GuyMelton.com: What Were You Thinking?

Is your church or business closed today, MLK Day?Why Not?

 
Just wondering on this day how many of  my friends offices are closed for MLK Day? Before you start giving me all your philosophical garbage and excuses let me say I am not  judging you but wanting to  ask you to think about something.

When this day first was decided I must admit I didn't like it. I feel like we have too many holidays. I feel like our govt employees already get too many days off for these things at our expense. I felt like, lets reserve this for Presidents. I mean how many times can we  honor a person or persons without wrecking our economy. (Of course we have managed to do that already so that is a mute point now). I also was not sure having a civil rights type holiday would not do more harm than good. I mean there are lots of good people doing great things in honor of freedom and civil rights.

But over the years as I have thought about it and have more and more friends who are black and BTW most are not African Americans but blacks from  practically every country on Earth. Our church is a melting pot. I realized there are just certain seminal moments in history that can't be ignored. This is one of them. I don't believe MLK was a saint. I think he had plenty of flaws, but he also raised a flaw in our culture that I lived and was on the wrong side of it in the terms of racism. I was taught segregation as good and righteous. Boy, can we twist scriptures.

Aside from your thoughts and personal opinions. This is why I decided our church would close our offices and take the day off in honor of him. To honor my friends who are black, African Americans and other cultures who are considered the minority in our country. To show sensitivity, and to honor what a man did and was willing to die for. If there has ever been a picture of just how far our nation has come since MLK first marched in Alabama, you need look no farther than our White House. If anyone stands on his shoulders it is President Obama. Even with all the disagreements I have with his politics, I wept the week he was sworn in, because of what it meant to our country and how far it showed we had come. In a good sense in Racial relations. Are we there yet? heck no. We will always struggle with this, because of mans sin nature. It doesn't matter who or what race is in the majority, there will be racism and prejudice. But as Christians we must overcome this. Just as our sinful nature is tempted in other areas it is in this area. We must rise above it.

Now for pastors, I have a question. Whether you philisophically agree with the day or not, if you have ever lamented you would like to have a more diverse church, then this might be the first step. Honor your Minorities you already have even if its one or two. Others will see your spirit. When Oasis Church began   displaying the flags of the nations who attend our church it made a statement. Hundreds over the years have attended our church just because of the statement we make every-week by flying the flags of 84 countries.

Pastor friends, maybe you should put aside your personal opinions and make a statement to ALL People in your community. Start with taking MLK day off and close your office. Im proud we do it and I am proud to be a diverse church. "For God so loved the World" John 3:16

Welcome 2011...........

 
This morning ushered in another new year. As I sit in front of a fire in one of my fav places , Gatlinburg , TN I have been reflective and sobered by all God has blessed me with this past year. Its been a great 2010, with many victories and Blessings, but also a challenging year. I'm not sure as we grow older there is ever a year that is without challenges and disappointments. That is life. I am blessed to have far more ups than downs. But today I just want to begin to look ahead. I have no idea if Ill be here for January 1, 2012. None of us do. Reality is if I am the things I'm thinking will take place now and the plans I have today wont necessarily turn out just the way I planned. I will have many surprises as you will and some will be pleasant and some will be sad. But through it all I plan on taking on 2011 with everything I have and asking God to be honored in my life and to let me make an impact in others lives for HIM.

This might be one of the most eventful years of my life. I am not ready to share all my plans and things that will unfold but I am ready to begin to unfold them and peek inside the coming year. Then Ill head out for a day with my family as our vacation in the Mountains winds down and the realities of 2011 kick in at warp speed.

* The year begins with a sobering and honest look at our Oasis Church ministries and how we will sharpen and refocus our vision and mission. It will include making some big decisions with our church council in the next couple weeks. The realities of the now almost 4 year recession in South Florida has caused us to stay on top of finances and make sure the financial recession does not keep us from Accomplishing what God has led us to do.  Some deep cuts are coming this year , but I also plan this year at the Oasis to be one of the greatest yet. You don't have to have lots of money and resources to do a work for God. Christmas at the Oasis this year  the new mission in North Miami and internet campus along with a strong launch of many small groups prove this.

*Oasis will read through the Bible this year and all small groups, ministries and messages will all be themed around our reading that week. Its going to be a breakthrough year spiritually for hundreds at the Oasis.

* 3 of our Pastors will take a well earned Sabbatical this year. Our council approved this 5 years ago following my Sabbatical. This is going to not only renew our pastors but will allow them to be greater leaders and servants to Oasis Church. If more churches unselfishly did this for their pastors, there would not be the burn out, sexual immorality and pastoral turnover we see in many churches.  Pat Roberts will take his this spring. Ill take mine this Summer and James Brown will take his in the Fall.

 

* 30 of our Oasis Family will join Tonia and I for the first Holy Land Tour we have led in 13 years this year in Feb. This is going to be a life changing trip for many. The trip is full, but if you missed it, we hope to go again in a few years. Start saving your money. 

* I have lots of plans for my Sabbatical this summer. Some will be announced shortly which I am very excited but also will be challenged like never before. Look forward to announcing a BIG decision happening during my Sabbatical in the next month .

* Oasis Church will celebrate its 20th Anniversary in September of 2011. Hard to believe with 11 core group we launched on Sunday , September 15, 1991 and now we are 20 years old.

Just a few thoughts on the New Year ahead. But in reality, God is in Control and only He knows what will really take place in 2011. Happy New Year and may God be more in control of your life and your life be God blessed like never before this coming year, as you grow and trust in HIM.
 
 
 

This week the Sun-Sentinel had a column about the Nativity Display at Oasis Church. This was not a report but opinion piece. Ironically our Nativity Display and Light Display started 15 years ago as a result of the Pembroke Lakes Mall Banning the Nativity Display . I was also part of the City of Hollywood many years ago putting the Nativity in City Hall. :Done by the way with Private monies. Interesting thoughts all these years later. 

 

Holiday displays: Better at church than city hall

• Antonio Fins
• 

Kudos to the Oasis Church in Pembroke Pines for its effort to break a record, and in the process again demonstrate why the private sector knows best.

Last week, the nondenominational church in Southwest Broward set out to set a world's record for the biggest collection of nativity scenes, with 2,150 of them.

I'm making a big deal out of this because I want to stress the positive in another holiday season that was momentarily disrupted by rancor over decorative displays.

Earlier this month, for example, the Catholic League in New York took issue with Boca Raton over its holiday decorations.

Continued Here

Oasis Weekly Email, December 24, 2010.............

Dear Extended Oasis Family; Well, it's almost here!! Yes, just a day or so away and it's Christmas. I don't even pretend to be ready. Not even close. If you are then, Congrats! You are my hero. Enjoy. If you're like me, you still have gifts to finish, details to get done and business to do! The great thing about Oasis Church that I love is we do Christmas the whole month, and so we really get to celebrate this season every night if we choose. I love all of you who have volunteered to make Christmas at the Oasis the best it has ever been. I'm not just saying that, it has been phenomenal. Maybe it's just being off last year that made us that much more prepared and excited, I don't know, but I have never been prouder of our Oasis Family. We have even had our Hollywood and NoMi Campuses have folks come out and host and work during the Pines display. That has really been a blessing to me. Remember the Lights and Christmas Village where it snows every night and Skating every night is on through January 1st. Make sure you bring family and friends out. This is the easiest you will ever have it to invite your friends to check out your church. The neat thing for me is every night I'm out here on the campus, I meet families who introduce me to either their family or friends. That is what really gets me jazzed! Ok, i know that word is Old School but hey! Speaking of Christmas! Nothing symbolizes the coming of the Savior and the real meaning of Christmas than our annual Christmas Eve Candlelight services at Oasis. If you are not ready for Christmas and you're having a hard time really focusing, this is a must tomorrow night. We have 3 at the Pines campus, at 6, 8 and 11 p.m. We have a 7 p.m. service at our Hollywood and North Miami Campus. All candlelight services on Christmas Eve will be an hour or less, but a great time to sing the traditional Christmas carols and a short message reminding us to Celebrate the Reason we have Christmas. I hope to see you at one of the 5 services Friday night!   There are a number of changes to our normal service schedule during the next two weeks of the Holidays. You will especially want to go to our web site and check out the schedule changes. Especially to our "Oasis After Hours" Services. This coming Sunday, the day after Christmas, all campuses will have regular services. We will complete our "Christmas around the World" series with a special message challenging all of us as we move into 2011. I hope you will be here Sunday. At our NoMi and Hollywood Campuses the service times are as usual. At Pines we will not have our 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. services. We want to give our families, volunteers and worship teams a little extra time on Sunday morning. WE WILL HAVE OUR 10:30 a.m. AND 12 NOON SERVICES. WE WILL ALSO HAVE OUR LIVE INTERNET SERVICE AT 10:30 a.m. AND NOON (EST) FOR THOSE TRAVELING. Next week January 2nd, all the services will be back to normal on Sunday morning at Pines.   May I ask you if you have not yet given to our Christmas offering this year, would you do so this week or next? We are still far away from meeting the needs of our Christmas display and the cost of it. You can go online and give, or put it in an envelope you received in the mail a couple weeks ago, or mark your envelope on the "other" line for Christmas. If you have not yet given the Lord's Tithes and Offerings this week you can also do so online, 24/7. Our ministry doesn't take a vacation during the holidays and as you know we ramp up in December, so it's more important than ever for our Oasis Family to continue your faithful giving at this time of year. Thanks to those who have already given and give so faithfully weekly. God bless each of you.      P.S. If you plan to give a year end gift to Oasis Church it is important that it is given prior to January 1st. The government does not allow us to record any gift for 2010 that is not given or postmarked no later than December 31st.  You can even give online until 11:59 p.m. Friday night December 31st.   Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church

We are officially the World Record Holder.....................

While the process for the Guinness World Record is ongoing. The paper work, pictures , stories etc are all being worked on and sent in the next week or two, we have already been notified by the "World Records Academy" that we are now recognized of having the largest collection/display of Nativities in the World, 2150. Of course we all already knew this but you can see the verification on their web-page.

While it might take a while to get all the things in to receive the Certificate from them and from Guinness we will notify Oasis Church once it is complete.

 

Congrats to Debbie Brown and her team who did the impossible. I'm so proud of all who participated and made it happen. Debby has called it the "Miracle on 14street"  Go Debby. 

 

 

Breaking News, Live Coverage tonight on WPLG, Channel 10........

We got word today from WPLG, Channel 10 here in South Florida that they will do a live cast story tonight from our Pembroke Pines, Oasis Campus. Come check it out, or watch between 6-630. Might be on the 11 pm news as a story tonight. Yesterdays Blog post gave all the details of the Record attempt.

We also have confirmed the Miami Herald will be out to do a story on our "Guinness World Book of World" for the Largest Nativity Display, on Saturday during the counting process. The record is presently 1,802. The most we have ever displayed is 750.  They will join WHIM, 1080 Radio who will be out Saturday night also.

Praying we hit 1,803 ! If not , hey there is always next Year!!

You can watch Channel 10 live on the internet tonight if you are an Oasis Extended Family outside of South Florida.

Announcement of the World Record attempt outcome Saturday night at the end of our 6pm Worship Service. 

 

 

 

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.

   

Weekly Pastor's Oasis Email for Thanksgiving week, 2010.......

Dear Extended Oasis Family;

I hope you had a great Thanksgiving regardless of where you live. Some of you in distant countries where life went on normally yet you celebrated Thanksgiving, we say hello to you. This is our weekly email to our church family locally this week. We sent it early this week since our office was closed on Thurs. It contains alot of the info for our opening week of our Christmas at the Oasis. I hope to see many of you. Also if you have Nativities you want to loan to us for our World Record Attempt, we would welcome your participation regardless where you live. Have a great week. As we always do, remember our format will cut off a few words on a line for some of you and some links might not work. We apologize. Someday when we move  out of the 19th century here at Oasis we will learn how to fix it.;)

  

Dear Extended Oasis Family, I know today is all about wishing everyone a "Happy Thanksgiving". That seems to be appropriate for sure, but I blogged about what Thanksgiving might really be about. I think we might miss the most important part. I don't think we intentionally do it, but it happens. Please read this and feel free to let me know your thoughts.   I know we are all busy today getting ready for our weekend and some time off , so let me try to be short. (shorter;)))  Please check out these very important and timely things I need to bring to your attention:   ALL CHURCH Christmas WORKDAY THIS SATURDAY, 9 a.m. - 2 p.m. (Pines Campus).  We are just one week from our BIG KICK OFF to our Christmas at the Oasis Light Display, Live Nativity and World's Largest Nativitiy Display. We are needing anyone who is able to take 1, 2, 3, or 4 hours this Saturday to come out and help us string lights and make some final prep for our displays. Don't underestimate your value - even if you have never done lights before. There are lots of things you can help with. I'll be there. Hope to see many of you. Come work off all that Thanksgiving fat and calories. Not a better way to work off the Holiday fun.  Congrats to all our KidsWorld team and families who gave a record of almost 700 Operation Christmas Child Boxes. You guys are awesome. The most we had given was 200 the year before. Congrats to Paula and team and thanks to all our Oasis Family who gave! There will be hundreds of kids who have little who will be thrilled by your love. Attempt of the "Guinness Book of World Records" for our Nativity Display is next week. So many have already committed to bringing their Nativity. Based on our rough count we are about 500 ahead of any previous year but about 600 from what we will need to break the record. Of course only by bringing yours, your neighbors, friends and families will we break this record. We are within striking distance of the record, let's keep the "Sprint" until we have all we need - 1803!! Your one, two, or 20 is needed. No matter the size or look. If you have something that has the nativity on it, then it qualifies. Bring it. Can't wait to see what shows up with a Nativity on it! It could be crazy fun!!!! Start bringing them on Tuesday, November 30th. Find out details at this weekend's services. Live Nativity, World's Largest Nativity Display, and Christmas @ the Oasis Display Kicks  off next Friday Dec. 3 at 6 p.m. Don't forget to bring your friends and neighbors. Ask everyone you see to come. There will be brochures at all services and all campuses this week. Keep one and hand more out. Extras will be at the info table at each campus.  Family Fun Nights Continue on Saturday and Sunday Nights this week. 5 p.m. Activities for kids and 6 p.m. Worship begins. I hope many of our Sunday attenders at Pines will try out the Saturday and Sunday nights. Our Hollywood Campus partnered with "Take it to the Streets" ministry last week to feed about 100 homeless a Thanksgiving Dinner and is busy getting ready for the annual "Candy Cane" Parade. Go Hollywood. On Thanksgiving Day our North Miami Campus is delivering 200 meals to Homeless and homebound. Even if you don't attend the NoMi campus you or your family can go be a part of it. Go NoMi. Lots more happening. Check it out on our new web site, and our Oasis Fan Page on Facebook. You don't have to be a member of Facebook to see what's happening at Oasis, and to celebrate the stories of God's life changing Grace. See you on Facebook.  Happy ThanksGIVING Oasis. I love you and I am truly thankful for the privilege to serve as your Pastor. P.S. Don't forget to invite your family and friends from around the world to join us on Sunday mornings for live worship through our Internet Campus. Great stories are beginning to come in. More later. Also if you're Thankful this holiday have you shown it in your Giving? It is ThanksGIVING you know. You can give the Lord His tithes ONLINE, 24/7.   Guy Melton Pastor Oasis Church http://www.guymelton.com http://www.visitoasis.org

The Real Meaning of ThanksGIVING............

 
 Today as I was working on my weekly "Prayer Partners "  letter I send each week,  I began to meditate on the word Thanksgiving and formulate my letter, a thought continued to keep coming back to me.  Talk is soooooooooo cheap.  We throw Thanksgiving around this time of year like it really means something and we are for some reason Thankful if we say, "Happy Thanksgiving".   While I do encourage us to pray prayers of Thanksgiving this very special season in America, please think on something else in the next few days.

 

Think about the second half of ThanksGIVING!!!  Let me suggest that God is not impressed with us Americans (or those living in American culture) and our Cheap Happy talk about being thankful.  Why do I say that?  I think He would much rather see American Christians living out lives of Thankfulness.  How do we do that?  The answer is in the second half of the word  -- "Giving".  So, how thankful are you really?  How much are you giving to God, His work, to those in need?  How much of your meager, or how much of your abundant gifts He's given you?  How much of your time is given to those in need and who need to be served? 

 

The real answer is not in the words but the deeds.  James taught us that in our last study "Just Live IT".   James 2:18 - "But someone will say, 'You have faith; I have deeds.'  Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

 

True thanksgiving is not shown in our words, cards or prayers.  It's shown in our Deeds of Giving.  So, how Thankful are you this Thanksgiving?  James could have just as easily been saying, Show me your Faith by your GIVING!   Now, I'm not suggesting to run out with guilt tomorrow on Thanksgiving and begin to hand out food and money to everyone you see on the street, or decide you'll do a quick fix and try to make yourself feel better on Thanksgiving Day. But what I am asking each of us is to use our Prayer Time this ThanksGIVING to ask God what He is asking us to Give to HIM & OTHERS.  How can I really Live IT, and Show it -- not with my Words but with my DEEDS of GIVING?  I would love to hear from you what He tells you!  Share it!  Sometimes it's good accountability to share with others what God has told you to do and then ask them to help hold us accountable.

Catch what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 9:8-10  (The Message) - "God can pour on the blessings in astonishing ways so that you're ready for anything and everything, more than just ready to do what needs to be done.  As one psalmist puts it, He throws caution to the winds, giving to the needy in reckless abandon.  His right-living, right-giving ways never run out, never wear out.  This most generous God who gives seed to the farmer that becomes bread for your meals is more than extravagant with you.  He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God."

 

Now this is ThanksGIVING or should I say ThanksLIVING!!!

 

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