oasisCHURCH

"But... God"

In case you were wondering, I have uploaded all of the MP3s for the Proverbs study we did during the summer, as well as the Ephesians study we are currently doing at our Sunday Oasis gatherings in Middleport. You can click on the title of this thread to download last Sunday's teaching, But... God.

It always amazes me how a person can read a passage of scripture nine hundred and ninety nine times in his life yet still come away from it the one thousandth time with more insight and understanding than ever before. We discussed Sunday how Paul described to the Roman church three of the most common ways God evidences Himself to the human race... (1) an external witness of creation and nature, (2) an internal witness of our conscience/moral compass, having been made in His image and likeness becomes the only way we can distinguish any morality at all, (3) and through the witness of His Word... the most clear and descriptive witness of who He is.

In the book of Ephesians God is revealing Himself to me more and more. And I hope I can be faithful to communicate to you (Oasis friends and family) what He is revealing to me. It is also my prayer that as you dig into these verses throughout the week He will become more and more clear to you as well and as a result you will know Him better.

For me, perhaps one of the most significant insights of this past week's study was that the verses are not describing a "this OR that" scenario but a "this AND that" scenario. The first three verses of Ephesians 2 describes how we are miserable failures of God, unable to do anything about it because we are spiritually dead, following the ways of our sinful flesh and therefore objects of God's wrath. Then the whole picture changes from verse 4 and following, with just two words and a prepositional phrase... but, because of His great love for us, God... The reason I say it is not a "this OR that" scenario (either dead in sin and objects of God's wrath OR alive in Christ and objects of God's workmanship), but it's a "this AND that" scenario is because God does follow through with His word regarding the consequence for sin. Our sinful souls do result in death... God's wrath and justice. But the reason why we have such a difficult time realizing it is because we do not have to experience it. Jesus did. God's justice and wrath were poured out on Jesus... AND His mercy, love, and kindness are poured out to us through Jesus, because death couldn't keep him. Where there is no sin there can be no death. Jesus died for our sin, but he himself had no sin (Hebrews 4:15), therefore he arose from death.

He did that for us. He took what we deserve in order that we could receive what He deserves.

For this reason we praise Him.

VOICINGS

Chad Dodson has completed a demo CD with 9 songs full of the love God has poured into his heart. That love which came from God has reciprocated and is now pouring out of Chad through these songs. Just like the first song says, "this is a picture of me wanting You... a picture of me needing You... I'm here falling in love with You."

Below are the full mp3s for all nine songs in the order in which they appear on the demo. Download and enjoy!

1. Picture
2. Daddy-O
3. All For You
4. Inside
5. Teach Me
6. Home
7. The Champion
8. Up On High
9. His Eyes *words by Amy Hoffman

“These songs are a representation of the love that God has poured into me and I don't know what else to do except pour it back out. I don't just mean that God has put melodies and harmonies on my heart, but he's also put people there. I feel like I'm living life for the first time and it feels so good. The fellowship that I have with everyone at Oasis puts fuel in my veins and God is the drink that I feel like I should have always been drunk on.” — Chad Dodson

After-School Activity

a photo collage...

...from the Oasis Youth Kickoff hayride/campfire party. Click on the picture to see the full-size (feel free to right click on the full-size image and save it to your computer).

Kicking Off a Second Year of OASIS YOUTH

This Sunday we will usher in a second year of Oasis Youth House Church that will begin meeting next Sunday (September 26) at Bill and Rochelle Lawless' home (K-12 Graders).

Check out what we are doing THIS Sunday...

A Birthday & Bathroom Blog

Our son Brock had a great 6th birthday weekend. Here are a few pictures from the festivities.

Both of our kids have begun new adventures in their growth and maturity.
Brock began Kindergarten this year at The Plains Elementary School (right behind our house), and Kaylee started last week at Growing Tree Preschool (where Brock attended last year). They both love their school experiences. This morning after dropping Brock off at his school, and then 15 minutes later dropping Kaylee off at her's I had a momentary wave of emotion hit me suddenly. I started to pray for them, and my heart welled up with something I could not explain. I think I was proud of them... and sad they were getting so big... yet excited at how well they are growing and becoming "big" kids. It was just one of those things that happen to strong, hard-as-stone, fathers who never cry. ; )

Brock, Kaylee, and Daddy reading Proverbs before school.

So what's with the bathroom??? Well, last week our faucet handle broke on our tub/shower. So, I had some time this afternoon to replace it with a new one... a simple, less-than-$20 replacement. However, as I was removing the old one I broke the copper tubing that goes from the faucet to the main pipe. Now, a simple, 15-minute, less-than-$20 job has become a...... well, not exactly sure how much at this point. Let's just say that we now have a 2 foot square hole in our wall between the kitchen and bathroom. Our pipes are sealed shut, so we are able to turn the water back on. The plumber (who's wife is a friend of April's) will be back in the morning to finish the job. Then all we'll need is a dry-waller to do a patch job. Oh.... how one thing leads to another. Life is funny like that.

Arminius vs. Calvin (the great debate)

Ephesians 1:3-14
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us to be adopted as his sons through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will-- to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding. And he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times will have reached their fulfillment--to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ.

In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, in order that we, who were the first to hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession--to the praise of his glory.

This morning's study on Ephesians 1:1-14 lended itself to some pretty hefty salvation theology discussion. As promised... below are the (extra) notes that I had not yet added to the original note sheet. This is a very long post... but take some time to ponder it, inviting the tension it brings. I encourage your comments, as we could have some healthy discussion on this.

Did God draw you to Himself? Or is “coming to Jesus” something you chose to do out of your own free will? Or both? These are some of the greatest theological debates of the church. Were we predestined to come to God? Is there only a certain group of people whom God has chosen to come to Him? We know that from the beginning of creation God gave us the gift of “choice”, but if He is completely sovereign and determines who comes to Him and who does not, does this mean we really have no choice when it comes to issues of salvation?

It seems like in Christianity whenever you are confronted with these issues you are given a limited number of options to either agree or disagree with, and then you are forced to align yourself with the one that persuades you more strongly. Unfortunately, after being persuaded, there is a tendency to spend the rest of your days proving your position is the right "one"... and your study becomes limited to "proof-texting" (taking one verse here and one verse there and using them to prove our particular point of view). Usually people fall into trouble when they focus on arguing a particular doctrine of belief. Instead of seeing the Gospel story in it’s great context (the big picture), and how it all fits together, they choose certain verses to back up what they believe about the particular doctrine. But ultimately there may be something mentioned in another part of the Bible that appears to contradict the doctrine they are defending. Without the context of the whole story, the whole message of the Gospel, we find ourselves becoming separated from other brothers and sisters in Christ based on issues of doctrine and debate.

There are some things I have reserved myself to this line of thinking… I may never fully understand. And that’s okay. Because I believe in the one, Triune God. Jesus Christ, the Messiah, is my Lord and King. And I trust Him... even though I may not fully understand.

The major doctrinal issue that is raised in Ephesians 1: 3-14 is the issue of our salvation... who it begins with, how it takes place, how it is maintained, etc. Behind this teaching there are two different schools of thinking: (1) Arminianism (taught by Jacob Arminius), and (2) Calvinism (taught by John Calvin).

Arminianism can be summarized in five points (granted, these are major simplifications):
1. Free will… Arminius believed that the fall of man was not total, maintaining that there was enough good left in man for him to accept Jesus Christ unto salvation.
2. Conditional election… Arminius believed that election was based on the foreknowledge of God as to who would believe. Man's "act of faith" was seen as the "condition" or his being elected to eternal life, since God foresaw him exercising his "free will" in response to Jesus Christ.
3. Universal atonement… Arminius held that redemption was based on the fact that God loves everybody, that Christ died for everyone, and that the Father is not willing that any should perish. The death of Christ provided the grounds for God to save all men, but each must exercise his own "free will" in order to be saved.
4. Obstructable grace… Arminius believed that since God wanted all men to be saved, He sent the Holy Spirit to "woo" all men to Christ, but since man has absolute "free will," he is able to resist God's will for his life. He believed that God's will to save all men can be frustrated by the finite will of man. He also taught that man exercises his own will first, and then is born again.
5. Falling from grace… If man cannot be saved by God unless it is man's will to be saved, then man cannot continue in salvation unless he continues to will to be saved.

Calvinism also has been simplified into the “five points of Calvinism” by later reformed theologians as an answer to the five points of Arminianism:
1. Total depravity… Calvinists believed that man is in absolute bondage to sin and Satan, unable to exercise his own will to trust in Jesus Christ without the help of God.
2. Unconditional election… Calvinists believed that foreknowledge is based upon the plan and purpose of God, and that election is not based upon the decision of man, but the "free will" of the Creator alone.
3. Limited atonement… Calvinists believed that Jesus Christ died to save those who were given to Him by the Father in eternity past. In their view, all for whom Jesus died (the elect) will be saved, and all for whom He did not die (the non elect) will be lost.
4. Irresistible grace… Calvinists believed that the Lord possesses irresistible grace that cannot be obstructed. They taught that the free will of man is so far removed from salvation, that the elect are regenerated (made spiritually alive) by God even before expressing faith in Jesus Christ for salvation. If a totally depraved person wasn't made alive by the Holy Spirit, such a calling on God would be impossible.
5. Perseverance of the saints… Calvinists believed that salvation is entirely the work of the Lord, and that man has absolutely nothing to do with the process. The saints will persevere because God will see to it that He will finish the work He has begun.

Why is there still such great debate over these two very different theological stances? Because the scriptures appear to support both points of view! If not, there would be no reason for debate. Is it possible for a person to land somewhere in the middle? Is it possible to not take just one side of this debate over salvation which greatly divides the body of Christ? Consider this:

1. DEPRAVITY
We all are sinners (Romans 3:23) and unable by human performance to earn, deserve, or merit salvation (Titus 3:5). The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23), and apart from God's grace no one can be saved (Ephesians 2:8-9). None are righteous or capable of doing good (Romans 3:10-12), and apart from the conviction and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, none can be saved (John 1:12-13; 16:8-11; I Peter 1:23-25). Mankind is clearly fallen and lost in sin.

2. ELECTION
God chose the believer before the foundation of the world (Ephesians 1:4-6), and based on His foreknowledge, has predestined the believer to be conformed to the image of His Son (Romans 8:29-30). God offers salvation to all who will call on His name. Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." God calls to Himself those who will believe in His Son, Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 1:9). However, the Bible also teaches that an invitation (or call) is given to all, but that only a few will accept it. We see this balance throughout scripture. Revelation 22:17 states, "And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." I Peter 1:2 tells us we are, "elect according to the foreknowledge of God, the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ." Matthew 22:14 says, "For many are called, but few are chosen (elected)." God clearly does choose, but man must also accept God's invitation to salvation.

3. ATONEMENT
Jesus Christ died as a propitiation (a satisfaction of the righteous wrath of God against sin) "for the whole world" (I John 2:2; 4:9-10), and He redeems and forgives all who will believe in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ as their only hope of salvation from sin, death, and hell (Ephesians 1:7; I Peter 1:18-19). Eternal life is a gift of God (Romans 6:23), and "whosoever believeth" in Jesus Christ will not perish, but will have eternal life (John 3:16-18). I Timothy 4:10 says "we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, specially of those that believe." Hebrews 2:9 states that Jesus, "was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." The atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ was clearly sufficient to save the entire human race.

4. GRACE
God's grace is not the result of human effort or worthiness (Romans 3:24-28; 11:6), but is the response of God's mercy and love to those who will believe in His Son (Ephesians 2:4-10). Grace gives to us what we do not deserve nor can earn by our performance (Romans 11:6). God's grace and mercy can be resisted by us (Matthew 23:37). We are not condemned because we have no opportunity to be saved, but a person is condemned because he makes a choice not to believe (John 3:18; John 5:40; John 6:37, 40; John 7:37).

Jesus clearly acknowledges the fact of human resistance and rejection (John 12:46-48). In Stephen's message in Acts 7:51, he concluded by saying, "You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit; as your fathers did, so do you." In Romans 10:21, the apostle Paul quotes Isaiah 65:2 when he speaks of God's words to Israel, "All day long I have stretched forth My hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people." In one of the five warning passages of the book of Hebrews, we read in Hebrews 10:26, "For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remains no more sacrifice for sins." Verse 29 adds, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?" Apparently God's grace can either be resisted or received by the exercise of human free will.

5. PERSEVERANCE
Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord (Romans 8:38-39), and there is no condemnation to those who are in Jesus Christ (Romans 8:1). The promise of Jesus in John 10:27-28 is clear: "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." Jesus said in John 6:37, "whoever comes to me I will never drive away." We have this assurance in Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ." The Holy Spirit has sealed us unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14; 4:30).
But we must also be deeply concerned over the words of Jesus in Matthew 7:21-23: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?' Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'” Apparently there are many who claim to be believers that in fact are not.

In difficult doctrinal matters, may we have gracious attitudes and humble hearts, desiring most of all to please Him who has called us to serve Him in the body of Christ. Discussion? YES! Even disagreements? YES! Division? NO!

Jesus said, "By their fruit you shall know them." When a particular position on the Scriptures causes one to become argumentative, legalistic, and divisive, I question the validity of that position. I seek to embrace those things that tend to make me more loving and kind, more forgiving and merciful. I know then that I am becoming more like my Lord. If you have come to a strong personal conviction on one side of a doctrinal issue, please grant others the privilege of first seeing how it has helped you to become more Christ-like in your nature, and then they will judge whether they need to come to that same persuasion. Let us always be certain to look at the fruit of the teaching.

Seek those things that produce the loving nature of Jesus in our lives. I would almost rather have the wrong facts and a right attitude, than right facts and a wrong attitude. God can change my understanding of the facts in a moment, but it often takes a lifetime to effect changes of attitude.

<< If you would like a print version of these notes, click here. >>

Opportunities for Group "Spurring"

If you are wondering how you might participate in the spurring one another on toward love and good deeds, I will say this... it is impossible to do if you are not in fellowship with one another. There's a good place to begin. I do recognize and believe it is possible (or should be) to accomplish this biblical mandate without officially "going to church." It should come naturally and flow from our everyday lives. However, as a body of believers called Oasis, we have purposely scheduled regular meeting times to make it easier for people to gather and practice this important function of the church.

If you have not yet connected with a house church or smaller group meeting, I strongly recommend that you do that FIRST, as it will be the place where you will experience phenominal growth. As good as the larger main gatherings are, nothing compares to the dialogue and fellowship that takes place in a house church or simpler, smaller meeting. In fact, I have always said that we should set a goal to never become dependant on the Sunday large meeting for our sustenance in Christ. Seriously... what if I had announced this week that we will be cancelling our Sunday gathering for the next three months? What would your reaction be? How would your life in Christ change? Would it matter much to you? I am not asking you if it would matter in the sense of: "do you enjoy the Sunday gathering?" Of course we all would be disappointed if we didn't have the gathering, I'm sure. But I am asking in the sense of: "do you NEED the Sunday gathering?"

This week at our Donkey fellowship (one of the smaller, simpler gatherings of Oasis people) someone brought up, in context of the Sunday gathering, the phrase "recharging your batteries..." commenting that Sunday has always been thought of as a place to recharge the batteries of our spiritual lives. I hear that and I understand the heart behind that thought. But let me offer another thought... by considering my Harley Davidson. This past summer I had continual problems with the battery on my 1981 HD Sportster. I had to keep recharging it every week it seemed like, and eventually I just gave up on it. You might be thinking, "Duh, Chris, it was dead. Go get a new one!" Ahhh, but it was brand new just last year, so I refused. The fact that it would not stay recharged was my fault. I didn't keep the battery charged during the winter months. Then I expected to come out in the summer, charge it once and then ride all summer long. Nope. I would charge it, ride it for a while, then come out two or three days later... and guess what? Dead again. The irony of it all is this. Had I just kept the battery charged over the winter, and kept starting the bike regularly, and riding the bike regularly... every day... there would have been no problem to begin with. In fact, the more I used it, the longer the battery would have lasted. I killed it because of my lack of use.

What's the point? It's this. You will not need "battery recharging" once a week if you are using it every day during the week. To recharge your batteries means you are draining someone elses. But what if we kept our batteries charged every day? Think of the noise we would make on Sundays when we all come together with fully-charged, ready-to-serve batteries... and a rumbling engine ready to have God show us where to drive this week. That's what Sundays are more about. But you will never experience that kind of Sunday unless you are taking the measures you know you need to be recharged throughout the week.

Now... after coming to a proper understanding of these things, then we can realize and say that the Sunday gatherings are an important place to come and celebrate through worship in song and public teaching of scripture. Here we have an opportunity to begin our "day of rest" in observance of the Creator... in the company of believers who share a love for Him as well.

Back Into The Swing of Things

I have a question for you. Summer has been over (unofficially) for a couple of weeks now. School is back in session. So... are you back into the swing of things? Can you see a regular routine beginning to be rebuilt for you? Summer has a way of taking it's toll on us, disorganizing us, relaxing us, or perhaps even tossing us into a sort of apathetic funk. We tend to be more spontaneous in the summer, and less committed to anything. I am as guilty as anyone. In fact, I am not sure it's all completely a bad thing. We need the spontaneity. We need the relaxation. We need the vacations and sabbaticals from the busy and hectic lives we live. But the sabbatical is only a short period of time. We cannot live in a constant vacation. Life is meant to be LIVED. We all have responsibilities... commitments... and needs. The vacation is meant to strengthen us to come back to what we know is most important. The living of the lives God has called us to.

So, are you back into the swing of things? Have you left your vacation and summer behind... waving goodbye and saying, "Thank you. I love you. I will see you next year. But I cannot stay with you forever. I have a life, a family, a church family, responsibility, commitment, and work to do. Thank you for refreshing me. Now I must go."

Today that is where I find myself. The summer has been great. But now excitement is beginning to fill my heart for what God is going to do in the fall, and in the NOW. Allow me to take you back to an article I wrote just before summer began. I spoke to you about what I believe God wanted us to do during the summer months, and how we will know if we have been faithful...

(Taken from "Summertime... God's Garden" May 12, 2004)

...Summer gives us an opportunity to meet new people and make new friendships, to rekindle old ones, and to draw near to family. As a church (as the collective group of people) it is often difficult to see what God is doing in the summer months because it is easy to get all scattered out in many different ways. Churches who measure their success by the numbers they have in attendance on Sundays or at group gatherings and services often become frustrated during the summer months. But what I love about the summer is the fact that we engage ourselves in about 10 times as many conversations than we do during the other months of the year. Summer lends itself to conversation. And conversation is foundation for relationship, and ultimately... evangelism.

Think of it like a garden. If you have a garden, and you want to see good fruit harvested from it there are some important things you must first do. You have to till, or plow the garden. You have to plant seeds, water the seeds, pluck out the weeds, make sure the seeds are in a place where they can receive sunlight, water some more, etc. You must pay careful attention to the garden, and then... after time... you will begin to see a stem pop through the soil, the beginning stages of good fruit and the results of your labor.

God has a garden... and summertime is a great time to plow it and plant new seeds. Every conversation you have with someone this summer where Jesus is present is like turning the plow in God's garden. If we are all out there working, plowing, throwing seeds, enjoying these summer months of preparation... sure the garden may not look like much during this stage... but eventually, after time and patience, we will begin to see the fruit of summertime.

My advice to you during these summer months... SLOW DOWN. Sure, we all love to plan vacations and get involved in lots of new things... and that's okay. In fact, I have planned a number of things for my family this summer, along with coaching baseball, etc. But in those things, take time to breathe. Pause and ask what God is doing. Smell the refreshing breeze He gives you. Thank Him for the beauty all around you. Thank Him for the opportunity you have to live in His kingdom, and work for Him. Recognize the truth of the matter... that God allows you to be involved in the things you love and enjoy, and IN THOSE THINGS He helps you work according to His purpose in this world. So, go to your kids' and grandkids' ballgames... take the entire house church with you. Bring a huge cheering section, and let them all have conversations with the parents from your team. Take the weekend off to get away with your family. Open up to each other, and allow God to take your relationship with one another to a deeper level. Spend an extra few dollars and buy enough hamburger and hot dogs for the whole neighborhood. Invite them over, and allow God to show you the great reward of your small sacrifice.

Dive into summer with joy and anticipation! Be faithful, with your hands on the plow... and when September comes we will see a tremendous harvest. But who's looking at September now? Let's enjoy today first.

Well, it's September. What do we have to say for ourselves?

If you are having a difficult time leaving your vacation, and getting back into the swing of things... take this as encouragement to you. How can I help? How can the network of believers, called Oasis, help? How can your house church family help? Are you even in a house church/small church fellowship regularly? That might be a good place to begin. I will talk about that in another article later.

In this family we are called to spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24). Find a way to do that this week.

Jesus at Ohio University

+ + + Lord Jesus... tonight we went out to the open field you have shown us. We took the seed you have placed in our hands, and tossed it on the ground. It looks so small and insignificant at this point. And we wonder whether or not it will ever grow. We are anxious to see what it does, but we are also nervous... wondering if we have put it in the right place, or if the conditions are right for quality growth. But most of all, we trust You. They were Your seeds to begin with. It is Your field. And we are Your gardening tools. Use us to do Your gardening here at Ohio University. Water the seeds. Grow Your people. Raise up more workers for Your harvest. The Ohio University campus is plentiful. And the workers are few. Send Your Spirit to multiply our small sacrifice and invade the kingdom of darkness with Your kingdom... the kingdom of Light. For Yours is the glory, the power, forever... amen. + + +