Old Habits Die Hard or How to Pay For a Mini-Van, Baby, & School

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You can be sure that God will take care of everything you need, his generosity exceeding even yours in the glory that pours from Jesus. Our God and Father abounds in glory that just pours out into eternity. Yes. Philippians 4:19-20

This is going to be a more personal post than normal. Next week I should get back into my normal musings. I want to tell you guys about what's going on in my life right now... ya know, to keep you in the loop.

Allie is currently about 25 weeks pregnant. She and the baby are healthy. December 1 (or sometime around then) we should be welcoming a new baby boy into the world. So far our name for him is Levi Alexander Rhodes. Who knows that could change, but right now, that's what we're thinking.

7 Ways To Keep Oceanside's Momentum

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The problem with momentum is the more of it you need the harder it is to get going. A 4 ton rock might have a huge amount of momentum while rolling down hill, but getting that rock rolling is very difficult. A 5 pound stone would be much easier to push down a hill, but it would also be far easier to stop.

Oceanside has struggled with momentum throughout our 9 year history. Buildings, health, finances, and confusion of Oceanside's vision and mission have all built huge walls that many times have taken years to breakthrough and overcome.

Once again Oceanside has a little momentum on our side. We've picked up some steam! People are getting their lives changed and we've seen real growth in our worship services. Events like Scaremare have given us little nudges to get us rolling. The question is, how do we keep this momentum? Here are 7 ways that I thought of today.

1. Provide The Finances Needed For Growth.
I wish everything was free, but few things are. If we're going to continue to grow and keep this momentum we're going to have to trust God and do some sacrificial giving. One of Oceanside's biggest barriers is money. Matthew 6:19-21


2. Stay On Board With The Mission.
Far too often people get confused about the mission of Oceanside. We're not left here on Earth to just build cool buildings and hang out together. We're here to build relationships and make disciples. Oceanside needs to be out there making friends and making disciples. That's our mission. Matthew 28:19

3. Love Each Other.
Dissension in the church can ruin momentum faster than you can blink. The sad part is, most of the time church arguments aren't about things that matter. Stay on task, love each other, and take care of each other. Hebrews 10:24-25

4. It's Not About You (Or me).
We often get way too caught up in ourselves. We think the church needs to meet our needs. But if Oceanside is going to continue to grow you're going to have to stop worrying about your comfort and start thinking about the greater mission of Christ's church. Sometimes we forget that we're not people who work and go to church on the weekends. We're the church and we work. Church isn't something we do it's something that we are. Colossians 1:16

I saw this tweet and had to share it with you.

5. Stay In Church.
It is most important that you are THE Church at your job, in your classroom, with your friends, and at home. But don't quit coming to church and small group. Sometimes that means getting up on Sunday is going to be really tough, and staying out late on Saturday might be a little too much. But the fact is your spirit needs the energy is received when Christ's Church meets together. Hebrews 10:25

6. Stay in God's Word and Take Care of Your Spiritual Health.
The temptation is going to be to let that time alone with God slip. DON'T YOU DO IT! In this time of momentum if you're going to participate and get involved where God's at work you'll have to stay in the Bible. You'll have to have deep prayer times with God. You'll have to be on your spiritual guard against Satan. Otherwise this whole thing will fall apart. Proverbs 4:23

7. Forget About Normal.
God doesn't need our normal. There was nothing normal about Jesus. If you're about a church being normal then you are at the wrong church. We're about changing our world, and a lot of times that means we're going to do some strange things. You might have to get on board with some weird things. Like what if we started meeting in a tent for church. Yeah, that would be weird, but it might just be exactly what we need to do. Learn to accept WEIRD and reject NORMAL. Matthew 7:13

There you have it! That's what I came up with. Are there any other ways you can think of to keep our momentum?

Oceanside's Youth Group Needs Some Help

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The Students on this board are the ones you need to pray for.

Yesterday was Reality Youth's big back to school push. We call it Back to Cool. I know it's a way dorky name, but that is kind of the point. It was the most successful Back to Cool party we've ever had. We fit 37 students and workers in our little building. Praise God!

Playing an Icebreaker Game...

So, you may ask, how did we get them their? We lured them in with money and movie tickets. Before you freak out it is a Biblical model. Luke 14 tells us to, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. The understanding of, "Compel"is by any legal means. The Message says it this way, Then go to the country roads. Whoever you find, drag them in. I want my house full! In other words do whatever you can legally do to get them under the preaching of the Gospel. That is what we did.

Playing More Games...

With the help of some great volunteer staff we pulled off games, food, and a gospel presentation where almost half the students raised their hands for salvation. We had all kinds of students at church: profest atheists, Christians, nominal-Christians, non-believers, and students with lots of needs. I'm so proud of our students!

Here is the Problem:
I told the students that I would give the one who brought the most friends a $50 gift card to Town Centre. I honored that and had that ready to go. I also said I would give all the friends of the winning student a free movie pass. The winning student brought 11 friends! I was only prepared for at most 5.

We Need Your Help:
We need 6 people to give $10 to help cover the costs of the tickets we didn't have the money for.

You can send your gifts through the mail to (Please get it in before next Wednesday):
1728 Rifle Range Rd.
Mt. Pleasant, SC 29464

or give online at this link ONLINE GIVING. Please, memo it for the Youth Group. Thank you for your help. When you give you're impacting the lives of students who may never hear the gospel any other way.

Christmas Miracles in June

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Painting originally by George Roberts remixed by me.

He has a lot of great paintings to check out here

Christmas only comes once a year for most of us, but for some it comes a few times a year. This is God’s blessing.

Recently I was in a meeting with several other pastors. It was mentioned that God gets a lot of glory out of people without money. I’m in no way poor mouthing, but I don’t think it’s a secret if I say, most pastors don’t earn a lot. Experience has taught me God does get a lot of glory through those without.

When people are in need it gives God the opportunity to provide. Thank the Lord for those whom He has financially blessed! He uses those people to meet the needs of those without. I’ve seen it over and over again in my life.

Wednesday was the deadline for camp money. Many of our students came to me asking for help. Their families didn’t have the ability to pay for camp (either completely or partially). I was crunching numbers, trying to pinch pennies, and figuring out ways for everyone to go to camp. I was not having much success.

Then suddenly my phone vibrated and jingled with a dance tune I often let ring for too long (Man, I love to dance to that tune!). When I picked up the phone, I figured it was another student asking for mercy. On the contrary, a person told me they wanted to sponsor two full scholarships! It was seriously a Christmas miracle in June. That amount put us over the top and allowed everyone to go to camp, even those in need.

Whether you have a lot or not, there is always someone who has less. There is always someone that you can be a miracle to. I encourage you to look for those people. When we have little God gives great.

Philippians 4:19-20
And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus. Now to our God and Father be glory forever and ever. Amen.

In Closing:
1) I thought we had a great week at the Waterworks building! There are some things to get used to, but it was MUCH better than being at the Ministry Center’s sweat box. Great attendance too. Keep inviting.
2) We leave for Camp Fusion this Sunday after church at 2PM. Thank you to all who have helped pay our students ways to camp. You are a blessing to them and me.
3) If there is one thing Oceanside knows how to do it’s eat and throw a party. I’m really excited about the block party we’ll be having at Seagull Apartments on July 17.
4) Vacation Bible School is my second favorite time during the summer (The first being youth camp. I’m a little partial). We’ll be rockin’ and rollin’ this year on July 22-24.