Twitter Insight

This morning I had my cup of coffee and read through my devotions.  I read a couple of meaningful verses so I decided to share them on Twitter and put #comforting at the end of both tweets.  It got me thinking so I did a search on #comforting.  Here's some of the responses I found.

"Mrs. Smith is the best counselor ever." #comforting
"Sometimes a hug is all you need." #comforting
"Can somebody vox me I want to hear a familiar voice." #comforting
"I really miss what I used to have with my dad, but it was nice talking to him today when I was stressed out." #comforting  
And the picture above was a photo that was tagged, you guessed it, #comforting
And I especially loved this one, "Just checking in real quick" http://tinyurl.com/bltdg3j  ...okay good." #comforting

People are looking to be comforted.  And people will go to great lengths to feel comforted.  They want to know that there is something constant in their life and even when things do change they long for the constant to return.

There is only one constant in this world.  "The Lord your God goes with you; he will NEVER leave you nor FORSAKE you" (Deuteronomy 31:5 NIV).  #comforting

Some of us look to counselors, a physical touch, a phone call, a reuniting of what was a good relationship with your father, and even checking in to see that the blog that boasts the same picture day after day is still up and running.  It's good to feel comfort in the midst of struggle.  My prayer for you this morning is that you will turn to God in your time of need and receive from Him the love that you are craving today.  He's truly a comfort in our time of need.

"The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life" (Psalm 121:7 NLT). #comforting

Thankful? Yes, Yes I Am

"Let us genuinely give thanks to the one continues to give and bless." -Derrel Emmerson


Pastor Derrel was and is a major influence in my life.  I grew up listening to his sermons, sometimes more attentively than others!  He is a faithful man of God and is always reminding me of God's blessings in our lives.  


This is Thanksgiving week and many of us are rushing around trying to get last minute items for the big feast!  I saved the day for our big feast.  We were so busy with things that we almost forgot to take the bird out to thaw!  I can't take complete credit for that because my sister in law, Maria put a Facebook update that she took her bird out yesterday!  Thanks, Maria!  


This morning I thought of all the amazing things that God has done to show me his faithfulness in my family and the Crossroads church family.  Crossroads has now been holding Sunday services for four weeks. We have an amazing volunteer staff that has been doing an incredible job getting to the church at 8:30am and setting up.  God has truly blessed us and I am truly thankful for each person on the team!


There is a moment right before the service starts.  We all get together to pray for those coming to the service that day.  It's a short prayer usually.  But what that prayer does for me is amazing.  We all have been running around setting up and making sure that things are ready. The prayer is that pause before the start of the service, nursery, and children's church.  That moment is a constant reminder why we are here every Sunday morning.  It's that time that I invite Him to come.  It's the point when I recognize we are here to worship Him!  It's the time that I let everything else go and pray that our human preparation plus the presence of the Holy Spirit will come together and we will see God's salvation that morning!  


"He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer" (Psalm 102:17 KJV).


Be Thankful!

Thankful Heart

Last week was a beautiful weekend in spite of the rain, sleet and snow!  Our fall festival was a success, not because we got our name out in our little neighborhood, but because we were faithful in the little things.  God says in his word that if we are faithful in the little things he will give us bigger things. (my paraphrase)  I've been around churches all my life and I love the stage that Crossroads Church of Fredericksburg is at.  After our fall festival was over and we had washed the last pan and cleaned up the last crumb on the floor, we all got together in a circle and prayed. We prayed that the seeds that were sown and we prayed for people to come to Jesus in our generation.  Afterward, we looked at each other and realized that we'd never forget this day! What happened on Saturday spilled over into Sunday morning at our first service and here it is Friday and I'm still marveling!

Have you lost that joy?  Do you wish you could be a part of what God is up to where he's planted you?  Look around!  Be thankful and ask God to use you right where you are at.  Join in where God is at work!  And if you want to join a church where God is at work, come visit us at CCF this Sunday morning @ 1915 Charles Street  @ 10AM in Old Town Fredericksburg!  

-Pastor Andy

Conversation

"Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone"(Colossians 4:6 NLT).

Have you ever been around someone who seems to say just the right thing at just the right time?  And when they do talk they attract people when they start talking?

Knowing God has been so gracious in our lives we should show grace in our conversations with others.  If our conversations are sprinkled with grace it's hard to be critical.  It's hard to be unpleasant.  And what does it mean to be attractive?  Do I use a lot of big words with people to make my conversation attractive?  I looked up attractive in the Greek and in this case it means, "seasoned with salt". We should choose to work grace into all of our conversations and we should choose our words carefully asking God for wisdom so that we can respond in a Godly way to every situation.  

Prayer:  Lord let us be led by your spirit, speaking the truth in such a way that is going to promote life change in us and the people around us. 

Amazing Grace

October 18, 2011

16 This is what the LORD says:
“Stop at the crossroads and look around.
Ask for the old, godly way, and walk in it.
Travel its path, and you will find rest for your souls.
But you reply, ‘No, that’s not the road we want!’

During my devotional time this afternoon,  God reminded me not to forget that assurance I received so many years ago.  My relationship with Christ began at a tender age of 7.  Yes, 7.  I learned about the work of the cross when an evangelist was speaking at our little Baptist Church one Sunday night.  He shared the story of the cross and he said, "And he did all this for you!"  As a 7 year old I immediately understood the sacrifice that was made for me and I was compelled by that.  I went home and couldn't stop thinking about it and I asked Christ into my life in my room that night.  I remember the feeling of complete peace that surrounded me.  

Fast forward a few years later when I entered High School.  I was trying to walk down a path that didn't include Christ.  I was the one that was saying, "No, that's not the road I want!"  I won't lie to you.  I had some great times when I wasn't following Christ.  But there was always this constant battle that was going on in my life.  I was riding the fence so to speak and definitely was being torn in two directions, until that moment I stopped and took stock of what I was doing and decided I was going to jump in with both feet.  No more riding the fence, I was going to follow the path that God had laid out for me.  

40 years later I still need to be reminded not to forget His amazing power to save.  I need to take a moment and remember the peace that flooded my room that night so long ago.  

Take a moment today and thank God for His Amazing Grace.

-Pastor Andy

Monday Morning Quarterbacking

Good Monday Morning!

It's week three of our 30 day challenge at Crossroads.  We have challenged and encouraged each other to read the Bible for 30 minutes, pray for 30 minutes, write down God's revelation, AND share Christ with one person that week.  Fortunately, in order to make this happen we have accountability partners who are calling each other on a daily basis to encourage each other.  The testimonies have been awesome and we are seeing God at work in our lives and the lives of others around us.

All of us have a story.  Facebook, Tweet, Blog, and get on the City and share what God is up to!!!  I'm looking forward to seeing what God will do when we read His love letter to us, talk with Him and share what God is doing in our lives with someone this week!  It's amazing what can happen when God joins together a community of believers and works in and through them to bring God's light to a neighborhood, community, city, a nation and the world.  The light that shines the farthest shines the brightest at home.

Prayer:  Lord let your word come alive in our lives and the lives of those around us.


"And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47 NLT)

-Pastor Andy

 11 Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;save them as they stagger to their death.12 Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.  He who guards your soul knows you knew (Proverbs 24:11,12 NLT).  


I love to read novels by John Grisham.  Recently I read "The Confession" which is about a man who walks into the office of a pastor and confesses to a grisly murder and tells the pastor that another man is about to be wrongly executed for the crime that he committed.  The pastor has a choice.  He either gets involved and tries to stop the execution or he looks the other way and does nothing.  It is a very compelling story and there are many twists and turns but the Big Picture is what this pastor does.  He violates the murderers parole and goes on a journey that will change his life forever.


As I read Proverbs this morning that novel came to my mind.  I thought about what would have happened if the Pastor walked away from the situation and didn't act.  In verse 12 of Chapter 24 in Proverbs it says that the people say, "we didn't know".  But the Lord who guards your soul knows you knew.  


As I searched my heart this morning I thought of a young man that came to me for help.  He needed something.  I was busy getting ready for a meeting and almost said, please come back later but God prompted me to listen to his story.  As I did my heart was compeled to act.  After the service I shared with him from what we had.  I listened to God's prompting.  As you go about your day today ask God to open your eyes.  Each of us are leaving a legacy.  What is the legacy that you are leaving?


“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’ (Matthew 25:40).

Good Tuesday Morning to You!

This is day 9 for me in the 30 day challenge and I am amazed at how God is using the Holy Spirit to bring understanding as I read.  It does come alive!  I am finding that the Words on the page that I am reading really are applying to the situations I have encountered in the past few days.  

Today I read in Isaiah that God's arm is not too short and his hearing is good so when we cry out to him he will hear us.  Then I turned to Philippians and it says,  "And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns" (Phil. 1:6 NLT).

This pursuit of God is a daily routine, but don't let it become routine!  Ask God to bring the Word that you read alive today!   Embrace it, Obey it, and let it change you into the person God has designed you to be.

"The Bible is alive, it speaks to me; it has feet; it runs after me; it has hands; it lays hold of me." 

-Martin Luther

It's the end of the first week of the 30 day challenge and already I am seeing how it has revolutionized my prayer time and time in the Word.  My outlook towards those around me have changed dramatically.

True story:  So, I am getting towards the end of my week and I am really praying to ask God to show me who to share my faith with this week.  If anyone knew what was going on in my brain while going about my day they probably would have thought I was a bit crazy.  I would look at people and literally ask God is this the one I am supposed to share with!  I got home from a particularly crazy day of substitute teaching and God was speaking to me to pray specifically.  So I prayed a quick prayer that God would lead me to someone to help along their discipleship journey with Christ.  As I did that I found myself in a conversation with an old friend that had moved out of the area and moved back recently.  My friend told me that reconnecting with God was hard and that he was fearful because he had walked away from God.  I shared with him that God's arms are always open and that He always welcomes us back.  We started talking and in that process God gave me some things for him to do to reconnect.

As I finished that conversation I walked away with such an amazing feeling of joy!  There is nothing like asking God to use you and then having the Holy Spirit present the situation in such a simple amazing way.

Prayer:  Thanks God for using this 30 day challenge to help me to think of others before myself.  Help me to be led by your Spirit every day and lead people into relationship with you. 

This morning God showed me during my prayer time that I need to pray specifically.  I need to let him know exactly what my needs are and ask others to pray along with me.  Yesterday, I shared this with accountability partner and he prayed for something that I shared with him.  This morning without going into detail, God answered that prayer!  It's amazing to see how God wants to interact with our everyday lives.  He cares about even the smallest details of our lives. 

http://bible.us/Ps17.7.NIV

“I am the LORD your God,
who teaches you what is good for you
and leads you along the paths you should follow. (Isaiah 48:17 NLT). 

I read this scripture in Isaiah and believe it is for you.  This morning I am believing that God is the one that teaches us what is good and that He will lead us where we should go.  Simple, but true.  He is a faithful God, and He shows us His faithfulness to us over and over in His word.  

Prayer:  Father I pray that you would show us your path and make it clear to us.  I pray that you would reveal yourself through scripture and that through your Holy Spirit you would reveal to us your perfect plan for our lives.

• Read in the Word 30 minutes a day.
• Pray 30 minutes a day
• Journal: Write down what God shows you in your prayer and reading time
• Share Christ with one person each week
• Hold another person accountable to these things on a daily basis.

My blog for the next thirty days is to chronicle this challenge.  I want to share with you the effects of this discipline and hopefully you will be encouraged to go deeper in your relationship with God.

October 3

This morning I woke up and walked across the hallway to the office and opened my laptop and turned to http://www.youversion.com  (The Bible).  I turned to the one year Bible devotional and read Isaiah 44:3 http://bible.us/Isa44.3.NLT which says, 3 For I will pour out water to quench your thirst and to irrigate your parched fields.  And I will pour out my Spirit on your descendants, and my blessing on your children.  Now when I woke up this morning I was thinking and praying because one of the comments that someone in our church made to me was that he was feeling dry spiritually.  I immediately emailed him this scripture and thought how cool it was that in less than two minutes of devotional and prayer time that God opened my eyes to see how this scripture could speak life to someone who was asking God to quench their spiritual thirst.  


Prayer: Father I pray that you would quench our thirst every time we sit down and pray and read your Word.  Thank you that it's life to those who listen and most importantly, help us to apply it to our daily lives.

Wisdom: Get some

I was reading my devos this morning and was reading from two amazing books written by Solomon, Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.  Now we know that Solomon was a man.  A powerful man because of his position of King.  His father was King David, man after God's own heart and mom was Bathsheba.  So, Solomon was probably a good looking guy who hopefully loved God as much as his dad.  He was smart too.  He asked for wisdom and he got it. 

The great thing for us living in the 21st century is the fact that he didn't just keep all this wisdom to himself or his people.  God used Solomon to share wisdom with people throughout the ages.  Recommendation?  Ask for wisdom and read a Proverb a day.  There are 31 chapters in Proverbs so you can read the whole book in a month if you read one chapter a day. 

"Summing it all up, friends, I'd say you'll do best by filling your minds and meditating on things true, noble, reputable, authentic, compelling, gracious-the best, not the worst; the beautiful, not the ugly; things to praise, not things to curse."  http://bible.us/Phil4.8.MSG

Who Will Be The Chosen Ones

Well, football season is upon us.  The NFL lock out has ended and we are all putting our hopes and dreams in our favorite teams. Wouldn't it be awesome if your team took a ride to the play-offs and maybe even the super bowl?

Sports stories are always moving to me.  I watched the NFL channel's biography on the Sharp brothers and saw the rags to riches story.  The drive that was in Shannon Sharpe enabled him to be one of the chosen few to enter into the Hall of Fame this past weekend.  But if someone hadn't looked his way, if someone hadn't given him a chance at a small school, we might never had seen that amazing tight end that wowed us with his amazing presence on the gridiron.  Someone gave him a chance. 

One of my favorite football movies is The Blind Side which is the story about Michael Oher.  Here is a boy full of promise in the gifting department, but he had so much against him.  Until one day, when someone took him into their family and called him their own.  It reminds me how all of us that have believed are adopted into the family of God.  We all have been created by God.  We all have gifts and talents that He's given us.  But we were born into a sinful world and that isn't something you can just shake off.  Thank God we had a loving Father who sacrificed His son on a cross so that we might have eternal life and be able to enter into a relationship with God.

Yes, I'm a sucker for a good football story of the one kid that made it to the big leagues.  And I'm also eternally grateful for the chance that God gives all of us if we accept the gospel and turn our lives over to the Father.  It gives me peace knowing that He is the God above all other gods and has the power over life and death.  That same God that created the universe invites us to be a part of His family.  Won't you join Him?  Won't you step into the blessings that God has for you today?  

-Pastor Andy

Community, we need it...

Four years ago, I went to Indonesia with Sean Feucht and shared an amazing trip of ministering to churches, and worshiping God and igniting a movement that is still going on today.  I had never met the majority of the team members until I arrived there.  We were on the island of Bali.

One afternoon after I ate lunch with Sean,  and the guys got together and surfed (I tried to!) the waves of Bali. That evening I sat on the beach that evening and watched the sun set.  I remember a profound feeling of enjoyment of God's creation but there was something missing.  I missed sharing this experience with my wife Missy.  I promised myself if I ever got back to Southeast Asia I would bring Missy with me to share the experience.  As amazing as the experience of that trip was, it's nothing if you aren't able to share the experience with someone that you love and care about.  We need community with others.

God created us.  And when he did he said it was good.  In fact after he spent a week creating all this cool stuff he looked at it and said that it was very good!  Until he saw Adam and said, "It is not good for man to be alone, I will provide a helper that is just right for him (Gen. 2:20NLT).

Adam had everything.  He had a perfect relationship with God, the task of caring for the garden of Eden.  If that was me?  I would do my job, enjoy the presence of the Lord and that would have been a great life!  But God saw that something was missing.  A relationship with someone he can share life with.

Church should be like this.  We need each other.  We need to share the amazing experience of our relationship with God with others.   God understood that we needed this community from the very beginning.  Share life with others today.  Join in where God is at work and grab a friend to come alongside and join in the mission.

Acts Kinda Church

Is your church enjoyable?  Do you go to church with an expectation that God is going to do something amazing?  Do you regularly bring friends that don't know Christ to church because miraculous things are happening?

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to experience an Acts 2 Holy Spirit moment at your church?  Think of having new believers added to your church each week.  Some of us pastors are already thinking, "I need to revamp my assimilation process if that happened...I need to start more discipleship groups and I need to get more volunteer staff to provide for this new influx of believers!" What a tremendous problem to have!

47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved" (Acts 2:47NLT).

According to verse 47 people couldn't contain their enthusiasm.  They praised God.  And it was fun!  It was enjoyable to be around other believers!  After that initial meeting in Acts 3000 people came to Christ.  These weren't re-dedications, these were first timers!  And literally thousands more turned their lives over to Christ.

What if we went out of our way to live our lives in such a way that would be contagious to the non-believer?  Let's face it.  If you are a believer you have what everyone else is searching for to fill that God shaped hole.  What would happen if we asked the Holy Spirit to show up in miraculous ways to bring glory to God our Father?

I am challenging myself to reach out to someone this week that needs Jesus.  Let's see God's name glorified and watch what happens when we do!

It's a Wonderful Life

Last night, I took Zach to his soccer game.  The game started and the other team had only a few players.  I watched a team of five kids move the ball with great precision and actually scored a goal on our team!  Finally other players showed up so we could play a full team on each side.

Zach played hard all game.  He had a dozen shots on goal.  Every one of the shots came so close, and finally at the very end of the game he scored a goal. 

Two things I took away from this fantastic game.  Zach's opponents played short at the beginning, but because their passing was so precise they were able to move the ball down the field and eventually score.  Even if your playing short, stay in the game.  Where two are three are gathered in His name he is there also!  Remember that!

Also, I thought about Zach.  He did not give up.  It was hot, he was tired, but he kept running.  We need to set our sites toward the goal and even when we don't hit the mark, we need to get back up and keep trying!

Be encouraged, church!  Be a light to someone today, even if you've been rejected a thousand times over.  Share Jesus with someone today.  Today may be the day that will make a difference for the rest of their lives.

Go For Launch Part II

In this pic by a NJ woman, is a unique view from an airplane capturing the launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavor.  What an amazing shot of the shuttle bursting through the clouds and into the sunshine on it's way to space.

I am excited to say that the launch of Crossroads Church is underway.  We have planted a seed, and we are watering it and watching it grow. In the beginning there were many questions whether or not this was where God wanted us to be.  Even after God gave us the "go for launch" we still felt like we were under a blanket of clouds.  This past weekend though, I felt as if we have risen above the clouds just like this picture.  I know that we are in the infancy stages and we have much to learn still about church planting, but there is a feeling that we are on our way.  There is forward movement.

Last week we talked about how God has given us many gifts.  In Ephesians 4:12 we see that the reason for these gifts is to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ.  We realized that no matter whether you are a worshiper, teacher, graphic designer, web designer, financial planner, entrepreneur, or pastor, God has given you those gifts, and those gifts are to be used for the work of ministry and for the building up of the body of Christ.  Fortunately, God has surrounded us with a bunch of families that have that heart to use their gifts to launch this church.  


As we looked at the word "equip" we found out that the word comes from a verb in Greek that means "to mend".  We are to share the word of the Lord through our gifts to mend the body of Christ.  

As a pastor sometimes the first thing you ask when you are hanging out with other pastors is, how many people did you have last week at your service.  What we don't ask is how many people were mended or equipped for service last week.  God desires that we raise up a church of leaders that are using their gifts to mend or equip the body of Christ.  We see this in the bible.  Zeb and his sons Jimmy and Johnny were fisherman.  When Jesus found them they were mending their nets.  They did not mend them to sit on a shelf or put in a museum or say to their fellow fisherman, I have "X" number of mended nets.  They mend their nets so that those nets can catch more fish!  Our job as a church is to mend people and equip them so that they can go be fishers of men.  Get engaged in the process of mending and equipping today!

 

Go For Launch

If you are my age you can remember as a young child watching the television and watching the Apollo crews countdown to lift off from earth and then just a few days later watch the moon landing.  Not long after that we remember looking up and watching the Sky Lab  glide along in the sky circling overhead.  And now we watch another era of space travel come to an end with the Space Shuttle. 

Getting something of that big off the ground takes a group of qualified scientists and engineers to make it possible.  It is the same way in ministry.  It takes a large team of people to make it happen.  It's prayer warriors paving the way spiritually.  It's financial people giving to provide the resources needed.  It's those that are on the ground working through every possible scenario to be sure that the launch is successful. 

The one thing that hasn't changed through the years at NASA is the fact that each time one of these rockets manned or unmanned take to the heavens, there is a team of people that makes it possible.  I want you to watch this video someone sent me.  It's an incredible time lapsed footage of a space shuttle launch.  As you watch this, remember the hundreds of people that it took to get that bird off of the ground.  Amazing and incredible.  

 http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=KZrFC988Thc

 

You Can Make A Difference

One of my all time favorite Bible stories  is the story in Mark 2:1-12.  Four men, out of compassion for a lame man brought him to Jesus so he could be restored to full health.  This is such a great example of what how we should act as a church.  The thing that I love about this story is the fact that Jesus was moved by the faith of the four men.  I'm not sure what kind of faith the lame guy had but the four men believed if Jesus laid his hand on the man he would be healed.  The other thing that is interesting is the fact that the four guys went to such lengths to get the lame man to Jesus.  When they arrived, there was a crowd, but that didn't stop these men.  They literally took their friend up to the roof, broke through the roof and lowered him down in front of Jesus.  Now the intent of the four men may have been to have their friend healed but this act of love also reflected Jesus power to not only heal but to also forgive sins, therefore revealing the very nature of the son of God and why He entered into human history.

Each of us has the capacity to do the same thing for someone, and this story shows us that it is a group effort.  Our faith in Jesus is not just a personal thing.  It's not to be kept to ourselves.  We need to band together as a body of believers to bring people to Jesus.  We need to see someone in need and bring them to an encounter with God, one person at a time.  We need to work together to make this happen.  We must be willing to sweat and labor as these guys did to make that happen and not give up when there are obstacles in our way!

Let's live out the great commission, and let our lives reveal the nature of Jesus!

2011 (Part Two) I Want Change

How many times have you been at a graduation and the guest speaker says, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life"?  I am a former youth pastor and over the past twenty years I have probably been to over 50 graduations in that time.   I saw anchor men, civic leaders, presidential cabinet members come up to the stage and give their tidbits of wisdom to young and impressionable men and women who's lives really are just beginning.

There is something that happens to a young adult when he leaves the middle school/high school life.  You start to look at the world around you and wonder what you can do to make a difference.  You find out real quickly if this faith that has been passed down to you is real.  You either embrace the things that your parents and youth pastors and kid pastors have taught you growing up in church or you reject it.  You might even question your faith and explore  other religions.  But one things for sure.  You find that you are at a crossroads.  Do you embrace a real relationship with God even when mom and dad aren't there to encourage you in your faith?  Your relationship with God has to become your own.  It's a time where a parent has to hold their breath to see if their son or daughter that they have raised will embrace Christ or deny him. 

In 2011 I desire to speak into the lives of people who are seeking Christ.  I especially want to speak into the lives of young people that are making that transition from their parents faith to their own.  I want to introduce them to Jesus and want to invite them to come on a journey with other like minded believers that want change not only in their lives but the lives of those around them.  Then, I pray as they start to follow Him that they will seek God for their future.  That they will see that God has created them for specific purposes to be fulfilled in their lifetimes.  For many people the moment is now.  My heart aches for those that are wandering about trying to find the answer to their futures.  God is here, and God is waiting for us to be his vessels to speak into the lives of those around us.  The time is now to to be a change agent.  Ask God to help you to see people the way that He sees them.  Ask God to put a love in your heart to love people the way Jesus first loved you.  Stand up in 2011 and be a change agent for Christ. 

After Jesus died he rose again on the third day.  He then revealed himself to the 11 remaining disciples and left them with this command.  "Then he said, “Go into the world. Go everywhere and announce the Message of God’s good news to one and all." (Mark 16:15 MSG).  Make a difference today.

The Little House on the Corner

I've been thinking a lot about what Christian community looks like at the grass roots level.  It's a conversation over coffee at Starbucks.  It's a random act of kindness of a person that goes out of their way to do something for someone in need.  It's starting a Bible study because there are people in your neighborhood who are asking questions about who Jesus really is in your life.

I don’t think it was by accident that I grew up in a multi-cultural area of Northern Virginia.  It gave me a burden to share Christ without prejudice.  My family grew up in a predominately white neighborhood until the 70’s.  There were several international tragedies that occurred that precipitated an influx of international families into our neighborhood.   We had Iranian families, families from Saudi, Arabia, and South America that became our friends and family.  We shared life with them and they shared life with us.  We would send Americanized dishes to them to sample and they would share their international dishes with us in the evenings.  One thing my family desired was to share Jesus with these families.  We didn’t knock on their door and hand them a religious track and then run home.  We were fixing their bikes when they broke.  We made meals when someone had surgery and delivered them to their families.  We opened our house up to kids that parents who had to work late at night.  We had bible studies in our living room for kids that wanted to know more about Jesus.  We opened our side yard up to all the neighbor kids to play football every afternoon. 

This all happened largely because of my family's transformation when we turned our lives over to Christ and invited the Holy Spirit to give us wisdom in who to reach out to in our neighborhood.  Our house became a house of faith.  The door was always open and the light was always on.  Even today 47 years later, my family still gets a knock on the door and it will be a neighbor asking us to pray for them.  Why?  Because people saw that we genuinely cared for them and that our faith was real.  They also witnessed that as we prayed, God answered our prayers, and we weren't afraid to testify of God's faithfulness in our lives.

What if our churches were like my house that I grew up in?  A church that has relationships with all kinds, that doesn’t discriminate by the color of their skin, that doesn’t let boundaries get in the way of sharing our faith.    A place where the members were actively reaching out to those in need.  A place where people can come through the doors and sense the presence of God.  

Pray and ask God to today what you can do to expand His Kingdom one person at a time, one family at a time, one neighborhood at a time.  This is what I believe God desires Christian Community (The Church) to look like!

2011 Is Here (Part One)

Wow, there were some days that I felt that 2010 was one of the longest years of my life yet, I know, that there are 365 days just like any other year.  As I look back over this year I think of all the things that I did.  I think of all the things that weren't meant to be and finally I was able to start to look forward to what will be.

What if you only had a year to live? What if your physician called you up one day with test results and told you that you had 365 days = 8,760 hours = 525,600 minutes = 31,536,000 seconds to live?  How would you approach life?  How would you treat your family and friends?  I don't know about you but I think I would make every one of those 31,536,000 seconds count.  I would show my friends and family how much I love them every day, every hour, every minute, every second.  I would ask God what it was that he wanted me to accomplish in that year and then I would start to run.  Run as fast as I could so I could accomplish all that I wanted to accomplish in that year that I had left to live on this earth. 

No, I don't think that I have just one year to live, but I feel that this year I am supposed to take risks.  Not because I have a lust for adventure, but because I believe that God wants me to run the race without hesitation.  In 2010 God spoke to me and said that the best is yet to come.  I thought that meant that I'd see the results in 2010, but instead it was something different.  2010 was 365 days of waiting and praying and seeking God's face.  Not knowing what the future would hold.  My spiritual Father who was instrumental in me following in his footsteps as a pastor, said, "There is nothing like hindsight to remind one that we have very little foresight no matter how hard we try to design our lives."  Man has a certain way that seems right but God's ways prevail. This year I want to do things God's way.  I want to take risks because God is calling me to take these risks.  God has ordered our steps from the very beginning of time and we can rest knowing that he is in control.