GuyMelton.com: What Were You Thinking?

Christmas at the Oasis, 2010 in the news...............

 
This year Christmas at the Oasis has taken off like no other. Our community is ready for the cheer and Good News our church brings through lights, live nativities, nativity displays and so many other things they enjoy when they step on our property .  God is doing amazing things through the 100's of volunteer's and staff who have made this years Display for sure the best yet.

There is a buzz in our community not only because of the 100,000 Christmas Flyers we sent out but the media coverage we have already received. Most of it is centered around the Impossible task and dream of having the most Nativities displayed in one place at one time for a "Guinness World Book of Records" attempt. That will be announced on Saturday Night at the end of our 6pm Worship Service. 

 

Two weeks ago I was interviewed on station 1080, WHIM Christian Radio about our display. Frank Trotta the host of the Mid day show from 1-2pm has a real heart for the local church and does all he can to expose what we are doing . Check him out weekdays. We have the interview on the podcast link  , check it out.

 

We have also had the Miami Herald out to do a story, and the Sun- Sentinel. Check them both out by clicking the links. Both awesome stories.

NBC, 6 was out and took video coverage and did a short story last week also. We are planning for more once we break the record .  Yes, I said Break the Record. I'm praying and looking forward to Saturday night in anticipation of this. The judges and notaries will be counting and evaluating the display Saturday afternoon prior to opening and our total count will be given following the service.

One of our faithful members who moved away four years ago, Louis Leon did a nice blog post also on the display. Love him and Candace. They were such a special family while here. Candace was the youngest to ever serve on our Church council at the ripe ole age of 24!! She is wise beyond her years.

Ill be sharing more later with you on all that is going on.

   

Body Waxing, Circumcision & Christmas at the Oasis, Pastor's Weekly Email, for November 19, 2010,

For all of our Extended Oasis Family living outside South Florida and other friends, I am sharing our weekly email . There is lots happening around our Pines Campus as we gear up for by far the Biggest Christmas at the Oasis ever. Check out the Guinness World Book of Record goal we are shooting for below along with some Haiti thoughts, pics and a post on my Heart Condition.  I have already been hearing from some of you who are saying how much you will miss the Christmas Display. Your always invited down to make a visit and see us. (Just a reminder, sometimes the links and format dont work as well when I paste it into my blog post. Thanks for your patience in this. )

Dear Extended Oasis Family; Ok, I know you are wondering what Body Waxing, Circumcision and Christmas at the Oasis have in common. First let me say this - no we are not offering Body Waxing and Circumcision at Christmas at the Oasis this year (note I said this year). But, there is some connection which I will draw if you will give me a few minutes to first share some big things happening at Oasis Church this week.   Oasis After Hours on Saturday and Sunday nights is at 6 p.m. Some of you are still coming at 7 p.m! We are calling Saturday and Sunday nights, "Family Fun Nights". Not only are we having the same live Worship but we are incorporating special activities for the kids that attend the service and the families. This Saturday and Sunday night, we will be having a Family Dinner together. Families, bring your own dinners (they used to call them Pot Luck Dinners) and let's eat together before the service. The bounce house will be open before and after. We will eat in the auditorium from 5 - 6 p.m. with service to follow at 6 p.m. The church will provide the drinks and paper goods. Just bring enough food for you and your family You don't have to have kids to come and have dinner with us this Saturday and Sunday night at 5 p.m. Great time of Fellowship. Hope many of you Sunday morning Pines attendees will try out Saturday and Sunday this week.   "Guinness World Book of Records" comes to Oasis Church in just two weeks. We are trying to break the world record for the most Nativities displayed at one time. We need you to loan us your nativities. Borrow your friends and neighbors. Go out and buy a few more and loan them the first two weeks of December. More about that this week at the services - the where, when and how. We will never make the 1,803 without your help. Let's DO IT!!!! Yes WE CAN!! (Hollywood and North Miami, you are welcome to participate and bring your Nativities for our display, please do. We would love to have all campuses represented).   Most of you know I returned recently from Haiti. God is doing amazing things there and I have a blog post of a miracle that happened while I was there last week and also a connection between Body Waxing and Circumcision. So make sure you check out my Blog Post from this week. There are also some awesome pics my son Corey took while we were in Haiti. Check them out. So much I want to say about Haiti but this letter will never allow me. For those who have an interest in ministry in Haiti and our plans, then you can click on the links above.   It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas everywhere, but nothing like Oasis Church (Pines Campus). The many months of hard work by our volunteers are finally beginning to be seen. Our campus changes daily and with folks working day and night to get ready for our BIG launch in two weeks, it's getting exciting. We are in sprint mode! We open in just 16 days, on Friday night, December 3rd at 6 p.m. The light display will run through January 1st. I hope you are inviting your friends. I hope you will come out and volunteer to help with getting lights prepared on Tuesday night this coming week. No Thursday work night since there is Thanksgiving. But this Saturday is a work day at the campus from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. Come when you can. The following Saturday after Thanksgiving, I am calling on everyone who is in town to come out and help with our final preparations. We need as many as we can get. No experience necessary.  It will be 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. A mailer goes out next week to 100,000 homes in the Pines and Miramar areas. Please pray that God will use it as He has for many years to introduce our Community to Oasis Church through Christmas at the Oasis. (We are still needing sponsors to help sponsor our Big display. You can go here to sponsor one of our displays here. Thanks to those of you who already have.)   I know most of my emails have been about the Pines Campus and it's hard not to during Christmas especially, but I know the Hollywood campus has special Thanksgiving events and their Big Candy Cane Parade coming up and NoMi will be having special Christmas events also. Please check them both out as well as the Pines campus on the Facebook Page for Oasis Church. All events and things happening are on our Facebook Page. You don't have to be a member of FB to check out our page with all the things going on along with some great stories. Stay up to date with Oasis Church through Face Book.    P.S. If you have not yet given the Lord's Tithes and your offerings, you can do it online right now. Thanks to all of you who continue to give and support the Mission and Vision of Oasis Church. The incredible things that God is doing and going to do are because of those who faithfully give. I am grateful but I know you are blessed because God promises to pour out the blessings of heaven on those who Give faithfully to his work. (Malachi 3:10-11) P.S.S. If you need a smile today, I guarantee one if you click on this link! Enjoy, it will only take a second to make you smile. Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church http://www.guymelton.com http://www.visitoasis.org

Tweaking Florida Gator Fans is just to much fun.......

Each Football season one of the best parts of the Kick off of the season is being able to tweak my Florida Gator Friends. For some reason unlike any other team I know , the fans seem to have their panties so tight that when you tweak them, they come out screaming. I love to tweak them and hear them scream. So last night all I did was post a factual Newspaper article about Urban Meyers record since becoming coach of the Florida Gators. But not his on the field record by His teams but off the field record. They are hands down the all time champion of the most criminal arrest of any modern day College football team.

Now when I tweak and they scream sometimes they give reasoning that just isn't factual so I wanted to clear up some things at the outset of the season for those who don't really know me and the Love relationship I have with the Florida Gator Fans. Sooo, based on some thoughts a few made on my FB page under the newspaper article , I wanted to set the record straight and give some factual information.

(Now, with half my Tongue firmly placed in cheek, I want to share some facts. What half is the tongue and which ones aren't, is your guess;)

• I am accused of "hating" Florida Gator fans. Factoid: I have dear family who are gators. (God rest their souls). We just hired a Gator on our Pastoral staff and I have attended the Community Group he leads for more than two years. BTW, he has been told that if he wears Gator wear at work, he will not get a paycheck;)  We have 2 Gator Grads on our Church Council who sets my salary and approves our church budget. (oops, maybe that is why I have gotten 3 straight years of pay cuts. ouch, just realized that. ) We have had two Host Pastors who are Grads of UF.
• I am accused of not having the same sympathy for young men who make mistakes as I would or should as a Pastor. Factoid: I am officially the Florida Gators Chaplain, and the pic of my Certificate of Chaplaincy is displayed for all to see.
• Hatred is not something someone has who owns his own "Gator " Logo Watch. (even if I do not wear it, but hide it, I do have it. That has to count for something. )
• Factoid: UF is not the most challenging or best academic school in the State. National surveys have shown the last 3 years that UM is the highest ranking Florida major college. Fact! (objectively reported)
•  Factoid:  My very good Gator friend says, that winning is more important than criminal records by a player. Ok, maybe for Gator fans it is, but I prefer to sleep with a clear conscience and clean record than winning at all cost.
• Factoid: In one statement, the coach of the Gators is a saint for being forgiving and giving young men a second chance and showing compassion. But then in another comment, the story of a Bench player is promptly kicked off the team for having a stolen computer. Hmmm, it cant be both ways. This reminded me of the Federal Attorney who represents the White House, who argued the Health-care bill was legal under the commerce clause. Then when it appeared it is not legal, they argued in court yesterday that it is actually a tax and the federal govt. can tax the people. Even though the President he represents told the nation repeatedly it was not a tax. So what is it?  Is the coach all for reforming criminal players, or is he tough on criminal activity? I think if your a starter it sounds like he will give you the benefit of the doubt, but if your a lowly bench warmer than you are expendable.
• Factoid: Two of the commenter's are my friends who are Dr's in their fields, of Law and Engineering and are two of the smartest guys I know. Both Gator Grads. Im no match to either of them.  
• Factoid: I am not smart enough to be accepted at UM, or UF, and I admit it:) ouch!
• Factoid: We have the most incredible Gator fans ever in Oasis Church. I love them all. They are all classy. Now I will say, most of them have gone through our 12 step recovery class for "Swamp Fever" and are doing well . Once in a while they do fall off the wagon. Our new Gator Pastor, will be monitoring and leading the 12 Step Recovery for future Gator fans who join Oasis Church. Pray for Garfield.;)
• BTW, Factoid: As far as reading a book and it changing my mind. I prefer to follow the lead of the Book and words of James, where he says, "  Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove. " James 2:18  What James says here is , don't give me all these words, without showing it in your action! Actions speak far louder than written words on a page.
• Factoid: We have a Worship Leader who wears his Florida Gator shirt, and even wore it last Sunday and last weds. night. And I did not even fire him. That is sympathy, and even though its criminal to do that at Oasis, I forgave him, had sympathy for him, and now have him going through our 12 step recovery class for "Swamp Fever" Pray for young Luke;)
• Factoid: Florida definitely has smothered the UM on this Scoreboard of Life;  U Florida 30, UM 1. If that's a winner than hey go for it. ;)
• Factoid: The  Wacko Gainesville Area Pastor, Rev. Jones, who wanted to Burn the Koran is a BIG Gator Fan! Does that tell you anything? Now , you say how do I know this. Well, if you arent a Gator fan in Gator Nation, your House is Burned! Not your Koran!;)
• One last Factoid: Picture to the right is now Standard issue with all Gator football equipt.
• Now that is the rest of the story. Facts sir, just the Facts;)

I love the Gators. Long Live Tim Tebow!!!!!

Perfect Day Predicted for 1-10-10 at 1:10 pm.... Oasis Weekly Newsletter

For our Extended Oasis Family , once again Im sharing our weekly newsletter. This week is devoted to our Big Celebration and Worship service for this Sunday. This letter is in a differant format that was sent out via email. You might have a few words cut off some lines and not be able to get to the links.  Thanks for your prayers and your invited to attend Sunday if your in South Florida.

Dear Extended Oasis Family A perfect day is forecast for this Sunday! The weather reports have predicted all week no precipitation, and temps in the 60's. Now unless you're from the Islands where the temps are never cooler than 70 and you are used to perfect weather, this is Perfect Weather for 99.9% of the USA. It is perfect for a Service, and a Tailgate Party. I have just come from the site of our 1-10-2010 Service and Joel and the Tech Team is setting up, James Brown has just finished bringing hundreds of extra chairs with his team and things are really shaping up for the most "Amazing Day" in our 18 year History.  I hope you plan to be there, and bring your family and friends.   Now, I am known for my wordiness. I have spent two months telling you how important this day is and to mark it on your calendar. Honestly if you haven't decided by now to be there, I'm over trying to convince you. So, what's most important is to just lay out the last minute, most important facts and details you should know. So here are my Top Ten Things to know for this Sunday. Concise and to the Point:   1.   Location: Corner of Taft and 441, Hollywood. (Not our Downtown Campus)  Enter the Parking Lot from the South side - Taft Street entrance. Signs say Hollywood Community Church, Hollywood Christian Academy. 2.   Watch for the Parking Volunteers with Big Arrows that say "Oasis Church"  at the Entrance. Follow the Parking lot attendants' directions for where to park. This is huge! Wave and be nice to the men and women. They will have been there long before you arrive. (If possible car pool with someone, since parking will be limited). 3.   Watch for the KidsWorld Sign under the Canopy outside the Auditorium for KidsWorld Class locations. (Children's classes are provided as always, from Nursery-5th grade). 4.   Bring your food toward the Auditorium and to Gym at the left of the Auditorium. The food will be left there, and set up for the Tailgate Party following the service. (Bring your favorite dish representing your culture. Singles bring an Appetizer or Dessert) 5.   Arrive as Early as Possible since the Service begins at 1:10 PM promptly, and you don't want to miss the incredible Worship that our combined Worship Teams will be leading in. (It will take extra time to park and find your way, so come early!) 6.   Bring your regular Tithes and Offerings as you normally do. Bring some extra loose CASH, we will take a special offering for those out of work and hurting. Or give ONLINE NOW. 7.   Dress is casual as always. But you're welcome to come as you prefer. (If you want to bring an extra set of clothes to change into for the Tailgate luncheon, that is fine.) If you have a lawn/folding chair to bring, that would be great for outdoor eating and games. There will be some games and bounce houses for the kids and adults who want to get down and dirty during the Tailgate Party. That's Optional!  8.   Oasis Church is providing the drinks and paper goods for the Tailgate Party/Luncheon. 9.   Come Prepared to Worship and to have God knock your socks off with His Presence and Spirit this Sunday!  (Please, Pray, Pray, Pray for God to do great things Sunday.) 10.  I'm leaving this blank to show I can be shorter than you expected!   I can't wait to see you and give as many of you a hug as possible.  REMEMBER, IF YOU MISS THIS YOU WILL NOT GET ANOTHER SERVICE THIS WEEK AND IT WON'T BE ON THE PODCAST OR ON CD, OR DVD. YOU MISS IT, YOU WILL HAVE MISSED POSSIBLY THE GREATEST DAY IN THE HISTORY OF OASIS CHURCH.  JUST SAYING...............   I love you, and can't wait to see you!       Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church http://www.guymelton.com http://www.visitoasis.org

Homeless are staying in our Buildings at our Pines Campus.....

For the 3rd year our Women's ministry has hosted Homeless families in December. There is a ministry , Coalition to END Homelessness that has a Church Based ministry where they sign up churches various weeks of the year to host Homeless Families. The Womens Ministry started doing this 3 years ago and have continued to do so.

This is a wonderful time when so many women mainly come up and bring food, gifts, play games and sleep overnight with the families .  In the suburbs we don't know much about traditional Homelessness , but this is a good way to learn more about it and those who are homeless. They aren't all drug addicts and emotional and mentally ill people.

These are men and women who have lost a job, had financial set backs and found themselves living in cars and the street. The previous years have been women and their children. This year they are finding whole families with men also.

Tonia through this week of hosting 3 years ago, found herself burdened to go beyond this week and started volunteering at the Downtown Fort Lauderdale, home called The Way with the Ministry each Thursday. It is unbelievable the stories she hears each week. Many are whole families living in their cars with children who have to go to school the next day. Parents some of who have to go to work in the morning after sleeping in a car. Its heartbreaking. Many have been professionals, school teachers, secretaries and folks who are hard working but have been laid off in these tough times.

As a church Im glad there are women who are willing to stay up most of the night, ministering to families and making make shift rooms and bringing some Christmas cheer and love for this week.

I am blessed  by Debby Brown, Helen Chisholm, and all the women who have worked so hard this year . I have only gone up to say hello and to hassle our ladies for a few minutes, but I got to get in the picture with the wonderful families. Tonia has been up sleeping at Church the last two nights. I love her. She is awesome!!  Shes my Hero!! I cant complain about eating Canned soup at home while she and others are making great sacrifices for those that Jesus loves and came to die for and love the "Least of These" of the world. 

Historical News here........................

This has been another one of those weeks. Not much blogging. Facebook is just too easy to post on so I find myself doing my short posts there. But I'm determined to get back. I have so many blog posts I want to write. I will begin to share those soon, hopefully.

Below is our weekly email newsletter to our local Oasis Family. There are some really good updates from our Minsitry Leaders below. For the extended Oasis family I invite you to check it out. As usual the email was done in another format, so the links may not work for you and the last word or two cut off on a line.

God bless and have a great weekend.

Dear Extended Oasis Family: As with any week there are so many great things to share. I have something that is very Historical to share with you…it has never happened before in my family and you just have to see and hear this Historical news. But the only way to do it is join with me and a couple hundred other Oasis families who are Facebook Friends of Mine. If you aren't on Face book it will be worth taking the 2 minutes to join, just so you can share in this incredible Historical announcement I made yesterday, with pictures. So…go to Facebook and sign up, or if you’re a Facebook member already, then just come be my friend.   This week I want to do something I have not done in this weekly newsletter which I began about 4 years ago.  I want to share some exciting things happening at Oasis Church. OK, you say, “You always do that, Guy!”  Yes, but this week, I’m sharing it through our Leadership Team's own words. This week as they gave updates of their various ministries in our bi-weekly meeting, I was so blessed I wanted them to share with you some of the things happening in their ministries, which so many of you are part of. I love our team. We are lean, but we are mean!!! Passionate and excited about what God is doing. So, here they are..............    Ranelle Walkenhorst/Office Manager and my Assistant: Ranelle sometimes feels her ministry isn’t as exciting when she gives her reports. But she might be the most crucial person within our team in so many ways. The behind-the-scenes ministry she and her team provide is incredible. Here is her report: "Finishing input of weekend Connection Card results.  As usual, many prayer requests, many requests for information, most importantly decisions for salvation as well as renewal.  We never get tired of receiving those!  Many great comments about services on Sunday!  They evidently love Julie-Anne (who doesn't!).  3 additional baptisms this Sunday -- one was a follow-up to Discover Oasis, completing the Next Step to make that person a member (which I believe makes 6 who have reached that step since Discover Oasis.)" Katia Driora/Surge/Youth Director:  Katia in her first year leading our youth is one of a kind. In a good sense. Her love for the Lord, His Church, and the Youth just exudes when you’re around her. Just a paragraph of a very exciting report (I can’t share all of it with you. Some of it is going to be a surprise in days ahead): "We will be starting this week a series called "He did What?" focusing on miracles Christ did from John and Mark-great examples of life-changing events when people got exposed to His presence and at the same time addressing the hurting and the skeptics. We will be also incorporating a story from 'The Voice of the Martyrs' to every Bible Study meeting to stir and prepare the soil..." If you have a teen and they don’t come to the Big Event for youth on Thursdays at  7 p.m., they should! Ben Windle/Hollywood Campus Pastor: BTW, Congrats to Ben and Mallika on a new little boy this week -- Logan Anthony, born Sep 30!! "We had a fantastic week in Hollywood! We had 22 kids in KidsWorld! 22 KIDS!! It is causing us to begin to think creatively about our space.   We had 13 guys at our men's breakfast and could've had more!  We had 3 full tables of Hollywood women at the “Girlfriends Journey” event.  John did a great job with worship!  We are really hitting our stride! God is GOOD!" Debby Brown/Women's Ministry Director: Debby just took over this position and she and her team hit the ball out of the park on their first big fall event: "As Saturday began - we had set up for 133 and you know the saying "pray and they will come" --  well, God sent them!  We had a total of 143 and God multiplied the food to feed all.  We had 18 ladies step out of their box and sign up for the Meal Ministry.  We had one lady come forward for prayer and then wanted connection to the Single Mom's Community Group.  After the service we had 3 more ladies come forward for prayer.  We also had several say they wanted to join the Women 2 Women Mentoring program this time around and over 25 ladies signed up for the Wednesday morning or evening 6-week  Bible Study - The Esteemed Journey.  With Jhael Hakimian leading the NoMi ladies and Darlene Stewart leading the Hollywood ladies, I am excited to see God working and challenging the ladies of Oasis Church in all three campuses."  Now there was much more in Debby’s update, she is like me --  loves to give lots of details, but could only share a little bit. Joel Collins/Technical Director:  Joel is another one who you never see but who has a great impact on all areas of our ministry. Practically everything you see, hear, and experience in a public worship environment -- 13 services, 3 campuses, 7 nights, is produced and made possible by Joel and his team. Now, he isn’t a man of lots of words, so his update is shorter than my intro. But you really need to know Joel and appreciate all he and his team do. Hats off to all the Tech Team! Always room for more. I love Joel's desire to train his volunteers on a regular basis, as he puts in his update:  "Team building planning, and will begin Saturday afternoon further training classes. Working on the last short movie for Reel Life Series. Awesome time at Granger Creative Worship Conference last week.” Pat Roberts/Community Groups/Teaching Pastor: Most all know Pat, but what you probably don’t know is he is a big part of all the creative things you see and hear each week as part of our Worship services, from stage decor, to the elements of Worship that go along with our Sermon Series: "Our sermon series have been laid out for the next 8 months.  The creative team will begin to develop these topics over the next few weeks.  The Dave Ramsey financial series will be used the first three weeks of November.  This is at all campuses.  Starting Point got off to a great Starting Point last week as we discussed the basics of the Christian Walk.  We continue tonight with the importance of studying and applying God's Word into our life.  Hopefully people will learn to Come Thirsty for Bible truths."   If you have not tried out the new Monday night Study in Acts, or the Tuesday night "Come Thirsty" Biblical foundations and growth themes, then you really need to do it.  It’s 7 p.m. each Monday and Tuesday as part of 7 Nights of Worship. These are just a sampling of some of the weekly updates I receive each week from our Leadership Team. Isn't it great? Now you note some are missing that are major ministries, but they just might not have had a lot of update that was able to be shared  publicly this week. God is doing so much with so many of you who are part of Oasis Church. I'm blessed you have chosen to be part of the Oasis Family. Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church http://www.guymelton.com http://www.visitoasis.org   P.S.  Don't forget that our New Monday  & Tuesday night 7 Nights of Worship continues each week and you can jump in any time and make that your night of Worship. In just another week, Tuesday Night will begin the most Popular Sermon Series ever at Oasis Church. "The Purpose Driven Life". This sermon series will be taught live and it goes along with the book Rick Warren wrote on the Purpose Driven Life that has sold almost 40 million copies. You can pick one up in our Kona Book Corner.  Hope many of you will take advantage of this New Refreshed Night of Worship. Or come to the Monday night service with live messages being taught on the Book of Acts with Pastor Jack Hakimian.

18 Reasons I love Oasis Church on its 18th Anniversary - Sep 15!!

On this 18th Anniversary of Oasis Church so many memories and thoughts flood my mind and heart. I can't even hardly breathe as I type and think of all the incredible things God has done these past 18 years since a small group of 4 couples and one single joined Tonia and me to start this adventure in Western Pembroke Pines and which is now also in Hollywood and North Miami...and even Jacksonville, Florida with the launch of Oasis No Fla. I will just try to narrow it to 18. I'm working on a series of blog posts, that follow the first I made last week of the Top 10 in 2 words or less. 

There are too many to do only 10 of this one, and too much in my heart as I type this to only say two words. So here goes!!!! I love you Oasis Church!!!!

18. The willingness to always change and even embrace change when it makes you feel uncomfortable.

17.  84 Countries who meet together each week to Worship a mighty God without culture, race, or background getting in the way. How many churches in the World can say that? Probably not more than a couple.

16. The incredible lay leaders who are the ones who do the Ministry. KidsWorld, Parking, Hospitality, Community Group Leaders, First Impressions, Surge/youth, Worship teams (this encompasses loads of folks), Lay Pastors, Church Council, Tech, Women's Team, Host Pastors and leaders of 7 Nights of Worship and I know I'm leaving some Leadership teams out. Forgive me. Honestly we have such a lean staff if it were not for an army of servant leaders I have no idea what we would be. I love you guys.

15. The over 1,400 new believers who have followed the Lord in Baptism these 18 years, almost two hundred this year already.

14.  A staff that works hard, long and passionately to not only minister but to deliver the Love of God in message 13 times each and every week and 365 nights a year. They demonstrate incredible ability along with a Love for the Lord and Oasis week in and week out, that just keeps me fired up. (and might I say with so many 20-30 somethings, very tired!)

13.  A church that is willing to do whatever it takes on just 6 acres in Pembroke Pines to continue to reach those who don't know Jesus. The only church doing Church 7 Nights a week that I know of - 365 days a year...and never do I hear a complaint!!! It's incredible.

12. A youth group -- Surge we call them, that has a depth like none I've ever seen. I was a Youth Pastor for 10 years and served several thousand teenagers during that time. It was a great group. But I have never seen such a committed, passionate group of young teens for God in my life. They thrill me just hanging out around them and watching them.   Many are in our adult worship teams and some lead there. They are amazing. Our adults could learn from them just by observing. I love you guys. (I love Katia and her group of leaders also. You guys are second to none. I could just give you a big group hug)

11. I love Oasis Church for the hundreds who sacrificed to make our buildings possible not only in Pembroke Pines but in Hollywood and now North Miami!! Many have moved away or gone to be with the Lord but their/your investment will go on for decades if the Lord tarries His coming.

10. Love that God has given us efficient, and practical facilities. Not too much, not enough sometimes, not extravagant, but just what we needed.

9. I love the four families who gave up very secure, long tenured churches to come out with Tonia and me to follow he Vision God had given us. The Goodwins, Carrs, Padowitz, Oyers, and my Mom. I will be eternally grateful for your love, support and blood, sweat and tears you gave in the early years.  For your kids who gave a lot to attend this new baby church.

8. I love the first Oasis attenders who came that first Sunday, brought desserts when they never had even met each other. Just came from a phone invite. You had no electric, no parking lot, and no a/c in a little building and listened to a Guy who you had never met. I wondered if you would ever come back. Every week I would hold my breath. You did and you still do.

7. I love Oasis Church because you have loved my family, supported it, let my boys be normal boys, and loved them and supported them through their teen years. Nothing is more important than a church loving their Pastor's family, and especially their children.

6. I love you Oasis for what you do for our Community at Christmas year in and year out, through Christmas at the Oasis Light and Christmas display. The hundreds of you who give many hours, some hundreds of hours, and lots of money, to welcome the 40-50,000+ people to our Pines Campus each year. (we are giving our volunteers a much-deserved year off this year and not doing Christmas, but I assure you next year we will come back with more passion and excitement than ever before!)

5. I love you Oasis because you were willing to do what only a few churches in our country have done. You've gone to the urban areas of Hollywood and North Miami and started new Campuses. The hardest place to do ministry in America is the urban and inner cities. Most churches go to the suburbs. Our cities are tough, but you gave and went. I love you for that.

4. I love Oasis Church because we have so many wonderful people on our NoMI and HWD campus who love God and give beyond what they have to minister in these locations, and then even come back to Pines and serve with our Pines people. It's a beautiful sight to observe. I love you guys in the city campuses.

3. I love Oasis for a very personal reason that is more about me, and not you, but If I didn't say this I should be horse whipped. You have the most wonderful Pastor's Wife ever born of man. Tonia is behind the scenes. But let me tell you, I would not still be in ministry, and at Oasis if it were not for a wife who has stood with me through thick and thin. She is spiritual, she is strong, and she models what is preached and she is a big reason God has blessed this church the way He has. I love you Babe, and thanks for putting up with all you've had to put up with these past 18 years in order to fulfill our calling. Words can't express my love and gratitude for you. 

2. I love the Oasis Family because you love me and put up with all my frailties, weaknesses and mistakes. My stupid blog post, and FB comments. My corny jokes, and my ADHD ways. You still love me for who I am and you don't try to make me someone else. You accept me as I am. I love you!!

1. I love Oasis Church more than anything, because God is here and doing a mighty work. Many have invested, worked, sacrificed, prayed and I have thanked you. But honestly, this would not have been worth it 18 years ago, and would not be worth it today, if God was not doing things beyond anything we could explain or take credit for. I'm so grateful He is using me and you even with all our faults and warts. Thank you, God for 18 incredible years. Thank you, Jesus for loving us so much You died for Oasis Church even before we existed!!!!!

So much more could be said, but I'll leave it at that!!

Happy Anniversary Oasis Church

AMEN!!

"Sexting"

With your kids going back to school this week I thought I would share this article on "Sexting". I had not heard of it until recently. But you can be sure its happening, and is probably in my opinion worse than even this article below says. Recently, our local paper also had a story on it.

Every parent should read this, and you should talk with your child. We have wonderful technology today, but there are some huge dangers, that many of us never had to deal with. We best not assume our Kids wont see or do this.  The article below was in the Sheridan House monthly newsletter and is found on their website.

Sexting: What Parents Should Know

"Sexting?  What is that?"  That was one mother's first reaction when she heard a recent news story about some middle school kids charged with the "crime."  Sadly it was her 12-year-old daughter who said, "Mom, a girl in my school was caught doing that.  Half the kids in the school have the picture on their phone or have seen it."

Much like a cell phone text, "Sexting" is the act of sending nude or partially nude photos via a cell phone.  Once a photo text is sent, the recipient can share it with others or post it on the internet for the world to see.  With cell phones containing built in cameras, there's been a significant increase in this activity among teens.  A recent survey conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that 20% of teens admit they've sent or posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves just for fun. For the full article go to Sheridan House Website

With your kids going back to school this week I thought I would share this article on "Sexting". I had not heard of it until recently. But you can be sure its happening, and is probably in my opinion worse than even this article below says. Recently, our local paper also had a story on it.

Every parent should read this, and you should talk with your child. We have wonderful technology today, but there are some huge dangers, that many of us never had to deal with. We best not assume our Kids wont see or do this.  The article below was in the Sheridan House monthly newsletter and is found on their website.

Sexting: What Parents Should Know

"Sexting?  What is that?"  That was one mother's first reaction when she heard a recent news story about some middle school kids charged with the "crime."  Sadly it was her 12-year-old daughter who said, "Mom, a girl in my school was caught doing that.  Half the kids in the school have the picture on their phone or have seen it."

Much like a cell phone text, "Sexting" is the act of sending nude or partially nude photos via a cell phone.  Once a photo text is sent, the recipient can share it with others or post it on the internet for the world to see.  With cell phones containing built in cameras, there's been a significant increase in this activity among teens.  A recent survey conducted by The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy shows that 20% of teens admit they've sent or posted naked or semi-naked photos or videos of themselves just for fun. For the full article go to Sheridan House Website

Croc Dock @ Oasis...........

This week I found an Alligator in our Lobby fountain @ Oasis Church! There's a swamp in our Auditorium, and saw grass, and 300 children all over our buildings. Yes, its an exciting week at Oasis Church, Pembroke Pines. What many churches call VBS (Vacation Bible School) we call Summer Spectacular. This is definitely not your grandma's VBS! 

It is high tech. Dinner served every night to 300 kids, and almost 100 volunteers by Judy Buck and her incredible team. I salute you guys. You're awesome!!  Suzie McCord, Blanca Aponte, and Paula Ramirez along with their huge team of adults are doing more than a great job, loving and ministering to our kids. When I say our kids, I mean our kids. My grandsons are here from Indian Harbor Beach this week and loving Croc Doc, Summer Spectacular. Each night they have come in the house, excited, and can't hardly stop talking about all they are learning and all the fun they are having. I love it! 

Our KidsWorld team is not only giving our kids a fun time, but they are teaching them some big time Bible. I'm impressed. 

There are so many to thank I can't even begin to share their names, but you know who you are. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!!! God does great things in lives during times like these. There will be kids whose lives will be changed forever because of you. Thanks to all of you who have made BIG sacrifices to make this week happen. 

One thing I don't want to miss is to thank those who are attending 7 Nights of Worship. You have been patient being thrown out of your normal meeting place. Kids all over the place and lots of change. Thanks for your being willing to give up your normal  week night. It will be back to normal for you next week. But the kids might never be the same, and hopefully God is doing great things in their lives. 

Easter @ the Oasis Re-Cap 2009

             I have not been able to give an update for several reasons. I've been trying, but it's been pretty busy this week following Easter. I just had to share some of the blessings of Oasis Church this past Easter -- 12 services, 3 campuses, (4 if you count the NoFla new mission) 3 counties, over 5 days. Something that might go unnoticed is that there were 3 of our 7 Nights of Worship that had between 200-300 in attendance last week. One night had almost 150. Around 900 attended 7 Nights of Worship. What would have happened if we had not had those services? We would have never had room for any of those since all the services Sunday at our Pines campus were full. Amazing!! That's all I can say. Thanks to all of you who gave up your seats at Pines on Sunday morning so a guest could have them. Because of you we had enough seats. 

I am still celebrating what happened this past week at Oasis Church during our Easter week services. You expect many guests. You expect attendance to be up more than usual. That is pretty normal in any church.  That is the nature of the traditional Easter in America. 

But you also can expect many to leave and go back to their old lives and not be changed by what happened in the Easter worship. That is anything but the case at Oasis Church. Yes, we had tons of guests. Yes, we had a great attendance. We don’t count week to week, but it was definitely as large as any weekend ever. We printed 50% more bulletins than normal and still ran out.

But what stands out to me is what did God do in lives? Was there evidence of changed lives? Did people make intentional decisions to turn from their normal lives and turn to Jesus? That is what Easter is all about. It’s not about new clothes, lilies, special musical productions and large crowds.

The invitation responses in services, notes, emails and Facebook notes are a huge indication that God did a great work. In the services I spoke in, there were many who raised their hands at the end of the message saying they had prayed to receive Christ as their Lord and Savior. I heard similar reports in other services. There were families who brought their loved ones who prayed the prayer to receive Christ. The neat thing is that I even heard of people praying with me the sinners' prayer and their family members heard them. That would give me goose bumps (if you don’t know what goose bumps are, Google it!) I received all kinds of correspondence telling about decisions that had been made. Others who visited said they were definitely coming back and this was going to be their new church home. Some even said they were ready to follow the Lord in baptism. Some will be baptized this week in our services.

Below are some of the reports from Oasis Church:

1. Just so you know I attend Oasis Pembroke Pines. I wanted to thank you for the message yesterday, it was great. Also my brother was one of the people in the service to pray the prayer to bring Jesus into his life and that was amazing for me to hear. I was sitting next to him and could hear him raise his hand and I was elated! Thanks for all you and the pastoral team do to make Oasis the wonderful church that it is!
2. What an awesome blessing to be at your church. Words can't describe it!
3. I attended Oasis yesterday for your Easter service. I have recently moved to the area and decided to attend the service yesterday and found the sermon very rewarding. You mentioned your Facebook/blog and thought I would check it out.  (This was a guest who asked to be my friend on Facebook, cool)
4. From our North Miami Campus comes this report from our Interim Campus Pastor, Kevin McCord:

        We had 7 folks decide to place their trust in Jesus! (NoMi)

        We had 200 folks in attendance (NoMi)

 Our  new mission, Oasis Church North Florida in Jacksonville shared they had over 150 in attendance Sunday for their first Easter, with 5 New Believers and many first-time guests.

It's ironic that in the most challenging year economically in our 17-year history, God allowed Oasis to renovate an 82 year old church in North Miami which was about to die.   It  was then re-launched. From a year ago, with just 20 folks holding on trying to survive, on Easter Sunday they celebrated a year later with over 200 in attendance! With a lot more than just a lot of folks -- A new vibrant ministry in NoMi. In the same year we have cut our budget 15%, $315,000 and also sent Jeremy and Jeanine Higdon to Jacksonville to start a new church. You have given/pledged almost $60,000 to that new mission. You, as Oasis Church, gave almost $100,000 to help renovate North Miami. There are countless new believers now in the Kingdom of God because of your sacrifice during these tough times. Do you realize in this tough time, when most are just trying to survive, that Oasis Church actually increased its family by 350+ more folks just at NoMi and Jax? God has blessed us beyond what we could ever imagine.   Have you noted we haven't even mentioned Pines campus? God continues to grow us and send many new believers. None of those would have ever come to Pines or Hollywood, yet you as a church have made a huge impact in the Kingdom of God without even seeing all those folks on Easter.

Kids World did incredible in ministering to hundreds of children, many who had never been before. Not one negative comment, or situation reported. That is amazing when you figure somewhere around 600 children were in attendance at all the services. Thanks, Suzie and Team! You guys are incredible. (There is a story on the Kids World web page at www.visitoasis.org

At our Hollywood Campus, Ben Windle sent this report:  John and the worship team rocked our socks off this morning! Worship sounded great! The tech team did a great job. The video at the end with the song "Here is our King" sounded awesome and was a great way to end the service!  There was a lot of hanging out and swashbuckling after the service!  My Question is... What is swashbuckling, Ben???

Worship was awesome at Pines. Chris Hughes and the team did a great job and the video and song, "That's My King", was a great ending.  To be continued.........