Oasis Church North Florida

A Good Soldier - Part 1

In 2 Timothy 2, we read that Paul is writing to Timothy, a young man he has mentored, discipled and sent out to lead in ministry, and challenges him live life as a good soldier (he also uses word pictures like athlete and farmer). I recently heard Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, talk for a few moments of this passage and the importance of what it means to the pastor/ church planter.

He first talked about - "THE MAN"...the role of pastor.

-Leadership and quality determine failure or success...personally, relationally, church, etc...

-I am to (and need to) fight for sound doctrine and moral purity in my life and in our church.

-I am also to fight for families, truth, and the well-being of those in my own family and in our church.

The bottom line is I (and any pastor/ church planter) need to be pro-active...attack issues that threaten to tear apart my family, don't sit back and let anything happen that is against what God has for our church, and realize that lies need to be exposed and truth lifted up as worthy of being followed and lived out. We need to realize that part of success as leader, father, husband, pastor is that we as men will need to fight to protect, defend, and defeat what is attacking our lives, families, and churches.

Ephesians 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. 11 Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. 13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 14 Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, 15 and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 16 In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. 18 And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. 

Vision of Church Planter - Part 3

I listen to Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church, on my ipod. He taught a little bit about the way a church planter is to live and really, the reasons to plant a new church. I have broken up my notes over a couple of posts. God is also using itunes as a tool to continue to shape me as we move forward!

- I am to live my life on mission and build a church on mission...what are characteristics of church on mission?

8. Committed to practicing faith in community - sharing common mission, risking money, time, emotional pain, and failure...TOGETHER! Pastor needs to put down roots with church...stop looking and trying to move on or up...have the idea of "40 years together"... what could God do in our 40 years?...do life deeply together and give sacrificially of time, stuff, and money.

9. Worship God in an authentic, personal, and evangelistic way...not just singing!...Worship includes living, breathing, thinking, eating...being passionate and real about love of God compels and attracts others to Him. Constant pleasure in Him who created tastes, flavor, smells, touch...

10. Mission of church is the mission of God...He calls us to passionately join Him in His redemptive mission to save the world. John Piper quote "mission is not ultimate goal of church...worship is. Mission exists because worship does not. God is ultimate not man." Mission will one day end...in heaven. Worship is forever. I need to keep dying to myself so that our story will be, "this is what GOD did!".

These 10 points and practices will be part of forming our new church in Jacksonville...Oasis Church North Florida!

Vision of Church Planter - Part 2

I listen to Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church, on my ipod. He taught a little bit about the way a church planter is to live and really, the reasons to plant a new church. I have broken up my notes over a couple of posts. God is also using itunes as a tool to continue to shape me as we move forward!

- I am to live my life on mission and build a church on mission...what are characteristics of church on mission?

5. Dependent on Holy Spirit to use us. David and other in Scripture longed for God...why don't we? Where is this longing in us? Spend too much time on strategy and too little time fasting and praying. I can't control the power of God, I submit to it. I must pursue HIM!

6. Develops relationships with the lost for the purpose of incarnating Christ to them...need to die to myself and serve my people (and my Lord) daily. I need to be around those who need life.

7. Humbly helps others find Jesus on their own timing, without forcing superficial decisions

Check back to see the last three...our desire is to plant a church on mission!

Worship at Oasis Church NFL

One of the most important people on the team of people leading and launching a church is the worship leader...this person has a large influence on shaping the church and defining who the church is and will be...while I have other people on board who are on the team in different areas, this person is still missing...

What am I praying for?
-A person (guy or girl) who passionately loves Jesus
-Someone who will lead others in worship of Jesus, not perform or put on a show
-Someone who knows how to lead and put together the elements needed for the band (drummer, guitarists, etc...)
-Someone who will help us be a church that goes after people who don't go to church
-Someone who worships loud...turn it up to 11!
-Someone whom real men will worship with...we are going after unchurched, far from God, men...and we are not apologizing for that!
-Someone with tats...hey, had to throw it out there...
-Someone who is all this and humble and willing to join a team and vision...we don't have much money right now!

So, you see? That is a BIG request! Please take 1 minute right now and pray that God will connect us with the right person over the next few months who will lead the worship at Oasis Church North Florida. If you know somebody or have some other input, please email me at oasisnfl@gmail.com .

And, here is what the worship and worship leader will NOT be like...enjoy!

Vision of Church Planter - Part 1

I listen to Matt Chandler, lead pastor of The Village Church, on my ipod. He taught a little bit about the way a church planter is to live and really, the reasons to plant a new church. I have broken up my notes over a couple of posts. God is also using itunes as a tool to continue to shape me as we move forward!

- As people come to the Lord, they need a body, a church to connect with....

- I am to live my life on mission and build a church on mission...what are characteristics of church on mission?

1. Understands the centrality of the gospel...Eccl. 3:11. Everyone needs this ache, this desire, to be met by Christ. The fracture of The Fall can be healed and is made right by the work of Jesus on the cross. The Gospel shapes ALL that we do...and we can't leave it behind.

2. Committed to inspired, authoritative, all-sufficient Scriptures...everything in them needs to be taught. It is God's Word to us...He thinks it is important and so should we!

3. Embrace the calling of God as sent missionaries to the culture around us. Everyone is where they are and doing what they do and living where they live as part of purposed plan of God...this is no accident! Sanctification occurs when you engage a lost and dying world...not by "Protecting yourself". (I need to preach and teach this and live it myself!).

4. Actively train people to engage the culture. Older men/women train and mentor younger men and women-- better than a 4 week program!

More to come soon....

Church Plant Thoughts

From time to time, I will share a little bit of my journey to this point of wanting to launch a church in Jacksonville....

I was at a church planting conference in Orlando a few months ago. I was still praying through what God was saying to me and wrestling with what He was calling our family to do. The conference opened with a panel discussion. Some things I wrote down in my journal (in italics) were...

- the reason to plant a church is to plant churches....if not, it will be a dead-end to the Great Commission... wow, this is quite a loaded statement!

-planting churches needs to be in our values/ vision statements

-give a percentage of our budgets to planting more churches...we are in the process of partnering with Oasis Church of South Florida which is giving to us as well as Acts 29, a network of churches who do this with their budgets.

- Ron Sylvia, of purpose driven planting, stated a goal of 1,000 new churches being launched in the next 5 years...we are going to a conference of theirs at Liberty University in November.

-to reproduce a church requires every part of ministry to be reproducible

- Don't do this alone...link arms with others! That is the whole purpose behind this site and asking people to join the 600!

-Be patient!!! This takes time!

Awesome news!

We found out last week that we have been approved to rent and use as our plant location, the movie theater at River City Marketplace! Starting in February, our home for Oasis Church North Florida will be at the Hollywood Theater, off of exit 363 on I-95. This is very exciting news and a major answer to prayer as we really believe this is one of the best locations to launch a church in the Northside of Jacksonville.

Now, there are some hurdles to overcome but we are relieved to have a place that we can now begin to pray for and think through logistics of getting it equipped to be a church for adults and kids. Sooner than we think, we will be promoting this location to the whole community. I am looking forward to what God will do and the lives He will change at a movie theater in Jacksonville! I can't wait!

Where in Jax will the new church be planted?

A great question I have been getting is "Where in Jax will you be planting Oasis Church?" You may or may not know that Jacksonville is one of the largest cities in the world when it comes to amount of land...it literally is the entire county of Duval. As it has grown, the Greater Jacksonville area includes about 5 different counties. So, this was an important factor for us to consider! After much prayer and study of the area, we have decided to relocate our family and plant the church on the Northside of Jacksonville.

If you see the map, you will notice the St Johns River. It basically cuts the city in half. Everything north of the river, for the most part, would be considered the Northside. The River City Marketplace, which I talked about in earlier blogs, is located just north of 295. It is also the same exit as the Jacksonville International Airport off of I-95, so it is easily accessible off of the major highways.

There is also a plan that the city of Jacksonville has for the Northside. The vision is that over the next several years, road changes, neighborhood developments, and increased shopping and business resources will improve the Northside and be an area of Jax that will see increased growth and development. It is exciting to see, not only the current need, but also the potential for years to come that we have as a church to "be and make disciple-makers of Jesus Christ"! We are looking forward to continuing to learn about and make the Northside our new home for our family and church.

The location we are trying to get into @ River City Marketplace

When we first drove up to the Northside of Jacksonville, Jeanine and I saw the potential that could be of a group meeting at River City Marketplace. Toward the back of the center, we saw the place we thought would work out in an amazing way....the Hollywood Theaters River City 14. This is a 2 year old building that is already familiar to people in the area. It is highly visible from I-95. It has PLENTY of parking! It has some nice seats...ok, really nice! It has room for First Impressions in the lobby, plenty of clean facilities, some great space for kids ministries and room for growth (hey, you gotta be thinking ahead!).  Zach (my 3 yr old son) and I went for a site visit last week and met the manager and got a mini-tour of the place. We are really excited at the possibility of having church in a theater!

Now, there are some hurdles. It is a four - six week process to apply and get approved to meet on a weekly basis. Anything could happen...so please pray for this application deal. We have a great person named Lindy (with NCM) who is working with us in the process. I will share more hurdles in the next few days...

But I will close with a great story...Zachary and I went to visit the theater on Monday morning. That evening, we were back in the plaza with Don and Jo Haneline (my sis and bro-in-law) and their son, Tyler. Zach, in his car seat, sees the theater and says, "Daddy, there's the church!". He then turns to his cousin (also sitting in a car seat) and says, "That's my daddy's church!". I love it! What if there are tons of kids in February of 2009 saying the same exact thing? How awesome would that be?

Church Partners

We are excited to be launching a new Oasis Church with the support, care, and sponsorship of our Oasis Church here in South Florida. However, since we believe in the power of doing this "together", we will be inviting other churches to invest in us over the next two years. This is an especially crucial need as nearly 80% of church plants fail in the early years. This week, we are sending out nearly twenty partnership packets and asking different churches that we have served and partnered with over the years to join in our church launch.

Please pray that these other churches will join with us in launching a new church in the Northside area of Jacksonville. This economy has been rough on everybody, including non-profits and churches, but we are asking God to help us all walk by faith and live in the opportunity of seeing His church grow.

If you know of a church that you feel would be willing to hear about partnering with a church plant, please email me the pastor's name and church name at oasisnfl@gmail.com and I will make sure the church gets all the needed information.