Friday, December 30, 2011

much needed reading

I cannot even remember a night when I sat in front of my fireplace reading (yes, iBooks count).  Tonight was that night!  This fills my heart with praise and renews my deep desire to learn everything I can!!

I read many, many free samples of books trying to decide exactly what to purchase.

One sample of a book I was considering said this, An environment devoid of sin also meant an environment devoid of human names.  Since the original man and woman knew who God was, they also knew who they were.  Names were unnecessary until sin entered the Garden of Eden.  A fractured relationship with God meant a fractured understanding of who God was now existed.  And immediately after they sinned, Adam named Eve.  Interesting.

It made me think about our names.  In most countries names describe a person.  Such as 'guy with a limp' or 'tall monster man' ...ok probably not real but you get the idea!  America gives her children 'pretty or popular' names, often at great cost to the child being named.  Names go out of style quickly, even some last names I have heard are somewhat inappropriate!  

Then there are the names people give us - now these usually are based on a characteristic or behavior or physical feature we wish we didn't have!  'Big foot' or 'red' or 'blabber mouth', just to name a couple possible taunting names.  These are the names we spend a lot of time running away from.  Slowly over time the possibility exists that we will never escape allowing these to become a permanent part of us.

So...did God's perfect plan include us being so intimately connected to Him that no name was needed?  He certainly knows those He creates!  Just thought I'd throw a question at you.  Food for thought.




Thursday, December 29, 2011

how did you behave

Today a friend was telling me about his horrible day.  He described all the crazy projects he was working on and also told me that he had gotten into an altercation with two maintenance guys.  Made my day look boring!

We laughed and said life would be easy if it wasn't for people!

It made me review my own day and wonder how I had behaved toward my friends, family and co-workers.  The words that describe how I behaved today are as follows:

  • adamant
  • up and down (worked on the lift in the auditorium) 
  • bossy
  • hurrying
  • friendly
  • supportive
  • determined
  • uncertain
  • disappointed
  • thankful
  • hungry
  • full
  • determined
  • excited
  • dancing
  • goofing off
  • determined
  • apologetic
  • encouraging
  • tired
Today's decisions, words and behavior are now a part of eternity, they can't be re-done or taken back.  That makes tomorrow even more important, another chance Lord willing - to be an example of Christ's love to those around me.  I long for those I come in contact with to want to know Him by watching how I behave!

need to create

I really need to create a lot of different things this week.  But, I underestimated the toll that Christmas would take on me this year.

I still cannot figure out why the details of the services themselves felt so overwhelming this year.  I plan to really evaluate to see what I should have done from a preparation standpoint to eliminate the stress.

I guess it was largely due to only having about 5 hours sleep each night.  I felt rather panicked, like we had to hurry and cram as much as possible into each day.

We had a lot of extra people in our home through the last week or so.  Maybe I was more used to empty nest then I realized, having a house full of people was a blast yet caused me to feel tired.  Tonight boxes are gone, floors are swept and most of the Christmas decorations are packed away.  So I'm feeling more organized again!

But, still not feeling creative.

I will create anyway.  Most of the time if I just start the process God opens the idea doors and it comes flooding to me and our creative team.   So I say goodnight, and it's off to get 6 or so hours and begin again in the morning.

PS if you get particularly creative tomorrow and your idea would be a good support for a 'family' teaching series - send me a link!  Good night.


Wednesday, December 28, 2011

new normal

What do you consider a normal day?  I officially declare, there is no such thing!

Normal : conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.


What standard?  Who creates the standard that determines if it's normal or regular or natural?


I am not referring to Biblical standards  - those are non-negotable.  I am simply asking who decides what normal, or standard or regular is?  


Our normal changed again over the holidays as our daughter and husband and entire band moved to Mansfield, at least through the end of the summer!  My house is full of all they accumulated whole in Boston and today all of their things began to be moved to their new home here in town.


So my normal changed for the good with both of our kids within an hour of us.  Blessing indeed!


This change means:

  • Turbo kick classes begin at Crossroads again next week (hopefully tuning up this tired body)
  • Tuesday coffee meetings at Panera begin next week - she is working on her plans for Cambodia and I am writing
  • Regular drives to Columbus to be with Eric and Alyssa...and to shop of course!
  • Endless talking with all four of our kids and spouses about the future, the Lord and what could be
So our normal has changed again, which I guess means it isn't normal because normal requires that there are no changes...whatever, you get the idea.






Tuesday, December 27, 2011

I will write tonight...

Stand by you faithful readers!

 I am still just tied up in the details of tearing down Christmas at home and at Crossroads - and setting up a new set design and household for those Boston relatives who have returned.

I will write tonight - thanks for reading it means a lot to me!  Love you all!

Saturday, December 24, 2011

reflections on tonight

Tonight was the first night of our Christmas services.  As I prepare to sleep - I am mulling over all that we experienced.

I was standing on the stage when the doors opened and people came pouring in.  Every seat was soon full..  This took my breath away...well, actually filled my breath with praise!

Just after doors opened to being - fire alarm went off.  Ok, so maybe we got just a little bit excited with the haze... We evidentially have an alarm activated by smoke versus heat.  Probably a great idea in detecting fire earlier than waiting for the heat to reach a certain degree.  But, on this night not so great.

After shutting the alarm off and calling the alarm company to ask them not to respond, we realized that the air conditioner unit over the stage automatically shut off because it was the unit that detected smoke within it's  ducts.  This caused us all to scramble to reset the breaker kicking the unit back on.  Without this unit it is almost intolerable on stage under all the lights.

Next, I got a call from the green room asking me if I had removed the bassoon players 'reed' which she had left soaking in a cup of water.  Of course the answer was yes, I always do a last minute sweep of the stage removing glasses, paper, jackets or instrument cases.  The problem was, when I picked up the glass I couldn't tell there was a reed floating in it due to the lights on the stage being down.  I ran down the back hallway, entering backstage frantically waving a singer to take the cup to it's owner just in time for the bassoon to be featured.

Finally back in the auditorium I began my usual pace back and forth across the rear of the auditorium listening, listening, listening considering sound suggestions, watching, always watching for changes that should be made to ensure a smoother, distraction-free delivery of the music or transitions between.  I realized that I was wearing a scowl on my face as I scrutinized each note.  I tried to relax.

As the last song picked up tempo - the audience joined in spontaneously and 'drove' the tempo faster and faster and then it was time for people to stream back out.  It was over.  The hours of preparation behind us. I watched as people hurryied off to their homes where Christmas preparations were in their final hours.

We had them, for just this hour.  Did we take advantage of this precious time?  Did our work make a difference?  This is not for us to know.  It makes no difference if we ever know - all I do know is this is a privilege and tonight for one hour - we offered the Christmas child, our King, our very best.




Wednesday, December 21, 2011

making it last

Usually by this time in the Christmas holidays I am finished with things and almost ready to be done with all of it.  This year it has been very different.

This year I feel such excited anticipation for our services at Crossroads and for family time,  that I want it to last longer.  So how to make it last?

I'm not telling you this to make you think I'm some wonderful Christian that has all these perfect moments, I tell you this only to encourage you to look for opportunities to 'invest in minutes' this Christmas.  I was alone in the auditorium of Crossroads today for a few moments and I got to walk up and down the aisle imagining who may come on Christmas Eve and what might be going on in their lives.  I  prayed for them, whoever they are.

I know many of our staff spend time praying in our auditorium, but I rarely have alone time in there.  It was awesome and it made me realize THIS is how you slow things down.  You find moments when busyness is absent and you hang on to them and abide in them.  You don't talk, you don't hurry, you walk around with hands hovering just above chair tops and pray and wait.  You ask God to fill this place and change lives for eternity.

As I heard that familiar bar on the entrance doors to the auditorium push open, I returned to my work on stage and remained in quiet preparation for just a little while longer before music, and talking and work related questions began to come once again.

I am now finishing details for our New Years Service and then going to wrap some gifts and it will soon be over for another year, but at least for a little while today it felt slower and special...




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Christmas perspective

My hubby and I were enjoying breakfast before heading in to work this morning when we noticed a couple that we hadn't talked to for a while.  They stopped by our table on their way out.

When you ask someone "how are you?" you may mean many different things.

  • you can mean - I'm being polite right now but please move on quickly so I can eat
  • you can mean - I used to know you and back then I cared, but now I've lost touch with you and don't have enough time to REALLY go through your life details
  • you can mean - I'm only asking you, so that you ask me
  • you can mean - I really care - please tell me
Our intention was somewhere in the middle.  This couple had always been a part of our school life at Mansfield Christian School so we knew their entire family and were curious how they were.  What we didn't realize is how moving their story would be.

They started out bravely and dissolved into tears before their story ended.  Their adult daughter was suffering with spine cancer.  She had gotten to the place where she could no longer care for her 11 year old daughter and had been trying during her suffering to decide what would be best for her.

Finally she asked her parents if they would take her daughter home to live with them.  They did.

I cannot imagine for a moment how excruciating it would be to realize you could no longer care for your own child.

They talked about the struggle to drive back and forth out of town to be at the hospital with their daughter while trying to help their very scared and confused granddaughter adjust to a knew town and school.  As they ended they kept saying, "but our God is faithful and loving..."

As they walked away we were silent for quite a while and when we finally spoke I wiped tears from my eyes as I looked at my Christmas to-do list laying beside us on the table. Talk about perspective. I felt almost ashamed at how trivial my day looked in comparison to the way they would be spending their next few days. 

Their Christmas would be somewhere between trying to create a Christmas for their grand-daughter and trying to figure out how to celebrate Christmas with a dying daughter...

Many people will be in difficult places of suffering or loneliness during the fast approaching holiday weekends..ask them "how they are", and really hear what they tell you and perhaps more importantly, what they don't.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

weekend report

Christmas came to Crossroads this weekend.  I thought the set design would never be ready - but, we made it!



Such excellent music and a powerful message called "Giftmas"!  The ministry was just filled with joy and excitement filled the entire ministry!

Our Setlist:

Instrumental:  Jingle Bells - Culbertson
Praise:  Go Tell It On The Mountain - Barlow Girls
Praise:  Joy To The World - Tomlin
Worship:  Glory In The Highest - Tomlin
Praise:  Oh Come Let Us Adore Him - Passion
Message:  Giftmas - Senior Pastor Tim Armstrong
Exit Song:  Jingle Bells - Culbertson

To watch our service live on line or watch our archived service go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their worship services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com




mistakes

I make a lot of mistakes.  The harder I try not to the more it seems I make.

Tonight at Crossroads, I swear I about passed out worrying about all the details.

It is VERY personal to me.  It should be personal, that's my job, and I am ultimately responsible for anything that goes wrong in the auditorium during our services.

I do ok planning and organizing the details, but when something DOESN'T go as planned - I obsess over it and make myself half sick in the process. Tonight I overlooked some details I should have caught during rehearsal which really frustrates me. In the middle of fussing and holding on to the mistakes, I lose my focus on the message and some times the opportunity to fellowship and hang out with the team.  The enemy has got to love that!

My hubby talks me down reminding me that the congregation didn't even notice things weren't perfect, and that they never will be perfect.  He goes on to site examples about major mistakes that happen even with professionals.  (He's sweet!)  For example, the recent lighting of the White House Christmas tree did not go well.  When they completed the countdown and lit the tree it only stayed on a few second and shut back off.  Is it wrong that I took pleasure in that mistake?  All I could think about is the fact that someone probably just got fired!  Poor tech guy with all the world watching.

All that to say, I must learn to own the mistake, correct whatever I can and let them go.

You can pray for me to be able to do that if you would please!  Good night.



Friday, December 16, 2011

CR = Celebrate Recovery

Tonight I had the blessing of attending our Crossroads CR service.

Right before it started I was on the lift on the stage in the auditorium and heard a recording of Kari Jobe echo from Town Square...Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, I was immediately moved.  I cannot hear Revelation Song without it tearing me up... I finished my work in the auditorium made my way to Town square, found a seat and listened.


Worship began and they sang.  And I was gone.  The honesty in their singing was overwhelming.

I couldn't see the worship leader from where I was - I didn't recognize the voice but I could tell from his passion in leading he had been transformed by the God of which he sang.  He knew Him personally or he couldn't have lead like that.  ...you can move mountains they sang.  I wondered what mountains each of these recovering brothers and sisters had to climb.

And then the Holy Spirit reminded me I needed to do some climbing myself.  I confessed any mountains I could think of and turned toward Him asking Him to forgive me...again.

All are equal in God's eyes.  All are equally sinners, equally needy of a Savior, equally recovering or choosing to remain in addiction.  We are all addicted to many things.

Next a man stood up and said 'Hi, I am _______, I am a recovering drug addict.

Although I have been to CR before I had never heard anyone declare that they had been and are still recovering from being a drug addict.  I was moved again.  He went on to speak of forgiveness and just as God forgives us we must forgive others in order to recover.

He said, "your sin is not special, it is not that different than everyone else's sin."  He went on to ask "have you forgiven yourself, what about those who have abused or neglected you?  This is what God wants you to do - forgive yourself and move on in Him. I am forgiven", he declared and he believed it.

Romans 8:1 - he read "There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus."


______________________________________________________________________________


I would encourage anyone who has struggled with addiction, been the victim of abuse or anything in your life that requires recovery to attend the Celebrate Recovery service every Friday night at Crossroads!





Thursday, December 15, 2011

I went away

I went to Chicago yesterday with girlfriend Jackie,  to watch the Willow Creek Church's Christmas dress rehearsal and made it back today for programming at Crossroads.

whew!  Fast trip, but worth it in so many ways!

Due to the nature of working in ministry every weekend, it is very seldom that any of the staff get to attend another ministry's event.  So, this was a privilege indeed!

I found it inspiring as I felt the room fill with the best sound I've possibly every heard.
I was swept away by the magnificent voices and orchestra declaring that "my deliverer is coming"...
The lighting lead your eyes toward everything you should notice.
The short film told the story, clearly, cleverly and carefully.  A true accomplishment.

And finally the opportunity to encourage other leaders and volunteers serving in this huge ministry was worth the drive itself.  Although the staff we talked with are FAR more accomplished then I will ever be, they were very interested in our opinion of their service.  It was an honor to discuss this beautiful service with them.

I has been 2 days to remember, and I am very thankful for this opportunity!


Tuesday, December 13, 2011

what I learned today

Layers.

There are layers in everything.  For instance, our church services - lots of layers.

The original pastor topic decision - then layers...
Thematic music chosen
Sometimes thematic drama
Thematic/current information gathered to create announcements
Thematic music chosen/ scored or written/ given to singer and musicians to practice and learn
Thursday night rehearsal
Tech details written out so directors know every camera angle to take & every solo to feature
I could go on and on and on with the layers of our services.

But, today I realized layers exist in each and every event, not just the ones I work on.

No where in our ministry is this played out more intensely than our Adopt A Child event!  Today I get the privilege of witnessing this event come to its completion.

Adopt A Child begins with the need of a child about to experience NO Christmas, these children are identified by various agencies around town that serve our most needy.

  • our people choose a child to buy for
  • gifts are retuned to church
  • gifts are meticulously numbered, recorded...to the point that if ONE gift is missing the team knows exactly who to contact
  • gifts are all set out - put into huge Christmas bags - and waiting for the care takers of the children to come today!
I could go on and on about the faithful people that put in 'full-time weeks' to make this happen but I want to focus on an even deeper layer.

Call me clueless but as I left the auditorium on Sunday I happened to look down and see one of the AMAZING - HANDMADE - GORGEOUS name tags placed on each bag. . I say clueless because it has been on the packages in previous years too - just that I had not paid attention.

These are not just bags of gifts given to faceless children -  each child has a name and the name is written on every tag.

We have a dear lady in our congregation that first of all drives from very far away to attend Crossroads and secondly HAND MAKES all the name tags.  This requires her to begin in JUNE of every year!  

One story associated with these precious tags of love occurred last year.

Darlene, our fearless leader was sitting with a grandmother who came to pick up her child's gift and she mentioned the beautiful name tags.  She said they collect them each year and the name tags have been their ONLY decoration in their house.  They save them and hang them across their mantel!




Events like Adopt A Child provide serving opportunities that are such deep layers even those very close to the event don't always see.  I write this to encourage each of you to serve in some way.  It doesn't matter if your acts of service are a very buried layer that we don't see - God does!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

weekend report

Pastor away and tech coordinator off this weekend...Our teams hit it out of the park - ok, maybe auditorium!  So proud of our amazing volunteers I am SO honored to serve along side of them!




Our setlist:

Opening Sermonspice video
Announcement/Welcome video: Stephanie McAuley
Opening song:  Tell The World - Hillsong United
Praise: O Come, O Come Emmanuel - Big Daddy Weave
Worship: Hark the Herald Angles Sing - Matt Maher
Worship: God of This City - (Flip camera footage of our city ran as full screen video behind words) Tomlin
I have seldom seen as intense of a response from our congregation as the combination of hometown footage and the dynamic 'build' of this song brought!  SOOO exciting - the congregation owned it!
Message:  iGo Pt 4 - Jesse Rider (Senior High Pastor)
Closing:  Invite video

As soon as Dan finished leading worship he prepared to work with 40 elementary aged 'carolers'.  We will get to enjoy them next weekend at Crossroads!

To watch our services LIVE or from our archives go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries included in their service this weekend go to www.theworshipcommunity.com



Saturday, December 10, 2011

born to die


Today as I baked 15 dozen cut-out cookies I listened to Christmas music.  As one song after another played, words from a Jars of Clay song made me stop and listen.

In the middle of all the mess, all the flour and all that was yet to be done I was overcome with the realization of what Mary and Joseph may have known the night Jesus was born.

They had been taught about Messiah and the fulfillment of prophesy.  And holding this child created by immaculate conception, did they know who their baby was?  The lyrics below are what made me listen.

oh, mary, joseph, rest your eyes
try not to think of the ending
world full of empty, He will die
but tonight He is still just a child



you gave birth to the death that would bring us to life
and did the mystery keep you awake...


I wondered if they understood that this was the promised Christ Child -  I guess I had never really focused on that before.  Holding the little baby, did they know his life would be given as the sacrifice for us all?  

His life was required, even for his own parents sin.

... the weight of this knowledge would be almost unbearable.

Christmas ...many layers of sacrifice.  She gave birth to the death that would bring us to life. 




Wednesday, December 7, 2011

another privilege

I feel honored time and time again with all the many opportunities I get by being at Crossroads. Tonight I had a huge privilege, I got to pick up a precious, recently widowed lady from our congregation and take her to "How to survive the Holidays" after losing a loved one.

She baked me brownies for driving her.

I was humbled.

Over dinner tonight my hubby and I identified several people in our lives that need help and determined to be much more intentional in serving those that God brings to us.

I am not writing this tonight to make myself look good, that would take far more than driving someone around.  Instead, I hope to encourage you to take a look at your life before year's end, and see if there are some people less fortunate or hurting that you can help.  A single mom, a widow or widower, a person in the middle of divorce or separation, someone who has lost a job or that is suffering with health issues.

You don't have to have a ton of money - just a deliberate awareness of need.

If you are willing to serve, He will bring them to you!


Tuesday, December 6, 2011

what I learned today

I was reminded today that our best laid plans can suddenly change.

I worked all day Monday to finish decorating,  set the table and prepare everything to host the young womens' small group at our home.  And then the floods came and washed our driveway away.  So I cooked today, loaded everything in the car, drove through the neighbors yard and used his driveway to exit and took everything to the church this evening.  We had our Christmas dinner there.  It was great to see the girls again and welcome two new girls to the group.  I miss them when we aren't together.

As I loaded back up to return home, still disappointed that we didn't get to be together at my house, I thought again about how quickly life changes.  And how thankful I am to know the one that knows ALL plans and the WHY.

It put into perspective just how trivial my disappointments are.


Monday, December 5, 2011

weekend report

Fun- practical teaching - excellent - passionate worship...so good!

That all describes our weekend at Crossroads!

We all joined in for an amazing time of worship followed by excellent - practical teaching... the equipping of the saints.  We were taught everything we need to know to 'go out' and share our faith!  Then for a little bonus of fun - we inserted a short drama to demonstrate the 'wrong' way to witness.   So fun and it all will definitely help our congregation to be able to share!

Out in our 'Town Square' we worked on finishing our Adopt A Child project - and it was successful!  We will provide Christmas for 500 of our communities' most needy children - very cool!



Our worship guy Dan's granddaughters helped gather the Adopt A Child gifts that came in.
Our setlist:

Send Me Out - Fee
Announcements on video
Go Tell It On The Mountain - 10 Ave. North
God Be Praised/ God of This City
Great I Am - New Life
Message:  iGo Pt. 3 - Pastor Tim Armstrong
Drama:  Skit Guys - The Skinny on Evangelism (shortened)
Jesus Friend of Sinners - Casting Crowns

To watch our services go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their worship services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com

Have an amazing week!

Saturday, December 3, 2011

no alarm

I cannot remember the last time I did not set an alarm clock.  Today we slept until 9:30.  Such freedom - such rest!

It made me wake up thankful and thinking about all the things that I allow to control me - time, busyness, responsibilities....self-inflicted rules.

Pastor Tim has been teaching in the iGo ( www.crossroadswired.com ) series about evangelism, so I know the how, but why are there not more opportunities to share?  Why aren't people drawn away from worrying about America's future, buying more stuff, the rat race?  Why aren't lost people flocking to the Lord giving us opportunity to share?

I think it's because they don't recognize us as Children of God.

Look closely...

  • We watch the same movies and tv shows
  • We worry about the future just as much as they do
  • We talk the same way
  • We are too busy in many cases to invest personal time in our families
  • We gossip and complain just as much as the lost do
They don't think we have 'the answer' by watching our lives.  

Now sometimes the opposite is true - we drive them away by being TOO set apart.
  • No mercy toward others who may not have the exact same theological view we do
  • Openly criticize other believers and leaders
  • No acceptance of people that don't 'keep the Christian rules'
We all know how Jesus felt about the Pharisees' rules!  The reason God put guidelines and commandments in the Bible wasn't so we would live this perfect life far removed from society, it was to help us survive and keep sin out of our lives for our own good!  It was to bring glory to Him.  Not so we could check off a list of do's and don'ts!  And NOT so we could throw our 'goodness' in other peoples' faces!

Why would God ask us not to gossip?
-because it hurts others and our own reputation making us look jealous and unkind. 

Why would God ask us not to participate in pre-marital sex?
-because the most precious thing you can give to your future spouse is a pure you.  By not sharing yourself with others you present yourself untarnished to your spouse with no regrets, no memories of others, no disease, no comparisons.  No baggage.  This honors God.

Why should we live honestly?  
-So we glorify Him by not being caught in lies looking just like the world.  Even 'small lies' (if there is such a thing) discredit what we claim and ruin our testimony.  On an extreme level, we obviously should not lie so we  don't go to jail for being dishonest with others or taking advantage of others.   The so-called Christian leaders that have lied that are now out of the ministry or sitting in jail have to grieve the heart of God.  Again, the world sees no difference between those of us who lie and the lost.

I could of course list every commandment and teaching, but I won't.  You get it, his commandments protect us and allow us to live in freedom not bondage!  We are free in our obedience and the lost LONG for what we have when they see this in our lives.


 All of that from simply waking up without an alarm clock today...I need a vacation.



Friday, December 2, 2011

a very scary night

Seriously...I thought Ron and I were about to die tonight!  I am still shaken.

We went to Columbus to retrieve our son's poor old Honda and get it back to Mansfield to sell or junk or something...we got as far as Polaris and found ourselves in the middle lane of 5 or 6 lanes of traffic- right before the 2 lanes exit to Polaris, when the transmission went bonkers!  We could not accelerate and quickly slowed to 20 mph in the center lane.

I faced backward waiting for any break in traffic in which we could switch to the two outside lanes.  A break never happened with everyone passing on both sides of us, so we had to aim the car at the side and just coast across ...it was TERRIFYING!  We made it to the side of the road and kept creeping up the exit ramp and somehow made it up.

Now, I'm not saying my life passed before my eyes, but I cannot remember when I was so scared!

After sitting for a while, and having a milkshake to calm ourselves, we decided to head back out to Rt. 71 and continue.  Ron felt that as long as we kept a steady pace and didn't try to accelerate into the passing lane we would probably...PROBABLY make it home.  We did, and I am still thanking the Lord!

Now, sitting safely in my living room next to a beautiful fire in the fireplace - I am also praising the Lord that he protected Eric.  He called yesterday saying that his car wasn't running well at all and he wasn't exaggerating!  In the busy Columbus traffic today I shudder to think what God protected our son from as well!

The Lord is good, and He of course knows exactly when we will be called home to be with Him.  But, an hour ago I seriously thought for a few minutes there, that it might be tonight ...

Thursday, December 1, 2011

missing coffee

My son and my son-in-law BOTH work at Starbucks where the employees receive a free bag of coffee every week.  Do I have coffee to wake up to this morning?  NO!!!!  And that isn't a good thing!

It made me consider all the things I depend on outside of the obvious spiritual dependence on the Lord... hmmm

COFFEE
COFFEE
COFFEE
(notice coffee was capitalized)
my husband
my parents
my sister
my friends
health - the ability to work
communication from the outside (tv/radio)
computers/devices
a car with gas in it
all the food I could possibly eat
fresh water
doctors
batteries
light
blankets
a clock
phone
heat or cooling
a comfortable bed

Obviously I could go on and on.  I like to think I am independent, but I am not.

Fully dependent first of all on what God has planned for me, secondly everything I listed is temporary and yet these are the things I depend on - so, I am not independent.  Could I survive without them?  I don't want to know the answer to that question because I like being comfortable very much.  I like being surrounded by blessings.

What do you depend on?  Turn your what I depend on  list into your praise list.  I think the Lord likes to know that we don't take these things for granted and that we realize they are temporary blessings straight from Him!

Now, please excuse me as I drive myself to Starbucks...






Wednesday, November 30, 2011

what I learned today

I haven't written for a while...it's funny how I get busy and stop writing, even though that's when I need to write the most.  I've talked before about how much getting details 'out' helps.  So I am trying to get up just a little early to write more purposefully.  (I'm a big-time night owl, so we will see...)

I slept little last night.  Even though our son's wedding reception is out of my head it's still way too full of details concerning Christmas and other things I dream of doing...so I gave up and got up, even though my day will be a long one.

Now snuggled on my couch beside my Christmas tree with Kenny G quietly playing Christmas tunes in the background - I started the day by reading 3 John.  Beth Moore asks, "if one sentence were written about your life, what would it be?"  Not what I had hoped to be confronted with first thing this morning.

In 3 John he writes about a guy named Diotrephes, and about the fact that 'he liked to be first and excludes others'.  Can you imagine if your name was written in a letter as Dotrephes was, and this letter ended up being read by millions and millions of people?  I find that terrifying!  Looking back on my last few weeks, I have been very edgy and found myself in a somewhat ugly place.  I don't usually need encouragement, but I realized yesterday I've been searching for some.  It really looked ugly when a friend was talking about some accomplishment they had done and I blurted out some ridiculous sounding accomplishment of my own.  OH MY WORD!!  Talk about pathetic! I should have been celebrating with them, but instead looked for appreciation for something I had a part in.   I confessed this arrogance to the Lord and asked Him to remove that attitude immediately. In that moment my life sentence would have read, "she was very busy working and drew her satisfaction in recognition that she received from others."  UGLY!

Beth Moore goes on to say in this study that she is so thankful that as long as we 'are kicking' we have the privilege of changing our testimony.  So as I pray my way into another God given day, my prayer will be that my testimony glorifies the King of Kings and that I won't exclude others.

Here is a challenge for all of us this week - let's all very purposefully write our testimony sentence each day this week.  We can join together to live each day as if we actually believe in His promises, instead of worrying about everything and rushing around with insignificant details.  We will live as if today was the only day we have to 'write our life sentence'.  Can you imagine how life changing that could be?

I want my life sentence to say, "She lived and loved as if she believed with all of her heart that she was the daughter of the almighty King, not in her own power or in her own interest, but in His."

Abide in Him and re-write the sentence of your life.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

we gave thanks

Seems like the minute the 'amen' is out of our mouths giving thanks on Thanksgiving, Christmas takes over.  Heaven forbid we remain in thankfulness too long!  After-all we are Americans - we basically have what we have because we work so hard and we deserve it!

That's how I act sometimes.

I tried to remember as I celebrated that God is the only reason I have anything...even life itself, therefore remaining in my thanksgiving just a little longer.

Even though for the first time ever we didn't have our kids with us - we invited others to join us for Thanksgiving and focused on catching up, telling stories and laughing a whole lot (my favorite thing in the world).  Thanksgiving night ended watching a movie in Ashland at my parents home, with a make-shift 'sheet screen' and huge sound system broadcasting Cars II.  Laughter again and then goodnight.

....ok, so not goodnight, as Michelle and I stood in line at Target at 11:30 p.m. and finally home at 8:00 a.m. - but we were still thankful that we found all of the Christmas 'must haves' on our list, and so Christmas began.


Wednesday, November 23, 2011

can end result be honored

Yesterday as I grew more and more agitated with my schedule and the lack of hours remaining in what already felt like the longest day of my life a thought occurred to me.  Can God be honored in the end result of my work if the process is not God honoring?

When I end up successfully pulling off creative support for a service, or take a meal to a sick friend or master a new program I've been struggling with but the process to get there is UGLY - does it count so to speak...or does God see it as filthy rags?

I had a brain drop last evening and purchased not a small - but Venti sized Starbucks as I rushed from store to store couponing and picking up a couple of things for the ministry.  I paid for it later, and later and later still...by 2:00 a.m. I remembered why I was having so much trouble sleeping - caffeine!

However, I know now, that was no coffee fix - it was time God wanted my attention.  He brought the most random things to my mind - some things that required that I ask His forgiveness, somethings that required praising Him and just prayer for those that filled my mind.

One thing He revealed was my attitude regarding the process of some of my work recently.  My attitude STUNK as I worked on a home project recently.  Ultimately I did complete it and even managed to complete it well - but I wondered, can the end result really be honored or celebrated since the process was ugly?

I understand He uses even the lost to accomplish His will - so I know the answer and yet as it applies to me personally I think I forfeit any right of celebration when I squander the journey.


Today I hope to remain in Him - stay attentive to His leading and watch for opportunities to serve Him and encourage others.  If you are His - no detail in your life is a mistake.  Yes, wrong decisions can cause problems but walk right back into Him and abide in Him.  That's my goal today - to ABIDE in Him!



Monday, November 21, 2011

ingredients

As I chopped the ingredients needed to make my hubby and I homemade chicken rice soup and a salad, it dawned on me that is what goes into everything I do.  Not celery, carrots and onion, but ingredients.

Right now, I still feel as if I'm missing an ingredient or two required to make the Christmas services at Crossroads what they should be.  Because of that, I searched most of last night for just the right thing. Determined to finish this morning I awoke to find out that our servers were down at church so I couldn't access any of my files.  This was extremely discouraging but no ones fault.  Should be back up this evening.

A couple of creative leaders from across the country shot me a few links to musical groups I do not know - this will help tremendously if not for Christmas, then for additional planning in the future.

Still - ingredients missing.  So I went back to my knees and poured out my concern to the ultimate creative.  As always, a peace filled my mind and soul.  And as I cook I know it will all come together.  We have such amazing volunteers and talented staff, all will be well.

My hunch is the Lord just wants us to marvel at His gift to us, join together in worshipping Him and forget the fancy-smancey stuff I long to find.

Maybe the aaahhh of realizing who God really is, will fill our auditorium, families will join hands and celebrate His birth and we will all praise the Lord for giving us brothers and sisters in Christ to do life with at Crossroads.  Maybe the ingredients are already there...and that's enough...

Sunday, November 20, 2011

weekend report

A stage full of new vocalists...this makes me very happy and very excited!  So thankful that God is moving people into serving here at Crossroads!!



Our setlist:

Opening announcement video/Jesse Rider 'goes' out in support of the iGO series.
Praise:  Rising - Paul Baloche
Praise: All My Fountains - Chris Tomlin
Worship: Hosanna - Hillsong
Worship: God of This City - Chris Tomlin
Message:  iGO Pt. 1
Exit Song:  God of This City - Chris Tomlin

To watch our services go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their worship services across the world go to www.theworshipcommunity.com


Saturday, November 19, 2011

to create you must begin

We began with a roll of plastic and ended with a set design.

After several hours of measuring and cutting and connecting we completed our set design.  As we began it looked like absolutely nothing more than a piece of plastic that you would use to cover a wood pile or a carpeted floor before painting.  Even after I connected each piece together with zip ties and carried it to the stage it looked pathetic - for a moment I thought it was hopeless.  Then as my hubby began to hang it and the colored lights began to hit the squares, it became a design.  It became the backdrop for the message to go out for the next four weekends!

Sometimes to create all you need to do is begin.

When I create I am in my most vulnerable place. Every time I begin, I risk failure.   But when God takes a simple plan or thought and helps it become a completed project it is more fulfilling than I can possibly describe.

Whatever area you are talented or gifted in, is where you should serve the body of Christ.  That is the very reason why God gifted you, to serve his church and others.  If you aren't using your talents and gifts, you are dead wrong!  And if I can be so brave, if you aren't serving in the church and only attending I think it could actually be a sin.  You are robbing others from being blessed by the area God gifted you in.  It's that simple.  Think for a minute, what in the world are you saving your talents for?  Yourself?  Your work place?  Why??

I encourage you today to step out of your comfort zone - volunteer in an area that you know God gifted you in!  Join me in risking failure - nothing matters in this life except to live for Him!  So what if we goof up sometimes - it's better than keeping all He has given us for ourselves.






Friday, November 18, 2011

in the presence of Almighty God

Today consisted largely of two things.

A great time with the Directors of Crossroads.

And a privileged time ministering to attendees of Crossroads.

Early today the Directors met to do what we always do, evaluate what we've done recently, to look ahead at the dreams and goals that we will be holding before the staff and congregation in weeks to come and finally, to hear updates on each area of the ministry that we oversee.  New things and old things, good things and bad things, problems and solutions, never settling for where we are.

The second half of our day was ministering to 3 families that are suffering great loss this week.

One dear friend lost her father and the second lost a brother.  While we were on our way to deliver food for the first funeral service meal, a 3rd dear Crossroads gentleman passed away, so I dropped my husband off to care for that family and went on myself to deliver food to the first friend.

As I drove away from the home of the man who had passed just minutes before we arrived, I became completely overwhelmed with the realization that literally moments before we pulled in that drive, that dear man walked into the very presence of Almighty God.  I have never felt that way before.  I didn't see anything, didn't hear anything - and yet that realization washed over me in an almost physical way.   I felt a longing to know what he knows and for my faith to be made site as his is.  It was almost a jealousy I felt that George was with the King of Kings and I was still here.

Ministering to those who have experienced loss is one of the most amazing opportunities we get in this life.  My husband is teaching me that with his quiet, servant's heart.  And as I follow him into one family's loss after another, I feel I see the heart of God more and more clearly with each stop we make.

Each stop just minutes, or hours or days away from the throne of God...




Thursday, November 17, 2011

our son got married

Most of you know, our son Eric got married last Saturday.  It was such a sweet wedding.  The service was led by Alyssa's (Eric's wife) pastor brothers who just did an outstanding job making the ceremony very personal and touching. Friends and family came all the way from Ohio to be with us, and the place was just filled with love and support for our kids.  Very, very moving.  We all cried pretty much continuously...

A friend I was talking to tonight said, "Do you know how lucky you are to have both of your kids married to Christ followers?"

I told him, "I praise the Lord constantly for our kids and now for their amazing spouses."

I feel blessed beyond description by my son-in-law and daughter-in-law.  Both are Godly young adults.

We have prayed for Godly spouses since our children were born.  I had nights where I begged God to protect our kids from people that did not know Him.  And He answered our prayers.

Every time you read Bible stories to your kids or explain to them what is right or wrong believe me when I say, the time of teaching passes quickly.  Even the days that feel completely overwhelming will be a vague memory very soon. Instead of your hands resting on their shoulders as you speak firm reprimand into their face, close your eyes and picture yourself having to reach UP in order to rest your arms on his fully formed body in order to dance...

 Fully engage with your kids, teach them, pay attention to them, build them up with encouragement be the influencer in their lives instead of the things of this world.  And cover them with prayer.  It's SO worth while when you see them begin to make good choices, God choices!


Our son got married last Saturday, and we couldn't be happier.  It was impossible to be sad as we watched  them leave, when you know that you have worked to the best of your ability to raise them surrounded by the Lord.


Tuesday, November 15, 2011

what I learned today

Social and ethical problems, such as the unequal distribution of wealth and the prosperity of the wicked have been the blight of every age of man....





Today as I studied Proverbs 3 and used my Logos Bible program to read more about the passage, the above quote and the passage in scripture brought me renewed hope.  I try to avoid watching too much news and commentary on how evil our country and leaders are.  I am not naive however.  It should not be surprising at all to us that when men seek wealth and power instead of God their own agendas take over.  Democrat or Republican is not the problem - it's men without God that is the problem.

It sometimes feels like here in America we are about to experience a unique collapse or time of difficulty, but it is not unique at all.  Our eyes have found strength in our wealth and in freedom instead of the God that provides the amazing privileges we have in our country.  This then cannot last.

Proverbs 3:5 & 6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him and He will make straight your path.


He never promised all would be well in our view, in our own understanding.  The problems of this world without God repeat themselves over and over - nothing new under the sun...

Trust in the Lord...so good to have His promises to lean into.

The call to us as American believers is to rise up when God gives us opportunity to share His truth with others and PRAY WITHOUT CEASING for ALL of our leaders!

Can you say you pray without ceasing?  If we aren't, then maybe we should remain silent about the troubles of this world AND not claim that we 'trust in the Lord with all of our hearts'.


Sunday, November 13, 2011

weekend report

Our son Eric married Alyssa this weekend which took us away from Crossroads for the weekend.  (You can see Michelle's first amazing picture from the wedding at www.michellearmstrongphotography.com)

When a leader is away, the highest hope is that the ministry is healthy enough not to depend on them in order to carry on.  I have NEVER been more proud of our team's then I was this weekend in my absence!!

We are fully dedicated to developing the next generation for our Lord and for our ministry.  This weekend we had THREE worship teams leading simultaneously!  What a testimony to God's almighty hand on our ministry and the leaders that I am surrounded by!

And the thing I am MOST excited about is that they are teams lead by peers not staff in the various areas of our ministry, a 4th and 5th grade band, the youth band and the main adult worship area - this breathes of spiritual health and blessing from our God!!  15 years in the making!

Please look at these beautiful leaders and be as blessed as I am !!










To see what other ministries used in their worship services this weekend go to www.theworshipcommunity.com!

Thursday, November 10, 2011

my son gets married

My son gets married this weekend.

He has been out of the house for quite some time now so at least we don't have to get used to a silent house.  It is already silent most of the time.

There are good aspects of silence, it means that there is peace not disagreement, you can learn better in silence, read and listen better in silence and rest of course.  So it's not his marriage that causes silence in our home we choose silence.

What our son's marriage does create is a new era of family.  A beautiful daughter-in-law, Alyssa joins us.

Alyssa is kind, considerate, cares deeply for others, works hard, is very intelligent, loves the Lord and is beautiful in every way!  I can only imagine how gorgeous a bride she will be!  Our son is blessed and so are we!

This marriage will make Eric so happy, so satisfied and so complete that I want it for him almost as much as he does!

Today as I physically begin to prepare for it, I am praising Yahweh for His goodness to our family.  As we make ourselves ready I am worshipping my Savior, my God, for His blessings.  For they come not as a result of anything we have done, but from the richness of His never ending love.  A love that shows us how to live, how to love and leads us toward eternity with hearts overflowing with gratitude to Him.

My son gets married this weekend ....and we are ready to celebrate this magnificent union.

Matthew 19.5
Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

what i learned today

If a day passes that I don't learn something - then shame on me!


  1. Today I learned how to cook sliced butternut squash directly on the grill.
  2. I learned (again) the overwhelming burden of creating Christmas at Crossroads needs to be handed to the Lord in prayer instead of trying so hard in my own power!
  3. I learned how much I love organizing events - even small ones like our son's rehearsal dinner.
  4. I learned that even when things look clean from a distance they can be dirty up close.  I got down on the floor to put some things away and noticed the bottom half of my fridge was disgusting...now it's clean!
  5. I learned when a recipe says 'butter should be soft" it definitely does not mean melted!
  6. I learned I love my parents more every day and cherished the moments tonight as my amazing husband and I sat across the table from them and talked and ate together.
My favorite learn today was number 4, because it reminded me of my life.

From a distance it can look so good and clean - but the close up God sees is sadly lacking.  I care about that, and want to clean it up.  The other thing I need to learn and remember is the clean up never ends.  It requires daily focus on the details of my day - awareness of God's will and a willingness to step into that instead of my own agenda is the daily requirement.

What I learned today is learning never stops, or at least shouldn't!

Monday, November 7, 2011

weekend report

Pastor Tim was back in the pulpit completing over a year in I Corinthians!  We celebrated the fact that our congregation has individually adopted 48 Cambodian orphans with Asia's Hope!  Pastor Tim and team just returned from dedicating the 2 new orphanages last week!  So much to praise the Lord for!!

Our team was amazing as usual and we DID worship!!

With the serious, there of course is always a little fun mixed in at Crossroads...Our geico commercials continued with a really bad rap!  A very undignified - yet willing Wendell Anderson became our most recent staff member to take one for the team!  And yes...his flip flops DO light up!

Our setlist

Opening Song: Glory To God - Fee
Praise: My Savior Lives - Newlife
Worship: Holy - Matt Redman
Worship: More Than Amazing - Brewster
Praise: Glorified - Newlife
Geico Commercial/Announcements:  Wendell Anderson Director of Spiritual Maturity (ironic) & Jamie Koenig - Middle School guy
Message:  I Corinthians 16 - Tim Armstrong, Senior Pastor
Exit Song:  Gory To God - Fee

To watch our services live on Saturday or Sunday - or to watch our archived services go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their worship services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com


Saturday, November 5, 2011

everything comes at once

Yesterday after work I ran a couple of errands related to our son's upcoming wedding.

The first couple stops went well, but the third one...not so much.

I had to pick up paper for the wedding programs that will be printed on Monday.  So I attempted to do that without having Eric and Alyssa with me to approve it.


 And everything happened at once...

I have prescription sunglasses so I sometimes don't realize I still have them on when I go into stores.  After walking across the parking lot and into the store, finally finding the correct aisle and the card-stock, I realized I still had them on when I couldn't distinguish what color the paper was.  I was too mad at my oversight to go back out.  So I held the paper 2" from my face with glasses removed and tried to decide what was what.  My husband called to see where I was.  With husband on phone, I finally received assistance from a gigantic clerk-boy,  at the same time my purse randomly decided to fall apart hitting the floor sending the contents flying everywhere.  While I scrambled to grab lipgloss', gum and mints the clerk looked at me as if to beg dismissal and so I waved him away.  Recovering from the spill the phone back to my ear to continue talking to my husband who by now had hung up,  two texts came in one after the other.

One of the texts was from my son approving the kind of paper they wanted for their wedding program the answer coming after taking pictures on my camera and sending them for a decision, sadly I still had one more question "ivory or white".  I prepared that last question and hit send and the text would not go...with broken purse under arm, and glasses in hand I walked back to the front of the store by the windows trying to force the text.  Pacing back and forth looking for a 'zone' that would send it I nearly tripped over a ridiculously placed low display.  Finally 'sent' came up.  Back I went to the paper area of the store.

Next the girl who is doing the printing responded to my previous text which required me to lay everything back down yet again.

Then my son's text came "ivory please" and "thank you so much".  I took some solace in his appreciation.

Choice made I had one more moment of angst as I thought they only had one package of the kind of paper we chose, but back behind the shelf I spied one more.  SERIOUSLY, looking back on the situation I think I ran full blast to the checkout guy - who started pointing to every object on the entire display/cash register counter asking me if I needed any of them.   This was a moment of Christian decision, do I simply respond "no thank you" or rip his little head off...sorry.   I chose to retain my Christian-ese.

All this to say, I'm reconsidering technology and wondering if I should always just leave my phone, iPad and computer in the car while I shop...or eat...or go home...or everything.  It is sometimes just too much when everything comes at once!.




Thursday, November 3, 2011

the project

My daughter is working on a project that she will use as part of her thesis for her masters degree.  A large part of the project will be completed in Cambodia next summer.

The project must be designed to be of benefit to the beautiful people of that county and of course will involve music and recording.

She must however make absolutely sure that it addresses a need that they have, causes improvement for them and is something that they desire.  It won't be about her forcing them to participate in American plans.

Even the end result of things as fleeting as thesis' are known by the Lord.

It's difficult to wait for the end result, all that is in our power is to begin.  And when I think about it, that's all God ever asks of us, just begin - take the next step ...amazing.




Tuesday, November 1, 2011

immunity




As I flipped through the channels quickly tonight I happened to see on the Biggest Loser - a flag with the word immunity on it being raised by the winning team.  It's a familiar word and yet I had never looked up the definition before, so I did.

Immunity Protection or exemption from something, esp. an obligation or penalty:


The definition was powerful!  One of the best descriptions of what Christ did for me that I have every seen.

I have immunity from what I deserve.

No one, or nothing could grant me forever forgiveness except the Lord of Lord's, King of King's and He cared enough about me to grant me immunity at an unbelievable cost to Him. Completely amazing!





Sunday, October 30, 2011

weekend report - summary= A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!

A BIG shout out to all the volunteers that worked SO hard to make this weekend a great blessing!  Serving the body together - nothing better!!

Our youth once again brought the house down with not only their ability on NUMEROUS instruments, but mostly with their obvious personal relationship with and understanding of the Lord!  Following intense preparation and practice they showed us old folk - how to worship freely and authentically!!  So good to be in the House this weekend!

We are teaching through I Corinthians - so we had a teaching on giving.  Tough subject done really well! Thanks to Wendell!

Our Setlist:


We Are The Free - Redman
How Great Thou Art - Sublime
God of Wonders - Kutless
The Stand - Stanfill
All My Fountains - Tomlin
Geico commercial (announcements)- We went with risky on this one, using our worship guy as a ballerina!
Message:  I Corinthians 16:1-4    Wendell Anderson
We Are the Free - (Exit Song) Redman

To watch our services LIVE or from the archives - go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their services go to www.theworshipcommunity.com

Have a blessed week!!






Saturday, October 29, 2011

heading home

Our Cambodian team is heading home right now.

I have missed my hubby very much - cannot wait to see him!

Any time you go away, especially on these type of ministry trips it changes you.  It changed me last year!

So I wonder what changes each of them will come home with?

  • encouraged?
  • excited?
  • more appreciative of what we have here in the states? (that was me! among much more)
  • thankful they got to witness first hand how God has used Crossroads' internationally?
So many ways it can change you.

Really, that word 'change' is what the Christian life is all about.  Constant change - never being satisfied with where we are spiritually, or in our relationships, or with our life in general.  Always moving toward Him - pushing toward the goal - as we head home to be with Him and lay our crowns at His feet...

We are truly all heading home.


Thursday, October 27, 2011

encouraging a friend

I had the chance to spend an hour with a friend this week who I had not been able to connect with for a while.  She is having some family struggles and just needed some encouragement.

It was an easy conversation - just catching up and discussing our jobs and life.  Some relationships are a delight, some continue only out of obligation.  This relationship is a delight!

The whole time she talked I realized how much I value her friendship and how much I would love to spend more time than I do with her.  Old feelings of guilt rose to the surface as I realized how much I need these friend relationships and how often I neglect them.

Running is the word that comes to mind when I look at myself.  What am I running after ...who is running after me trying to catch up, trying to get just a moment of my time?  I don't know because I rarely look back.

I picture Jesus moving slowly.  The crowds often surrounded Him as he moved from place to place.  I cannot think of any passage of scriptures that make it sound as if He hurried anywhere.

I'm going to try it again - I will begin to walk slowly...ok, maybe slow-er ...and maybe even look back.



Wednesday, October 26, 2011

are dating services ok

I don't know...  I have friends that met their spouse that way, but I have never looked closely at any of the dating - matchup services offered on line..obviously, I've been very happily married for 33 years.

Recently however I heard Christianmingle.com's advertising on TV and was very bothered by it.  Here is the verse that they used.

Psalm 37:4  Delight yourself in the Lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

Talk about taking a verse out of context - this passage of scripture is encouraging Christ followers not to worry about the fact that it seems that the wicked prosper while the righteous struggle.  It is not promising that we will get whatever we want or ask for!

It makes me sad when people play on the needs and desires of others and twist scripture to fit their needs or their profits.

So what do you think?  If we believe that God has created a plan for each of our lives as Christ followers can we trust him with everything?



Delight yourself in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. -Psalm 37:4

what I learned today

Getting rid of junk is a good thing.

I completely gutted my attic.  Of course no one can understand exactly how overwhelming this was unless you saw what I started with.  Can you say 2 full days?

Every since our daughter got married over a year ago many things have been added to the attic...mostly right inside the door.  23 years of kids toys, school trophies and awards, tons of certificates and then the college books came home..everywhere!

Now I am happy to report that everything in the entire attic has been unpacked, repacked in tubs, labeled and stacked up. I can walk the full length of the attic and find everything!

I completely filled my car twice with trash and sent an entire car load home with my mom for the Ashland Christian School garage sale...so what does this have to do with 'what I learned today'?  It feels like I am learning to care less and less about possessions.  I don't want as much.  I want to buy less, own less and not be tied to stuff at all.  Maybe just my age...I would like to believe that my desires have turned more and more toward the Lord and realizing this world has little I value or care about beyond my family, friends and our amazing church family.

Less really does feel like more!


Monday, October 24, 2011

my day off

When I woke up today, for some reason the idea of our bodies being the 'temple of the Holy Spirit' was on my mind.

Some Christian young adults I had talked to recently said they were going to see a movie that I personally would have chosen not to see.  This made me wonder once again - how easy it is for the world to see the difference between people who profess to know the Lord and those that are lost.

Just a few minutes after I woke up pondering these things,  I got on line to see what Pastor Tim and crew were up to in Cambodia and found these pictures.  They were literally inside the temple.


Inside the monastery.



How amazing that God had this divine appointment already set up when the team headed for Cambodia.  These men live set apart, caring for their temple.  They are in a way - prisoners to this place because of their vows to live this way.  Set apart.

How different the freedom Christ gives us when we are in relationship with Him.  And yet most of the time we don't live as if WE are HIS temple.  Just as these men protect and worship idols, we have our own temples full of idols daily.

We watch whatever is on TV without discretion, we read whatever we want without discretion, we fill our minds with the violence of very realistic video games and music as if we are free to do whatever we please with our day.

We, like these dedicated men made a vow.  A vow to let Jesus fill our lives and body with His presence, to live as if we exist only for him.  Do we?  Do I?

Are we really so different from these men who fill their lives with false things - temporary things?

Sunday, October 23, 2011

WEEKEND REPORT

WOW - WOW - WOW!  Seriously...Holy Spirit filled worship...a message I cannot  adequately describe delivered by an amazing man of God!  So good...

Our Setlist:

Undeniable - Koz

Announcements -
We have been using a series of 'geico' commercials during our taped announcement segments to advertise our new Crossroads APP and our data base "My Crossroads" and our new website www.crossroadswired.com.

I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) - Tomlin
Jesus Paid It All - Passion
God Be Praised/Our God Reigns - New Life
All My Fountains - Tomlin
Communion Message:  Deering Dyer
Bekoflow and Breath Out - instrumental during communion
More Than Amazing 
Our God Reigns 


To watch our services live or watch the archive go to www.crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their setlist go to www.theworshipcommunity.com