oasisCHURCH

It Is Well

Just a little raw taste of the Wednesday night prayer meeting...

It Is Well

 

God Of This City

Chad mentioned that we will be singing "God Of This City" from the Pomeroy levee this Saturday night, and praying that His will would indeed be done in Meigs County, and that people's eyes would be opened to see that He is in fact the God of our city.

Here is Bluetree, authors of the song "God Of This City" telling the incredible story about how the song was born from the Holy Spirit.

Good Music

Lately there has been an outpouring of quality new music that I want to make you aware of. Also provided in this post are the links to iTunes in case you want to listen to samples or download the music right away.

"Church Music" by David Crowder Band

On this CD is a great mix of sounds you may have heard on other DCB projects, plus some new ideas. Right now my favorite song is "Shadows", but it is sure to change as the more I listen to the album the more each song grows on me.

"Love Is On The Move" by Leeland

So far (in my opinion) Leeland has not produced an album that is below the level of excellent. In fact, I might even go as far saying they have not recorded a song that I wouldn't consider to be excellent. I have a feeling we are going to continually become more and more familiar with Leeland's music, as you hear it being played in Oasis gatherings already.

"We Shall Not Be Shaken" by Matt Redman

I have always loved Matt Redman's worship leading ability. I find him to be a humble lead worshiper who has a great passion for Jesus and for connecting people with Jesus. Matt's new CD is full of wonderful encouragement for adverse times. If you are struggling with the current state of the world's affairs, then you will find this CD to be a great reminder of God's sovereignty.

"Welcome To The Masquerade" by Thousand Foot Krutch

I don't know about you, but every now and then at our house (and in our vehicles) we like to turn it up a notch (to eleven) and really rock 'n roll. Thousand Foot Krutch is a band I am hearing more and more on Octane, Sirius/XM's new metal rock station. They easily fit right in with Breaking Benjamin, Seether, Five FInger Death Punch, etc. If you like it loud, check this one out.

Words Unspoken

I wrote this song a few weeks ago and had some issues getting it recorded (I couldn't stop singing it off key). I finally got that technical problem solved. My friend Tim named the song...which is funny since he hadnt heard it or even seen the lyrics when he named it. In any event, I hope you enjoy it. I have included the lyrics as well.

Lost and afraid
Falling Down; I'm unwinding
Coming undone
Hiding my scars, what a waste

I'm so alone in my shame
I can't move. I can't see

My Lord, My Savior
Rescue me. Lift me up
Oh wonderful maker of all
Please make me new

I'm so unclean
Stained by sin; Wholly unworthy
On my knees
Overwhelmed by Your glory

Take my life
Take everything
I need You more than I know

My Lord, My Savior
Rescue me. Lift me up
Oh wonderful maker of all
Please make me new

You're so wonderful
You are good. You are good

Sovereign God

Download words_unspoken.mp3

God of this City *Video*

Hey everybody, I have been playing with video from the recent "He Reigns!" concert and found a little gem of a clip that I just had to share with all of you. I could go on for hours about how everything went at the concert, but I'll just let this video do the talking for me. I decided to just post the link rather than embed the video on the church website for the sake of bandwidth. Enjoy and God Bless!

God of this City

The Living Room 2???

Last night's house church meeting reminded me of this:

Back in November of 2005 we were having such a great time worshiping God together in song, and we were having many new songs written by Oasis people, so we decided to record a worship gathering live at one of our house church meetings. It started out as a simple acoustic plan, but we ended up adding drums and bass, and it came out pretty nice for an off-the-cuff effort. Here's a sample: Trading My Sorrows.

Back to last night. About 45 minutes of our time was spent invested in worship in songs of praise to Christ the King. Such an experience is evidence, in my opinion, that the church body is truly "getting it" in our study of Revelation. Revelation is not an intellectual book to be debated, but an artistic book to be experienced. Likewise, Christianity is not a philosophy to be argued and fully comprehended intellectually. It is a love song to be sung. Of course, this love song is rooted in truth and understanding. But it also must be felt and passionately responded to. The book of Revelation is filled with songs. People often wonder why the church sings songs all the time. Why is music such a large part of church gatherings? We can easily find our answer in the pages of Revelation. If God created humans as worshipers, then that is what we do. That means Christianity is about worship. How is worship most often done? In our Bibles we see that a great majority of the time when worship occurs it is accompanied with singing, playing instruments, bowing down, kneeling, lying prostrate on the ground, raising hands, dancing, shouting, clapping, and loud choruses of song after song after song! God LOVES music. And we are created in the image of Him. We love music because we are image-bearers of God.

God could have chosen anything He wanted to be the primary tool used as means to worship Him, and He chose songs, music, instruments, singing. Yes, there are many ways we worship Him as living sacrifices. But there is no arguing that the primary means surrounding the throne of God as we glimpse into heaven is song and music and loud choruses of praise made by all the created beings.

What does this mean to me? What should this mean to our church? It means that we have been given the privilege of participating in something here and now that occurs constantly in heaven. Concerts, light shows, sound systems, amazing guitar riffs, soothing vocal harmonies, all of those aesthetics combine to draw us closer to the throne of God. Why? My guess is because that is where those things originate. That is what currently, and eternally, surrounds the throne of God.

I could hear and see last night that we are all starting to learn this fact. And we are learning it with more than our minds. God is doing something in our hearts. And He is moving our bodies to respond.

Is it time for a Living Room 2?

Wait 'til you hear this!

I just got through listening to a "rough mix" of one of the songs Chad has written in the past year. He sent me the recording and asked me what I thought, and I told him this. "Dude, you need to finish that thing ASAP and get it out to our people because they will absolutely DIG it!" I'm not kidding you. It is incredible. Now I've put some pressure on him to finish it. :)

In all seriousness, we sometimes do not stop to realize the blessings we have that come in the form of people. PEOPLE are the greatest blessings, because God uses people to bless His people. Chad's gift of creating fresh and new worship music for our church is a blessing that a majority of churches in the United States never get to experience. I thank God for my brother and partner in ministry.

Keep an eye out for an MP3 download titled: "The King."

Chris Tomlin Concert + Bad Weather = ....

Well, I am sure nearly everyone is keeping a close eye on the impending weather for the Ohio Valley region. In short, it does not look good for Tuesday, which is concert day for the 18 people who bought Chris Tomlin tickets.

So here’s the deal. If they cancel the concert, then a refund will be available to us. I have linked Ticketmaster’s information regarding cancellations and refunds. HOWEVER, if they do not cancel the concert, the tickets are ours (yours) whether we go or not. There is nothing we can do about it from that point.

So I guess I am saying, until we hear an official word from either Chris Tomlin (watch his web site) or from Veterans Memorial Hall in Columbus then we are all on our own judgment regarding what we do.

Let’s also pray that this storm is not as bad as predicted. Perhaps the temperatures will stay high enough to make it rain only. I know that is a real possibility for the regions along the Ohio River.But Columbus is another story at the moment.

Regardless, God is sovereign over even the most inclement weather, and we can appreciate what He does or allows, and we certainly trust Him and love Him all the same!

Hebrews 1:3

"He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,"

The most recent new worship song that has been introduced to our fellowship has been "Hebrews 1:3", a song written by Chad Dodson. I know Chad would never write a post like this himself, so I decided to write it. I also know that I can write this post, which praises Chad for giving us this amazing song, and have no fear that it will go to his head or that the glory will be misplaced. We know that Chad's heart is to glorify God in his song-writing and worship leading, and there is no question about that whatsoever.

Hebrews 1:3 is an amazing verse because it proclaims an essential truth about Jesus Christ, and it reminds us of why he is the center of our affections and our worship. It says that when you see Jesus, you see God. He is the exact imprint of His nature. If you take out a quarter from your pocket, how do you know it is a quarter? Because it is the exact imprint of other quarters you have seen and held in your pocket. The Hebrew writer tells it's readers that what they saw in the human being named Jesus was actually the radiance of the glory of God, an exact imprint of His nature. Want to know what God says? Listen to Jesus. Want to know what God does? Watch Jesus. They are one and the same.

Most analogies for this (such as my quarter analogy above) are quite imperfect and can even distort the real truth of the radiance of His glory if pressed too far. But let's try this one: Jesus relates to God the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun. There is no time that the sun exists without the beams of radiance. They cannot be separated. If you put a solar-activated calculator in the sunlight, numbers appear on the face of the calculator. These are energized by the sun's radiance, but they are not what the sun is. The rays of the sun however are an extension of the sun. We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. So too we see God the Father by seeing Jesus for they are one God.

So how important is Jesus? Hebrews 1:3 answers that for us.

I know Chad does not have the song "Hebrews 1:3" recorded for us to post here yet, but I am beginning a campaign for that to be his next recording project. I have been singing this song for 8 days now (ever since the first time I heard it), and I can't wait to have a copy of it in my iPod.

In the meantime, here are the lyrics:

A dying son birthing righteousness
For the Father, for His Father’s renown
All have fallen low
All have failed to see
But mercy through grace
From the Father, to honor Him as He

Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see
Without Him

For all You are
All in joy should raise all the praise that you deserve
For Your splendor, Your immaculate renown
Jesus is the radiance of the glory of God
All the universe stands by the power of His word
When He died He brought all I could not see Without Him

All hearts open here
See the grandeur, greatness, vastness of the King
You’re astounding; breathtaking
You’re astonishing; awe-inspiring
That’s You, I love you Lord, that’s You
That’s You, I love you Lord, that's You

I love singing this song. It's melody is so inviting. There are certain songs that when they get into your head you just cannot stop singing them ("You Make Everything Glorious" by David Crowder is one of them). Hebrews 1:3 is one of them. I don't want to stop singing it. Right now my top two favorite songs to sing in worship to God are both written by our own worship leader: "Sovereign God" and "Hebrews 1:3".

So let all boasting be in the Lord. Because He is the one who puts the new song in our hearts. He is to be credited for the lyric, the melody, and most importantly, the purpose and reason behind why we sing them. And thanks to those whom He calls to be faithful messengers so we can share in what He has given us.

Thank you, Jehovah God, for giving us Hebrews 1:3.

Thank you, Chad, for giving us Hebrews 1:3 to sing back to Him as praise and acknowledgement of our thankfulness and awe for what He has done.

Concert Preview

Matt Redman performing his song Dancing Generation.

Chris Tomlin performing his song Holy Is The Lord.