Oasis was definitely a church that was different. It is not your typical church. For years we struggled in knowing how to create the church we wanted. There was a season when things got so difficult that I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue. But, the church we had established was not the church we had dreamed of. The first few years of ministry was a lot of "it seemed like a good idea at the time" experiences strung together. Failure isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. After a series of challenges that could discourage the most optimistic of leaders, I once turned to Holly and said, “If I wasn’t the pastor of this church, I would go here.” “Everything rises and falls on leadership,” I was reminded in a quote by John Maxwell. “Oh, Great,” I
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They want to be successful, and many hope to be famous. This is at the heart of why Los Angeles is known as the land of dreams. One difference between living in LA and living in another city like Dallas is that the guy you see in line at Starbucks who “looks like Matt Damon,” actually is Matt Damon. Some preachers take the liberty to mention names of celebrities when addressing some controversial movie or quote that has gotten public attention while making a strong spiritual point in their sermon. The problem with that while being a pastor LA is that either a friend or family member of the celebrity or even the celebrity themselves could be attending the service on any given Sunday. So I don’t do that. Anymore. I don’t think celebrities are more important to Jesus than anyone else. Jesus does not need celebrities to endorse him or to validate His relevance. Celebrities need Jesus, just like everyone else. But God does love celebrities. We want to reach them and we have had many come through the doors of Oasis in the last thirty years. Being a pastor to celebrities is unique and can be …show more content…
Among these are the former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley. There are stars representing corporations, such as Victoria’s Secret and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon has a star bearing the names of the three astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Michael Collins and the date of the first moon landing. Johnny Grant, the “Honorary Mayor of Hollywood,” acknowledged, that classifying the first Moon landing, as a television entertainment event was "a bit of a stretch." Magic Johnson’s basketball skills had no direct connection to movies, music, TV, radio, or theater, but the committee added him to the motion picture category, based on his ownership of the Magic Johnson Theater
They want to be successful, and many hope to be famous. This is at the heart of why Los Angeles is known as the land of dreams. One difference between living in LA and living in another city like Dallas is that the guy you see in line at Starbucks who “looks like Matt Damon,” actually is Matt Damon. Some preachers take the liberty to mention names of celebrities when addressing some controversial movie or quote that has gotten public attention while making a strong spiritual point in their sermon. The problem with that while being a pastor LA is that either a friend or family member of the celebrity or even the celebrity themselves could be attending the service on any given Sunday. So I don’t do that. Anymore. I don’t think celebrities are more important to Jesus than anyone else. Jesus does not need celebrities to endorse him or to validate His relevance. Celebrities need Jesus, just like everyone else. But God does love celebrities. We want to reach them and we have had many come through the doors of Oasis in the last thirty years. Being a pastor to celebrities is unique and can be …show more content…
Among these are the former Los Angeles mayor Tom Bradley. There are stars representing corporations, such as Victoria’s Secret and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Even the Apollo 11 mission to the Moon has a star bearing the names of the three astronauts Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., Michael Collins and the date of the first moon landing. Johnny Grant, the “Honorary Mayor of Hollywood,” acknowledged, that classifying the first Moon landing, as a television entertainment event was "a bit of a stretch." Magic Johnson’s basketball skills had no direct connection to movies, music, TV, radio, or theater, but the committee added him to the motion picture category, based on his ownership of the Magic Johnson Theater