Eric Camp

I cant begin to say enough about what a week this has been at Oasis Church!

Our administrative team is now operating out of the administrative offices building, the construction on this facility is almost complete! The many volunteers who came and helped are absolutely AMAZING! Such a BIG Thank you to each of you who helped out in working and moving over the past couple of months!

The next phase of our renovations and expansion will begin in a couple of weeks with the relocation of Higher Grounds to the main lobby area (formally where the administrative offices were). This project should take a month or so. Yes, we are going to rename the coffee shop. Stay tuned for that…

Once that Higher Grounds is relocated and operating, the next phase will begin which will be the conversion to the current Higher Grounds to a kids auditorium space. That will take a week or so.

After that, the lobby expansion to the south side of the main building to add about 1500 square feet onto the lobby area and connect the main facility to the administrative offices building. AND THEN, the new parking lot! New paving, striping, and layout to add more parking spaces and also help with the congestion on Sunday mornings!

THIS IS EXCITING!!!BUT… this past week the most exciting thing happened on WEDNESDAY NIGHT. In Forward Student Ministries, I got word that at least 12 teenagers surrendered their lives to Jesus! Added to that, in the conclusion of the “Awakening” Series for the Adults on Wednesday night, there was at least 1 person who gave their life to Jesus!!!!

THIS FIRES ME UP!!!

This weekend the message will be “Tree of Life” and YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS IT!

NEXT WEEKEND, we begin our new series titled “Revealed!”.

So… there ya go! You are updated on all happenings and upcoming happenings around Oasis!

THANK YOU to all who are a part of the Oasis Family and for helping make Oasis the most awesome place to be on the Gulf Coast!!!

This is another article out of the John Maxwell Leadership handbook that I wanted to share with you. We discussed this in our Staff Meeting at Oasis Church Monday morning and really birthed some in depth thoughts and discussion:

When Moses brought down the 10 Commandments, his face shone with the glory of God. The nature and character of God had begun to rub off on Moses, and the glory took such tangible form that he had to wear a veil over his face. The Israelites sensed both God’s presence in Moses’ leadership and a divine anointing to lead.

What does it mean to be anointed? Here’s one way to break it down. Anointed leadership is characterized by:

1. Charisma – The anointed enjoy a sense of giftedness that comes from God. It seems magnetic!

2. Character – People see God’s nature in your leadership. They Trust You.

3. Competence – You have the ability to get the job done. Your leadership produces results!

4. Conviction – Your Leadership has backbone. You always stand for what is right!

In our Monday Morning staff meeting today, I covered a leadership article I read in a John Maxwell Leadership journal. It had significant impact and created a lot of internal evaluation with our leaders and I wanted to share it with you.

A person’s ability to make things happen in and through others depends entirely on their ability to lead them. Without leadership, there is no teamwork, and people go their their own way. If your dream is big and will require the teamwork of a lot of people, then any potential leaders you select to go with you on the journey will need to be people of influence. After all, that’s what leadership is – INFLUENCE. And when you think about it, all leaders have 2 things in common: They’re going somewhere, and they’re able to persuade others to go with them.

As you look at the people around you, consider the following:

* Who Influences them?

* Whom do they influence?

* Is their influence increasing or decreasing?

To be a good judge of potential leaders, don’t just see the person – See all the people whom that person influences. The greater the influence, the greater the leadership potential and the ability to get others to work with you to accomplish your dream.

It’s Monday. Easter weekend is behind us. The most anticipated weekend of the entire year for pastors and church leaders is in the rear view mirror for 2013. So now what?

Well, For Oasis Church, we witnessed an amazing weekend in 4 Easter Experiences. We started with A Friday night Good Friday experience, a Saturday night Easter Celebration and 2 Sunday morning Easter Celebrations! All I can really say is WOW!

We witnessed record attendances with ushers having to pull chairs from storage to make room for seating and our parking team having to transport people from the parking lot of a local grocery store a block away because our parking lot was at Max Capacity! What a great weekend! To sum it all up, we witnessed between 30-40 decisions to accept Jesus and that my friend, never gets old! A HUGE THANK YOU to all the Dream Team, staff and key leaders for an amazing job from parking, connection, higher grounds, ushers, worship, children’s dept personnel, production team and media! Over 200 people served making it all happen this weekend and I couldn’t be more thankful in serving alongside you guys!

So Now what? Well, to start things off, I give all of our staff the week off after Easter for Spring Break. So Oasis offices will be closed all week and there will be no mid-week Experiences this week for adults or students. Community Groups will still be meeting throughout the region. Next weekend we begin a new series I am basing off of a mentor and friend’s new book called “Altar Ego” by Craig Groeschel of LifeChurch.tv. We are super excited about this new series and look forward to April.

Also we have staff traveling out of state and going on vacation this week to spend time with their families being that they all worked 60+ hours last week to make Easter happen! Nathan Sam, our worship leader, will be recording his next live album in Lafayette, LA Friday night that many of us will be attending. I encourage you if you are in the area or can take a day and go over for that, you will be greatly blessed as we are expecting to have a great night of worship! The event will be held at Family Life Church and will begin at 7:00 Friday night.

Also this week, the construction and renovations will continue on the new Administrative offices building to get it completed so we can begin all the new renovations in the main facility to open up more space for our children’s dept as we had over 250 children on campus this past weekend in the children’s dept!  Higher Grounds will be moved to the main lobby once the offices are relocated to make access easier and to create more Commons space for everyone with the expansion of our lobby area.

Last, but not least, where do we go from here? Now what? Now we pray with expectation and prepare for the next time we all get to gather together for worship experiences next weekend. Every Sunday should be treated as and approached with the same expectation and the same excitement as Easter because Jesus lives and Resurrection Power and life-change is available to everyone everyday! We don’t attend church, WE ARE THE CHURCH!

My heart is full from this weekend. I can’t describe how thankful Toni and I are to serve such an amazing church family in reaching people along the Gulf Coast for Jesus! Thank you to all who are a part of the Oasis family… We love you and pray you all have a great spring break and look forward to seeing you all next Sunday!

On The Gulf Coast, Mardi Gras is a big deal as most people participate in some form or fashion whether it be going to parades or just eating king cake! Personally, I have never understood the whole Mardi Gras thing and honestly, I think it is very silly. Just my opinion, but then again, I dont like clowns, masks or anything to do with a “carnival!”

At Oasis Church, The Church I pastor, we decided a couple of years ago to be bold and put a float in the local Pascagoula parade. Not to endorse or to be a part of the Mardi Gras celebration, but to be a light and reach people as thousands will gather each year for this parade. You can see the video on the Oasis Facebook page as the local media WLOX-TV did a story on the parade and even highlighted the Oasis float as one of the reporters mentioned that he had never seen a church in a parade before! That is a good thing, I guess… Not without recourse though, I know. Again, our mission in being a part of the parade is to be a shining light in the middle of the craziness! Now in Pascagoula, albeit there are some crazies, is primarily a family event. Not like Mobile, AL and New Orleans.

This decision to have a float in the parade is and has been very challenging because of the tension fighting against the notion as well as the backlash of negativity that comes from being there as a church. Again, if 1 person can see love, hope and life that is found in Jesus, It is all worth it!

What I haven’t talked about is the spiritual pressure and isolation that such decisions have on me personally. People leave our church due to whatever reason during this time, tensions are high already for numerous reasons, and the reputation of our church that is reflected impacts me and my family directly more than any other because we are the founding / Sr. Pastor of the church. HOWEVER, as I have stated multiple times, Oasis will be a church that pushes the envelope, if need be, to reach un-churched people! Proof is found in the number of decisions for Jesus following the parade day each year as numerous people visit our church and hear a plain message on The Love, Hope, and Life that is found in a relationship with Jesus! So that is the why behind the what on the Mardi Gras parade…

So now the skitzophrenic pastor part…

The weight spiritually on a pastor is unparalleled than anything I have ever felt or had to deal with. The desire to quit and the thoughts of it are in abundance because of that very thing along with staffing issues, expansion projects, critical people, broken people, preaching, teaching, casting vision, building, equipping, etc… etc… etc…

Have I mentioned this morning I get to the office to find that someone took a baseball bat to our mailbox and knocked it off the post?? Really? I mean… WHY? I mean, we are a church doing good things! We are doing all we can to improve our city and region! We are FOR people, Not against! I don’t fully understand things like that no more than trying to understand why someone who chooses to leave the church after years of being involved and experiencing significant life-change and “allegedly” being “ALL-IN”!

1 little piece of conflict or difficulties and people bolt! I dont get this culture… We don’t really commit to each other. We don’t really stick close to one another and support unless there is something in return that can be done for us or unless everything is the way we think it ought to be!

This causes me to think sometimes I have developed somewhat of a skitzophrenic personality! lol! The people you love and pray for will leave you and stab you! The people you lead closer to Jesus and their destiny will also blog about you when you make them mad! The people you spend time with investing all you can to help them and to empower them, will ultimately turn their back and leave you… this causes pastors to withdraw and become isolated.

I know. I have done that.

You have major wins like 9 people coming to Christ on Sunday only to have losses immediately thereafter. It’s challenging to stay “sane” with all the ups and downs!!!!

You pour into people and preach life-transforming messages only to find that masses of people would rather not get up and come to The House to be a part of the family gathering that is so powerful, and yes, it is disappointing. But we press on…

I am in the middle of a season right now where I am seeing The Lord pour out massive blessing on Oasis Church financially, expansion is in the works, people are getting saved, lives are being transformed, but yet, the battle is intense, draining and all-consuming.

Doesn’t make it easy, but it is known that the greatest breakthroughs occur usually after the most severe of storms. I know that. But again, doesn’t make it easy.

I have vented enough and become maybe a little too transparent in this post. These are just Monday Morning Reflections and I must thank my wife, my staff and a select few others for being in battle with me and for enduring for the long-haul. Your measure of dedication, trust and love speaks more than any words that could ever be said. The things I have said in this post I am sure could be echoed by many other pastors and church leaders. I have just said what most may be thinking…

So what can you do for me? Just pray. That is all. No seriously… Just pray. Me, my family, our staff, and the family of faith at Oasis needs prayer covering more than ever before because the future is EXTREMELY bright and the church is growing well beyond these walls that we meet in! Join with us and pray for wisdom, strength, and life to increase! My heart is to be a full over-comer in all things and to help you be as well!!!

Just in thought this morning,

-E

Sunday we started the “This is Christmas” series talking about peace and I believe it was a powerful and insightful message to help us all experience a greater peace and life this Christmas season! If you missed it, you can logon to watch at http://vimeo.com/oasischurch

Tonight is the meeting for all who can participate in the upcoming renovation projects that will be going on over the next couple of months… I hope you can make it! 6:00 in Higher Grounds.

I made the announcement this weekend about the Gautier campus closing due to the upcoming renovations and developments at the Singing River Mall. We have decided to go ahead and allow Sunday this past weekend to have been the final actual service in that location. We are asking that all the Gautier family join us in Pascagoula starting this upcoming weekend at 9:00 or 11:00 AM. I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused, but I believe this is best for everyone at this point and we are making plans now for expansion or relocation to larger facilities to not only accommodate the growth we are already experiencing, but making room for all those who are yet to come! Thank you Gautier folks and I can’t wait to see you all in Pascagoula this weekend!

Our parking situation has been somewhat burdensome being we are out of space! There was not 1 single parking place available at the 11:00 this past weekend! We are making arrangements with Wayne Lee’s to use their additional parking lot on JOE Ave for all Dream Team members. This will be Dream Team parking ONLY and a parking pass will be necessary for you to park in this private secure parking area. The lot is on the immediate left if you turn on JOE AVE in front of the Church and is fenced in for security. We will be cleaning it up and getting it ready THIS week for you all who this affects. There will be a van for transportation to the campus so you don’t have to walk so far! This is a GREAT problem to be having!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR ALL OF YOU WHO HELP AND UNDERSTAND as we move forward!

The City of Pascagoula is doing a drain replacement on our campus as well and will be on site for at least a month that may cause some discomfort as well. Please pardon the progress!

Some dates for you to remember as well of upcoming events:

• This upcoming Friday night, Oasis will be participating in the Pascagoula Christmas Downtown event with our band and worship team leading some Christmas songs at the event.

• 1st Wednesday is THIS WEEK! Don’t miss it! 6:45 Wednesday night! I am super excited about this!

• There has been a FAMILY movie night scheduled in Higher Grounds on Friday Night, December 14 beginning at 7:00. The Cafe will be open serving Coffee and food items will be available for purchase as a fund raising event. All funds and proceeds will go towards to Media and Children’s Dept for the renovations of the new Children’s Auditorium space that will be in what is now Higher Grounds.

• The Actual Christmas Experiences will be Sunday, December 23rd at 9:00 and 11:00. INVITE INVITE INVITE!

• If you have a Testimony or would like to tell of something Great God has done in your life, you need to email media@oasisonline.tv or contact the Oasis Admin office to set up with our production team a time to record a no more than 2 minute spot on video to air in an upcoming Experience. Please do this by calling 228-762-5639.

Have a great week Oasis Family! We celebrate at least 7 people coming to know Jesus this past weekend and are expecting even greater things to come! Thank you for being a part of what God is doing here on the Gulf Coast at Oasis Church! SEE YOU WEDNESDAY for 1st Wednesday… Seriously… Don’t miss it!!!

-Eric

Here we are! December is here and Christmas is less than a month away! Shopping has begun and the activities of Christmas celebration is all around… I wanted to write you today to give you some information that I believe may be important to you. First of all, below is the calendar for Oasis in December. This way you know all that is going on and when the office will be closed and such.

A few things I want you to know:

• This weekend we begin “This is Christmas” Message series! SERIOUSLY… YOU NEED TO INVITE PEOPLE TO THIS SERIES! Lives will be changed! We will have invite cards for you to pass out at Guest services.

• I WILL BE MAKING A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!

• Monday Night at 6:00, in Higher Grounds, we will have a meeting for anyone who can help with the renovations we will be doing in January! We will be turning what is now Higher Grounds into a Children’s Auditorium space for “The Wave” and moving Higher Grounds to where the current ADMIN offices are located. We will also be building a ramp to Higher Grounds Entrance. We need CRAFTSMANSHIP Gifted people! Hope you can make it!

• Next Wednesday is “1st Wednesday”… THIS WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST WEDNESDAY WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED AT OASIS! I am asking you to PLEASE try to be there! I will be sharing some very important information there as well.

• The Dream Team Christmas Party is December 9th. If you are on the team, you need to RSVP to office@oasisonline.tv to be there! You should have received an invitation.

• I WILL BE MAKING AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!!

• Sunday December 23rd will be the special Christmas Experiences for this year. 9:00 and 11:00 in PASCAGOULA LOCATION ONLY!

• I WILL BE MAKING AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!!!

I also will be traveling to Jackson to watch the Pascagoula Panthers take on Starkville for the 5A state Championship in Mississippi… That means I wont get home until about 1:30 in the morning and I need you praying for me in preaching all 3 Experiences Sunday morning!!! No… Really! Say a prayer right now for your pastor!!!

Can’t Wait to see you Sunday as we begin this new series for Christmas!

Below is the December Calendar for you:

Christmas Schedule:

December Calendar

December 5           –   1^st Wednesday // Family Gathering // VERY IMPORTANT!

December 9           –   “This is Christmas” Part 2

6:00   Dream Team Party at Gautier Location

December 12         –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

December 16         –   “This is Christmas” Part 3

December 19         –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

December 23         –   Christmas Celebration

Pascagoula Only 9:00 and 11:00

December 24 – 29^th   –   NO SERVICES and OASIS OFFICES CLOSED

December 30         –   Experiences 9:00 and 11:00

December 31 -Jan 1        OFFICES CLOSED

January 2    –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

SEE YOU SUNDAY!!!

Here we are! December is here and Christmas is less than a month away! Shopping has begun and the activities of Christmas celebration is all around… I wanted to write you today to give you some information that I believe may be important to you. First of all, below is the calendar for Oasis in December. This way you know all that is going on and when the office will be closed and such.

A few things I want you to know:

• This weekend we begin “This is Christmas” Message series! SERIOUSLY… YOU NEED TO INVITE PEOPLE TO THIS SERIES! Lives will be changed! We will have invite cards for you to pass out at Guest services.

• I WILL BE MAKING A VERY IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!

• Monday Night at 6:00, in Higher Grounds, we will have a meeting for anyone who can help with the renovations we will be doing in January! We will be turning what is now Higher Grounds into a Children’s Auditorium space for “The Wave” and moving Higher Grounds to where the current ADMIN offices are located. We will also be building a ramp to Higher Grounds Entrance. We need CRAFTSMANSHIP Gifted people! Hope you can make it!

• Next Wednesday is “1st Wednesday”… THIS WILL BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FIRST WEDNESDAY WE HAVE EVER EXPERIENCED AT OASIS! I am asking you to PLEASE try to be there! I will be sharing some very important information there as well.

• The Dream Team Christmas Party is December 9th. If you are on the team, you need to RSVP to office@oasisonline.tv to be there! You should have received an invitation.

• I WILL BE MAKING AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!!

• Sunday December 23rd will be the special Christmas Experiences for this year. 9:00 and 11:00 in PASCAGOULA LOCATION ONLY!

• I WILL BE MAKING AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT SUNDAY MORNING!!!

I also will be traveling to Jackson to watch the Pascagoula Panthers take on Starkville for the 5A state Championship in Mississippi… That means I wont get home until about 1:30 in the morning and I need you praying for me in preaching all 3 Experiences Sunday morning!!! No… Really! Say a prayer right now for your pastor!!!

Can’t Wait to see you Sunday as we begin this new series for Christmas!

Below is the December Calendar for you:

Christmas Schedule:

December Calendar

December 5           –   1^st Wednesday // Family Gathering // VERY IMPORTANT!

December 9           –   “This is Christmas” Part 2

6:00   Dream Team Party at Gautier Location

December 12         –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

December 16         –   “This is Christmas” Part 3

December 19         –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

December 23         –   Christmas Celebration

Pascagoula Only 9:00 and 11:00

December 24 – 29^th   –   NO SERVICES and OASIS OFFICES CLOSED

December 30         –   Experiences 9:00 and 11:00

December 31 -Jan 1        OFFICES CLOSED

January 2    –   Mid-Week Experiences beginning at 6:45

SEE YOU SUNDAY!!!

I preached a message Sunday morning at Oasis Church where I encouraged people to ask 2 questions when life gets hard. The first one was “Now What?” So things didn’t go the way may have wanted them to in the election, Now What? Now what can you learn from things not going your way? Maybe the election did go the way you wanted it to, now what? What does it really matter when it is all said and done?

The second question is “So What?” So what Obama won? So what Romney didn’t? So what does it REALLY matter? In our minds we think we all know what is best in every situation and when it doesn’t go that way, it is the end of the world! Truth of the matter is, regardless of who wins the White House, God is still God! If we would PRAY as much as we PROTEST we would live a more abundant life because we would realize that even if things don’t go the way we think they should, God is still in Control and our faith and dependance shouldn’t come from a political candidate or party!

I see the church looking more like politics every single day because we divide ourselves based on our party or candidate preference and we get an ego and prideful about it and people are turned off and run from us instead of seeing the Light of Jesus in us and want to run To us. It grieves me that we are so vocal about a political party or candidate and we put all of our hope in a man as President instead of our Jesus as King!

We worry and lose sleep and defend our thoughts about things to the point of anger and wrath because people don’t agree with what we think or how things ought to be done in our mind and I have to ask… How is that working out for you? So what? We walk by FAITH not by SIGHT!

I will be praying for President Obama and hoping he is successful in his next 4 years. Why? Because he is our president and I love this country. However, my days of political discussion and hashing out policy thoughts and ideas and disgust or celebration of what the administration does or don’t do is over. I will not get wrapped up in political jargon and allow my focus to be diverted from what I have to maintain my focus on. Am I concerned? Absolutely. I would be regardless of who is in office because I am raising a child in this culture. HOWEVER, It is time my faith rose to a whole nutha level and put my attention and energies in pursuing THE ONE who holds it all in The Palm of His Hand anyway! Jesus is still the answer and He is not a Republican or Democrat!

I hate that The Church has been so divided politically in this election based on party, race, opinion, policy, whatever, because if you are a child of God, we serve 1 King! We need to keep our faith and attention on THE ONE who is always the Right Answer! He has ALREADY WON! Get a Perspective Shift!

So What? Is your ranting and raving and grief and worry adding more grace and peace and love and joy to your life? Of Course not! Quit focusing on these things and seek Him and His Heart more and let Him take your anger and worry off your chest because you weren’t made to carry all of it in the first place… Pray for the President and all the elected officials. Let’s move on as 1 Country UNDER GOD and set an example Church of what it means to live our lives for Jesus!

Be The light! Love God. Love People… Even those you don’t agree with! Jesus did…

Rant Over…

The past month has been one of the most hectic in our family and church family. To name just a few things, Toni has had to have an unexpected medical procedure. Hurricane Isaac flooded the children’s Dept at Oasis, our bedroom at our house flooded during the storm, one of our A/C units at my house has quit working, I have had 2 staff members leave the church, part of our parking lot was damaged by the storm and has caused some inconvenience in our parking situation, on top of medical bills, we have had some unexpected expenses totaling around $1500 to come up, and I could go on and on… BUT…

I’m not.

Reasoning… Why should I? Because in the middle of all this, I have also felt like I am hearing more clarity on the vision for my family and for Oasis Church like never before! It is almost like I can sense a strong stirring of something’s about to happen that is going to change the landscape of our city and region for Jesus like never before!!! I say that because over the course of the last month and during all these trials and situations, here is what has happened:

* At least 75 people have given their lives to Christ just in the last month while all this has been  happening…

* We will be getting a new floor in our children’s dept and in my house! That insurance is going to pay for!

* Toni is doing better than ever!

* Financial blessings are also coming in for us personally and the church to not only cover all these extra expenses, but over and above these bills!

* Oasis Church is growing like never before as just in the past month we have welcomed over 100 first-time guests, or as we call them VIPs.

Still working on the A/C situation… (good thing is we have 2 units!)

The vacancies left with the staff… MAN! We have a great team of leaders at Oasis who have stepped up and has not only covered the voids, but have gone over and above! With that being said I just must declare how blessed I am!

Just an idea… Could it be that our problems and situations get magnified because our faith gets minimized? Could it be that our perspective needs a little tweaking to realize that even though things appear to be falling part, it is just opportunity for God’s love and supply to be in more abundance if we will lean on him?

Ok… I’m done! I just believe in all that we struggle through and with, there are lessons learned and faith that is built if we turn our perspective around and see the larger picture and potential…

Just an Idea…