5 Steps to Save a Mormon

I compiled this list because I see Mormons all over Mt. Pleasant. They’re riding their bikes from house to house and sharing their faith. The sad part is they do not have the truth. Here are 5 steps to saving a Mormon.

1. Live out Christ in front of them- When you see them around town or when they come to your door. Don’t treat them like dirt. Respect, serve, and love them like Christ does.

2. Pray for them- Prayer is powerful. It has the ability to move mountains and change hearts.

3. Don’t argue- It only creates a rift between you and them. Bring your Bible out and witness to them. Let them see their sin and their need for a savior.

4. Be consistent- Mormons don’t like people who only act like Christians sometimes. They want to see sincerity and genuineness in your life. If you are a follower of Christ act like one no matter what the situation.

5. Talk to them about Christ- Tell them about the hope that is found in Christ. Don’t worry about offending them. Their souls are at stake here! You tell them and let the Holy Spirit do His work.

You may have read that list and thought, “Those are the 5 steps? That sounds like how I’d witness to anyone.” To that I say, exactly. I titled this article “The 5 Steps to Save a Mormon,” but it could have been titled “5 Powerful Witnessing Tools.” You probably wouldn’t have wanted to read it as much then. Use the steps with anyone: Atheists, Wiccans, Jehovah's Witnesses, your mom, and/or your neighbors. I encourage you to go out and tell the world.

In John 15:5 Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” So what is your best witnessing tool? Having the God of the universe on your side.

-Ivey Rhodes

Ravi Zacharias on the Issue of Sexuality

In light of my post from earlier today someone sent me this video from Youtube. I think it's very interesting and decided to pass it on to you guys.

-Ivey Rhodes

Camp Creation 2010 Info

Where will Oceanside’s youth camp be this year?
Camp will be held on Agape Farms Mt. Union, PA. I know it’s longer then we’ve ever been before but I believe it will be well worth the distance. The trip will be around 11 and  1/2 hours away.

The actually camp is going to be happening with a Christian music festival. Rest assured this is not like a Woodstock type event in respect to what will go on. There are absolutely no alcohol or drugs permitted into the camp.

Beyond just the music there great and there will be many awesome speakers that will talk directly to your students needs. The opportunity for life altering things to happen will be greater than it’s ever been before.

Why are we going to so far away?
First, distance can often help students. In my experience most of the greatest single events in my life happened away from home.

Will this be run like Oceanside’s camps in the past?
Yes, for the most part. We’re still going to have all the great games and fun as before, but this time some of your students favorite bands will be there. That absolutely ramps up camp to a level it has never been at before!

Is it safe?
Yes. The camping facility on Agape Farms has it’s own small hospital if anything did go wrong. At Oceanside we promise to never put your student in a situation that we do not believe is safe. You can read more about the medical facilities on Agape Farms at this website: http://www.creationfest.com/ne/details.php

What are the Dates?
We will be leaving on June 29th and arriving back home on July 4th. The festival last from June 30th-July 3rd. June 29th and July 4th will be travel days.

What are the Accommodations?
This year, for the first time ever, we’re truly breaking out of our comfort zones. We’ll be sleeping in tents on the camp grounds. That is something I’m excited about. The tents will be separated into to camps: guys and girls. The camps will not be too far apart but will have the proper amount of camp counselors for the corresponding gender. If you have tents that we could borrow that would help tremendously.

Oceanside Camp 2008

What’s the Cost?
We try to make our camps affordable. This year is no different. Many camps don’t offer what Oceanside’s camp does and they cost twice as much. Camp will cost $250.00. Those cost include the renting of the camp ground, food, t-shirts, speakers, bands, and games.

Fund Raisers:
This year we’re offering more fundraisers than ever before to cope with the price being  a little more than previous years.

• May 15th: Bike-a-thon: This is an Oceanside classic where we earn money biking around.

(CLICK HERE FOR AN EXTRA Bike-A-Thon Form)

• June 19th: Potato Bar: Invite friends and family to stuff their potatoes to the brim and enjoy entertainment and family fun at Oceanside.

Fund raisers such as the Potato Bar and the Squeegee day will only benefit those who show up and participate.

Payment Dates:

• March 31st: We’re asking for a $50.00 deposit for each student to hold their space.
• April 28th: payment of $50.00
• May 6th is the deadline for having at least $100.00 on your account. You will not go to camp if I do not have that amount by the 6th.
• May 26th: Payment of $100.00
• June 23rd: Final payment of $50.00

Look for more info to come in the near future

If you have any questions or concerns feel free to email me:
Ivey@myoceansidechurch.com

God Bless,
Rev. Ivey Rhodes

Controversial Church coming to the Lowcountry

Westboro Baptist Church is coming to the Lowcountry to picket and spew hateful speech all around. Pastor Trey, my pastor, has a very helpful blog about it. I encourage you to check it out below. I will say that they are not Christian, Baptist, or even a church. Pastor Trey goes much deeper and has a lot more to say about it. It's awesome.

Pastor Trey's blog

You can also listen to his sermon where he talks about it.

-Pastor Ivey Rhodes

Quentin is Almost Here!

Allie and I are very excited about Quentin coming soon. Allie went in for her weekly doctors appointment and all is well. We're just over 3 weeks away from the due date now and I can tell you Allie is ready (and me too)! I feel God has this amazing thing built into women. Just a few weeks ago Allie was really nervous about the delivery. Yesterday she said, "I'm ready for this to happen!" The bigger women get the more accepting they become of the painful contractions to come. It's kind of like getting a spanking. Let's just get it over with.

The doctor says it's any day now so we're packing our bags tonight to prepare. If you would lift up Allie as she is determined not to take any pain meds. When I say no pain meds I mean, like, not any Tylenol. Yeah, she's crazy like that. As for me I'll be taking plenty of Tylenol and maybe getting a spinal tap. I have to deal with Allie's hand squeeze of death again [Tongue in cheek].

Maggie and me waiting in the car for mom to finish with her doctor's checkup. Those are some killer blue eyes.

Maggie in our Walmart brand paper towel fort. It was awesome.

One interesting thing that has happened, that I only assume will increase, is the time I've gotten to spend with Maggie recently. As she gets older she has become more fun. She even plays some video games with me, and wakes me up so I'll go turn on the Wii. Good times.

-Ivey

40 Days of Love... Let's do it.

We're learning to be first class lovers! That phrase makes me laugh, but it's true. Learning takes listening and action. This past week and a half has been helpful and challenging. In this weeks Small Group lesson Pastor Trey challenged us to love those who hard to love. He asked us to show patience to that person who grits our nerves, and he asked us to affirm someone with low self-worth. That last one was a challenge for me. Not because I can't affirm people but I had a hard time thinking of someone with low self-worth. After I prayed about it for a minute the Lord gave me a student at Reality. God then worked it out where I could offer this student a gift and affirm her. It was amazing to see her eyes light up when I gave her some iPod headphones after her's broke. A simple gesture. That same night a middle school student came up to me at Reality and told me how she struggled to be nice to a hard to love person, but this week she has been making an extra effort. She's even gone as far as buying this person's their favorite cookie and giving it to them at lunch. I was impressed. And that's where this 40 day journey makes a difference. We have to take action. I encourage you to take action the day after your small group, because it's fresh on your heart. Offer that person forgiveness, demonstrate trust to someone, affirm another, and accept those her are not accepted by most. Yes, it takes effort, but loving like Jesus loved will be impossible. It's our job to take the steps we need to get there. James 1:22 tells us, "Don't fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear!"


Below is Pastor Trey's message from Sunday on the Father's love. It's a good one! Don't miss it.

And this is the video we showed that's in the podcast, but you can actually watch it. Pastor Trey conducted the interviews. Thanks to everyone who participated. Enjoy :)

-Pastor Ivey

40 Days of Love Campaign Kickoff

This is the sermon I preached this past week. I was privileged to start off the 40 Days of Love Campaign for Oceanside. I hope it's inspirational and pushes closer in relationship with God and others.



You can check out more about 40 Days of Love (like service times and small groups) by clicking HERE

-Iv

Sir, I need a Christian Music Comparison Chart!

All the time I have people come up to me and say something along the lines of, "I'm looking for some good Christ-centered music, but I don't know where or how to start. Can you help?" Well yes I can. Finding good Christian music really isn't all that hard. Just like with anything there is good and bad. I'm sure you want to dodge the bad. Below I'm going to post some link to a few great webpages that give comparison charts for Christian music.

Christian Music Comparison Chart
Another Chart
Look for music by genre

I hope those link are helpful. They should give anyone a place to start. After finding some bands you are interested in I recommend going to iTunes and just giving the bands a 30 second test listen. You will definitely be able to find some great Christ-centered music.

In Christ,
Ivey

A Day of Waiting

Wow, what a day. Have you ever had those days where it seems like you were running as hard as possible but doing it in waist deep water. No matter how hard you go you never cover as much ground as you wish you would. Frustrating, really. Today I've been working on the 40 Days of Love DVD videos, and I'm here to tell you Satan does not want me to finish these things. Everything that could go wrong is going wrong. There has been improper formatting, corruption, harddrive crashes, and computer freezes. Not such a good day at work. Good news is, I've found a way around it all and now I'm finally on track. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Below is a pictorial illustration of my day :)

How have I had time to do a blog post... I've been waiting on my computer all day. I'm trying to do something constructive with my time.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Matthew 6:25-27 NIV

Can't worry about tomorrow... just need to take care of today to the best of my abilities.

-P. Iv

Southern Snow Day SC 2010

Everything I see today on Facebook has to do with the snow from last night (BTW it's already melted). Almost everyone is freaking out and I'm no exception. The snow was a lot of fun! When morning time hit I was a little upset because Maggie had been sick for most of the night throwing up. I was afraid she would miss the snow. Thank the Lord she woke up and was feeling much better. It was a lot of fun and I look forward to it ten years from now! Below is a video that I took during the snow. I had a little rant regarding all you northerners dissing us for having snow. You're just jealous it comes and then melts ;)

Snow, see ya next decade! But if global warming has its way I might see you next year... or at least that's what I'm being told.

The Difference of 1

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Above is the link to my latest Sunday Morning Sermon. I was facinated by Isaiah's call (Isaiah 6). The Lord lead me to speak on our callings. I talk about the 7 excuses that I make for why I can't serve God. They're really lame, but I feel it's not just me that makes these excuses. Most of the excuses I struggle with other people in the Bible did too. I hope the message can encourage and help you like it did me.


-Ivey

The Job at Oceanside is Getting Done!

Amazingly Oceanside is finally on its way to finishing our building. Just a few weeks ago Mt. Pleasant gave us approval! The deck outside is well on the way to being done. Thanks to Kevin for working his head off trying to get it done (through rain and cold). Below I have some pictures of the deck. It's still a work in progress.

50% of deck is done. That's Kev there picking up heavy wood while I watch.

This is from the other side of the deck... and Kevin still working hard while I watch.

And now a verse to leave you with-

For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the LORD will inherit the land.

-Psalm 37:9 HCSB

-Ivey

The Rebelution

I've been reading a really interesting book called Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. When these guys wrote Do Hard Things in 2008 they were teenagers calling out to other teenagers to start a "REBELution".

Don't get confused parents. This isn't rebellion from you but a rebellion from the world. Romans 12:2 pleads with us, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind." The world tells teens to rebel against their parents and the world tells them to be consumers rather than contributors. The world expects them to experiment with drugs (in which I include alcohol) and sex. God expects much more. Too many times the teen years are wasted on petty pursuits that backfire and affect our student's futures. Many teens don't realize this, but if you waist your teens years you've wasted 1/7 of your life! Just because a student is young doesn't mean they can't have a huge impact on culture. This is what Paul wrote to Timothy, "...don't let anyone put you down because you're young. Teach believers with your life: by word, by demeanor, by love, by faith, by integrity."* This year at Reality we're focusing on being Rebels for a reason. If you have a student, I strongly encourage you to get them to Reality for the next 5 weeks. These are weeks that could shape the rest of their lives.

*1 Tim. 4:12