Christmas - A Season of Hope

For my whole life Christmas has been my favorite time of the year. I'm sure for many different reasons over the years. As a child, obviously I loved the Christmas season because of the presents and all of the normal reasons kids love Christmas. As a young man I really began to enjoy the giving side of Christmas. I enjoyed the hunt for that perfect gift. And now as a Father I enjoy making Christmas special for my two boys Tyler (6) and Colt (17 months). And to be quite honest all of those things are still very special to me, but I think the main reason I love Christmas is that it's a time of HOPE. For those who know Christ and have a relationship with Him have the Hope to one day see Him face to face because of His birth, Death and Resurrection... For those who do not know Christ, they have the Hope that whatever their life has been up to this point really doesn't matter because Jesus came in the form of a baby and lived a sinless life and then died for our sin and offers life and life to the full... For those who's life may not quite be going as they hoped it would, we all have the hope for a better tomorrow. It's a season of HOPE. So from me to you, Merry Christmas... and may you and yours experience the HOPE of what Christmas is all about!

Destroy Nightmares Once and For All, Thank You for The Holy Spirit & Let Me See An Angel...

One of my favorite times of the day, if not my favorite time of the day, is bed time prayers with my 6 year old Tyler. I live in anticipation of what he might pray for next. His prayers have been as basic as, "Thank you for this day, help us to sleep good, Amen...", but also can get quite detailed and creative. Lately he has been praying a few things that I find extra special. He will pray, "God, let no one have any nightmares, Destroy nightmares once and for all, and let them never, ever, ever come back a live again..." I really love that one, he is also fond of thanking God for everything, and lately he has been thanking God for the Holy Spirit and the world that God has given us and all our blessings, which blows my mind that he comprehends all that God has done for us. He has even begun ending his prayers with, " and God please help me see an Angel..." I say all this to say that I am inspired by the prayers of my 6 year old son who genuinely loves Jesus. I see such an innocence in his prayers but coupled with that innocence is a deep sense of belief, a deep sense of connectivity with the Father, a deep sense of belonging to God. When he says his bed time prayers, it's not the ramblings of a kid saying a routine night time prayer, he's communicating with a God who is very attentive to his words... I want to pray that way. I want to talk to God with such an awareness of who He is but also with a deep sense of faith and connectivity with God knowing that he wants to hear my heart not some routine, churchy, eloquent prayer that would impress a theologian, just the raw realness of my deepest fears, deepest regrets, deepest needs, and deepest emotions. If you're reading this, I would challenge you to lay your heart open before the God who loves you and hears you. Whether you're praying for destroyed nightmares, seeing an angel or thanking God for his Holy Spirit, he will hear you and as you draw near to Him He will draw near to you... Be blessed!

8 Years for Compass Christian Baptist Church

I am so excited for my friend Rev. Tony Miller, Senior Pastor of the Compass Christian Baptist Church in Hephzibah, GA., and his congregation for celebrating their 8 year Anniversary of their church. Our church band a long with myself have been invited to be their guests in this incredible celebration and we couldn't be more honored. I have thought all week long about how SUPERNATURAL VISION is birthed in just plain - regular- individuals and that is amazing in itself, but then something has to be done with that VISION. You can choose to embrace it and chase after that DREAM which God has placed in your heart, even when others do not understand and even doubt what you are doing, or you can choose to ignore that and continue to live in the midst of mediocrity.

I think it takes an individual that is willing to tap into the Greatness that God has planted within them and chase after that DREAM. It's men like Rev. Miller who inspire me to continue chasing the Dream that God has placed in my heart. This Sunday as we celebrate with a church across town, that won't look like us and won't "do church" like us, but that is a part of us, because we are all a part of the same Body, I will look around and be reminded that what is there is there first and foremost because of an amazing God, but also because someone was willing and brave enough to take a risk and step out on faith and to chase a DREAM...

Keep Dreaming - Keep Chasing! I know I am...

Friend Day Re:Cap

Man, I am so thankful for an amazing weekend. This weekend was our Annual Friend Day Weekend. We had 2 services a Saturday night 6:00 service and a Sunday morning 11:00 service and both were great. Everyone really responded well by inviting friends and family... We had 85 in attendance on Saturday night and 117 people in attendance on Sunday morning which brought the total for the weekend to 202 people in service at Oasis for friend day. More important than those numbers is the number "10". That's how many people made a decision for Christ between the 2 services. We serve a Great God. God never ceases to amaze me and blow my expectations out of the water. I believe God does things like this to remind us that he can do "exceedingly, abundantly above anything that we might think or ask..." I am so thankful to God for his blessings on our church and I am so thankful or an amazing team who made this weekend happen.

I am especially thankful for the men (and their wives who sacrificed them) who volunteered to work on our new kids room and make sure it was open for Friend Day weekend. Thank You...

Tony & Ashlee Arrington
Jason & Ashley Wiggins
Gabe & Shannon Trull
Cameron Patterson
Rick Rios
Carroll & Theresa Weatherford
Lee & Misty Solt
Cecil (who doesn't even attend our church)
Kevin Fukala
Brandon Carlton
My wife and kids who didn't see me for a week and a half...


Praise God for an amazing weekend...

The Power of a Unifying Cause:

We have been in our OC Kids Expansion project for some time now. The work has progressed very slowly over the last several months. Well we made a decision that we wanted the new Kids church room done by our Friend Day Services this weekend. So we began a month long process that has us just days away form when the doors are supposed to open for the first time. The last week has been insane...

I have personally witnessed the "power of a unifying cause"... The "cause" being to get the kids room finished by Friend Day. When we declared what our cause was then people began to rally around that cause and volunteer time they do not have to make that a reality. When you get people together and their hearts are knitted together by a common purpose or cause, the effects of that are monumental.

We see that in scripture in Genesis 11:5-7 we see a perfect example of this...

5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

When everyone is on the same page, nothing is impossible for them. I remember when David walked onto the battlefield and his brothers began to give him a hard time for being there, he looked at them and responded by saying, "is there not a cause..."

I have noticed the power of a unifying cause in the progress of our kids room, when you get enough people to rally around a cause or a mission, you see things start to happen...

What cause are you giving your life to... Is it worthy?

I pray we all will knit our hearts together by the cause of making Christ King...

Encouraged By Stories...

I love a great story. I love to tell great stories and I love to hear great stories. My family has always been filled with great story-tellers. I just love stories. I love the feeling you get when you are listening to great story and you feel captivated by what's happening in this story that you are listening to almost so much that you forget where you are, what you are doing and you even forget that your listening to a story because now you feel as if you are in the story. I love Great Story-Telling...

At Oasis Church, this has been the first summer season in our churches short history that we haven't grown through the summer. I must admit, that has been somewhat frustrating and disappointing for me. It has taken a toll on me. I stress-out and worry, when in reality I know that I shouldn't worry, but I do. However, something interesting has happened over the last few days that has lifted my spirits, I'll share...

We had a Dream Team meeting last week and I had a few our leaders share some things that they were thankful to God for and just asked them to lift up God for a minute for something that He had done in their life recently. One of my friends, Rick Rios, said these words... "I want to thank God for my church, I love my church, It has definitely changed my life." Statements like that are inspiring to me, because that's why I do what I do, that's why I am in the ministry, that's why I am in Augusta, GA.

That moment with Rick in our meeting got me to thinking, "I wonder how many other people may feel this way?" So I started asking some of our people here at Oasis to start emailing me their stories, and what God has done in their life recently and since they have been attending our church. Some of the stories are really great and encouraging. Over the next few weeks, I am going to be sharing these stories through a number of different mediums, through video in our services and on the internet, on this blog, and in letters and emails to our people.

It's great to be a part of a church that is changing lives!

COURAGE!!

I was telling my wife a few weeks ago while we were riding in the car that something has happened to me over the last few months... I said, "I feel like I have fallen in love with the Old Testament all over again..." I was thinking about that statement that I said to her and begin to wonder why that was, what was going on in my life that would cause that, why was I getting so much from my Old Testament readings, and what was it that was so captivating to me, and I think I figured it out...

It's COURAGE! I have such an admiration for COURAGE. Even in today's world when I hear stories of people exemplifying great courage I am so moved by their stories. I listen intently, as men who have been in Iraq or some distant place fighting the War on Terror, begin to share stories or start talking about the courage that they have seen in their fellow soldiers. I am moved by stories of young kids fighting cancer or illness. I am inspired by people who take on great challenges and come out on the other side victorious and successful. All of that is because of a deep admiration for courage.

When I read stories in the Old Testament I see men and women with great courage. I think there are a few common denominators when it comes to the great giants of our faith, things that they all had in common, characteristics they all shared. I believe COURAGE to be one of those. It is a trait that I long for. It s something I am passionate about. It is a characteristic that I hope will one day be used to describe me and my life.

I read stories like, The 3 Hebrew Boys in the book of Daniel when they said, "We have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us out of your hand, O King. But if not, be it known to you, O King, that we will not serve your god's or worship the image of gold that you have set up.", and i am so moved by the courage that oozes out of them...

I read the story of Benaiah, and read how he chased a lion into a pit on a snowy day and killed it and how because of that he was catapulted and promoted to being David's chief bodyguard, and I am so inspired by the courage I see in him...

I think about Eleazar and how even when everyone ran from the fight he stood his ground and struck down the Philistines until his hand froze to the sword...

I remember the courage of David as he looked at his brothers on the field of battle as they hid from Goliath and he said to them, "Is there not a cause..."

Noah comes to my mind, when he built an ark just because God told him to, even when everyone else must have thought he was crazy...

I think about Jonathan and his armor bearer on the side of a mountain saying, "perhaps God will show up..."

I think about Esther and her courage to own a moment, knowing that she was placed in the palace for such a time as this...

I think about Joseph running from Potiphar's wife, and having the courage to do what is right even when it costs you...

And I think about Gideon taking his small army and having the courage to trust the Lord even when he couldn't see the end form the beginning...


These stories and so many more inspire me to have COURAGE... I want my sons to be able to look back on my life and not just see one small act of courage but to see a lifetime of courageous moments. I want them to be able to look back and see a life of courageous faith...

Leadership requires courage, if you lead then this is one thing you cannot do without...

If there is one characteristic, that I hope that I have that these great men and women of our faith had, it's COURAGE!

How about you? Do you want to be courageous? Ho do you measure up when it comes to courage?