oasisCHURCH

Modernism VS. Traditionalism

What’s more important, being hip and cool, or being conservative and traditional? Last night I was certainly confronted head on with this very question. Not 24 hours ago I ventured down to Addison to lead worship with the youth group at the Free Will Baptist Church. First I should explain how I got this invite. Back during the late summer months I was singing at a homecoming for the Rutland Church of Christ. The primary musical attraction that day was a gospel quartet from the Gallia area. Now I’ll be perfectly frank, I really don’t care for old school traditional gospel music. I don’t hate it by any stretch of the imagination but suffice it to say that if there’s a southern gospel concert somewhere it’s a safe bet to assume that you won’t find me there. Anyway…there was a gentleman singing in this quartet named Mark Coleman. The quartet was really quite good but I was in a very traditional church so I tried to be mindful about what I sang. I sang the most unobtrusive “modern” songs that I knew and the congregation seemed to respond fine. As I was packing up to leave Mark approached me and told me that their youth group at Addison Free Will Baptist (F.W.B) was interested in starting a praise band but they weren’t really sure how to get off the ground. He invited me to come up to their church and lead worship with their youth group. I said yes…now…jump forward 3 or 4 months…Mark and I are sitting in the Addison youth groups meeting room. Mark is reinforcing the fact to me that he is in fact a traditionalist when it comes to “church music” but he also, to his credit, has a very open mind about music. As we talked we found that though he is more of a traditionalist and I am more of a modernist, we both seemed to agree that not only are such labels irrelevant but foolish. The primary point that we drove home in that conversation was simply that in all we do we should make it our goal to reflect the truth of the gospel. That requires something from us as individuals. It requires that we STUDY. Yuck. Study. It’s almost like a four letter word. Studying is something that most of us spend the better part of our lives detesting and trying to get away from. Yet when we study the scriptures for ourselves and pray that God would shed his understanding upon our efforts we immediately begin to see the fruits or our studious efforts (or at least that’s how it was for me). See there I go just assuming. You know what they say about assumption. Anyway…no matter what we do, whether it’s singing in a praise band or simply talking to a friend about the gospels in your workplace we must tread not necessarily with caution but rather with understanding. Here I mean that we should make an ample effort in obtaining an understanding of the gospel so that our words might reflect the truth of scripture. In this way the hope is not to throw ridiculous banter at people that doesn’t really reflect the truth of scripture but rather present the truth of scripture so that it might work it’s undeniable effect on the listener. Traditional or modern is just plain silly. They are terms that hold only as much emphasis and meaning as we might give them but neither path is the “correct” path. The correct path is to be found in the truth of the gospel and that truth is no reflection of cutting edge progressive worship or hardcore traditionalism. The truth of the gospel is what it is. It is that truth that we should seek in whatever it is that we do.

Downloads & Parties

The newest Sunday teaching MP3 is available here.

I hope everyone is able to get out to a New Year's Eve Party Friday... either at Dan and Wendy Thomas', or somewhere. New Year's Eve is always a great time to gather with lots of different people. It's always a good time for conversations and initiating new relationships. Be safe, and enjoy yourself! This is an opportunity to party that is provided by our calendar year. Throughout the Old Testament God had to provide similar dates on the Jewish calendar year so His people could learn how to celebrate and party once in a while. We could learn something from that. God enjoys a good party. We all need a little down time. Don't feel guilty for relaxing and enjoying yourself this week.

If you are coming to the Thomas' house, be sure to bring food, drinks, cards, games, etc. Show up anytime after 8:30 PM.

Amazing Grace

How many recordings of "Amazing Grace" do you think you've heard in your lifetime?  Hard to say isn't it.  Well, I decided to whip up a version of the tune.  We just got our regular keyboard back from the repair shop so I put it to some use to help me come up with this rendition of Amazing Grace.  Download at will.  I hope you like it.  This is one of those songs that I truly don't think I'll ever get tired of singing. 

Download amazing_grace.mp3

Christmas Traditions

Christmas is a wonderful time.  It seems to trigger something in my mind, that causes memories to come flooding back.  I think back to a time when I was a young boy.  I can remember getting "treats" as we called them, at Sunday School.  They would be handed out the Sunday before Christmas.  I hate to say "back when I was a kid", but, back when I was a kid, we really didn't get a lot of extras.  We had all that we needed, but it seemed like luxuries were not as plentiful as they are today.  Those treats seemed luxurious to me.  I can still see the clear plastic bag, containing an orange, some hard tac candy, and some chocolate covered peanut clusters.  How I loved those things.  I can still see my pastor, Eugene Gill, his sandy colored hair and fair complexion, smiling as he gave me my treat.  Another Christmas memory, is of going to town to "see the lights."  In those days, people didn't decorate their houses as elaborately as they do today, so people would drive to town and look at the lights.  Both Pomeroy and Middleport used to string lights back and forth across the streets, from one end of town to the other.  I remember driving under these lights, and thinking that it was the most beautiful thing  that I had ever seen.  Pomeroy also had these two huge, (at least they seemed huge to me), angels on the columns at the Court House.  The angels were white, and sparkly, and they had these golden trumpets, that they appeared to be blowing.  I always thought they were really cool.   

Times change, but we have tried to create some special memories for our kids, that will stay with them, when they begin their own lives apart from us.  We started a tradition, when the kids were little.  We always get them new pajamas for Christmas.  They get to unwrap that present on Christmas eve, and then wear the new pajamas to bed. They loved it when they were small.  Even though they are older now, and may roll their eyes, and say, gee I wonder what this is, when they open the gift, I know deep in their hearts they love it, and they expect it. 

Our house has always been an active place, when it comes to holidays, especially Christmas.  The kids have always had their hands in the cookie baking, decorating, etc.  Everyone participates.  It's always been that way.  We  want our kids to know that what they do matters, and that their contribution is important, and special.  Yes it may have been easier, and less messy to do it for them, but it sure wouldn't have been as much fun.  There have been times when the kids have had friends over, during holidays, or other special times, and we have discovered that some of them have never done this kind of thing.  They have never cooked, or some of the other activities that our kids think everyone does.  So I encourage those of you with young kids, to let your hair down, and let the children get in the middle of your preparations.  Enjoy them, they are a gift from God. 

I would also like to ask if any of you have Christmas traditions, or memories, that you would respond in the comment section, and share those with me.  Happy Holidays.

Thank you Lord for loving us, and becoming one of us, in order to bring us back into relationship with you.                  

Letting My Pride Fall Aside

"Let my pride fall aside, your truth has hit me in this way undenied."

I find myself longing for something which the Lord has put into motion, but has not come to fruition. Whether it is visible in this material world or invisible to the naked eye, I know that it has been done. God sees our lives as having been completed. "How can that be?" you might ask. It is hard to comprehend. For the created to understand the motives of the creator is almost impossible. There is a whole realm of truth that our minds simply will not grasp until our death. Perhaps even then, things that we’ve questioned since our youth will not be answered. Somehow I think that will be okay, though. Being in the presence of your creator will probably be enough to take our minds off all of our questions. We won’t need answers to our questions because our answer will envelope is.

I’ve been pondering why it is that I find myself in "moods". It is my inability to allow my creator to fulfill my soul’s holes - many that I’ve dug myself. I’ve asked God to fill them in a way that He is not able to fill them. He has told me what is necessary, but I still ask him to fill them to my satisfaction. Then, when He does not answer my call in my way, I find myself unsatisfied. Because the holes haven’t been filled? No. Because the way in which I WANT them to be filled is not what I expect or want, even though they’ve been filled.

I’ve learned to listen to God’s voice more intently and also to depend on His timing. Even in the midst of my despair and times of struggle, I’ve been able to know that God’s words do not shift like the sands. They are steady - steady as a great boulder sitting a top a mountain peak. It seems impossible for that huge boulder to sit on such a small peak, but nonetheless the boulder keeps the balance it possesses and stays put.

My life has been anything but steady, so relying on something SO steady is a hard task. I love how The Message puts 2 Timothy 2:11-13: "This is a sure thing: If we die with him, we’ll live with him; If we stick it out with him, we’ll rule with him; If we turn our backs on him, he’ll turn his back on us; If we give up on him, he does not give up - for there’s no way he can be false to himself." He is faithful to the faithless.

I Love this "Holiday"...

Like many other families, Christmas is a fanatical event around our house. I’m not kidding. Ask anyone that knows our family traditions. For Pete’s sake, we’re even hiding the dogs Christmas presents from them…they’re freaking dogs for crying out loud. Some of you are probably thinking, “You buy Christmas presents for your dogs?” Yup. We sure do. We might just be certifiably insane about this “holiday”. I put holiday in quotations for a reason. I’ll never forget growing up and driving around town during the Christmas madness and seeing signs proclaiming “Jesus is the reason for the season.” I’ve always believed that but in my youth I don’t think I really took it very seriously. I sometimes wonder if, even in my adolescent years, I’ve viewed this “holiday” in quite the right light. I think mostly the running thought in my mind was probably something like, “WHAT’S IN THE BOX!!?? For God’s sake, torture me no longer, what’s under the wrapping paper?”

Sometimes I’m a man of clichés while other times I absolutely despise them. For Christmas, however, I happen to agree with many of the sentiments that I see plastered all over very expensive and well lit church billboards. Why celebrate Christmas? I think in a way we’ve somewhat downplayed the exact significance of this “holiday” that we celebrate. I love the way that Chris put it this weekend. I love the idea that we celebrate not just the birth of some celestially significant child but rather we celebrate that God decided to make himself like His creation so that we could once again have the kind of relationship that He desires us to have with Him. This worldly birth that we so lovingly depict in our nativity scenes is nothing short of awe inspiring. Think about it, when you look at the baby in the manger you’re not just looking at some cutesy pootsy kid. When you see that child you must remember that the persons present at this event were staring down upon the Creator Himself. It rockets chills through my spine to think that this child that we speak about is in fact so much more than just a child. He is God incarnate. Imagery doesn’t get much more powerful than that. But we’re not just talking imagery here. We’re also talking about one of the most, if the not the most, significant event ever to befall humanity. The covenant between God and His people would soon be restored forever. The last leg of the spiritual battle was in process. Victory was now certain for the race of humanity. This event was God’s expression of His unwavering sense of loyalty to His creation. This event was God’s expression of how passionately he loved, and loves, His creation. That’s why I now love this “holiday” so much.

The word holiday is derived from the Middle English word “holidai” which simply meant holy day. When we celebrate Christmas we celebrate perhaps the most holy of all the days in the Christian calendar. We’re not just celebrating a day but rather a momentous event in our history as a civilization. Yet I think there is also something worthy of noting about the Christmas season. Think about how many of the qualities of Jesus we see emerge during this holiday. Let’s just list a few: Love, Mercy, Forgiveness, Fellowship, Family, Friends, Gifts, Blessings, Beauty, Grace, Faith, Hope, and the list could just continue on for miles. Though we commemorate the birth of the Christ child during this season I think it is safe to say that this holiday has come to naturally imbue itself with so many of the characteristics that were so enduring about Jesus’ life as a human. That’s part of what gives this time of year it’s warmth. Yet there is something somewhat sad about Christmas but it has nothing to do with God. It has everything to do with human imperfection. After the Christmas season is past much of this “holiday cheer” that has filled the national media and the consciousness of the public mind will dissipate. The world that we know will quickly return to its one track minded hustle and bustle. In a way it will be as though Christmas didn’t even happen. What is it that happens after Christmas? Where does its spirit go? The answer is actually deceptively simple. Its spirit goes nowhere. It remains where it always was but most people just tend to forget about it until next year. There is an undeniable magic about Christmas and like most magic it’s here and amazing then gone and maybe fondly remembered. Why? What is the reason for the season? The irony is that Christmas isn’t just a once a year event nor is it a season or an isolated holiday. God is alive and vibrant every day of our lives. God isn’t like that seasonal section at Wal-Mart that only comes around when the seasons right and the sales will be best. For a Christian every day is like Christmas. Every song that we sing throughout the year is like a Christmas song. Christmas is still ultimately about God but isn’t everything else also about God? It’s like my favorite praise and worship song that says, “You’re everything.” God is everything 24/7. I still love the Christmas season but as I get older I see something that I never saw about Christmas before. Each one of these new things that I see is simply about God, His covenant, and His great love.

As Christians I think it is not just our responsibility to show people why we celebrate Christmas but also to tell them why Christmas never really ends. Christmas is but one example, albeit a very IMPORTANT example, of the many things that God has done for His creation. The spirit of Christmas never ends; it’s simply how the Christian life should ideally be. Life in Christ is like a holiday that knows nothing of bounds or endings. A life spent with Christ is full of all the warm fuzzies that Christmas brings to us. God is a resident in all things whether we acknowledge it or not. Perhaps the reason that some don’t acknowledge His presence is because they simply don’t see it. That is where we, as Christians, can lend a helping hand. Not just during this time of year but always. The spirit of Christmas should be part of the credo of our lives. In this way perhaps people will be helped to see in ways that they never have before.

Let the life of this holiday be the light of our lives to shine throughout the year. There is no better light to shine than that of God. That last line was one of those clichés that I happen to like. I hope each one of you have a beautiful time during this holy season. I hope that your joys are in the multiples of thousands. I hope that your lives are filled with warmth. Remember how I said God is a resident in all things…when you feel that warmth, when you feel a swell of uncontainable love, when you feel that undeniable joy…that’s Him…whether you acknowledge it or not.

Why am I so angry???

I have many bizarre antics, but I just discovered an interesting one this morning. I get really angry whenever someone in my family is sick or in pain. I've never considered this before, but now that I think about it, it's true. April helped me see this today. She was sick and vomiting all evening, Kaylee was sick and vomiting during the two days before April, and now Brock is sick and vomiting. I have been pissed for three days now!

When I say angry, I mean it makes me mad... and I'd rather escape from them and deal with it alone. But the hard thing about that is that is when they need me most. But having me around is even more of a downer for them because it appears I am mad at them. Nothing could be further from true. I love them and I want to do anything I can to help them, and it makes me feel helpless, and thus very angry to see them debilitated.

So if I'm not angry at them, what is it that makes me angry? This is what I have been considering all morning... and I'm pretty sure I know what it is.

I really believe it is a Godly anger (however, the difference is that I don't always respond in a Godly way). If I am not angry at them, then I must be angry at whatever it is that is making them sick... flu, virus, bacteria, infection, or whatever.

When God came to earth (named Jesus) he got angry at those things that debilitated the people he created. We saw God wage war against blindness, deafness, leprosy, and a variety of diseases, even death! I think He loves people so much that it pains HIM to see them in pain. And when we are in agreement that He is God, and that He has the power to destroy these things, that is when we often see a collision between the spiritual realm and the physical realm. The sickness of the physical realm simply cannot stand against the power of God in the spiritual realm.

I think that is another aspect of my anger. I have noticed something about the timing of my family's sicknesses. You see, people in my family don't just get sick... they get sick at the most inopportune times. 95% of the time it's just before a great move of God or a "Kingdom sized" event is about to take place, in which they play a major role. I always battle sickness just before I go to speak at a conference. During weeks when I have put much preparation and prayer into something for the Kingdom of God I can always... and I mean always... count on something in the physical realm to try and distract me.

This is what makes me angry. It's the reminder from God's Word that we are living a fight... in the spiritual realm. And when the heat gets turned up on the enemy he starts throwing punches... but always in the physical realm. And nothing makes me more irate than the thought of someone punching and hurting my family.

You see, he knows he can't win in the spiritual realm. His fate is already sealed. Jesus assured that when he died and three days later arose from death. The enemy knows this... and he knows we know it. So his only hope is to attack us in this physical life. To try and get us to point fingers at God and say, "Why are you allowing this to happen?" He does it all the time... and sadly, he succeeds with many believers who are immature and do not know God... I mean really know Him, and know that it was never His intention for us to suffer. God rescues us from suffering. But we have a fight on our hands. Until we leave this physical life there will always be a fight. God has enemies... therefore so do we.

So today I am in a fight. I pray that my family understands that I am not angry at them. +++God, help me to be righteous in my anger, and to take it out on the appropriate culprit... the author of sin and death. You did not create sin. You created us. And since we were made in Your image we had choice. But unlike You, the human race has chosen to sin. But thank You for redeeming us, for giving us another chance. Thank you for conquering our enemies... enemies of sickness, disease, and even death. Although we still experience these things, I believe You have wiped them out already. And I believe we can even experience that part of victory here and now. Without You that would not be possible. You are a good God.+++

The Gift that Changed my Perspective

I got a gift last week, Sunday actually. I would like to share a little bit about it. Everyone wants an iPod this Christmas. It is actually sold out in most stores around here. Last Sunday a man from our church told me there was a present for me on my desk...it was an iPod. i know what you might be thinking, who cares? or i am jealous? maybe even why the heck would someone do this?

let me explain...i have been saving for an iPod for a few months. i finally got enough money and i felt like the Lord was telling me to buy one for someone else, so i did. (it was tough). but i was overwhelmed with love for them and just knew that this small little iPod could express that love. I gave them the iPod and was thrilled. I finally experienced the true joy of giving, this giving came from my soul. i went back and wrote in my journal, what i had learned about gratitude and giving. i also put a little note, trusting God that He would help me save for an iPod again.

i could have lived without one, but He who knows the desires of my heart. He did it. He laid it on a couple's heart in our church. This couple and I have not had the easiest of times relating, I once hurt and troubled them quite a bit and did some things that were really selfish and stupid. So now they bless me with an iPod. I CRIED AND CRIED AND CRIED. God taught me of forgiveness, receiving, humility, family, and love.  i can't express much more than this: if God can lay it on someone's heart to give me something as seemingly meaningless as an iPod, i want to spend the rest of my life figuring out how i can give the "seemingly meaningless" and be Christ to those around. These small stories are the Gospel. and I am grateful that it lives even today. i will tell this story as long as i live.

THANK YOU MJZ and RJZ. once again, i don't know how i could NOT believe in God. Merry Christmas.

The Stewart Family Christmas Newsletter

The 11th edition of the Stewart Family Christmas Newsletter is hot off the press, but you can get a sneak peak right here (you need the free Adobe Acrobat Reader), because we will not be printing and sending very many copies via "snail mail" this year. What you see on the link is exactly what you would get in the mail, only quicker. So if you really want a print copy, then be my guest and print it out. : )

Since this is sort of a "family" post I want to tell you a quick story about my son, Brock. Monday night at our Oasis at Hannah House church meeting we were discussing the Christmas story, and to do so we broke up into groups of two or three and read it out loud in those smaller settings, and then asked the Holy Spirit to show us something about the story, or about Jesus in general. Brock, Timothy, and I were a group... a 6 year-old, a 14 year-old, and a 32 year-old... each with a different piece of insight from the story. Well, when we had gathered back in the larger group setting and began discussing our thoughts, Brock looked like he had something to say. You could tell his wheels were turning. Keith asked him if he wanted to share something, and this is what he said... "Yeah, I was just thinking that it is awesome that Jesus never even sinned even when he was a kid!" That threw us all into a discussion about the "silent" years of Jesus' life, those years when he was a toddler, and never sinned... an elementary aged kid, and never sinned... a teenager, and never sinned... etc. Amazing!!! We also pondered what it must have been like for Mary... to raise a perfect son. It is, in many ways, incomprehensible. That discussion lasted another 20 minutes.

And that theology was launched by my 6 year-old son.

You can say that I am proud of him... and that would still be an understatement.

What can we give to the King?

Those words have been on my mind all day today. It's a simple child's song that asks such a profound question. "What can we give to the King who has everything?" The answer... our love, our worship, our praise, our everything.

That's exactly what the Oasis KIDS did last night at the American Legion Christmas Dinner. Click on this link to watch a short video slide presentation of their performance.

By the way, they will be presenting the same musical performance this Sunday during our Oasis Gathering in Middleport.