Hey guys! Just a reminder that we’re ganna go to Mt. Crescent this Saturday to go skiing, snow boarding, and tubing…whichever you prefer. It costs 42 bucks plus tax (tubing is only $33). It should be a fun time just to hang out as a group and do something fun together, so I hope you can make it. We’ll meet at Brookside at 12:30, then we’ll take buses to Crescent and be back by 6:00. Make sure you bring a signed parent waiver with you, but most of all remember the most important part is to come ready to HAVE SOME FUN!
Feb
12
2010
12
2010
Invite Temp is UP!!!
Oasis students…I’m proud of you! Between going to the movie “To Save A Life” and the “Super Bowl Party” I have met so many of your friends. But not only are they coming to our events your friends are coming to Oasis. Way to go! I know many of you are investing heavily in the lives of others and you’re taking any opportunity you can to invite them. As I read through the New Testament the heart of Jesus is clear…he loved people that where far from God. I hope you sense God’s pleasure in what you are doing as you desire that those close to you would experience being a part of the family of God!
Feb
12
2010
12
2010
Re-Plugged In…
This morning I took much of the day and headed out of town for a “day away”. I have fallen out of the habit of doing this once a month. My goal in these outings is clear…get my heart re-connected/refreshed by God. It is true of me that I have been sensing a decline in my heart’s passion these days…not a good thing. It’s not that I’ve had any less view of God or any less of a conscientiousness of my need for Him. But rather it’s that the pace and the challenges of life have taken some knocks at my heart over the course of the last several months. If you have walked with God for any period of time you can relate to this.
So today my goal was simple…to reconnect. I was listening to a message on the way in today and not to my surprise (God’s timing is encouraging) it was on being vitally connected to God if you want to live a passionate life for Christ. The text was John 15:5-8. What a powerful text!
In the five hours that I’ve been on this “day-away” I can honestly say God has totally met with me. I sense a deep level of connection and a re-newed passion to tackle the joys and the challenges of ministry and life. My prayer to God: “Lord thank you for being so faithful. You are real, you prompt, you speak, and you truly are a relational God that loves His children.” Today I didn’t take a magic pill…just simply sat quiet for a bit, read God’s word, spent some time in prayer, read some of a leadership book, and even took a 10 minute nap!
So, how you feeling these days? Has your bible reading gone flat? Do your prayers sound like a broken record? Are things that usually don’t bug you getting under your skin? Do you lack passion for the things of God that used to get you out of bed? My word of encouragement to you today…lead yourself…get yourself deeply connected to your Savior. His grace and his mercy is good.
Feb
05
2010
05
2010
Super Bowl Party!!! Sunday, 5:00 p.m. Oasis Room
We hope you can join us Sunday night…it’s going to be a blast!
Feb
05
2010
05
2010
Cool article on the Colts….you ready for the game!?!
Faith a Pillar of Indianapolis’ Success
2/04/2010 4:30 PM ET By Terence Moore
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Now this is different. More than a few executives, players and coaches for the Indianapolis Colts are deeply into the spiritual, and they are sincere about it. “I’d say around 100 percent of the guys,” said linebacker Clint Session, studying a ballroom filled with teammates on Thursday at their seaside hotel, where nobody was shy about discussing his faith.
Then, in the NFL, there was that collection of Christians during the latter 1990s for the Jacksonville Jaguars, led by Mark Brunell and Tony Boselli. Among their teammates was Esera Tuaolo, a gay defensive lineman, who wrote in his autobiography, “They really pressured guys, especially the younger players. An older player might start preaching to a younger guy in the locker room that he needed to change his ways because the end was near. You could feel the threat of rejection … It felt like if you didn’t go to their Bible study, you weren’t part of the team.”
Those Giants never won anything. Those Knicks were a mess. Those Jaguars never reached a Super Bowl, but these Colts have. Twice, in fact. Not only that, these Colts are just another Sunday away after chapel service from capturing a second world championship in four years.
Here’s the irony: The venerable Tony Dungy, a devout Christian who set the foundation for the Colts’ openness with spirituality, really wasn’t that open about his faith — at least not in close quarters with his team.
Said Session, who played two of his three years in the NFL under Dungy, “You obviously knew about where he stood as a Christian, but Coach Dungy did a good job of respecting everybody’s religious beliefs in the locker room and saying, ‘This guy here may not be a Christian, so I’m not just going to present everything (about salvation) to him.’ But on the other hand, Coach (Jim) Caldwell sort of has a better feel for the guys, and he knows what we have on this team when it comes to spiritually. So he knows it’s not off the wall to go say something about the Bible, because everybody on the team is on board with it.”
Yes, everybody, or close to it. For verification, after Caldwell succeeded Dungy this season as part of a meticulous plan devised by the two buddies years ago, the Colts continued their dance with the NFL’s all-time elite. They finished 14-2 after starting 14-0. They reached the playoffs for the 10th time in the past 11 seasons. They had more otherworldly performances from quarterback Peyton Manning. They eventually blew past the Baltimore Ravens and the New York Jets to begin the postseason en route to their upcoming date with the New Orleans Saints.
Through it all, Caldwell completed his evolution from that assistant coach who came to Indianapolis with Dungy in 2002 to this unofficial Sunday School teacher who happens to be the Colts’ new head man.
He often puts a scripture on the board before team meetings.
He never misses the Colts’ weekly Bible study. He even takes the essence of those messages back to the team as a whole — for those who weren’t there.
Rarely does he finish a press gathering without a spiritual reference or phrase.
This spiritual thing with the Colts isn’t just a Caldwell thing. Before every game, tight end Dallas Clark has spent his seven seasons with the Colts kneeling in one of the end zones for a little prayer. Interview after interview, wide receiver Pierre Garcon attributes much of his obsession with trying to help earthquake victims in his native Haiti to his strong Christian convictions.
Other Colts players are more private with their words and actions regarding their faith, but they aren’t afraid to express it when asked. And, as is the case with Caldwell, Clark and Garcon, they don’t strike you as needlessly preachy.
Just extremely sincere.
“For many of our guys, their faith is important to them, because I think they know it’s something that helps us whether we’re on and off the field,” said Colts center Jeff Saturday, in his 11th season with the team. “The Polians (Bill, the Colts’ president for 12 years, and his son Chris, who is the vice president of football operations) have done a fantastic job of bringing good guys in — not necessarily faith-driven guys, but just good people that are team guys. These are guys who aren’t about themselves, but guys who will put the goals of the team ahead of their own.
“It’s seems like when one of those guys who fits that mold leaves the team, they always have somebody else to fill his place.”
Offensive guard Ryan Lilja agreed, saying, “It’s a special group of guys, but at the same time, the way our team runs things on the spiritual side, you’re not pressured to go to Bible study or anything else. These things take place before meetings or after practices, and times and places are optional. You’re not pressured at all to go.”
It’s just that most Colts players want to go. And even though Lilja added, “I really don’t know if there’s a correlation between wins and the spiritual side of this team,” I know, and you know.
Deep down inside, Lilja knows, too.
I mean, nobody.
This really is different. Historically, when it comes to professional sports, the most lethal combination in any locker room beyond that of T.O. and a starting quarterback has been that of the Bible and the playbook.
Here are some quick examples from a decades-old list.
During my San Francisco newspaper days, I covered the God Squad of the San Francisco Giants in the early 1980s. The slew of non-believers blamed the small but vibrant group of believers for the team’s devilish play.
Nine years ago, Charlie Ward’s remarks about Jews were misconstrued after somebody revealed the discussion — well, their version of the discussion — of a private Bible study among teammates on the New York Knicks. Ward nevertheless was ridiculed in the aftermath, along with the rest of the organization.
