Eric Camp

Honor is given… Respect is Earned. We are all called to honor those in authority over us. We honor our parents and elders, we honor our pastors, we honor elected officials and public safety officials, we honor teachers, we honor one another… or at least we are supposed to. Part of the decay of modern culture today is the lack of honor. You can honor and not respect. Respect is earned by those whom respect is due. But Honor is constant. You may not agree with what an elected official did and may not respect them, but you must honor them in order to please God:

(Romans 13:1-7) ¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

 ⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Being a Sr. Pastor, I have people in my life that I hold to high esteem and honor. Pastors in my life. Public leaders and politicians. Many others… But it shouldn’t stop there… We should honor everyone in my opinion. Placing others before ourselves. So much honor is missing because no honor is being given! Your waitress, your bank teller, your child’s teacher or baseball coach, YOUR PASTOR, they are people who are serving you and honor is not something they are used to getting, so let’s ramp it up and make a difference EVERYDAY by showing honor to all! Those who are proven and continually investing in your life, RESPECT them. Show Respect and you will receive Respect.

(John 13:34-35)  ³⁴ “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵ By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So what about the vote part… GO DO IT! I personally vote for the candidates that show honor, esteem their authority, and attempt to make a positive difference in our culture. They are not full of themselves, but they are concerned for the well-being of all. That is hard to find these days I know, but there are some I feel that are out there. Let your voice be heard! Go Vote! Look to those who first and foremost HONOR and ESTEEM God… that is the greatest place to begin…

Do you?

I have been contemplating lots of things recently… Especially since going to Jackson and talking to many different pastors about how to win people to Jesus and live in their Divine call from God. One thing I have discovered is that we can dream, we can live, we can plan, we can even be happy, but, we will never move into that new place or the fresh anointing if we are constantly living in yesterday.

The greatest enemy of tomorrow is yesterday.

We rehash the old and rationalize the present in order to explain the future and we just have to leave, even good things, in the past and grab a hold of the present to navigate faithfully into the future!

When you hear someone always referencing the way things were, or how long they have been here or there, or what it was like then, they are more consumed in self elevation of their past instead of magnifying the potential of their future!

Yesterday was great! For many… Yesterday was a great training ground. But today is another opportunity and tomorrow is a greater potential!

You don’t graduate college or high school on a Friday and show back up for class on the following Monday!

Let’s think Big!
Let’s live Big!
Let’s believe Big!
Let’s pray Big!
LETS EXPECT BIG!  

You cant if yesterday is always on your mind… Just some thoughts and ramblings today from my thought process… Good day…

I read this blog by a pastor friend, Perry Noble, and thought I would share with everyone on my blog! Great read for leaders!!!

Just some thoughts I’ve been thinking lately…

• The goal of a leader isn’t to keep people happy but to keep people moving, which often times makes them not happy!
• The goal of a leader isn’t to get something out of people but rather to invest in them!
• The goal of a leader isn’t to DO all of the work, but to DELEGATE the work to the right people who can do it better than them anyway.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to merely identify problems but rather to initiate the solution to the problems.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to declare what he is against but rather define what he is for.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to fight but to figure out how to learn from those who have different opinions…and are actually willing to sit down and, in love, talk about the issues.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to be perfect but rather to give his best effort, knowing that he falls incredibly short unless God is involved.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to model perfection but rather to admit weaknesses, mistakes and shortcomings.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to solve every problem but rather to seek the counsel of those who know how to fix the problem.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to tear down but rather to build up.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to avoid tough conversations and situations but rather to take them head on with both conviction and compassion!
• The goal of a leader isn’t to wish for more time but rather to use his time wisely.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to make excuses but rather to make progress.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to get bitter but to get better when faced with an “opportunity for improvement.”
• The goal of a leader isn’t to be envious but rather to be a student of all that God is blessing.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to be secluded but rather to surround himself with the right time.
• The goal of a leader isn’t to be original but rather to understand that there really is nothing new under the sun!
• The goal of a leader isn’t to restrain the people he works with but rather to figure out how to UNLEASH them!

Just a few goals I am working on personally!  🙂

Church Culture

Every church and staff has it’s own unique culture and flavor.  Here is a list of some of the Oasis Church culture:

1. We have a Jesus and Bible culture instead of a religious, stuck in tradition or motivated by denominational dogma or preferences.  People don’t last long around Oasis Church who are religious, stuck in tradition or motivated by denominational dogma.  We are all about Jesus, the Bible and loving people.

2. We have a very raw and honest culture.  Most people who come to work at Oasis Church are shocked at how brutally honest we are about everything, whether good or bad.  People always know where they stand at Oasis Church.  Honest and open communication is what we are all about.

3. We have a volunteer culture.  We value equipping the saints to do the work of the ministry.  We equip our church family to do the ministry instead of hiring a bunch of staff.  We like to have a lean staff and a massive amount of volunteers.

4. We have a change culture.  We are always changing things.  It’s a part of who we are.  Change is easy for us.  Our people respond well to change because it’s what they are used to.

5. We have a leadership culture.  We value equipping others to do the ministry instead of doing the ministry ourselves.  Doers don’t excel in our culture.  People who love to equip and make others successful thrive in our culture and continue to rise to new levels of responsibility.

6. We have a strong work ethic culture.  We value people who work extremely hard.  People who want to coast, take it easy and are lazy don’t work well at OC.  People who are extremely driven, have a great work ethic and who produce results thrive in our culture.

7. We have a diverse culture. We value people from every walk of life. We value every skin color and age group.  Diversity is a huge part of who we are. We are very unified and very diversified at the same time.

8. We have a reaching people far from God culture.  Every Sunday and Wednesday (youth ministry) people give their lives to Christ. We have a come just as you are and no matter where you are in life and experience the love of Christ culture.  Every Sunday our church is filled with people far from God, and it can get really messy, but we love it.

9. We have an outreach and loving our community culture.  We spend tons and tons of money investing into the hurting, broken, lonely, poor and lost in our community.  We feed, clothe and help educate our community.  We send our people out to do community projects.  We have a huge heart to show the love of Jesus to our community and around the world in tangible ways.

10. We have a doing life together culture.  We want to connect people to God and to others.  We are passionate about connecting our church family in small groups, and we have tons of people connected in a small group and will be implementing a very aggressive campaign at the beginning of the year to further advance this! We have a culture where the church body ministers to one another, and they are not dependent on the paid pastors to provide all the ministry.  Our church family cares, supports, encourages and holds one another accountable.  

1. When I don’t know where I’m headed with a series or a sermon: I’m a big planner, and I like to know where I’m going with a series or a message months out if possible. If I get a week or two out and don’t know where I’m going with a message, that messes with me mentally BIG TIME!

2. Staff: Staff are my greatest asset and my greatest liability. One of the most difficult and most important jobs of any leader in a growing organization is building the right team. You have to get the right people on the bus and in the right seats, and when I have the wrong people on the bus or the right people in the wrong seats, this can mess with me mentally BIG TIME!

3. Negativity. I do not do well with negativity at all! A negative comment can deflate my atmosphere quicker than sucking the oxygen out of the room! That is why on Sunday mornings before I speak at Oasis Church, I don’t know anything that is wrong because I cant let it get under my skin! We have a great team that helps keep that off of me because they know this. I am very selective who I talk to and visit with before speaking.

Remember, we all have weaknesses… I am just being vulnerable with mine. The Lord is still working on me! 🙂

Everybody who comes to work at Oasis Church realizes quickly that we have our own unique culture.  I will quickly describe some of our culture to you.

1. Raw open and honest communication: We are a very open and honest environment.  We will tell you when you or your area of ministry is doing great and we will tell you when you or you area of ministry is not doing well.  We constantly evaluate and try to improve everything we do.  We believe that everybody and every ministry can get better and we operate with that premise in mind.  You always know where you stand at OC.  Most people have never experienced the brutal honesty that’s a huge part of our culture.

2. Work hard and at a fast pace: We work extremely hard and producing results is required.  Almost everybody we hire talks about the strong work ethic that’s required and the pace in which we move and get things done.  Lazy people and people who are not results orientated don’t do well in our culture.

3. Leadership is required: Our leadership staff must be leaders and not doers to be successful.  Our culture requires our leadership staff to produce results through other people and not through themselves.  We are a culture that develops leaders to lead and work through large groups of people.  Our leadership staff must be able lead leaders to function well in our culture.

4. Volunteer driven: We strongly believe that the leadership teams job is to equip God’s people to do the work of the ministry.  We purposely staff lean and require our executive staff and administrative staff to use volunteers to do the work of the ministry.  Most churches have 1 staff member for every 80 to 100 people.  We have 1 Executive staff member for every 200 or so people because we are a volunteer driven culture.

We have just adopted this principle and will launch full scale in January 2012.

Welcome Aboard Robby Myrick, Eric Suire and Pamela Albanese to the Executive team!

1. It’s painful when you have a dream or a goal for your ministry and it doesn’t work out like you thought it would.  Leaders push through the pain, pick themselves up and continue to move forward.

2. It’s painful when people you don’t even know begin to attack you or your ministry.  Leaders push through the pain and keep their attention on what Jesus has called them to do. They don’t get distracted.

3. It’s even more painful when people you know well begin to attack you or your ministry. Leaders stay close to Jesus, keep their focus on the vision and keep a tender heart while developing thick skin. Leaders learn to push through the pain.

4. It’s painful when people leave your church. Leaders learn to stop taking somebody leaving the church personal. They focus their attention on who they still have and don’t fixate on who left. Leaders push through the pain because there are more people who need to be reached for Christ.

5. It’s painful when a friend turns their back on you or the vision. Leaders push through the pain and allow God to heal their hearts so that they will continue to make friends and trust people. A leader has to have some close friends that can walk alongside of them throughout the journey of life and leading.

6. It’s painful to have to let go of an unproductive staff member or a staff member who just isn’t a fit with your team or culture. Leaders push through the pain and realize they are responsible to manage God’s resources well, and having an unproductive staff member isn’t good management.

7. It’s painful to push through pain! Leaders realize that their leadership and the organization they lead will only rise to the level of their pain threshold. If a leader stops pushing through pain, they stop growing and so does their organization.  

1. Preach the Bible.

2. Don’t preach your opinions.

3. Help people apply the Bible to their daily lives.

4. Take time to teach on issues and subjects that people are facing in their daily lives.

5. Make it your goal to make disciples.

6. Always teach and preach with love.

7. Don’t teach and preach with a condescending and negative approach.

8. Spend time praying and hearing from God about what to preach.

9. Use illustrations to help your points come alive and to help people understand and apply the message.

10. Take time to study. It takes me anywhere from 7 to 15 hours of studying, fine tuning and going over the message before I’m ready to preach it.

11. Use humor. Laughing helps people drop their guards, and it helps you connect with people.

Very sad that this kind of stuff happens in the church today… And we wonder why people run from church!! This really shocked me! Read the story below…

Church Bans Interracial Couple

On November 27th the Gulnare Freewill Baptist Church voted 9 to 6 to ban interracial couples from church services or functions, with the exception of funerals.

According to ABC News…

Stella Harville, 24, and her fiance Ticha Chikuni, 28, are the couple that prompted the church’s actions. Harville is white and Chikuni is black. The couple met at Georgetown College in Kentucky, where both were students, and they plan to marry in July 2012.

Harville is in graduate school in Indiana and Chikuni is working at Georgetown College, but when the couple visits Harville’s parents in Pike County, Ky., they usually go to church with her parents.

Harville’s parents Cathy and Dean Harville have been church members for decades. Cathy Harville has taught Sunday school at the church and Dean Harville was a deacon there and is currently the church’s secretary. They consider the church’s 42 congregants their family.

But after a service in June where Stella Harville and Chikuni participated by singing and playing the piano for a hymn, the family was shocked when then-pastor Melvin Thompson approached them after the service.

“There seemed to not be a problem and then all of a sudden the pastor at the time came up to [Chikuni] and told him he could not sing anymore,” Harville said. “That floored us. We wanted to know why.”

The next week, Cathy and Dean Harville met with Thompson and were shocked to hear their pastor say that members of the congregation had said they would walk out if Chikuni sang again. The parents wanted to know exactly who had a problem with their future son-in-law.

“‘Me, for one,’” Cathy Harville said that Thompson replied. She said he added, “‘The best thing [Stella] can do is take him back where she found him.’”

As per Pete Wilson, he is quoted below and I concur 100%!!

“But as far fetched and as radically misguided as this story is I think it’s important for us to remember how easy it is to miss the mark when we start putting our own personal preferences ahead of God’s Word. Nothing destroys a church quicker than a self seeking agenda that isn’t committed to the truth of the Gospel. Every time an individual makes laws requiring more of us than what God requires, human pride and the desire to control others enters the equation. It continuously amazes me how we can complicate what God made so simple.”

(((UPDATE))) Ok, so the church this past weekend changed their mind and reversed this decision. Great choice! I just hope it was under the conviction of their hearts and not just because of such negative media exposure about their decision. Let’s be the church people! BLACK, WHITE, GREEN, YELLOW, WHATEVER!!! Ok, I’m done now…