Campus Church

New email address...iamdecreasing has deceased

2011-12-02T20:23:00.001-08:00

This is a massive bulk email from my old gmail account iamdecreasing@gmail.com.
I will no longer be using that account for any communication.
I apologize if you have tried to reach me through that account in the past year and have not reached me.
This account kenny.deason@gmail.com will be the only relevant email address for communications with me.
Please change/update your contact information to this address if you need to reach me.

If you think this is some crazy conspiracy attempt by cyber pirates who are attempting to hijack your identity and drain your swiss bank accounts into Russian black market commodities, then you should by all means refrain from editing your contact information until you personally contact that red river riot loco-motive of a freak kenny d and make sure that this is legit.

I Love A New Face

2010-04-28T11:35:00.000-07:00

Last night I was out late watching the Thunder/Lakers game with friends. After the game, a friend of mine started talking to a young guy about some of my crazy traveling adventures. Come to find out, this young guy has treaded a lot of the same ground that our feet have traveled. His face lit up when I told him that my wife, myself, along with many other friends have lived and worked with kids (traveling hippies) in and around Golden Gate Park in San Francisco. He really lit up when he found out that the reason that we were there is because we are Jesus freaks. Now we where connecting fast. I started to learn more about him.

He is in OKC, on an adventure of his own. He loves music, people, the arts, prayer and Jesus. He came to OKC on a step of faith, only knowing that he loves these things and has a vision of being used in these areas in our city. He wants to start a prayer community in the city that might look like IHOP in Kansas City. He is keeping his time on the flexible side of the spectrum of time management...haaaa...i love it. He ended up crashing on our couch last night & we hung out even more this morning.

I don't know what will come out of this random encounter, but I felt like there is some great take aways for each of us in this story.

1) Recognize the value of sharing your life story with others. I think that we often feel far more "terminaly unique" than we should.

2) How 'bout some of the "creative bravery" that has lead this guy on one crazy adventure after another. He has faith and confidence that God is not only at work, but is also willing and capable of using us in ways that are sometimes obscure and misunderstood.

3) Bringing people into our homes is a huge point of desparity in our culture. It was so refreshing to see this guy needed a place to crash that night and having the freedom to say yes. The fact that you are already worried, squirmish, and scared that I would dare to entertain a stranger is a clear marker that all of us have a long way to travel before we better understand some the simplest of ways that Jesus wants to use us in the lives of other people.

Kenny Deason
www.campuschurch.tv
405.474.1783

Good Soldiers

2010-03-25T16:40:00.000-07:00

2 Timothy 2:1-7 has been the topic of our Thursday morning men's group. In this letter, Paul is challenging Timothy to "endure hardships like a good soldier." Good soldiers endure difficulties with their head up. Good soldiers do not quit as a result of hardships. Despite all of the hard things that life can throw at us, Paul & Timothy suffered as a result of their passion for the name and purpose of Jesus Christ.

I believe that we often face less glamorous stages of hardship before we are challenged with the degree of suffering that Paul is referring to. These guys faced hunger, sleepless nights, beatings, rejection, and slander due to their relentless persistence in kingdom work. Despite the degree of difficulty that we may or may not be facing at this time, consider those experiences as opportunities for growth and maturity. Even good soldiers receive some hard training on the peaceful soil of their homeland before facing the roar of a lion.

C.T. Studd

2010-02-05T09:16:00.000-08:00

All manly names aside, and not to mention the ruthless beard, or the greasy mop slicked back, C.T. Studd deserves our attention due to the rugged and fearless life he chose to live and die while following Jesus from England to China, India, and ultimately Africa where he would die. This weeks Thursday morning Men's Group highlighted this man in history.

CT Studd was an early 20th Century missionary from England. He and six of his Cambridge classmates were accepted by Hudson Taylor into the pioneering efforts of the China Inland Mission. The seven students accepted by the CIM of that time would be labeled The Cambridge Seven and their selfless act of bravery would have a long lasting impact not only on their peers at Cambridge but also the English country side and the US. In fact one of the largest missionary movements of all time would be launched as a result of the obedience of these seven students. That movement is known as the Student Volunteer Movement.

Despite the life of affluence that each of these men where raised to not only enjoy but to manage as heirs of large fortunes, each of them had a radical call of duty that they heard from Jesus that demanded their very lives. CT Studd walked away from a professional cricket career that in itself would have earned him a fortune, not to mention the 29,000 pounds that he inherited from his father. CT Studd committed 100% of that inheritance to missions around the globe.

CT Studd would meet his wife in China and go on to do pioneering work in India and finally in Africa where he would die. CT Studd is a lesser known name of this era when compared to contemporaries such as DL Moody, Charles Spurgeon, George Mueller, but I find CT's life to be a great example of simple kingdom action that resulted in a transformed life that would be used by God to reach thousands and mobilize hundreds of thousands more not only in his life, but also in the lives of us who are serving after him. This time in history is marked by the presence of fearless men who risked and gave it all for the sake of the Kingdom Of God.

Thursday Morning Mens Group

2010-02-05T08:37:00.000-08:00

WHEN: Every Thursday morning 6:30am-7:30am
WHERE: OCU BCM building at 2407 NW 23rd St.
WHO: If you are man, then you are welcome to come.

Come join a group of men who meet on a weekly basis to not only explore the unique purpose and responsibility of being men, but also challenge each other to experience God's expectation for our lives in this area.

The Bible has so many stories of men of faith that God has used throughout the ages. We will be challenged as we look at the journey that these men faced as they grew in confidence and boldness and were ultimately used by God because of their faith.

History also has tells a story of great men of faith. We will also look into the lives of great men of history and discuss their role in making the name of Jesus something more than a byword that makes people yawn.

There will be minimal reading for the group that will be provided via email. If you are not able to make it to the group, but would be interested in receiving the content provided for the group then please email us at campuschurchokc@gmail.com and write "Men's Group" in the subject. If you have any questions about the group, then also email the same address with the same subject.

Gospel Of The Kingdom

2009-12-16T18:20:00.000-08:00

We just finished a new series at Campus Church called The Gospel Of The Kingdom. (Follow the link for free access to notes from the messages.)

The purpose of the series is pretty simple. Jesus is the first to proclaim the Gospel Of The Kingdom and we, as his followers, are expected to learn, live, and proclaim the same Gospel Of The Kingdom today. Even though God spoke through prophets and angels in the past and has spoken through apostles and saints afterward, there has never been a more vital word spoken than the proclamation of the Gospel straight from the mouth of Jesus. From this foundation we are able to understand both the prophetic word that preceded it and the apostolic word that followed. This series is intended to introduce us to this moment in time so that we, just like those twelve men then, can also respond to the exciting call of Jesus to leave everything behind and follow him.

Jesus spent three years with twelve men who were with Him from beginning to end. Over the course of three years these men witnessed not only the lifestyle of God among men, but also heard the message of the "Kingdom". After three years Jesus died on the cross and in three days rose from the grave. Jesus revealed himself alive not only to the twelve men who were with him, but also to many other witnesses. Before Jesus ascended into heaven he left his parting words with the twelve apostles.

Matthew 28:
19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

The purpose of the church cannot be more simply defined than this mandate of Jesus before he ascended into heaven. Go and proclaim the Gospel Of The Kingdom that he himself had taught.

What's Life Without A Party?

2009-11-13T15:19:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I think we over-complicate the simplicity of having a party. What is a party? Is it anything more than a group of friends eating, laughing, dancing, and being a little wild? I think that a party can be any or all of the above. I also think that the most important ingredient of all is the "group of friends".

One thing that I loved about China was how easy it was to have a party. They can do it on the fly without any hesitation. "Let's all go out to dinner tonight!" Look out, a party is about to commence. We would walk long distances together around the city, instead of just driving somewhere and walking into a home or restaurant. The journey together through the city is debatebly more enjoyable than the meal itself.

Why is it that the funniest things just happen when a group of friends are walking somewhere? Walking with a group of friends has to be the easiest party to organize and clean up.

I also think that the "strange and foreign" are a good basis for a good time. Have you ever gone out to eat with friends and decided on some weird foreign food place that borders on gross because it is so strange? The laughs and the experience outweigh any of the discomfort you might experience during or after the meal. Not that I have ever had bad experiences after a meal.

We had some Asian friends over to the house the other night and surprised each of them with an Asian meal that was new and strange to each of them. We ate a different type of rice, prepared in a different way, and even consumed in a different way. We invited our Korean friends to our house and fixed a South East Asian (Laos/Cambodian) meal that we ate on the floor with our hands instead of chopsticks. (We learned how to fix this meal because Ron and Kris Barrie would invite us into their home with their 7 kids and we would blow it up.) We had a blast. Everybody made fun of me because it hurts me so bad to sit on the floor. My mind is 18 years old while my joints are 85.

We listened to a "Michael Jackson" Pandora station throughout the night due to MJ's popularity throughout Asia. After we ate dinner we danced to MJ in our living room. Everybody from my 5 year old Phoebe to us old folks took a jab at lighting up the sky with stellar dance moves.

Call some friends tonight and do a party!

Cutting Edge Worship Gadgets

2009-10-12T13:53:00.000-07:00

Due to a rising concern of eye care during the Campus Church Sunday celebration we have decided to promote a cutting edge worship gadget. This has been a difficult issue for us in general to cope with and finding a solution that works for everyone was beginning to seem impossible.

The issue surfaced as a result of the worship teams demand for low lighting and candles during the celebration. "We didn't feel like the issue of lighting should be a congregational decision to begin with and who can deny the tangible benefits to the expression of worship through the use of low lighting and candles",said Scott McBrayer the worship leader at Campus Church. The firm position of the worship team quickly gave rise to a dispute that had been a long time awaiting.

As the pastor of Campus Church I have made a priority of making every reference to scripture available on the projector for everyone to see. I did this for two reasons. First, due to the low lighting in the room, I did not want to put anyone's eyesight in danger by attempting to read their Bibles from their seats. Secondly, I wanted to accommodate folks who might not have a Bible with them. To my chagrin there has been an alarmingly high number of participants who are continuing to read their Bibles from their seats. I fear that this must be persisting due to a lack of translational agreement I'm the church. The translation being used from the projector is the English Standard Version.

I couldn't bear the thought of either over riding the stand of the worship team or continuing to see the translational dissenters suffer eye loss due to their lack of confidence in the ESV. There had to be a solution.

Campus Church's Committee On Committees voted and decided to create a committee in order to stifle any opportunity of division or fighting to take hold of the church. The committee was titled The Low Lighting Task Force Committee and is made up primarily of medical, military, and worship professionals. After a lot of thoughtful deliberation in a ten minute discussion the task force came to a resolution.

We will be taking proceeds from the Campus Church offering account and purchasing a number of L.E.D. enabled baseball caps. This is the perfect solution...well, we thought it was, until another chorus of ill effected consciences sounded an alarm because there are men wearing hats inside the church not only on Sunday, but also during worship. The Committee On Committees will be convening soon in order to address two issues. First, they as a committee must reprimand The Low Lighting Task Force Committee for thinking that a ten minute meeting could accomplish anything in a church. Secondly, we now need to create another committee to resolve the age old question of whether men should or should not wear hats as a matter of conscience or truth.

Kenny Deason
www.campuschurch.tv
405.474.1783

Celebrate The Creator

2009-09-30T08:02:00.001-07:00

Every Wednessday morning I do a discussion group at UCO (8am in the Nigh Bldg). We've been going through the first chapter in Romans. This morning we read and discussed Rm 1:17-23.

Take time to celebrate God for making himself plainly known to you through the things he has made. Take time to think about the eternal attributes of his power. Outer space is being sustained by this power as much as the jumping spider in a city park. If you were capable of making up a god in your own imagination, what would be more divine, eternal, mysterious and brilliant as the God who designed, created, and sustains the universe you live in, right now.

The goofball with the party hat in the picture is my youngest son Josiah. At five months old Josiah lives in a world filled with wonder. Josiah laughs and giggles as he explores the big things in life, like the rough beard hairs on my face compared to the soft touch of mom's cheeks. He greets each new region of exploration with a timid nervousness because he knows that there is so much he doesn't know. When we take Josiah outside he becomes tightly wound up in a rapid firing visual overload. His neck snaps his head back and forth as he tries his best to understand what he is experiencing at that moment. God has created a world of wonder for Josiah, so that Josiah can be certain that an eternal and divine being gave him life.

Learning To Like Correction

2009-09-10T06:34:00.000-07:00

Nobody likes failure, but we all experience failure at different times in our lives. Think about a time in your life that you were really blowing it and somebody came in and spoke a word of correction. What was the source of the correction? Have you ever experienced dynamic transformation and change because someone was willing to speak that word of correction. The purpose of correction is to redirect us away from something that is wrong and toward something that is right.

We've all had lame experiences with people who have abandoned us because we were failing. I'm sure all of us can hear the hackling criticisms coming from an impatient bone head who is on their way out the door. Because of experiences like this we tend to condition ourselves to hide our failures from others. We don't want to experience rejection, abandonment, and hurtful words. A saint should never, ever, treat somebody this way. We did not learn this from Jesus. God has not dealt with us like this and demands that we express the same degree of mercy and forgiveness to others that we have received from Him.

It's really kind of crazy when I think about it. We might be playing it safe by hiding our failures from lame people, but we shoot ourselves in the foot by running away from correction. God and the saints (real saints as opposed to lame saints) are wired to forgive and redirect. In fact playing it safe by hiding and avoiding correction will ultimately result in a longer prison term in the solitary confinement of failure. Think about it this way. When we make our hearts hard and resist or hide from correction, God in turn is resisting us. When we allow our hearts to melt in humility and honesty, God pours out his grace upon us. In the Bible James addresses this issue very squarely, as is James' custom. There is no safer place to be than broken and humble when we are failing in our life. I want to be more pliable and open to correction. The older I get, the more tiring I feel even thinking about how long and hard the road to transformation can be when I'm proud and calloused. Being humble before God and friends is where it's at.

What Moves Us?

2009-08-27T18:02:00.001-07:00

As a leader I am constantly looking at the broader "work of ministry" in the church. Leaders are set in place to equip and empower the diverse purposes and spiritual giftedness in the church. That means that I am not only concerned about being responsible with my own gifting and purpose in the kingdom, but also the gifting and purpose of others in the church. People talk about the visible sham practiced so often in churches that result in a few leaders "doing" the work of ministry, while the church shows up at some occasional events as spectators and financial contributors of the event. People inside and outside of the church can be heard heckling that form of spiritual community. Why do so many Christians continue to fall into the role of mere financial contributors of events while failing to take responsibility for their own "work of ministry"? I get so excited when I see saints take hold of their calling and gifting in the church. There are some students and families in Campus Church that bring me to tears of joy sometimes, because I realize how excited they are about their purpose in the church and the surrounding community. I remember spending a morning in prayer when I just shut my mouth and listened to God tell me about the amazing ways that he is using some of the students and families. I literally cried while I was smiling and listening to God speak. What is it that moves us as disciples into our own "work of ministry"? I don't have an elixir to offer us in this blog post, but I do have my thumb on a few very vital ingredients on the matter. 1) Jesus precisely ordered every disciple to follow Him, imitate Him, become like Him. 2) Dream dreams about what that will look like in your life. 3) Share these dreams with a leader around you. It is their job to walk with you, encourage you, and see that you are empowered to "do" your dreams. 4) Go gangbusters for Jesus and "do" your dreams.

Skyline Interview of Kenny D

2009-08-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

Allright, after the churchline.tv spoof I have probably got everybody totally confused. This is a real interview of true events of my story and some shop talk about campuschurch. The interview, filming, and editing was done by Mr. Matt Lowery of Skyline Church downtown OKC. Matt has been interviewing a variety of folks involved in missional work in the downtown area. Skyline, along with a cluster of churches in the downtown area, including campuschurch, get together on a monthly basis to encourage each other and talk about what God is doing in OKC.

churchline.tv

2009-07-31T20:02:00.000-07:00

Matt Lowery from Frontline Church in downtown OKC has been hard at work promoting a new movement in OKC. Campus Church is in the thick of it and along with other churches in the downtown area have initiated one of the most incredible church planting movements on the planet. We call it churchline.tv and have set a goal of planting a church in every business front on Broadway extending north of the downtown area of OKC. I'm sorry, but Pastor Mark at Mars Hill needs to realize that he's not the only show in the nation. Check out this video.

campusline?? from Matthew Lowery on Vimeo.

10,000 Feet and 15,000 Hippies

2009-07-27T07:58:00.000-07:00

As some of you know, my family along with three single guys went deep into the Santa Fe National Forest to an epic hippie festival known as a Rainbow Gathering. My wife Jamie and I have been connecting with, living with, and doing life with young people all over the US for years. A lot of our commitment has been to "kids" who live nomadic lifestyles on the streets of large cities around the country. A part of this work included taking extreme hiking trips into national forests where the kids would all show up for a "Gathering of the Tribes" also known as a "Rainbow Gathering".

This year there were an estimated 15,000 kids in the forest. The crew that went with us was Arthur (Uganda), Jim (N. China), Russ (missionary to Egypt for 3 years), and the Deason family (my wife Jamie, Abbigail 10, Abbiyah 8, Forest 7, Phoebe 5, and Josiah .3). We spent the week in the forest taking advantage of every opportunity to share the truths of the Kingdom of God. Some of the kids that I spent time with I have known for over ten years. We got to see some amazing things happen and had a blast in the mean time.

The setting in the forest was very remote. We drove for close to an hour on forest service roads before parking our vehicle and having to hike for miles just to get to the meadows and forest where the gathering was taking place. Communities of hippies arrived weeks before we did and established villages, huts, kitchens, and out houses all over the area. All of the water is gravity fed via intricate pvc pipelines into these large kitchens etc. Arthur from Uganda was shocked that the environment was so primitive. He expected to have cell phone reception and wifi! We all gave him a hard time because he brought his computer. There is a lot of hard work every day. Carrying water, working in kitchens, even just hiking the mountainous trails at 10,000 feet is a lot of work.

Enjoy the pics below and mark your calendars for the first week in July 2010! You can check out more pics at our Picasa Web Albums HERE and HERE

URBAN CAMPING

2009-04-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

DEFINED: Urban Camping is a cheezy catch phrase that describes a unique aproach to hanging out all night with your friends in an urban setting. The pics above are some simple snapshots (from my lame camera phone) of an evening spent all night on Good Friday in Downtown OKC.

PARKING THE CARS: Most of us met at The Refuge parking lot at 10pm. The Refuge is on the west side of downtown near Reno & Western. We did a round of brief introductions and prayed. A group of students from UCO had us cracking up as they were inadvertently painting a very dramatic image of heartbreaking love triangles that have defined their life growing up together in Piedmont OK...my home town. We prayed that God would miraculously use us this night as we would set out on our aimless hike through the city. From there about twenty of us left The Refuge parking lot. UCO students, OUHSC students, a youth pastor, myself, and my 9 year old daughter Abbigail.

I DARE YOU: The night was marked by a series of dares that didn't scare anybody. The first dare was to clean the bathroom at the gas station on Sheridan & Western. It seems like about four folks went to task cleaning table tops, taking out trash, and other helpful chores around the place. The rest of us just acted like anglo gangsters in the parking lot. I remember a guy coming out of the store with a case of beer looking a little confused why we were all chillin' in a parking lot like that. He was even more scared when I explained what we were doing. I invited him to tag along. He got in his truck and left. I got angry and kicked his door in...just kidding, just kidding.

POTTY BREAK: When you have twenty people in a group that is hiking around in a city, a potty break is no small ordeal. Even deciding on a place to go takes some deep and meaningful reflection. We decided on a real nice hotel by the Cox Convention Center. While we are waiting, we attempt to unravel the love triangles woven around the hearts of the UCO students. It is taking forever for this potty break! I look across the street and see a 55 year old man. I'm just guessing 55 because he looked more like 65. He had a bag and a bed roll, it was obvious that he was a camper! I invited him to join us for the night. His name is Paul. We're still friends. In fact I just saw him again the other morning at a coffee shop. He seemed so excited that we invited him to run around with us. We keep moving east toward bricktown and are being entertained by stories and urban athletic feats of bravery. Climbing walls, leap frogging parking meters, distance jumping etc. This is getting to be fun. Paul is just grinning and getting to know the gang.

DOUBLE DOG DARE: We roll into bricktown like we own the place. The new crosswalk signs present a perfect opportunity for us to outperform the drunkest of drunks on the street. We are sober of course, but we all start yelling out the crosswalks new digital count down on the corner. We, like a herd of wild buffalo without a leader start running and yelling as we cross the street...10,9,8... Dare number two emerges...who is going to bus the tables in the Bricktown Brewery? We have two volunteers. We leave them there and find out later that the waitresses and manager were not a little impressed that they would want to serve them like that.

SOME TIME WITH PAUL: Three of the OUHSC students and Scott the pilot take Paul into Makers so that they can sit down and talk. The OUHSC students are refreshingly crazy. Abbigail must have been sad at this point because Aimee was leaving her to go into Makers. Scott had a good time of connection with Paul while the OUHSC students got a chance to share with the manager of Makers. I went back to get the gang and about died because of all of the cigar smoke in this place! If you are a cigar lover you can save your money by hanging out in Makers...the sophisticatedly nasty cigar club.

COME ON DAVE!: As we are continuing to make our way through bricktown we see another camper. His name is Dave. He is probably about the same age as Paul. We invite him too, to come hang out with us. He looks confused and interested all at the same time and jumps on board. The majority of the group migrates to Sonic and grabs a bite for Dave. I go back to Bricktown Brewery and Makers to gather up the crew that was left at these places. While at Sonic, Curt connects with Dave for a long encouraging talk about Jesus. Dave was loaded with questions and worries.

ROCK OUT FRANZ: Anybody who has spent any time in Bricktown since Spaghetti Warehouse first opened knows who Franz is. Franz loves to rock out on the corner there and will talk the ear off of any willing listener. Franz fits the image of a pure Gypsie. He's Italian by birth but Gypsie by sheer proxy. The OUHSC students will spend the next few hours of their evening doing a lot of listning. Franz has taken on life like a living blender. He has emersed himself in many religions, philosophies, and identities. Franz is on a quest and is very welcoming of others to talk about their journey and listen to his, listen to his (not a type-o).

THE CLUBS ARE CLOSING: As 1:30 comes around we know that the clubs will be closing. We move to a corner where there are a few clubs. It's amazing how much sweat comes pouring out of a club! I think most everybody was a bit nervous as to how to connect with this group. A large huddle of folks gathered on the corner to observe. I see a group of guys chillin' together and checkin' out the ladies! This was classic...they had secret hand signals, call outs, the whole nine yards. I make a move and ask one of the guys which club was kickin' it that night. We start to talk and before long I start sharing my heart about the needs that I see in peoples lives. His eyes light up and he starts talking about how he has been running away from God for years and how it's really starting to hurt. He acknowledged that he's not in a good place, is wasting years of his life, and needs to come home to Jesus! The other kids hanging out on the sidewalk were keeping our conversation interesting. Two guys start arguing until one of them decided to cold pop the other in the face! Not much of a fight transpired. The guy that hit was..."Let me at him!", while he made sure that his friends were holding him back. Ohhhh my.

I'LL BE BACK!: I abandon the troops at about 1:45 because a good friend of mine calls me. To protect the highly sensitive identity of this global iconic figure, I will call him Ruthless. Don't worry Ruthless knows I'm going to trash talk him here! Ruthless is doing some wilderness wandering right now and looking for answers to lots of questions. That's why we're such good friends. I have all the right answers to all of life's questions...well, I act like I do. Anyway...Ruthless was supposed to hook up with me at the Good Friday worship service downtown, but I never saw him. He texted me during the sevice and said that the service was too intence...so he had to leave. He calls me at about 1:45 totally wasted and asked me if I could pick him up at the bar. I said "no...you shouldn't have been so stupid. You made your own bed and now you have to lie down in it!" I am soooo kidding. I told him sure thing and he went on to apologize for dissin' me at the worship service. He said "What ever was going on in there was powerful. I know that I have some powerful things going on in my life, but whatever was going in there is more powerful, I'm sure." He went on to say, "I know that this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but I just had to leave and go get drunk." I told him that I understood and that I was on my way. Ruthless was not a little drunk! Ruthless is hosed and he knows it.

OFF TO IHOP: When I get back to Bricktown after picking up Ruthless, I find the gang bustin' out some more Urban Athletics in the Bricktown playground. We are all chillin' out...well everybody except Ruthless and the UCO students who are trying to answer all of the relevant but obnoxious questions that Ruthless is asking them. The guys were not a little challenged to try to figure out what to do at this point. I just layed down down on the ground listening to them. That's how most fearless leaders respond to such circumstances. We finish the night at IHOP were we all eat hang out and continue to see more opportunities emerge. Some of these opportunities emerge by the initiation of Ruthless. He sees a table with some Punx sitting near us, for example, and says "Come on Kenny, you need to talk to these guys!" He and I get up and walks over to their table and in as threatening a manner as possible says "Scoot over!" The punk kid looks up, calmly shruggs his shoulders and says "Sure thing, sit down." I pull up a chair and quickly apologize on behalf of Ruthless and explain that I am here to change his diapers and to apologize for anything else that might happen at this table. We talked for a bit and Ruthless runs off to smoke, like his fifth cigarette in the 15 minutes since we had been there. I chill out with them for a while and talk but eventually go back to the table. Ruthless comes back in but quickly goes outside again for cigarette #6. He comes running back in hurridly and says to everyone, "There's somebody outside who needs prayer!" About ten people jump up and go outside to pray for another camper who lives on the streets. They invite him in and buy him breakfast. Lots of the gang is giving his guy full attention even though this guy is very high on what seemed to be crack and alcohol. I'm surprised he could eat.

A FUN NIGHT: I really did have a blast as I'm sure a lot of us did. It's just good to get out of your living room, dorm, or whatever and do some life with people who you either don't know or try to avoid otherwise...Like you Ruthless...Just kidding, I love you Ruthless and am certain that the surprising work of God is going to rock your face. Like a hurricane!

QUIT JUDGING ME: Hey I could hear all of your complaining from here before I even posted this. You're saying, "This guy can't spell for nothing!" If the truth be known, I do not always fly south for the winter or march to the drum beat of everyone. Most people would have written this blog post from their computer with all of the spell checks, formating options etc. Well I will have you know I did this from my phone and did not proof read it. Soooo you can take your criticism south for the winter for all I care. : )

THE VENUE

2009-04-06T20:46:00.001-07:00

The Venue is a free art venue that Campus Church will be hosting at the BCM on NW 23rd and Kentucky Ave in OKC. Music, visual, film, literary, arts etc will be exhibited by local artists. The portraits shown in this post are some but not all of the core team that is working on the project. Ty Carlson is the official Grand Pubah of the bunch. The Venue will happen every Monday night @ 8:30pm. Reagan was the trash talkin' portrait slinger on the dry erase board. She's married to Ty. She called him a bad name! He forgave her.

Loving Neighbors Together

2009-04-01T06:12:00.000-07:00

campuschurch

campusgroup/missional01

JESUS DOES IT RIGHT: Some of the things that I love most about life is doing life with Jesus, the way that Jesus enjoys doing life. When Jesus set out to do His purpose in the lives of people he gathered a community of friends around Himself. These guys set out on the wildest of adventures with Jesus as they not only saw, but did some of the wildest things. Jesus began to teach these guys a brand new set of rules for their lives that would forever change the way they viewed God and other people. Everything that Jesus was teaching them was like a painting of the very face of God...a painting in words of the very face of the one who was teaching them. The guys would see Jesus healing people! This had to have been so ridiculous to have seen. Jesus taught the guys how to love the most hurting and marginalized of people. Jesus taught and expressed forgiveness. God is forgiving! The way that Jesus proved himself in this area had to have been so ridiculous to have seen. He would defend the life of people who had really messed up bad. Jesus would do these things with the guys, as he would drag them into circumstances where people were in need. This is what I want to talk about here. Allowing Jesus to drag US into circumstances where people are in need. When I say US, that is a point of emphasis here.

CAMPUS GROUPS: We do community in Campus Groups. This is nothing more than YACCP (Yet Another Cheezy Catch Phrase) for a collective of believers who meet together regularly in homes to eat, pray, feast upon the teachings of Jesus, and worship together. All of the stuff that I just mentioned is vital, good, and critical. In Campus Groups we fix our eyes on the author of our salvation...Jesus. We fix our eyes on the cross. This is where Jesus died and purchased us as His children through the blood that was poured out on the cross. When we pray for each other, we pray with the faith and confidence that God's favor and power is toward us and for us because Jesus has risen from the grave victorious and is saving us now through the power demonstrated to us through the resurrection of Jesus. When we worship we celebrate this reality. One thing that is missing in all of this is doing His love in lives of "neighbors" in need. Campus Groups are made for loving "neighbors" in need. Here's what I'm talking about.

BE REALISTIC: Being "missional" (ugghhh I hate all these catch phrases) is best experienced as a community. In our home we have seen more life transforming moments in peoples lives through loving someone in need as a community. Loving someone in need will cost you something, there is no getting around that. That's why, when you signed up to follow Jesus, he made you agree to lose your life. If you missed that moment with Jesus, then you need to start over. Jesus demands that we lose our life for His sake and the kingdom. Loving someone with needs will demand a commitment of time, prayer, gifting, and resources. We all have responsibilities in life that become great excuses for apathy in this area of our walk with Jesus. I have been a Christian for 16 years and have only been an "occupational" minister "full time" (stupid catch phrases) for a few months. My wife Jamie and I both made a decision very early on in our marriage that we would continue to be engaged in kingdom work not only in our everyday life but also through intentional "missional" purpose in the lives of people in need. People comment all of the time wondering how it is that we have done this through the years knowing how much responsibility that we have had in work, marriage, and parenting. We cheat- we don't do it alone. We utilize resources that we find in community. Having life responsibilities can not and should not be a hindrance to loving people who are in need. Having life responsibilities and loving people in need simply means loving others within the framework of community.

A BIG OL' FAT OL' ROPE: When we connect as community instead of individuals we become a faster, leaner, more powerful machine in peoples lives. It's like comparing a string with a rope. Strings suck compared to ropes. Ropes are way stronger and capable of carrying way bigger loads than a string. A Campus Group should be a rope in the lives of needy people, pulling them back from the mouth of abandonment, alienation, and hell. In the kingdom of God we must be about the business of loving people into a saving faith in Jesus Christ.

WHO IS YOUR NEIGHBOR: I have been doing some footwork on the streets of OKC and intentionally connecting with folks who are surrounded by neighbors in need. These are neighbors who have particular and difficult needs that we as believers should be getting out of our normal comfort zones and penetrating. Urban youth in the downtown OKC area are neighbors that have been a long time neglected by the church. (Don't get me started on all of the prejudices and fears that have made this neglect a reality today.) These are often fatherless kids who have never experienced the joy of healthy and intentional relationships. A Campus Group could go out of their way to meet a neighbor who is an urban youth and cultivate a routine of different activities with this youth that are shared and rotated around the group. 3 on 3 basketball. A Hip-Hop show. I know that the honky's in the crowd are hiding under rocks by now and saying "I can't relate." Uugghh, now you're going to get me started on the pejudices and fears that have been preventing the church from penetrating these needs. One guy or gal in need and ten people commited to invest. This becomes a life transforming opportunity. Stick with this one opportunity and do it well. Don't overload your rope with more than you can handle. If each group were to commit to a need like this then that group would be impacting at least 200% more people than you have been impacting. Let's get honest. We are not very intentional...YET! Other needs that are out there are International Students, Arts Community, and Homeless Community. That's four very definable missional needs in the downtown area of OKC that are well within the grip of a bunch of zealous college students like yourselves. Urban Youth, International Students, Arts Community, and Homeless Community. I will be working with each Campus Group helping to nurture and direct each group into some healthy investments in the lives of neighbors in need. Jump on board. This is going to be a blast!

Tyranny On Tuesday

2009-03-31T06:09:00.001-07:00

After the birth of Josiah on Saturday 03/21/09, I attempt to get back into the swing of things. This is the story of Tuesday 03/24/09. Little did I know just how fast the "swing" was moving.

TUESDAY MORNING: Josiah is not a team player in the house quite yet. What I mean is, he is not working with us, we are working for him. In the Bible Josiah was eight years old when he became King of Judah. In the Deason house Josiah was eight hours old when he became King. He chooses to negotiate the majority of his policies in the early morning hours of the night. Tuesday morning I got very little sleep and woke up at 5:30am. I got ready for my 6:30am meeting here at the house with a student. The meeting was great, but I was so tired and delusional that I forgot to drink any of the coffee that I woke up early to brew. The awesome stories from the students Spring Break trip to Ecuador was enough to keep me on the edge of my seat.

TUESDAY LUNCH: I couldn't wait to meet up with my friend Jason for lunch. We met at Lee's Sandwich Shop at 11:30. I got a call before lunch from another student asking if he can join us and we make a party of three. I had a great lunch with the guys and we all said goodbye as we headed out to the parking lot. The alarm on my car was not dissengaging. UUGHHH! I called the toll free number on the back of my alarm. To my utter chagrin I got nothing more than a computer automated answering machine. I decide to call Best Buy where I bought the alarm and didn't do so well on this front either. You see, the installer was out of the shop and the only assistance that they had available was their floor salesman. I am convinced that this kid is still working on his first full set of whiskers on his upper lip. I decided to take a shot in the dark and assume that the battery in my car was dead. I call Tommy Wilkerson and ask if he can come give me a jump. The plan worked and I make it to my 2pm meeting with Mike Barnette at the BCM.

TUESDAY AFTERNOON: After the meeting, my car is once again...dead. Houston, we have a problem. John Wilkerson gave me a jump this time. I go home and begin to work on some strategeries. I host an Ultimate pick-up game every Tuesday at 6pm and I need to decide whether I should use our van or take my chances by driving my Celica up to Auto Zone and bank on the only proble with my car being a dead battery.

TUESDAY EVENING: I decide to take my chances and drive my Celica up to the Auto Zone and buy a new battery. I'll just change out the battery right there in the parking lot. This shouldn't be a problem. I jump the car myself this time, using our van and go to Auto Zone. I see a group of Latinos working on their pimped out Olds and a group of white guys wearing dirty baseball caps and flannels working on their truck. The truck that they were working on did not even have a hood! Too cool. Both groups look like they not only knew exactly what they were doing, they also looked right at home in the Auto Zone parking lot. I buy a new battery and proceed to start my car, only to find that I have no power at all coming from a brand new battery. I have fifteen minutes to get to the Ultimate game that I am hosting and no chariot to ride in. I call Jana who I know is normally one of the few players that actually shows up on time. What's with Ultimate players anyway? Jana picks me up and gets me to the game. After two punishing hours of Ultimate, that I can't even tell you why I do it, Jana gives me a ride back to Auto Zone. I have no idea how I am going to fix my car. I don't even know what's wrong with it.

TUESDAY NIGHT: When we pull back into the Auto Zone parking lot, I was relieved to find some immediate comradory in the parking lot. The guy with the dirty baseball cap and flannel shirt who was driving a pickup without a hood pulled in right behind us. He was very quick to greet me. He said "Are you still here? Is your car broke down? What's wrong with your car? What is it doing?" I explain to him what was going on and what I have done this far. He is confident that the problem is with the alternater. By then we are in the store and he starts hallaring out loud pointing his finger saying, "Did they check the alternater after you changed out the battery? They didn't check the alternater, did they? You make them check that alternater and give me a call. I'll come up here and change out that alternater right here in the parking lot. I will come toooo you and get this fixed. You buy the part and I'll just charge you labor." What could I say. Everybody in the store was responding like Hank Aaron just hit another home run. Everybody is nodding their heads with excitement as if an angel just lit up the night sky around us. The Auto Zone guys take a minute or two to get over their rear chewing by this guy and get outside, by golly, and check out my alternater. Sure enough, Chris is right. I buy the part, give him a call, and he pulls up in his pick up truck without a hood. Chris and I talk money to begin with. I will owe him $40 after I am convinced that he has properly replaced my alternater. At about 10:15pm we close the deal. I go home to the palace of King Josiah, and keep Jamie up for an hour or two telling her about my day, just before Josiah keeps me up for another hour or two telling me how he is going to govern his kingdom in MY HOME! I finally get to sleep about 2:00am.

WEDNESDAY MORNING: Up at 5:00am so that I can meet the guys for our 6:30 prayer meeting on Wednesdays.

BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN: This may sound crazy, but I really did have a blast getting back into the swing of things.

His Name Is Josiah

2009-03-21T09:20:00.001-07:00

We had our fifth baby at 3:30 this morning. We are thinking either Chubby Checkers or Shorty Britches for a name...just kidding. We will be praying today for a confirmation from God on the name. UPDATE 03/24/09: His Name is Josiah. My prayer for Josiah is that he will be a man of convictions and bravery, even at a young age. Josiah was the name of a King of Judah that was eight years old when he stepped onto the throne. It was prophesied of him before his birth that he would be used to judge and destroy the work of rebellion and idolatry in the very place that Israel celebrated their rebellion. Josiah was used as an instrument of restoration and purity in the Kingdom...a man of bravery and conviction. Jamie and I both feel very confident that Josiah will have a great calling and purpose in the Kingdom.

HE CRIED TWICE: He cried two times. The first time he cried was right after delivery. He settled down quickly. The second time he cried happened when Phoebe ran into the room grinning and pushing people out of the way like she owned the place. When she got to the bed, she climbed up and got all in his face thinking that she was being so sweet. As soon as he opened his eyes to take a peak at the sensory overdose that he was experiencing, he burst out screaming again.

THE KIDS ARE EXCITED: Right after the baby delivered I went in to see the girls. Phoebe was fast asleep, but labor had woke up Abbigail and Abbiyah...these two were in bed together smiling their heads off and asking what we had. They knew exactly what had happened. Forest didn't have a clue until Kari B woke him up to bring him down. Forest is extatic! He and I both wanted a baby boy soooo bad. Forest laughed and laughed and kept saying "He is so funny", "This is so awesome".

JAMIE A HEROIN FOR ALL GENERATIONS: Jamie worked very hard in labor. The baby had his fist up under his chin making for a stubborn delivery. Jamie was in hard labor for 4 hours 30 mins. She did great! Nobody could imagine how brave and committed Jamie is when it comes to delivering our babies. She moved from tub, to shower, to exercise ball, to bed, to birthing stool, to dancing with me, and back to the bed for delivery. Jamie worked hard for this baby from the beginning with aerobics (hillarious), strong diet, iron via nasty slimy green chloraphyll drink, and prayer. Jamie worked even harder to finish. Thanks to everyone for your prayers...we know without question that Jesus Christ spoke life into existence according to His plan and sustains this life through the word of His power.

THE DREAM TEAM: The mid-wives were great. I was glad to have had Michelle here to deliver the baby. She has been a part of all of the kids birth and has now delivered three of the five. Her assistant Kristen has many friends in common with us through relationships in the church. We heard a lot of great stories from Michelle between contractions...she is such a ham...we love her. Michelle is to childbirth what Kung Fu is to fighting. Even Michelle is reckoned a gift from God in our home. She has been a part of five births in our family without one single emergency in any of them. She coaches Jamie along in the process from the beginning. Michelle and Kristen both kind of made fun of me because I made a spreadsheet on the computer in our room, and was keeping track of time between contractions. They may have laughed when they saw me doing that, but I am certain that this proved to be invaluable!

CHAMPS CAMP 01

2009-03-16T17:10:00.001-07:00

I am coaching Ultimate for the week of Spring Break with 1st-6th graders at Northwest Baptist Church. Chris Corbin is coaching Tennis and Jose Hernandez is coaching soccer. Champs Camp is a week long sports camp that is engaging 250 kids. Less than half of the kids are from families at NWBC, the rest are from the community surrounding the church. NWBC is hoping to establish relationships with these kids and reach each of these homes with the transforming work of the Kingdom. I can't wait to see what comes out of this week.

Worship At The Refuge

2009-03-14T08:31:00.001-07:00

I know that this picture is totally lame...I'll try to hijack a cool one from someone else who was here last night. Don't let the lame pic keep you from reading a kickin' story.

Last night a group of us from Campus Church, along with some other churches in the community, met at The Refuge downtown for a great night of worship.

THE REFUGE: The Refuge is a missional community of college age adults living in a small apartment complex being renovated from the inside out. Tim Ulrich, the director of The Refuge, is leading a band of "Freakazoids" (I feel honored to numbered among the few) into a fly by the seat of your pants, while listening to God speak, aproach to ministry in the downtown area. I love it.

BRAD KILMAN: Brad Kilman lead worship last night. Nobody but Brad and I could have known how much last night meant to me. Brad is an official member of a group that doesn't exist called The Upper Room Circle Of The O.G. (TURCOTOG: Ironically this anacronym is an ancient Guatemalan war chant that never existed meaning...Those that met in the upper room.) I have some great memories with Brad in the early 90's as we along with other TURCOTOG's did life, prayer, worship, outreach, and community together. The experiences that we all share from that time are experiences that are significant enough to ruin anyone who happened to show up.

OLD STORIES: God was moving through this group of college age kids in ways that we never could have imagined. Truly a time that we would all acknowledge...the Gospel was proclaimed in Word and Power...the result was transformed lives. Worship would naturally turn into times of weaping repentance for some, undignified shouting and dancing for others, and a rich intimacy with Jesus and each other. Man we had fun serving together. We would do monthly services at the Jesus House (the most ghetto shelter ever! For real, it was ran by dogs and drunk vagrants. It's changed quite a bit now), intercessory prayer, group evangelism, playing music on street corners downtown, on and on.

NOT THE GOOD OLD DAYS FOR ME: These are great memories for me and others, but not the last memory for any of us. From that point forward any one of the TURCOTOG's who ever really was a TURCOTOG merely found a birthplace of big expectation of joy and work in the kingdom. It's funny looking around sometimes and seeing what some of the gang is doing now. Many of us have had or are experiencing very hard stuff, either of our own doing or the consequence of knuckle heads who have hurt us (put me in the category of being a knuckle head of my own making...I'm doing less damage these days). I love seeing the faces of the Old Gang and acknowledging the joy and work in the kingdom that we all shared in together, but even better than that, God is continuing to work through us in different ways and we continue to see God raise up new faces of a new generation who are experiencing the power of God in their work also.

Alvin Reid @ The Faces Conference

2009-03-12T14:11:00.001-07:00

Alvin Reid (a professor at South Eastern Theological Seminary) is doing a great job exhorting a bunch of pastors to live out a passion, understanding, and hunger for this generation of young people. This generation will be transformed by emracing the truth and wonder of Jesus Christ...not institutions and programs but purpose and wonder. He called us a bunch of knuckle-heads...WAIT A MINUT!

Is This The Last Hooraw!

2009-02-13T15:49:00.001-08:00

This is the last of the giant doors produced at my long time occupation in millwork. This was the last door that I had designed and built on my shop floor before leaving my "fishing net" to pastor Campus Church full time. Now I feel like a dork for bragging...but bear with me...I liked doing big ol, heavy ol, tricked out ol, hardwood doors.

Rock Out

2009-02-12T20:20:00.000-08:00

Besides every joint in my body falling asleep because I was sitting on the floor for so long that I was like "ouch my joints are asleep and hurting"...every body else was having a good time except for the people that were like "quit moving around so much you moron" then I was like "put 'em up or shut up man"...well, I mean, I thought it and every body was like "woe!" and I was like "yea!"...besides all that I had a great time.

OCU GIRL

2009-02-10T11:09:00.001-08:00

She's that kind of girl...virtuous in every way...the kind of girl that makes you say...I hope she comes my way!

Dance The Night Away

2008-12-20T21:15:00.000-08:00

Jamie Growe hosted a killer Graduation Party at Java Daves that included a fair share of sweet moves on the dance floor.

The Value of Community

2008-10-07T10:11:00.001-07:00

The second of our Core Values at Campus Church is COMMUNITY.

We value a faith that is shared and experienced through tight bonds of friendship and giving.

Bear with me as I charter the waters of Christian Community. Well, I hope you can do a better job than just “bearing with me”. I hope you catch a fever for experiencing it!

THE STORY: Let’s go back…way back. It’s Friday night and there’s a message on my answering machine when I get home from work. I expected there to be one. It’s Ashaun letting me know that we were going to hook up at “The Guy’s” house to worship and pray before we went out that night. I pick up a few of the guys and we head over to the guy’s apartment and look at 12-15 smiling faces, hugs, and blessings moving about the room like a cloud. Ashaun grabs a guitar and prayer commences before he strikes the first chord. The most amazing time of worship and prayer follows.

After an hour or so we stop and try to decide where we are going. As we are talking one of the guys mentions how God miraculously caused his empty tank of gas to get him through the week and one of the other guys mentions that they are still short on the electric bill. Everyone in the room jumps at the opportunity. Wendy and Jackie are fast on the draw of their Senior in high school allowance money, Kenny whips out a 10 spot, and before 2 minutes pass us by, the guy’s needs are taken care of- followed by a swift rebuke to get a steady job and we continue to discuss where we are going that night. We decide on The Dreaded Bulldog…a new coffee shop on May & Britton(or something like that).

We are all excited about what could happen…after all, 12-15 Christians supercharged by the Holy Spirit are about to go out and brag on Jesus as we are loving on people. We show up and have no need to try to draw attention to ourselves…remember there are 12-15 of us and we are all grins and blessings. We sit down and soon a conversation with a group of drunk high schoolers embarks. Everyone is sharing their testimony of how it came to be that they fell in love with Jesus. Before long it turns into an event that engages the entire coffee shop and conviction begins to appear on the faces of the drunk high school students.

The following day a few of those kids walk the aisle of their local church and get saved. I know what had happened the following morning because one of those high school kids recognized me on OU’s campus about 5 years after the fact. My wife Jamie and I were on the campus, again talking to folks about our love for Jesus and a seaming stranger asked me if I remembered him from 5 years before at the Dreaded Bulldog. He told Jamie and I about the decision that he and his friend had made that following morning in the church that their family had been involved in.

THE EXAMPLE: The event described above is in no way being offered as having equal standing with the incredible since of community enjoyed by the primitive Church in the book of Acts. This event is being describe because we believed that the since of community enjoyed by the primitive Church was just as rightfully ours at this time as it was theirs in their time. We as a community of believers made a priority of embracing the teachings and example of Jesus which enabled the primitive gathering of followers to not only imagine but enjoy an incredible and miraculous exhibition of Christian Community. Let’s go back…way back via Acts 2:42-47…

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
(Acts 2:42-47)

THE DOUBTERS: The subject at hand is community, and the importance of the church doing community well. I have heard messages and discussions about the visible community demonstrated in Acts 2.42-47 that were not favorable toward this first ingathering of saints, but believed that these guys were really missing the mark. Some say that the church was suffering from a Pinko Communist agenda that led God to punishing the church by means of persecution. Others have said that the church fell victim to a introspective indulgence of mere inward concern. Now these are both wild extremes but the truth is this...we can be unnecessarily intimidated by passages like this. At this time if you would, just sign over your mortgage to me, along with the title of your car...I'M JUST KIDDING! JUST KIDDING. The life of faith that the disciples had come to know was a life that was shared and experienced with Jesus. They traveled together, they ate together, they did ministry together, and they suffered together. Jesus taught them to share their lives and resources with people who had need. Jesus promised them that through this love, the world would know that He lives among them.

THE NOT SO HIDDEN TRUTH: So let’s look at these verses as students instead of as professors and see what we can learn.
1) v. 42 And THEY devoted themselves to the Apostles teaching and fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
2) v. 44 And all who believed were TOGETHER and had all things in common.
3) v. 45 And THEY were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.
4) v. 46 And day by day attending the temple TOGETHER and breaking bread in their homes they received their food with glad and generous hearts.

Notice the plurality and totality of the events that they shared and experienced TOGETHER. Learning, communion, prayer, distribution of resources to those who were in need, worship…on and on. They shared life TOGETHER and did it “day by day” or in other words they did in constantly. These events that they chose to share and experience together were not mere introspective indulgences. These events brought more and more, thousands of more and more into the kingdom.

5) v. 47 and the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

LIGHT THE FIRE!: This substance of community that I am talking about is the substance that builds “a city on a hill that cannot be hidden” This is the substance of “a lamp on a stand that gives light to all in the house.” This is the substance that “so shines before others that when they see it, they glorify God.”

WE THE PEOPLE: Recently I heard a friend of mine was explaining to a group of international students here in the US that we as Americans do not value community in our culture in the same way that they might have enjoyed it in their own countries where they came from. Many of these students came from cultures where it was not necessary to call before they show up at a neighbors house. In other cultures it is also expected that meals would be shared with others and not alone or with immediate family only. In fact in certain areas of India the evening meal is what occupies the duration of time until night and you can expect people to come and go from your house during this meal as you yourself might go into other houses during this time. Daryl (my friend) apologized to the students the we as Americans value our privacy and that they should not expect such notions of hospitality here as they did in their own countries. He explained that it is very important that you call and make appointments instead of expecting to spend time with others. We are very task driven and not relationally driven as a culture.

THE CHALLENGE: My challenge here is this…look intently into the message of the Kingdom and be resolved to model your expectations and actions upon the orders and models provided to us through the Lord’s teachings and the example given to us by the churches that followed. You will be cheating if you are looking at the model provided for you by the church down the street…I mean Biblical models (no offense Mister Church Down the Street, I’m not doing so good myself in this area). So let’s go start some fires on hilltops and bring some glory to Jesus through some visible Jesus lovin’ people servin’ community.

The Value of Truth

2008-10-01T09:15:00.000-07:00

FINDING TRUTH
Have you ever received a forwarded email that contained political or gut wrenching content? You know the stuff I'm talking about. The stuff that keeps snopes.com alive. I find it hard to believe that the content finds a following of loyal patrons who FIND THE CONTENT BELIEVABLE. Here's an example (I am not using this example to support a presidential candidate.)

"Obama Explains National Anthem Stance: ...Senator Barack Obama was forced to explain why he doesn't follow protocol when the National Anthem is played...Obama explains. "And the anthem itself conveys a war-like message. You know, the bombs bursting in air and all...I like the song 'I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing.' If that were our anthem, then I might salute it.""

Uh Really! Did he say that to reporters? This quote was originally written as a "Satiracal Look at Recent News" by John Semmens for the Arizona Conservative in Oct of 2007. Now it's being forwarded to every grandchild in the nation as truth. How bout a little girl on her death bed who's last wish is to have her poem forwarded to as many people as possible because a concerned tycoon is dumping money into the cancer fund for each time the email is forwarded. That's gross...this example is also a lie. There never was a little girl who wrote a poem and made a dying request associated with a brokered deal with a philanthropist who would finance the cure for cancer based upon our effort to forward a heart wrenching poem throughout the world abroad.

CORE VALUE NUMBER 1

We value the unchanging truth of God revealed through Jesus Christ in His Word and by His Spirit.

UNCHANGING:
The Word of God is unlike culture, trends of humanity, or even nature itself...The Word of God is UNCHANGING.

..."All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever." And this word is the good news that was preached to you.
(1Peter 1:24-25)

When you look at the history of humanity you will find a history of changing cultures and trends that define people groups from all over the world. Cultures change, trends are changing, knowledge even changes. Things that have been considered truth in one generation have been proven false in the next generation. For example there are ancient cultures who believed the world was supported by a great elephant in the heavens and not suspended in space by unseen foundations of Jesus' sustaining power. Man at his best arrives at inconsistencies of truth in nature and philosophy. Man at his worst will equate lies with truth and utterly destroy those who have chosen to listen. There is beauty to behold in man, but it is not to be compared with the unchangeable and eternal nature of truth that has come from God. I am continually amazed at the knowledge and direction that has been given to me from Gods truth. This truth has brought me to a place of satisfaction in this life. Whether I am referring to drug addiction, science, hope, marriage, parenting etc, etc, etc, I have been reveling in the gift of truth given to me by God through His Word and have myself experienced amazing summits of joy and satisfaction. On the other hand, I find even Christians today that have chosen to allow cultures and trends to define truth for them are buried in the grave of depression and frustration both as individuals and families. Truth from God is both timeless and has unchanging relevancy.

REVEALED THROUGH JESUS CHRIST:
The Word of God has been revealed to mankind in it's entirety and completely in the Person of Jesus Christ throughout the ages.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.(John 1:14)

Have you ever wondered what God is really like. Philip asked Jesus this question and Jesus was like "duh"...well in so many words, maybe something more like "Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? The book of John in the Bible opens up with this amazing and profound reality which makes it very clear to us that God has revealed himself to mankind in the person of Jesus Christ from the beginning of time. The book reads "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1-3)" The very God who spoke life into existence has descended as a man and has shown us the clearest embodiment of truth not only in His words, but His life, His relationships, His power, and most importantly...His love.

REVEALED BY THE WRITTEN WORD:
The Truth has been revealed and preserved to mankind in written form by men who have been particularly appointed by God.

And Moses wrote down all the words of the LORD. He rose early in the morning and built an altar at the foot of the mountain, and twelve pillars, according to the twelve tribes of Israel.
(Exodus 24:4)

In this verse the name of the man who had written the books of the law is identified. The truth of God has been recorded in written form for us. God has chosen to preserve, in written form, the events of His words and actions that He deemed necessary in order for mankind to truly understand and know Him. These words and actions have been preserved from the beginning of time and written from the time of Moses. God's word has been written through the lives of prophets, priests, kings, and apostles, but most importantly in the last days God has revealed his truth through the person and words of Jesus the Messiah. The entirety of the Bible is the written and preserved revelation of God.

REVEALED BY THE SPIRIT OF JESUS CHRIST:
The truth of God is taught and revealed to followers of Jesus by the miraculous presence of Jesus Christ through his Spirit.

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.
(John 14:16-17)

If it is not amazing enough that the truth of God has been written down for us that we might know Jesus, then we ought to tremble at the thought that the very word that we are reading will come alive in all who believe in Jesus. The truth of God is alive. It is the truth of God spoken by the mouth of Jesus who has not only created the world that we live in, but sustains it by the same spoken word. There is nothing magical about the paper and ink of the Bible, but the power that rests in the source is far greater than magic. God has not only chosen to speak and reveal truth to us but to make this truth alive in us through the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Followers of Jesus are not merely taught in the sense that we have all had teachers with us in different areas of our life, we are transformed and instructed by truth that is alive in us.

A final charge...
A final challenge to myself and all of us is this. Embrace the word of God with confidence and resolve. Resolve to embrace it as timeless and without need for change. Allow the truth to mold you, instruct you, and correct you in it's plainest and simplest intention as it is written. What a joy and satisfaction we have in front of us with God's truth being freely given to all who believe.