Good Soldiers

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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.