerned. His heart rate dropped to about 26 and next thing I knew they were rushing Morgan out and throwing a pair of scrubs at me. by the time I got my scrubs on and got into the surgery area they were ready to cut her open. They didn't even have time to give her an epidural so she felt everything. Turns out Brooks decided to try and hang himself with his umbilical cord. He had it wrapped around his neck twice. He came out all blue. I have never in my life been so glad to hear a baby cry, I just knew he was dead. Now after two more C-sections I know that they always come out blue... but I didn't know that then. I am still so grateful to those doctors and nurses. Thank you guys so much!
JB (Brooks), I love you so much son! You are an amazing kid. ever since I can remember you have been so loving. You have always been so ahead of the curve in learning and everything. Your smile is my sunrise! My prayer for you is that you will follow God with all of your heart, risking everything that you know, just to see the name of Jesus made known in the hearts of men. Live life to the fullest. Don't ever back down from what you know God is calling you to do, no matter who says you're crazy. To be honest son, you have to be a little crazy to follow God everywhere that He calls you to go. Be the change that you want to see in the world!! I LOVE YOU!!!

Your daddy

This Coming Sunday

2009-05-27T21:33:00.002-04:00

This is it! This Sunday each group has to have all of their information in. For the past few weeks each group has been gathering information that will help us develop a finalized budget for launch and begin the process of buying things. This is a very exciting time. Starting June 7th we need to begin inviting people who may want to help with the launch to visit with us. This will officially be the beginning of our Launch team phase. If any of you reading this would like to be involved with Oasis, please come and visit with us one Sunday in June. Core group, be sure to bring all of your info. Also, Later in June we will have a work day where we all get together and build pods... to organize everything on the trailer to get ready for some practice set-ups through July. It looks like the date is going to be June 27th, so mark your calendars Core. This will be a really fun day where we can all get together and hang out for quite some time. Plan on spending the whole day busy. It's going to be so fun! Gee golly wiz, I sound like such a goof. But honestly, it will be a blast! We are almost ready for Launch!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-05-25T00:16:00.004-04:00

Today was really amazing. I am so excited about launch and everything that we have to get done before August 2nd. This morning again, we broke into our groups and again, everyone was planning away so passionately. Thank you so much Core, for being so head over heals in love with Jesus! You guys are awesome! I spoke to the core group before the break out sessions on the topic of finances. Really though, I spoke about sacrifices. But to be honest, I don't think that we as believers should ever be able to separate our finances apart from the idea of sacrificing. I mean, in all reality, if we as the church would always ask ourselves this one question, there would be so many less people spending eternity in Hell. That question is "How can I sacrifice in the area of finances in order to make sure that my material possessions are used most effectively to spread the Gospel of Christ?" Another way to ask this question is "Where is the best opportunity for me to give what I have so that more people can know Jesus?" If we as Christians would ask this question seriously of ourselves on a regular basis, imagine how many more people could have their lives changed by the Gospel of Jesus. Here's what I believe about not using your money for the growth of the kingdom. If you're not using your money for the kingdom of God then you may as well be doing what the picture above suggests that you would be doing with your money. I'm not saying that Oasis is the only way to invest your money in the kingdom. Oasis is one of many many options, but find the best option for you and invest in it! NOW!

Here are a few random thoughts from today.
-When is the last time that you did something so crazy for God, that you knew if He didn't intervene, you'd never make it?
-If you've never done anything like the question above, are you really following God?
-I can't think of any example in the bible of a disciple who had it easy.
-Jesus Gave His life. Why do we think that it's not going to cost us anything to follow Him?
-It's a hard pill to swallow, but collateral damage us unavoidable when you follow Jesus.
-Jesus has never been, is not currently and will not ever be a boy scout!!!
-Does any of what I am saying and asking make any sense what-so-ever? If not, please check your discipleometer.

A Movement

2009-05-21T22:20:00.003-04:00

I was reading this verse the other night and I just got to wondering a little. What if the gospel was being preached today in such a way that certain business owners were worried about their lively-hood. Imagine if a huge multitude of people stopped buying drugs, stopped buying enough alcohol to get wasted, stopped sleeping with prostitutes, stopped gambling, stopped buying excessively on credit... What if people just stopped living lives that support these businesses. I'm not talking about boycotting or Legislating in order to get these changes. Paul didn't set out to change the law or get as many people as he could to boycott the idol craftsmen, Paul set out to be used by God to change people's hearts. I'm talking about repentance, an amazing movement of God where multitudes of people repent of their current lifestyles in order to follow God with all of their hearts. I'm talking about a situation where people are being saved out of prostitution and drug addictions. What if divorce lawyers lost half of their business because the divorce rate in America dropped from 50% to 25% because husbands and wives began to MUTUALLY lay down their pride for the sake of their wedding vows. That would be so awesome. I can see it now in the headlines. "Divorce lawyers call conference, Fear for lively-hood." I'm talking about restored relationships, changed lives and a spread of God's redemptive forgiveness throughout America. Wow, now that would be amazing!

This Coming Sunday

2009-05-20T22:53:00.003-04:00

I am so freakin' excited about what is ahead of Oasis Church! Millions of people celebrated over American Idol tonight, and it is a good show, but I tell you what... It's going to be so much more amazing to stand with the multitudes in heaven and Worship or maker! What if America was as excited about Jesus as we are about American Idol? Imagine the lives that would be changed, imagine the hearts that would break, imagine the souls that would be saved! God is moving in our Nation, He is turning the tides of spirituality and we as the church should do everything in our power to make sure that when this next generation searches, that they find Jesus, the one who seeks them. Hey Core Group, make sure that you are doing your homework... And if anyone reading this sees Kris somewhere, tell him that I said congratulations. I think he does much better than Adam... Oh yea, if you see Danny walking around, mention to him that we need a worship leader, I think that he would do a pretty freakin' awesome job for Oasis.

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-05-17T22:11:00.002-04:00

Today was yet another amazing day with Oasis Church. Being a pastor has been a huge learning experience and one of the most difficult things to do sometimes is to just stop, but that is exactly what I did today. This morning during our Core Group meeting, I just got out of the way. After almost a year of teaching and speaking to the group I was able to literally let them do what God is calling them to do. After speaking for about 7-8 minutes, I literally played with the children. I took the kids in the kids room and we played with toys and read books and I wiped snotty noses. I did this because I trust Oasis to do what God is calling them to do. We are preparing for launch and it is so exciting. When I came out of the Children's area, all the groups were still planning hard away and it was a wonderful thing to see. Everyone seemed so excited to do what needed to be done. Core group, I love you guys! Here are a few random thoughts and recaps from the first few minutes of the meeting.

-God has given His disciples AUTHORITY to do amazing things.
-Doing amazing things requires action... not JUST participation.
-Fans sit in the stands... Fans are good.
-Players are on the field... Players are necessary!
-God has called every disciple to be a player of something.
-Oasis has fans, and the support of these fans is awesome!
-God has called the core group to be players and you guys are running with the ball!
-Yes, Ministry in most American churches is very comfortable compared to the ministry of the 12 disciples.
-How would we react if God told us to take nothing on a journey... NOTHING LITERALLY!?
-We'd probably ask Him if we could at least take our cell phones.
-The Church can NOT get comfortable, it's so easy for us to because our ministry is so much more comfortable than that of the 12.
-Our ministry is no less of a calling than the 12's.
-God desires to do amazing things through Oasis and every American Church!
-Jesus told the disciples that they would be persecuted... Flogged... Beaten... killed.
-They still followed Him.
-They still preached the gospel.
-We shy away from the gospel because we don't want to make anyone mad...
-We have GOT to preach the Gospel whole heartedly!
-Our call is to carry a message of hope!
-Let's act like we have something to offer the world!
-Because we do... It's a message of HOPE!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-05-10T21:14:00.002-04:00

Today was a great day to be part of Oasis Church. The Core Group began the process of developing supply lists for each section and setting firm launch budgets. We met all together for the first 15 minutes and then we broke off into separate groups. The groups were Worship Team, Children's Team and Guest Services Team. So for the next three weeks we will continue with this process. It was really exciting to see each group working together so effectively. I had the opportunity to just walk around and observe passionate people putting forth passionate effort in planning to be used by God to impact the community of Greenwood with the gospel of Christ... Man that was a long sentence, probably a lot of grammatical errors in it. This summer is going to be an amazing experience!

This Coming Sunday

2009-05-06T22:11:00.000-04:00

This coming Sunday is going to be really interesting. We will begin by meeting in one large group to talk about vision and how each area can meet the vision of Oasis. After a few minutes, we will break out into our four different areas and each group will begin dreaming and planning for their particular positions. I'm sure that there will be plenty of homework, so be ready core group. The next three weeks will have this same basic format. I'm waiting to hear back about our Launch Team Phase video and I believe that it is going to be a great tool to bring more people on board with Oasis. I will let you guys know something on it just as soon as I find out more. Please keep in mind that we labor not for ourselves, but for the gospel of Christ! I love you guys. Oasis, you are an amazing Church!

Sunday Sum-up.

2009-05-03T22:17:00.002-04:00

Today was really awesome! We talked about how God uses messed up people to do great things for His Glory. So if you feel like you are a messed up person, then you are exactly who He wants to use. Think about it, who gets the most glory when God uses messed up people to do amazing things?... He does. At the end of the message everyone filled out papers signifying in what areas they would like to serve, and tonight we sat down as a lead staff and went through all of the papers. We were able to place everyone in their number one choice for what area they want to serve in. God really is moving in the hearts of the core group and I believe that we had just the right amount of people sign up for each area because God has the right people involved in this church plant and they are truly listening to His call on their lives. I really enjoyed today and I'm already so excited about this coming Sunday when we get to do breakout sessions and see our core work together in each of their teams. It's going to be amazing!
If you are reading this blog and you are not currently involved with Oasis, you need to know that there are still many, many positions that God can use you to fill. In a few weeks we will begin our launch team phase where anyone will have the opportunity to hear about the opportunities of service within Oasis Church. Please feel free to come join us. We will let everyone know about the Launch team meetings through facebook, personal invitations, our newsletter and I will let you know on this blog. Let's do this!

This Coming Sunday

2009-04-28T21:05:00.002-04:00

I am so excited about this coming Sunday! RRRRRRR! that's me clinching my teeth, while thinking about rushing at the enemy with our Core by my side! We will spend time this Sunday talking about being in the right place for the Glory of God. Our Core will get a chance to write down where they want to serve and then all during next week the Lead Staff will spend time praying over every name and each position. Then the fun begins of finalizing Items, processes, budget and so much more! This past week we bought a trailer and now it's time to look at what we are going to fill that trailer with. In the UFC Referee voice "Let's get it on!"

Sunday

2009-04-27T22:01:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we talked about VHQ which stands for Volunteer Head Quarters. VHQ is one of our four areas that we will have on Sunday Mornings by launch. The past four weeks we have talked about each of the four areas. Guest Services, Children's, Worship, and VHQ. I was really excited to talk about the importance of volunteers to everything that we do. We have an amazing opportunity placed before us and volunteers are what will make the difference. This coming week will be Aces in their places. It's going to get real for the core staff over the next several weeks. Let's do this!

Awesome!

2009-04-23T21:39:00.001-04:00

Last night a few of our Core Group members gathered at a home to make a short video for our Launch Team phase. The purpose of the video is for the core group members to have something that they can give to their friends to watch so that their friends can learn about Oasis in a very un-intrusive way. When we thought up the video I new that it would be interesting to do, but I had no idea how I would be impacted. As I sat there in the room with people talking about Oasis, why they got involved and their desire to see lost people come to Christ, is was so touched. Most of the time all I could do was close my eyes and hold back the tears as I heard their statements. I am so excited about the video and I know that it is going to impact people. Thank you so much for all that you guys do as a core group! I love you guys! You've got this vision and passion.... Keep it strong!

this coming sunday

2009-04-22T22:13:00.002-04:00

I'm really excited about this Sunday because we will be talking about volunteers. The way we handle volunteers is hugely important to me. I believe that we must highly value them and they need to know that we value them. The reality is that if someone doesn't know that you value them, then it's very likely that you don't value them enough. I love to observe relationships between people, and what I've noticed is that when someone doesn't think that they are valued, often times it's because they are not shown that they are valued. I believe that if we truly do value someone then we will do our best to show them. This Sunday we will talk about valuing volunteers and how we want to show that we value them. This must be a high priority of ours. The reality is that people want to volunteer, but for some reason many people hate volunteering for a church. We will talk about why many people hate volunteering for church and what we need to do shift this existing condition.

P.S. Tomorrow I will blog about a video project that some of our core group helped us with tonight. It was amazing!

Update

2009-04-20T21:51:00.002-04:00

This Sunday was really good. The YMCA hosted a triathlon and asked us to host a service for any of the participants who wanted to attend, although the triathlon ended early enough for all of the participants to get to their own churches. We got to get just a very small taste of what it will be like at launch. When we Launch, we will have a lot more set in place. I really enjoyed actually having a sound system. We have been meeting without any sound and this week we will go back to that format until we get closer to launch. I think the biggest thing that we saw was that we will need more people to keep from draining our core group. We only set up a few things and I must say that it is draining... but very exciting at the same time. The folks we had setting up did an amazing job. You are an amazing Core Staff! I want to say thank you to the YMCA yet again for their amazing partnership. Please continue to pray for us. God is going to do an amazing work through Oasis Church. Please don't forget that now is the time to give financially with many purchases for Launch coming up soon.

Columbine Anniversary

2009-04-16T20:51:00.000-04:00

Monday will be the 10 year anniversary of the Columbine High School shootings. I can only imagine the pain the Columbine classes of 1996-1999 still deal with to this day. Take a minute right now to say a prayer for those affected there and the emotions and memories that they still deal with today. Being a teacher reminds me of the fragile lives of teenagers. We can all look back and remember the things that we experienced that shaped us in middle and high school. There have been many school shootings over the years, as a matter of fact you can click on this link here to go to a map of the US with all the school killings since 1983. Note that our own Oakland Elementary in Greenwood is on that map. There are a lot of students who have been and will be hurt in their adolescent years that can only be healed by a miracle working God. Please pray for the church, that we will be a healing ground for hurting people, an avenue through which people meet an amazingly loving and gracious God. Pray for Oasis Church, that we will have a heart of compassion for hurting people. The church is the only hope for a dying world. Let's act like with know that is true!

Update

2009-04-14T19:24:00.002-04:00

This Sunday we will be hosting a service at the Y for all of the triathlon participants. I am so excited about it. The service starts at 11 and we will be setting up in the back of the Y in the Exercise room. This will be a wonderful opportunity for us to see just a tiny little bit what we will look like on launch day. We are going to set up the pipe and drape and we will actually have a sound system this time. We are going to need some help setting up, so anyone who can come and help needs to be there at 9:30. We will be loading in from a back door on the Y, so just come to the back and look for Rick's truck. Anyone who can't help at 9:30 needs to be there by 10:30 to help greet people. You are an awesome Staff.

Mmmm

2009-04-03T13:33:00.000-04:00

Nope, that's not blood. Just ketchup. She's not a vampire.

Jesus ain't no Boy Scout!

2009-03-31T22:08:00.000-04:00

I never got to be a boy scout, but I think that I would have really enjoyed it. What boy wouldn't enjoy being outside camping and building fires and learning how to do all sorts of cool stuff? The boy scouts are nutorious for being prepared, and being prepared is not really a bad thing. I think about this being prepared mentality in the ministry quite often. I often feel like we as Christians should always be prepared because it is the responsible thing to do. Shouldn't we as Christians be responsible? Sure, that sounds right. I wonder though, is this being prepared a biblical model? I've always assumed that it is the biblical thing, but most of us know what assuming does... As I have grown in Christ I've come to the harsh reality that the biblical model is not always the "be prepared" model. If you don't believe me, then just read this scripture where Jesus tells his disciples to take NOTHING on their journey. Luke 9:3 "take nothing" Wow! now that's intense. Why would Jesus tell his disciples to do such a "foolish" thing as we see it. With this type of journey there is a required level of trust in God that few of us will ever experience. I think that many...most every.... almost all Christians in America miss out on some great blessings simply because we convince ourselves that Jesus is a boyscout when in all reality he more resembles a vagabond. If God calls you to do something, then do it. Especially if he calls you to "take nothing." I really think that we have a long way to go before we even come close to what it means to be believers.

Blogging....more...maybe....

2009-03-28T19:51:00.002-04:00

Well, this is the very first blog that I will have written from my house. We finally have internet at home. I'm not going to say that I will blog a whole lot more because I just don't want to commit to it until I know how much I will be able to get my wife off of the computer yet. I must say though that it is so very easy when I have a computer at home and I can get online. thank you so much to all of you who have been so supportive. I am so excited about core group tomorrow. We will be talking about guest services and how extremely important it is to what we will do in the church. God is amazing and He is very much capable of doing some absolutely amazing things.

Bowling with the family

2009-03-17T20:34:00.000-04:00

For some reason I feel like it's been a while since I've gotten to
just hang out with my precious family. Any church guys out there
reading this, we have got to slow down and see the miracles that live
in the same house with us!

Mountain Climbing

2009-03-17T18:31:00.000-04:00

Egos

2009-02-25T22:41:00.003-05:00

"while knowledge makes us feel important, It is love that strengthens the church." this is a translation of 1 Cor. 8:1 NLT. When I read this it really seemed to scream at me, "see, this is what I am doing right now." The Church has too many egos. There are far too many people and pastors who love to feel important. Why do we love to show off our knowlege? Because it makes us feel good... US... Not Jesus, us... I just wonder what would happen to the kingdom if people made a shift from showing off their knowledge to showing off their love and passion for Christ. I hope to never preach with the desire to make people say "man, that dude is smart." after people hear me preach I hope that they say "man, that guy is broken hearted over lost people and the current condition of the church." I think that it is high time that we admit that we are the church, and our egos are way too big.

Awesome!

2009-02-24T21:04:00.002-05:00

I'm at the office tonight about to continue working on a message and I just wanted to say a quick word while I have a computer that can access my blog. I usually have to type on my phone because we have no internet at home and that gets a little difficult. I just want to say a couple of things so this will be in a simple format.

#1. This past Sunday was awesome. We had our first baptism. I had the wonderful opportunity to baptise my oldest son and it was way way amazing. God has given us a powerful illustration of new life in Christ through baptism.

#2. Eric is our Creative Pastor and He does a lot of different things for us, the best way to describe his role is that he is in charge of most anything that you look at. He does the website and I must sayt that he does an awesome job. Go by and take a look at it when you get some time. He recently updated several things on the website. Please take some time to read the why are you hear letters, they are very powerful. Our first official message series is on the front web page. We are very excited about it!

Thank you to all of you who are so supportive of us. May God use us to reach the lost and empower the saved.

Shattered

2009-02-11T22:55:00.006-05:00

I don't know what it is about me and grocerey stores. It seems like every time that I go to the grocery store I have an experience. Last time I danced on isle 3 and maybe 4,5 and 6 too. But tonight was extremely unusual and unexpected. I was walking through, getting a few essentials while listening to a podcast with Chris Tomlin, when my heart was suddenly shattered. Chris is a famous and passionate worship leader and he made what I belive is a tremendously profound statement. He was talking about how we work so hard to have our preferences met in church through worship styles and in going to conferences and doing so many consumer minded things. Then he said that he believes that we as Christians are far too busy consuming things for God when the reality is that we should be busy trying to allow God to consume our lives. Just after he said that, I found myself starring at a can of green beans... I know, deep right? But as my eyes slowly moved up the isle to see all the food that is so easily accessable to me and really all Americans, my heart was so broken for all of the starving people in this world.
You see, I have had a guilt complex. I didn't understand why God would call me to serve him in this nation of great prosperity when there are so many places that He could send me where the need seems so much greater and where I would have to suffer so much more for Him. But as I looked up that isle full of food I began to understand that God has called me here where we have all the resources to meet any need. My heart was broken and yet burdened with such a sense of responsability to meet the needs of the poor and broken.
How great would it be if one day we as a church could adopt a whole city or village where they are struggling to live. We could drill them wells, build them homes, give them shoes and clothes, give them farming supplies. There has got to be a village or city some where that we could do that for one day in the future. Just imagine how we could actually help a whole community move from poverty to having every need met... To having a hope!!! Do you think that they would hear the gospel then? Do you think God would be glorified and worshiped?... I do!

Just an update.

2009-02-04T23:03:00.000-05:00

I just wanted to take a couple of minutes and update folks about what's been going on and what we are looking towards.

Things have been good lately. Right now we are still trying to get past Christmas, and are looking ahead a whole lot. We hope to have our first baptism very soon. Be looking back at this blog because I hope to be announcing when really soon. This will be our very first baptism and I am very excited about it. Not only will it be our first baptism for Oasis, but I will get to baptize my oldest son, which will be soooo awesome. We are still looking forward to our first sermon series coming soon. I hope to be able to announce the dates for that really soon too. I guess that we could call the series a beta series. That's just a fancy name for "trial run". I really enjoyed this past Sunday. We got to go in the pool area for the first time as a core group. We went to pray for the lost souls who will be baptized into new life in Christ in that room. check back soon for the dates that we will be announcing.

The wedding

2009-01-02T22:33:00.003-05:00

For those of you who don't already know, the executive pastor of Oasis, Matt Atkinson, married Kristy Collins this past Wednesday. I must say that it was a beautiful wedding. I had the opportunity to be a groomsman, which I must say, I really enjoyed. Normally when I am in a wedding I am officiating and that's a little stressful. Groomsmen just get to hang out and I had a blast. As I was standing up front waiting on the doors to open for the bride to come in, it reminded me of my wedding day when I was waiting so eagerly for my bride to show through the doors. I have such a beautiful wife and I truly do cherish the memories of our wedding day and Matt and Kristy's wedding brought back so many wonderful memories.
Every groom has a wonderful opportunity on his wedding day to understand the heart of God in such a profound way. The church is often described in scripture as the bride of Christ. This past wedding was a great reminder of Christ's deep love for us. We are His bride! In those times when you feel a little unloved, just think about the fact that YOU ARE HIS BRIDE!

I want church members who...

2008-12-30T00:44:00.002-05:00

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...

2008-12-26T20:57:00.004-05:00

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

2008-12-21T23:00:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-17T17:13:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-15T22:18:00.002-05:00

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

2008-12-10T23:08:00.004-05:00

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?

2008-12-09T21:38:00.001-05:00

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

2008-12-07T21:24:00.001-05:00

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!

2008-10-29T21:10:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-26T14:23:00.002-04:00

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...

2008-10-21T13:16:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-20T10:20:00.003-04:00

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!

2008-10-14T23:54:00.002-04:00

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...

2008-10-14T08:48:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-09T18:04:00.005-04:00

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

2008-10-08T21:04:00.003-04:00

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

2008-10-07T19:09:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-05T21:07:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-04T22:34:00.000-04:00

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

2008-10-03T16:33:00.001-04:00

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

2008-09-27T13:13:00.000-04:00

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.