Hey! Check out the Crossroads website! It looks great and has lots of new stuff (pictures, content, and links) on it. Ashley A. has been working on it almost all day and it shows. Thanks Ashley! I am finally excited about our website again. Tell your friends and hand out our invite cards. Our website is a good draw again and the future looks bright for it as well. Sweet!
http://www.wvcrossroads.com
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Crossroads Vision
"Crossroads Church exists to grow and strengthen the body of Jesus Christ by living out His love." The main thing that drives this vision is humility. We believe that humility will result in involvement in other's lives which will directly result in diversity. Then we will be a group of Christ-followers that looks like and acts like the true church of Jesus Christ.
These few brief sentences describe the passion of my heart! I could speak for hours about this vision and write pages about what it means and how it looks. But they are just words on a page or wasted breath if there is no action behind them. When God called me into ministry and specifically when He called me to plant Crossroads Church, I had a burning passion to change the whole world for Jesus' sake. It seems to me that 2009 has been anything but pursuing that vision. My year has been consumed with dollars and buildings and it has taken its toll on me and on the vision of our church. We never set out to have a fancy building or a big budget. I have never had the desire to run an organized machine and call it a church. I desperately want to see lives changed and transformed by the power of the gospel. I want to see Jesus transform the culture of northern West Virgina because Crossroads exists as a church. My desire for us as a church to be involved in other's lives with the love of Jesus is the thing that birthed this church and has driven this church until this year. It is amazing how draining the details of ministry are to me. I just want to see Jesus change lives! I owe a huge thank you to Chris H. for reminding me this morning how important the past 7 months have been. He reminded me that the building and the budget are VERY necessary FOR the ministry.
With all that said, I have been very unsettled as of late, chomping at the ministry bits. I am ready to move past the nuts and bolts and on to future ministry direction. This stirring inside of me is a good thing and God is firing me up to move forward with the Crossroads vision from three years ago. I am excited about the direction that He is leading my heart and mind. I am excited about the people He has placed at Crossroads to carry out the mission that He has given us. It is going to be great! The future is bright and exciting. I can't wait to see how God is gonna use us to impact lives with His love and grace.
Looking back, I am profoundly grateful for the past 7 months. I am grateful for how they have set us up for future and long-term ministry. It has been a difficult journey for me, but I am thankful for the practical and spiritual growth that has occurred since January. We have a new building to use for Kingdom growth and new dollar amounts to seed Kingdom growth. That is the practical. I am also thankful for the spiritual. I am thankful for how the past 7 months have set my heart up for the future, how God's stirring in me is re-kindling the fire upon which this church was started.
We are marching forward into a Kingdom future as we walk humbly before God and our fellow man. It is going to rock to see all that God can and will do in us and through us as we move forward in obedience. The vision is alive and well and we are poised to attain new heights of Kingdom impact and success as we follow our head - Jesus Christ
Thank you to all who are part of the Crossroads family. Thanks for being a part of the journey. Thanks for believing in what God is about to do in and through us. You guys rock! You are such a blessing to do life with and to do ministry with. Thanks for all your love, support, prayers, dollars, sweat, and partnership. The vision is strong and the future is bright!
These few brief sentences describe the passion of my heart! I could speak for hours about this vision and write pages about what it means and how it looks. But they are just words on a page or wasted breath if there is no action behind them. When God called me into ministry and specifically when He called me to plant Crossroads Church, I had a burning passion to change the whole world for Jesus' sake. It seems to me that 2009 has been anything but pursuing that vision. My year has been consumed with dollars and buildings and it has taken its toll on me and on the vision of our church. We never set out to have a fancy building or a big budget. I have never had the desire to run an organized machine and call it a church. I desperately want to see lives changed and transformed by the power of the gospel. I want to see Jesus transform the culture of northern West Virgina because Crossroads exists as a church. My desire for us as a church to be involved in other's lives with the love of Jesus is the thing that birthed this church and has driven this church until this year. It is amazing how draining the details of ministry are to me. I just want to see Jesus change lives! I owe a huge thank you to Chris H. for reminding me this morning how important the past 7 months have been. He reminded me that the building and the budget are VERY necessary FOR the ministry.
With all that said, I have been very unsettled as of late, chomping at the ministry bits. I am ready to move past the nuts and bolts and on to future ministry direction. This stirring inside of me is a good thing and God is firing me up to move forward with the Crossroads vision from three years ago. I am excited about the direction that He is leading my heart and mind. I am excited about the people He has placed at Crossroads to carry out the mission that He has given us. It is going to be great! The future is bright and exciting. I can't wait to see how God is gonna use us to impact lives with His love and grace.
Looking back, I am profoundly grateful for the past 7 months. I am grateful for how they have set us up for future and long-term ministry. It has been a difficult journey for me, but I am thankful for the practical and spiritual growth that has occurred since January. We have a new building to use for Kingdom growth and new dollar amounts to seed Kingdom growth. That is the practical. I am also thankful for the spiritual. I am thankful for how the past 7 months have set my heart up for the future, how God's stirring in me is re-kindling the fire upon which this church was started.
We are marching forward into a Kingdom future as we walk humbly before God and our fellow man. It is going to rock to see all that God can and will do in us and through us as we move forward in obedience. The vision is alive and well and we are poised to attain new heights of Kingdom impact and success as we follow our head - Jesus Christ
Thank you to all who are part of the Crossroads family. Thanks for being a part of the journey. Thanks for believing in what God is about to do in and through us. You guys rock! You are such a blessing to do life with and to do ministry with. Thanks for all your love, support, prayers, dollars, sweat, and partnership. The vision is strong and the future is bright!
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The God-Shaped Hole
I drink coffee to help me focus. I do not drink coffee to wake up or help me stay awake. I just realized that coffee sucks for the later purpose. At the moment, I am sitting in my office and I am very tired/sleepy. I haven't gotten much sleep, well lets just say for the past three nights, and its 10 AM and I need a nap. Anyway, in the middle of a book that I am reading, I closed my eyes for a moment because of my level of sleepiness and realized that there was no way that I was going to sleep after my two cups of morning coffee. That's when it hit me that coffee keeps me awake but it doesn't keep my body from being sleepy. Coffee doesn't fulfill my real need for sleep. Coffee can never meet my body's need for rest. It can only mask my true need.
As I was contemplating this, I thought about how just like we as Americans try to substitute coffee for sleep, we also try to substitute so many other things for our deep need for God. We seek out so many other things to fill up our "God-shaped hole" in our lives. Then just like me and needing sleep but not being able to sleep because of my morning coffee, we think we are fulfilled and our "coffee" (aka, stuff) takes the edge off our need for God. But even when we seek other things and we seem satisfied with all our toys and pleasures, there is a nagging under-current in our lives telling us that we are desperately missing out on something deeper, something more important, our true need, God!
It is my prayer today that I will embrace my desperate need for God and seek Him with my whole heart and stop running after all the "coffee" that the world has to offer.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
As I was contemplating this, I thought about how just like we as Americans try to substitute coffee for sleep, we also try to substitute so many other things for our deep need for God. We seek out so many other things to fill up our "God-shaped hole" in our lives. Then just like me and needing sleep but not being able to sleep because of my morning coffee, we think we are fulfilled and our "coffee" (aka, stuff) takes the edge off our need for God. But even when we seek other things and we seem satisfied with all our toys and pleasures, there is a nagging under-current in our lives telling us that we are desperately missing out on something deeper, something more important, our true need, God!
It is my prayer today that I will embrace my desperate need for God and seek Him with my whole heart and stop running after all the "coffee" that the world has to offer.
"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing." John 15:5
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Hay!
Becky says she is a "country girl" now since we live in the middle of a hayfield. It really is great and the girls have loved watching the hay bales come out the back of the hay baler. Here are some pictures from the back stairs of our house.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Found It!
After 3 plus years of searching, I have finally found it!
I have spent countless hours seeking the answer to, "What is it that re-charges my batteries?" Everybody has things in their lives that drain them and things that energize them. Now after 3 years of church planting, I have become acutely aware of the things that drain me while never finding that one thing that fills me back up. Over the past 3 years, there have been many times when I was so drained and dry that I just wanted to run away. I was like a sink with the drain wide open and no idea how or when to turn the faucet on. That is why I bought the motorcycle. It was a desperate attempt to find the faucet. After a VERY draining year with the birth of Mary and all the stress of the DR mission trip, the new building , and our Crossroads growth and everything with all that as well as trying to keep up with all the regular ministry stuff and relationships, I had about all the out go that I could take with nothing flowing in. I was SO tired and just wanted to re-energize and re-gain my passion for ministry. Becky and I talked about what was going on in my life and that is when we decided to try and see if a motorcycle would be the answer. I promised her if a motorcycle wasn't my faucet and I discovered what was, that I would sell the motorcycle. Well, needless to say, the motorcycle is for sale. I don't regret buying it at all even if I have lost some cash. I guess it really isn't lost at all when you take into account the fact that it helped me find what I was really looking for in the first place.
So, are you ready for it? My search is over and I can't even tell you how excited and relieved I am. To try so hard to find something, especially when the answer is within you and not find it has been VERY frustrating over these past 3 years. I am so pumped! OK, OK, here it is . My faucet is exploration! That's it! It's so cool and the best part is that it doesn't matter what it is as long as its exploration. I want to do new things and go new places. It can be 40 miles on the Appalachian trail or simply a new road or new grocery store. You may think I am crazy (I probably am and most of you probably think so anyway), but this realization is huge for me. When you don't have major drains and stress in your life, the re-charge isn't that big of a deal and that is why I never looked for the recharge or even knew that I needed one until the last 3 years. So its really hard to find the words to describe how excited I am. Becky is excited too for lots of reasons; one being we can find ways to meet my re-charge needs as a couple and as a family. So yeah, major epiphany in my life and ministry and I am looking forward to the future as God leads toward more growth and stress.
O and by the way, anybody want a great motorcycle!!??
I have spent countless hours seeking the answer to, "What is it that re-charges my batteries?" Everybody has things in their lives that drain them and things that energize them. Now after 3 years of church planting, I have become acutely aware of the things that drain me while never finding that one thing that fills me back up. Over the past 3 years, there have been many times when I was so drained and dry that I just wanted to run away. I was like a sink with the drain wide open and no idea how or when to turn the faucet on. That is why I bought the motorcycle. It was a desperate attempt to find the faucet. After a VERY draining year with the birth of Mary and all the stress of the DR mission trip, the new building , and our Crossroads growth and everything with all that as well as trying to keep up with all the regular ministry stuff and relationships, I had about all the out go that I could take with nothing flowing in. I was SO tired and just wanted to re-energize and re-gain my passion for ministry. Becky and I talked about what was going on in my life and that is when we decided to try and see if a motorcycle would be the answer. I promised her if a motorcycle wasn't my faucet and I discovered what was, that I would sell the motorcycle. Well, needless to say, the motorcycle is for sale. I don't regret buying it at all even if I have lost some cash. I guess it really isn't lost at all when you take into account the fact that it helped me find what I was really looking for in the first place.
So, are you ready for it? My search is over and I can't even tell you how excited and relieved I am. To try so hard to find something, especially when the answer is within you and not find it has been VERY frustrating over these past 3 years. I am so pumped! OK, OK, here it is . My faucet is exploration! That's it! It's so cool and the best part is that it doesn't matter what it is as long as its exploration. I want to do new things and go new places. It can be 40 miles on the Appalachian trail or simply a new road or new grocery store. You may think I am crazy (I probably am and most of you probably think so anyway), but this realization is huge for me. When you don't have major drains and stress in your life, the re-charge isn't that big of a deal and that is why I never looked for the recharge or even knew that I needed one until the last 3 years. So its really hard to find the words to describe how excited I am. Becky is excited too for lots of reasons; one being we can find ways to meet my re-charge needs as a couple and as a family. So yeah, major epiphany in my life and ministry and I am looking forward to the future as God leads toward more growth and stress.
O and by the way, anybody want a great motorcycle!!??
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Resurrection
If Jesus Christ is resurrected and alive, then that changes everything! Sound crazy? Of course Jesus is resurrected and alive you say. But if we really believed it to be true, then our lives would be radically different wouldn't they?
If the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is true then we need to busy ourselves being about the Kingdom of God. If the Resurrection is true, then only the things that we do for God and His Kingdom will last. Only those things really matter. They are the only truly important things in life.
As Christians, if the Resurrection is not true, then we are to be pitied above all people (check out what Paul has to say about this in 1 Corinthians 15). If the Resurrection of Christ isn't true, then we are religious fools and we are wasting our time, money, and energy when we could be spending all our resources on ourselves.
So what do you say? What do you believe? Is Jesus alive or dead? The answer to this question changes everything about how we live. It changes how we eat, work, play, think, speak, etc. It changes everything. Meditate on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 15 and let the gravity of eternity sink in.
Check out this quote from Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) about this very idea.
"But if you fix the eyes of your soul on the Resurrection, the fear of sickness, impairment, and death will slowly lose its power over you. You will experience peace and rest in the Lord in your very being as you ascend in spirit over your mortal flesh. We only do our souls good as we meditate on the glories that will be ours when we are raised to be with the Father forever."
If the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is true then we need to busy ourselves being about the Kingdom of God. If the Resurrection is true, then only the things that we do for God and His Kingdom will last. Only those things really matter. They are the only truly important things in life.
As Christians, if the Resurrection is not true, then we are to be pitied above all people (check out what Paul has to say about this in 1 Corinthians 15). If the Resurrection of Christ isn't true, then we are religious fools and we are wasting our time, money, and energy when we could be spending all our resources on ourselves.
So what do you say? What do you believe? Is Jesus alive or dead? The answer to this question changes everything about how we live. It changes how we eat, work, play, think, speak, etc. It changes everything. Meditate on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Read 1 Corinthians 15 and let the gravity of eternity sink in.
Check out this quote from Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) about this very idea.
"But if you fix the eyes of your soul on the Resurrection, the fear of sickness, impairment, and death will slowly lose its power over you. You will experience peace and rest in the Lord in your very being as you ascend in spirit over your mortal flesh. We only do our souls good as we meditate on the glories that will be ours when we are raised to be with the Father forever."
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Grace
"Grace would not be grace if it were a response to resources in us. Grace is grace because it highlights God's own overflowing resources of kindness. Grace is eternal because it will take that long for God to expend inexhaustible stores of goodness on us. Grace is free because God would not be the infinite, self-sufficient God He is if He were constrained by anything outside Himself."
John Piper
John Piper
I'm Back!
I just noticed the date of my last blog entry! It was a month ago tomorrow! I can hardly believe all that has transpired in the past four weeks. It has been so crazy! Instead of trying to post an accurate description of all the activities (stress) that have kept me offline and not blogging, I'm just gonna say it has been overwhelming, stressful and at the same time very fun watching everything come together. I have been so busy it has been ridiculous but I am in the midst of my first semi-normal week this week and am looking forward to some down time in August. So yeah, just gonna say its been crazy and now I'm back. I'll just pick up from here and blog ahead into the future.
O but one thing that I will add - Praise God that our preschool construction build-out is done!!!!
Maybe two things - I would rather cut off my toes than to be on the phone for one more minute with ANY utility company! Can somebody please tell me how these companies stay in business!
O but one thing that I will add - Praise God that our preschool construction build-out is done!!!!
Maybe two things - I would rather cut off my toes than to be on the phone for one more minute with ANY utility company! Can somebody please tell me how these companies stay in business!
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