KAMP's Missional Community.

Summer seems to be a natural season to step back, slow down and simplify. Christianity and the accompanying church life has become increasing complicated. The life that we have been given has become marked by condemnation rather than grace and chaos rather than peace. Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Simple yet more powerful than we know. This summer we are committed to learning and living out the wonders of loving God and others simply and powerfully.

Living out the gospel means desiring for one's neighbor and neighbor's family that which one desires for one's self and family. Living out the gospel means bettering the quality of other people's lives spiritually, physically, socially, and emotionally as one betters one's own. Thanks to all of you who lived out the gospel on behalf of the Refugees and residents of the nearby apartment complex. It was truly a beautiful sight to see individuals and families gathered together from all over the world, from all different socio-economic standings and various religious beliefs. We will be sharing video and photos from our time together on Sunday at KAMP's.

The KAMP's Gathering will take place this Sunday, June 29th at 5:30pm. Cole will be leading and journeying with us in worship and Rex will be sharing the following message:

It is exciting to see what God is doing in His church in America and around the world. His kingdom is growing and nothing can stop this expansion from happening! Jesus spoke to Peter in Matthew 16:18 saying: "You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out."

God is building his Church, He is empowering us to do more then just sit in pews being entertained by high power preachers and pop star singers. He is calling us to something great, to do something exciting. This is a story so compelling that people in countries where the Gospel is illegal are more than willing to stand brave and proud to confirm that Jesus is their life and Lord, even to the point of death.

Bob Roberts Jr. in his book "The Multiplying Church" says: Where faith has exploded, it has never been because of the multiplication of mega-churches, but of smaller churches from 50 to 200. This happened in the early church, Europe and throughout American history, and now it is happening in Asia.

The small movement that began in about 30 AD is the Church that continues on its unstoppable path today. Join us this Sunday as we discover how we, as a small gathering in Oklahoma City, have a huge part to play in the Church global. Find out how you as an individual are part of a much bigger picture and why it is so important to be connected.

I look forward to celebrating and connecting with you on Sunday.

Thanks.

Ben.

PS - We will be Gathering at SKYLINE (www.SkylineOKC.com) on Sunday, July 6th at 11am. There will be no KAMP's Gathering that evening. We will be Gathering at KAMP's on Sunday, July, 13th at 5:30pm. We will have two special guests with us that night, Tommy Bailey and Richard Galloway from NYC Relief (www.NYCR.org).

Something Every Christian Should Do.

When I read the latest update from World Vision, I was immediately struch with the that "Child Sponsorship Is Something Every Christian Should Do." My family sponsors a little boy through Compassion International. While we are not always the best at sending notes and coloring pictures, I don't let that kind of silly guilt lead to inaction. So every month, $32 is automatic withdrawn from our account to ensure that Williamson Joseph will not die from hunger. Stop the craziness. Don't delay. Sponsor a beautiful little boy or girl. Now. Every Christian Should.

WORLD VISION -- EVERY 7 SECONDS A CHILD DIES FROM HUNGER

Dear Friend,

In addition to several recent Asian disasters and African conflicts affecting the lives of children, there is a deadly situation that is rocking the world as a whole. Called the "Silent Tsunami," it is the severe and growing international food shortage - one that is fast becoming a crisis.As a result, children are slowly - yet quietly - starving to death. In fact, at this point in time, a child dies from hunger every seven seconds. That's more than 14,000 children each day from among millions more who are suffering. The voices of these suffering and dying children must be heard.That's why I'm writing ... to tell you that together, we CAN do something about this developing crisis right now.

www.WorldVision.org

Give the ultimate gift of Child Sponsorship - the foundation on which World Vision is built. Where just over $1 per day provideslife-saving and life-sustaining essentials to children and theirfamilies, such as: * Nutritious food* Clean water* Medical care* Disease prevention aid* Educational supplies and opportunities* And much moreI know that you, too, have a heart for children and will consider doing what you can to help in this developing food shortage crisis. Thank you for your prayers and support for deserving and suffering children.

Sincerely,

Rich Stearns

President, World Vision U.S.

P.S. Remember, your gift of Child Sponsorship comes at a time when the global food crisis is combining with other recent disasters to create one of the most serious situations affectingthe lives of children. Please help us help starving children.

A Call and Commitment To The Urban Core.

I wanted to share with you a right up done by Stacy May regaring the V360 effort here in Oklahoma City.


Oklahoma City: A Call and Commitment to the Urban Core

Forbes magazine recently named Oklahoma City the country’s most recession-proof city. Forbes cited a strong housing market, decreased unemployment and growth in agriculture, energy and manufacturing as contributing factors to its economic health. This is good news for residents of Oklahoma City. And it’s good news for a team of church planters who are passionate about bringing spiritual revitalization to a city that’s thriving economically.

From the inside out

City Catalyst Lance Humphreys attended the initial Vision360 meeting in Orlando in the fall of 2006. Lance wanted to participate in Vision 360 because he believes God wants to transform cities through the church in a way he hasn’t seen in his lifetime. He left the meeting asking himself, “What is God already doing in our city as it relates to church planting?”

Meanwhile, Executive Director Ben Nockels, and his wife Shannon, were living in Colorado Springs when God began to speak to their hearts about the importance of church planting. God led them back to Oklahoma City where they launched Mars Hill Church. “It was never about planting a church,” Ben says. “It was always about planting multiple churches. We knew this was not about our church plant, but about serving the entire city.”

From the beginning Lance and Ben had a sense that the urban center of Oklahoma City was to be the focal point of their efforts. They had observed the physical rebuilding that took place in the center of the city following the Oklahoma City Murrah Federal Building bombing in 1995. “The inner city became the focal and rallying point for renewed faith in our city,” Lance says. They longed for and believed that spiritual revitalization could take place just as economic revitalization had. And they felt the spiritual revitalization was going to take place from the inside out. “If we could impact the urban center then we could impact the entire metropolitan area,” Lance says.

Ben agrees: “Starting with the most forgotten, under-resourced and broken kids is going to be the avenue to really transform our cities.”

With a heart for the poor and broken, they started moving forward with a vision for their city that transcended what any one church could do alone.

Step by step

The following steps were key to launching Vision360 in Oklahoma City:

Narrow focus - The decision was made that for the first five years the team was not going to do anything that didn’t impact the city center. They felt that area was where the Lord had asked them to begin and they strived to keep their vision focused specifically on that area. This led to success in bringing both board support and financial support.

Networking - They built a relationship network with two groups of people that were already involved in church planting: young church planters and established churches who had a history of reproducing or had the capacity and heart to reproduce. “I began by building relationships with church planters in the urban center,” Lance says. “A core of five young church planters and myself began to dream about what it would look like to replant the church in Urban Oklahoma City.”

Invitations - In the past six months Lance and Ben started inviting business and city leaders into the process. “We have aggressively pursued church leaders and business leaders who already demonstrated a buy-in to the vision,” Lance says. “We’ve gone after the people we want to work with. We’ve met individually with pastors we wanted to be involved with.”

An Education Strategy

Like many urban settings, Oklahoma City is a mix of racial and ethnic groups, wealth and poverty, youth and families.

The Oklahoma City vision includes identifying the 15 most vulnerable, at-risk schools and launching churches within those schools. The at-risk status is based on free and reduced lunches, academic scores, volunteer base, etc. Each school is the gathering place and the built-in missional focus. “Kids are a gateway to parents, parents are a gateway to families, families are gateways to neighborhoods,” Ben says. “And what are cities made up of but a system and network of neighborhoods?”

They are currently in the process of identifying the vulnerable communities, working with school board members, and determining how they will begin to recruit and train church planters to go into those communities.

Business Leaders

A team was pulled together from a cross-section of the city including young entrepreneurs and more established leaders. The first fundraising event took place in late February of this year and was hosted by the former mayor of Oklahoma City in his own home. The response was fantastic and there are 20 members currently on the board. The first official board meeting took place on June 5.

“When I moved back to Oklahoma City we began meeting people,” Ben says. “Many of those people have been strategic in getting Vision360 off the ground. We met as friends and those friendships turned into partnerships. There is a real clear sense that God was at work long before any of this came about.”

From Across The Big Pond.

Listening to a sermon this morning from across the big pond and Steve Chalke made some most intriguing comments:

"Jesus never asked us to worship him. He asked us to follow him. Worshipping Jesus is easier than following him. And in following him we worship him."

"As Christians we have been taught to say our prayers. But you don't really say prayers. You ache prayers. You long prayers."

"Churches wait for Jesus to reveal himself before they get involved. But Matthew 28:19 says that when we go and get involved with the affairs of the world that Jesus will be with us always. So we go and there he is revealed."

Kamp's Missional Community.

Summer seems to be a natural season to step back, slow down and simplify. Christianity and the accompanying church life has become increasing complicated. The life that we have been given has become marked by condemnation rather than grace and chaos rather than peace. Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Simple yet more powerful than we know. This summer we are committed to learning and living out the wonders of loving God and others simply and powerfully.

Consider the words of Robert Lupton:

"It is more blessed to give than to receive," said Jesus.

Receiving is a humbling matter. It implies neediness. It categorizes one as being worse off than the giver. Perhaps this is why we tend to reserve for ourselves the more blessed position. I came to the city to serve those in need. I have resources and abilities to clothe the ill-clad, feed the hungry, shelter the homeless. These are good works that our Lord requires of us. And there is blessedness in this kind of giving. But there is also power that allows me to retain control. My position as a helper protects me from the humiliation of appearing to need help. Even more sobering, I condemn those I help to the permanent role of recipient.

When my goal is to change people, I subtly communicate: Something is wrong with you; I am okay. You are ignorant; I am enlightened. You are wrong; I am right. If our relationship is defined as healer to patient, I must remain strong and you must remain sick for our interaction to continue. The process of "curing," then, cannot serve long as the basis for a relationship that is life producing for both parties. Small wonder that we who have come to the city to "save" the poor find it difficult to enter into true community with those we think needy.

"It takes everyone of us to make His body complete, for we each have a different work to do. So we belong to each other, and each needs all the others" (Romans 12:4,5).

I need the poor? For what? The question exposes my blindness. I see them as weak ones to be rescued, not as bearers of the treasures of the kingdom. The dominance of my giving overshadows and stifles the rich endowments the Creator has invested in those I consider destitute. I overlook what our Lord saw clearly when he proclaimed the poor to be especially blessed, for theirs is the kingdom of God (Luke 6:20). I selectively ignore the truth that monied, empowered, and learned ones enter his kingdom with enormous difficulty. The community into which Christ invites us is one of interdependence. We are called to mutual sharing and the discovery of gifts Christ has concealed in the unlikeliest among us.

Please join us at SKYLINE this Sunday, June 15th at 11:00am. My friend Stuart Cranford will be sharing a Father's Day message about the impact of the life and sudden death of his own father. Please visit www.SkylineOKC.com for more info and driving directions. There will be no KAMP's Gathering that night.

Mark your calendars and make plans to participate in a care and celebration day with Refugees on Saturday, June 21st or Sunday, June 22nd (be flexible as the date is a bit in limbo as of this morning). We will be coming together to love more of our neighbors simply and powerfully. Please be thinking of ways that you can bless and engage these beautiful people.

Please let us know how we can serve you and serve with you this week.

Giving & Receiving.
Ben.

Now, Here's What Bothers Me.

Excerpt From "Theirs Is The Kingdom".

Now here's what bothers me. Why would Christ say, "Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God" (Luke 6:20)? Could it be that our achievement values differ from the values of the kingdom? And his comments about the first being last and the last being first in that kingdom - what does that say to us well-ordered leader types? You see why it disturbs me, don't you?

KAMP's Neighborhood BBQ Photos.

Just wanted to pass along some photos Rex Barrett took from the KAMP's Neighborhood BBQ a couple of weeks back.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/rexbarrett/

Theirs Is The Kingdom.

I wanted to share with you a new book (to me) that a couple of friends recommended by Robert Lupton entitled, "Theirs Is The Kingdom - Celebrating The Gospel In Urban America". I first heard of Robert Lupton in conjunction with Community Christian Development Association (www.ccda.org).

I plan to share some excerpts from the book over the next several weeks.

Consider this:

"My wife and I saw the city as a mission field and ourselves as missionaries carrying the light of the gospel into the darkness of the ghetto. How surprised we were when we discovered that the One who had called us already preceded us. Those to whom we came to share our faith frequently had more faith than we did.

So it was that God's children who suffer most from crushing poverty became the very ones God used to speak to us of our own spiritual poverty. From those who had very few material possessions, we learned about our bondage to things. And from those who had much to fear and little to hope, we learned courage and faith."

Mars Hill Update.

Summer seems to be a natural season to step back, slow down and SIMPLIFY. Christianity and the accompanying church life has become increasing complicated. The life that we have been given has become marked by condemnation rather than grace and chaos rather than peace. Jesus said that the essence of Christianity could be summed up in two inseparable commandments: Love God and Love Your Neighbor. Simple yet more powerful than we know. This summer we are committed to learning and living out the wonders of loving God and others simply and powerfully.

Consider these words from Randy Frazee's book, Making Room For Life:

I envision a life that is not as hectic. We always seem to be on our way to the next place, never really arriving at a destination.

I envision a life with either more money or less expenses. I strongly suspect it's less expenses.

I envision a life with less time in the car and more time for walks. Can this ever become a reality?

I envision life where there is a time for work and a time for play. I love to work, but I just want it to keep from getting offside. I want to play more, but I think after all these year I've forgotten how.

I envision a life with less fast food in the car and more spreads of home cooking with family and friends. Shoving burritos in our mouths while driving can't be what God had in mind for us. We have lost the beautiful art of sharing a meal together. I want to regain that art.

I envision a life of less accumulation and more conversation. I already have way too many manuals on how to care for the stuff I bought. Plus, people have to be more interesting than things. I don't think most of us really know for sure.

My list goes on and on, and I'm sure yours does too. We are an advanced people with vast resources. We've invented speed and time-saving technology that couldn't be fathomed a hundred years ago. We have more discretionary money than any people in history, though we usually spend it all before it even comes in. We have the freedom to choose like no other people in any other time. With all this going for us, why does it feel as though we've gone backward instead of forward in our quest for a quality of life?

The KAMP's Gathering takes place this Sunday, June 8th at 5:30pm - Robert and Rebecca Prince will share with us their personal story, journey and quest to Make Room For Life. Ryan Gikas will lead and journey with us in worship.

Please join us at SKYLINE next Sunday, June 15th at 11:00am - My friend Stuart Cranford will be sharing a Father's Day message about the impact of the life and sudden death of his own father. Please visit www.SkylineOKC.com for more info and driving directions. There will be no KAMP's Gathering that night.

Mark your calendars and make plans to participate in a care and celebration day with Refugees on Saturday, June 21st. We will be coming together to love more of our neighbors simply and powerfully. Be thinking of ways that you can bless and engage these beautiful people.

I look forward to celebrating life together in God with you on Sunday, 5:30pm at KAMP's.

Making Room For Life.
Ben.

KAMP's Neighborhood BBQ.

Just wanted to say that we had an amazing time yesterday evening at the KAMP's neighborhood BBQ. Thanks to everyone who made it a very special day in the life of our community. And by community, I don't mean "church community". I mean the larger community. We became an integral thread to the fabric of the neighborhood. We experienced first hand what it looks and feels like to love our neighbors simply and powerfully.

I will post some photos as they become available.