Eric Camp

Why I Am Brutally Honest

1. I don’t like fake.  I hate it. I feel that is one of the biggest problems in the church today is fakeness! I feel like a plastic person not sharing what’s on my heart and mind.

2. It keeps my relationships healthy because my rawness causes me to deal with issues quickly. I have learned to balance this over the years.

3. I believe employees need to know where they stand, whether good or bad.  I think it’s unfair for an employee to be blindsided. Everyone benefits!

4. It keeps my heart free from anger, hurt and bitterness.  Because I’m honest with people, I don’t let junk build up in my heart. I talk it through, cry it through and work it out so that I can live free in my heart. This has taken time for me to adopt in ministry. In the business world, it was a different deal as I didn’t have the problem with this as I did earlier in ministry. I have learned that for the benefit of me and all those around me, being honest and dealing with it keeps it from my dinner table at night with my family too!

5. It encourages people.  I’m brutally honest about how awesome people are and how I believe in them. My rawness can be very encouraging too!!

6. On the flip side, my honesty can be discouraging to people. I have learned over the years that timing with my honesty is key. This is a constant work in progress. Believe it or not, my wife Toni has helped me with this more than anyone!

7. Because of my brutal honesty, I am an easy person to read.  You know if I’m happy, sad, mad or glad.

8. Over the years, I have learned that tone, when I share brutally honest facts, is key.  My tone is much better today than it was a few years ago. However, there is still room for improvement!

9. I am brutally honest because I really care about people. I want what’s best for people, and I believe being honest only helps people who want to be helped.

10. I really believe in people, and I am honest so that I can speak to their potential. I believe in developing people, and I have found that the best way to develop people to be all God wants them to be is to be honest about their strengths and weaknesses.

What Makes me Smile!

1. Date night with my wife! Gives us opportunity to reconnect with one another and keep the marriage healthy!

2. Eating dinner around the table as a family!

3. Working with people who deeply love God and me

4. Working with people I like

5. When somebody appreciates me for what I’ve done or my investment into their life

6. Going to work makes me happy.  I truly enjoy and feel called to what I do.

7. Talking to my pastor friends around America always encourages me.

8. New Challenges to accomplish more!!!

What Gets Under My Skin

1. When people say one thing and do another

2. When people take advantage of me

3. When a church leader says they want to meet with me to ask me questions and spend the entire time talking about themselves

4. When people don’t put roots down at one church because they attend four different churches

5. When people are late and don’t notify others that they will be late

6. When people don’t say thank you!!!!!!!

7. When people talk down to others

8. When people are religious and driven by tradition instead of following Jesus!

9. When people think their denomination is the best, so they tear down other denominations

10. When people shun others because they are hurting, broken, trapped in sin, a different race or because they are poor

11. Last but not least… NEGATIVITY! I cannot deal with a negative attitude or a negaholic… This is a big weakness and probably the largest thing that gets und

HOW TO GAIN FAVOR WITH YOUR LEADER…

1. Understand their vision and heart

2. Exceed expectations

3. Praise them publicly and challenge them privately, not the other way around

4. Put the team’s success before personal success

5. Submit and line-up your vision with your leader’s vision

6. Don’t cause your leader problems by doing stupid things

7. Bring your leader solutions and not just problems

8. Work yourself out of a job by developing others

9. Work hard so your leader never questions your work ethic

10. Have a positive attitude

11. Produce results that are evident

12. Ask your leader if there is anything you can do to move the organization forward

13. When you think your leader is making a bad decision, tell them before they go public, not after they go public

14. Share your great thoughts and ideas on how to move the organization forward

15. When your opinions and thoughts don’t get implemented, don’t get upset but instead support the decision privately and publicly

16. Manage your personal life well

I’ve had the opportunity to spend time with some incredible pastors and Christian leaders.  One of the things that I notice about these spiritual leaders is their humility. I am continually blown away by their humility. Today, I’m going to share some signs of when pride may be creeping into the life of a leader.

1. Pride is creeping into a leader’s heart when a leader is chasing after recognition instead of making a difference for Christ and His Kingdom. Oftentimes this can go unnoticed by many people, but the leader knows when he or she is secretly chasing after making a name for themselves instead of making an impact for the glory of God. God never called us to make a name for ourselves. God never called us to make ourselves great or famous. The goal of a Christian leader is to make Jesus great and famous. Be sure not to allow pride to creep into your heart by elevating your name instead of elevating HIS name.

One of the signs that pride may be creeping in is when you are playing the compare game.  When you are constantly comparing your attendance, offerings, staff or building size to other churches, pride could be creeping in. The comparison game is such a dangerous game to play. Oftentimes we walk away from the comparison game feeling worse about ourselves than we should or better about ourselves than we should. We easily get put down or puffed up from the comparison game. God never called us to compete. God has called us to be faithful and fruitful where we are with what we have and not to compete with a church across the country or down the street. When your heart becomes competitive with other churches and church leaders, pride is creeping in.  We ALL have to guard our hearts from developing a competitive spirit. We are all on the same team, and we are not a better follower of Jesus or servant of God because of numbers or popularity. Don’t allow pride to creep in!

Here are some signs of Pride Creeping into your life…

1. When you aren’t learning from other leaders

2. When you spend time with people and all you do is talk about yourself

3. When you won’t listen to and learn from people who lead a smaller organization that you

4. When you don’t listen to and learn from the people you lead

5. When you are defensive every time you are criticized

6. When you don’t have compassion on those who are suffering, hurting or trapped in sin

7. When you preach down at people as though you have arrived

8. When you want everybody to serve you

9. When you don’t serve anyone

10. When you justify why you are not obeying the bible in an area of your life

11. When you believe you could never fall into sin, so you don’t put boundaries in your life

12. When you don’t empower others to lead because you want to do it all yourself

13. When you always take the credit instead of giving the credit to the team

14. When you won’t raise up other speakers in your church and let them teach because you are hoarding the pulpit

15. When you start depending on self to produce the results instead of trusting God

I have to admit, there are people, usually pastors, who speak into my life personally and through blog discussions that I read that impact me and my life greatly. In some of these posts, I will share some information and challenges that I have acquired through some of those relationships. We all learn from somebody… Who you learning and growing from?

THE BLINDSIDES OF A LEADER…

1. They want to be liked more than they want to lead: This doesn’t mean being a jerk; it means you lead and make decisions led by the Holy Spirit even when it’s not popular. It means everybody you lead may not understand or like every decision that you need to make, but you are still willing to do what’s best for the organization in spite of not being popular.

2. They don’t see potential problems quickly: Many leaders are always in a jam and solving a problem that could have been avoided. Mole hills often times turn into mountains if left unchecked, but many leaders think they will just disappear on their own. If you want to waste a lot of time, constantly let potential problems turn into big problems by doing nothing.

3. They don’t lead strong on the front end: If a leader leads weak on the front end, there is always a mess to clean up on the back end. I have learned that I would rather start off a little more firm when leading a person and loosen up, than start loose and then have to firm up. If you give some people an inch, they will take mile, and now you have a dilemma on your hands.

Leaders lead! So if you are a leader, begin Leading!!!

I have been asked many times about our preparation and why we try to plan so much and so far ahead most times… I am encouraged when I read blogs by other pastors that I glean from or have relationship with and they operate in a similar type structure.  Here are some reasons why we plan and develop ahead of time….

Alot of people, including current leaders at Oasis Church, have asked about more leadership insights and ideas from me. I will be launching some thoughts in this blog as well as follow up with many other blog posts today and over the next couple of days. I must say, I have learned and gleaned from some of the best church leaders in America! I love pastors and church leaders who are leading boldly and enthusiastically to create a culture of church that operates with integrity and professionalism to exemplify Jesus to the best of their ability!! Here are some thoughts:

Some of the posts that are to come will give you direct insight on how we hire staff, equip staff and release staff to do what Jesus has commissioned Oasis Church to do in this region.

At Oasis, we have a very detailed and fully-functional system of staffing. Below is an idea of how we operate and what’s expected of new hires, especially lead team or executive team.

For current employees and staff we operate under this principle:

Pace – we work at an extremely fast pace! We are going to be working at such a fast pace that most people cant and wont be able to hang with the momentum!

Excellence – Everything we do will be done in excellence! No discussion! No deviations! A heart and mind of and for excellence is essential and mandatory.

Accountability- we believe in the utmost of accountability. Staff are accountable to me and Toni and I am accountable to other pastors that are overseers and each team member is accountable to each other! WE ARE A TEAM! Teams hold each other accountable for the advancement of the overall agenda and vision!

Get the Job done! – speaks for it self!! Deadlines will be met and the job will be completed.

When hiring, I look for the following C principles:

Chemistry – I must like the person I am interviewing and enjoy being around them. The chemistry has to be there with me first and then the rest of the team. I do hire friends because when you spend 40-50 hours a week with someone, you should have a friendship and like the people! I hire people who I like to hang out with outside of the church business hours.

Commitment – I look for people who are committed to their call, committed to the vision of Oasis, committed in every area of their life. Integrity is a by product of commitment! Ministry requires commitment.

Competency – ok, yes… It has to be said. I need competent people around me. Competence is not normality or in abundance anymore.. Sad, but true.

Calling – I want people who are called. Not just people who are doing a job. Why? The above 3 principles will be a by product of this one if the heart is right.

Some things I look for in potential staff and leaders:

1. Faithfulness: I look for people who are faithful to attend church, faithful to serve in a ministry, faithful to tithe and give offerings, faithful to attend a Life Group or our mid-week Gathering, faithful to do what’s asked of them and faithful to live for Jesus. Faithfulness is a key quality that a leader must possess.

2. Good attitude and spirit: I look for people who have a positive attitude, who aren’t whiners, who aren’t negative, who get along with people, who are likeable, who are humble and who are teachable. When I’m around somebody, I ask myself, “Do I like this person and desire to be around them?” There are some people that I love, but I would never want to work closely with them because they don’t have a good attitude and spirit. A good attitude and spirit are key to being a good leader.

LEADERS MUST:
1. Listen to the people they lead

2. Learn from the people they lead

3. Listen to other leaders in and outside of their field

4. Learn from other leaders in and outside of the field

Listening and learning is key to leading for the long haul.

Questions: When was the last time you listened to and learned from somebody that you are leading? Who was the last leader in and outside of your field that you listened to and learned from? Leaders are learners! Give me some feedback!

As I ponder meeting with all the leaders of Oasis and other civic and church leaders in the area this upcoming Sunday night at “Invigorate”, I have been studying more and more in the book of Numbers. Yes, Numbers. I will primarily be speaking from Numbers 12 Sunday night as I have been studying more and more about Moses and his leadership.

Many times I believe we think we are irreplaceable as leaders. Check out the following text from Numbers 20:12…

But the LORD said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust in me enough to honor me as holy in the sight of the Israelites, you will not bring this community into the land I give them.”

Everyone is replaceable.

A lot of times we try to motivate people to embrace their calling by saying that if you don’t  ______, no one else can. You’re the person God has appointed to do this, and no one else can do it.

It sounds good. Very motivating.
But it simply isn’t true.

To the Israelites, it probably seemed like Moses was the only one who could lead them into the Promised Land. But he wasn’t. And so when he wasn’t willing to trust God enough to do what he had been commanded to do, the responsibility and privilege was handed over to someone else.

There’s a scary truth that we all must accept:
Like Moses, you and I ARE replaceable.

Do we really think that if we don’t use our profession as our pulpit, God won’t raise someone else up to do it?
Do we really think God can’t raise up another church to have the impact He wants ours to have if we don’t do what He’s calling us to do?
Do we really think God’s purpose depends solely on us?

God is not hamstrung by our disobedience. Or by our unwillingness to join in on what He wants to do in this world. In God’s economy, He values His purpose over the personality He uses to accomplish it. If you won’t do what God is calling you to do, He will simply find somebody else to do it.

Don’t get me wrong, God doesn’t just replace us on a whim or at the first sign of resistance on our part. He chases and pursues us. He is more patient than we can possibly imagine.

But the Creator of the Universe’s purpose is greater than any one person.
You are a part of the plan. But you are not THE plan.
You’re special. Valuable. You’re one of a kind.
But you’re not irreplaceable.

This isn’t easy to accept, but it’s absolutely essential that we do it. It communicates urgency to us. Not in the sense that God is urgent for us to do something for Him. But urgency in the sense that the window of our opportunity to do something with God isn’t open indefinitely. It has to be seized now.

Believe it or not, there are countless people in this world who would do anything to take your spot in how God wants to use you. Don’t give them the opportunity. Whatever God is calling you to do, do it. And do it now.

We are entering the 2nd week of “At The Movies” at Oasis Church and WOW! Our goal is to reach 1000 in total attendance during this series and see hundreds of lives amazingly transformed by The Power of The Holy Spirit! Yesterday we recorded the last part of the last movie of the series. WOW! You really dont want to miss the next 3 weeks! INVITE YOUR FRIENDS and LOVED ONES! This is our major once a year focus series on reaching the lost! Utilize the opportunity Oasis! If you cant come and attend live, watch Live Online at OasisOnline.tv.

I am super excited about all that God is doing at Oasis! Our staff is taking it to a “whole nutha level” when it comes to creativity and excellence! Very proud of each of them and I am thankful for a church that has a heart for Jesus and for this Gulf Coast Region because with that, we will continue to witness God do AMAZING things in our region!

I am working on a new series that will be for September that we are calling “life support”. A very practical, life-giving” series dealing with life’s many issues and the answer to these issues. Don’t miss it.

We are taking Ethan to a BayBears game tonight with some friends and are excited about that, but my thoughts are also what if… What if we could pack a stadium like that and have a church experience here in our area…??? I believe it is coming…

Well, It is Friday and I have to go to Lowe’s and to do some errands… I hope everyone has a great weekend and I really look forward to seeing you all Sunday!!!!

I was having a conversation with a member of our church Wednesday night before the Mid-Week Gathering, and he was telling me how the worst criticism he hears about our church is that it is a “feel good” church and nothing more… Of course, he then went on to say how challenged he is and always is with the teachings and etc…

Since then, I have been thinking about that statement. First of all, the people who say that have never attended a service Experience at Oasis and really dont know they are talking about so we discredit their opinion anyway… But…

Shouldn’t church be a place where we feel better about ourselves when we leave, not worse? I mean Shouldn’t our churches be “LIFE-GIVING” not “LIFE-TAKING”? Since when did church become a place you just had to endure?

That statement is one that has been said many times about many different ministries because in my opinion, these people are stuck in a religious routine and have very little joy. Shouldn’t we have the most fun at Church than we do all week? ABSOLUTELY! Why? We have something to celebrate!!! We have Life! We have purpose! We have destiny! We have The Holy Spirit INSIDE of us as followers of Christ! We should COMPEL people to want to attend our services, not REPEL them. Our first mission is to lead people to Jesus. If you create a depressing, legalistic, heavy atmosphere and way of doing ministry, not many people will want to be a part of that… I wouldnt!

At Oasis Church this year alone we have witnessed over 900 people give their lives to Jesus! TRULY AMAZING! Why do I think that is? Because we insure that we create an environment that they are welcomed and they are encouraged to step across that line and receive Christ into their heart. Who wouldn’t feel good about that???

So, back to the point… we teach very practical, life-giving messages and we encourage people to grow in their relationship with Jesus. Why? That is what Jesus Himself did and we follow His lead and example, not man’s opinion. I came to the understanding a long time ago that it was not my job to condemn or even convict anyone… that is the job of The Holy Spirit. My job is to preach the Gospel… wait… the what? THE GOSPEL… which is the GOOD NEWS!

I am thankful to pastor a “feel-good” Life-Giving” Spirit-filled” church where lives are being changed and transformed, people are getting saved and delivered and brokenness is being healed, hope is being restored, and multiplication is occurring because when I read the Book of Acts on how The Church supposed to look… that is what I see and yes, I feel Great and am excited about that and will offer no apologies to anyone for it….

God Bless you! Have a great weekend and know that yes, Jesus is with you, He has a purpose for you, there is a destiny for you to have… Jesus is Here and ANYTHING can Happen!!!

Be Encouraged!

One thing I have noticed in today’s culture is the neglect of preparation.

We don’t prepare anymore for the dynamics of life and have developed more of an attitude of “I’ll deal with it if it happens”. Or we have the thoughts that whatever comes our way, we will just deal and not invoke much attention to spear-heading and resolving issues before they occur.

You wouldn’t set out on a road trip without first putting gas in your vehicle. Why? There is a long road ahead and you will run out of gas if you don’t fill it up. Preparation and prevention go hand in hand. You prepare, you can prevent some issues from arising. You don’t brush your teeth, you will get cavities and your teeth will rot out and people will run from you because your breath smells worse than the Pogy plant in Moss Point! (over dramatized on purpose!)

We are all responsible for preparation in our lives on many different levels, but leaders In the church are more so responsible for the service to those coming into our buildings each week. We are responsible to insure a safe and friendly environment to insure people’s comfort level when attending our services or experiences. This doesn’t happen on the fly or by the seat of your pants.

Processes and procedures and details should be very well thought out and planned for. This enables greatest efficiency and excellence in what we do each week to reach people first and foremost that are far from God.

No Football player takes the field to run a play without first going over in his mind the approach he needs to take. They have practiced these plays and each player is responsible to uphold their part. Each player is responsible for executing their end of the play. Each player is responsible for their role to insure the play is a success.

Don’t undermine Sunday mornings. Each team player should have a plan and be prepared spiritually and practically to execute each assignment and area of responsibility so that Jesus gets victory each week and the church grows as people get saved!

Excellence is always rewarded! We owe HIM our best! We owe those we are called to serve our Best because we are representing HIM!

Just a few thoughts to chew on today….

Are you prepared? Do you go over your “game plan” each day and the day before to insure you are where you are supposed to and doing what you are supposed to be doing?

Be challenged to take it to a WHOLE ‘NUTHA LEVEL!”