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!