Tuesday, July 28, 2015

weekend report

It was another great weekend as Pastor Dave challenged the men to step up and lead the way God designed them to lead!  He sent them away with a tent stake, reminding them to be firmly grounded in the Lord so when trials come they do not move!  Very powerful!

The worship was so good too - I'm just surrounded by dedicated staff and volunteers determined to give it everything they have to further the Kingdom of the Lord!


Pastor Dave challenging the men of Crossroads!





Our setlist:

Announcements: Bill Hill - live

Made New
Holy Spirit
Here in Your Presence
Special Music:  Every Man
Message:   ByDesign Pt. 2 - Biblical Manhood - Pastor Dave Vance
Exit Song:  Every Man

To watch our services live on the weekends or following the weekend - go to crossroadswired.com

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

Have an amazing week!

Saturday, July 25, 2015

Leadership runs deep

I've been trying to be very intentional with my study about leadership.  I want to make sure I have a good understanding of the younger generations and what their needs are, as well as trying to improve my leadership for those I've served with for years.

The first thing in my studies that is very consistent, is the need to embrace the fact that God gifted me to lead.  This has always been difficult for me because although I'm very opinionated, I prefer group leadership, owning and carrying out decisions made by a group instead of being "the" leader.  This is why I love serving as one of the Directors of Crossroads - group ownership is the best!

However, as I look at my life, I see over and over again that God keeps placing me in positions of leadership both at work and in my personal life, so AGAIN I'm stepping completely into that confidence and thanking the Lord for the opportunities.  AND, continuing to try to learn and develop.

Secondly, in my studies, I'm seeing again how important it is to work toward health in the Lord.

A firm, full-in commitment to studying His Word, really studying, not just reading and covering our ministry, my family, my country and friends in prayer.

And then, confessing constantly.

The other day I was praying and He brought to mind all these little things, wrong thoughts, jealousy, unkind words - seemingly trivial things if you begin to compare.  As He placed each one on my heart I began to confess them .....and I suddenly felt the weight of those 'little' sins.

Even a single unkind word - created a need for a Savior.  Remembering that all sin is equal in it's requirement of confession and forgiveness, caused me in that moment to really understand why my leadership, life and everything that comes out of my mouth must be glorifying to the Lord.

My desire to be healthy before my Lord, must include the physical as well.  I've been blessed with a very high metabolism, however, weight is not the only deciding factor for a call to better health.  I'm seeing more and more people my age who are not overweight developing 'lifestyle' related critical illnesses.  Some of which would possibly be prevented with a very healthy lifestyle.  I read recently, "For the first time in history as many people are suffering from too much food, as are from malnutrition" Rick Warren.  Too much food is a choice.  I am really, really going to attempt to provide healthy choices for my family as I cook and prepare our meals, snacks and 'outings' together.

The other thing I feel we should all take advantage of are opportunities like the Global Leadership Summit Simulcast - that we will broadcast for 2 days, Thursday and Friday, August 6 & 7th at Crossroads.  This event provides important leadership development whether you are a stay-at-home mom or a CEO of a large company.  Because it's not possible for our Crossroads leaders and attendees to all go away for a conference due to our busy schedules, we decided to bring it to us!

I'm asking you, PLEASE consider attending this with us.  To register or find out more about it click on this link, http://www.crossroadswired.com/summit and remember Crossroads attendees, we have a special code for a cheaper price!

Strong leadership (all of us have areas we lead in), healthy lifestyle, burying ourselves in Him = the life He created us to live.


Monday, July 20, 2015

weekend report

Oh my, Oh my!  It was such a blessing this entire weekend and it was PACKED!  There's a stirring deep within this place called Crossroads and God's Holy Spirit is moving!

So many different missions teams were commissioned and sent out - there was great worship and technical support which set up a powerfully challenging message to kick off our ByDesign series - lives were changed!

Here are some of the images!

Pastor Dave praying for our Mission Teams preparing to leave.

Pastor Dave introducing Darlene Rudrick - our Missions Leader!
I cannot say enough about our dedicated Praise Teams and Technical Teams!


Happy to have Allyson Vance as part of our team this weekend!











The vans waiting for our Students to leave for Louisville!





Takes a bunch of food to feed 59 Students!

The final prayer before the Students left.
Our Setlist:

Announcements:  Kristi Massa

Multiplied
We Fall Down
The One That Really Matters
Great Are You Lord

Missions Team Commissioning Prayer - Pastor Dave Vance

Message: ByDesign Pt. 1: Faulty Design - Pastor Dave Vance

Exit Song: Multiplied

To watch our services on-line go to crossroadswired.com

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

Saturday, July 18, 2015

approaching 200,000

Although I've become very unfaithful to blogging in recent months, I still would like to continue writing if the Lord gives me content!   Today I was trying to add some gadgets to my blog and I noticed the stats that I rarely look at.

It's crazy to think I'm almost at 200,000 views.  That is just plain crazy!  So I thought I'd see 'where' the views are coming from and this is what it shows.

Pageviews by Countries

Graph of most popular countries among blog viewers
EntryPageviews
Russia
71
Ukraine
68
United States
67
China
7
Germany
7
Netherlands
6
India
4
France
3
United Kingdom
2
Kenya
2

Over seas is greater then the US.  That is really confusing!  But it continues to show me how very, very important it is to dedicate everything in my life fully to the Lord.  What he can take and use is so much more profound than anything I could ever create or dream up!

I want to know these viewers, I would love to talk to each and every one of them!

I am humble, and thankful, and just blown away by the opportunities God provides.  Thanks to all of you who find time in your lives to read this - it mean so much!

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

can I really make a difference

I've been wondering lately if I can really make a difference.

Not in a I'm giving up trying sort of way, but kind of a paralyzed sort of way.

Have you ever felt strongly about something but didn't begin doing anything about it because you believe the lie that 'little ole you' can't make a difference with this real big problem?

That's where I am right now with the issue of abortion and the loss of precious, innocent life, lives that belong to the Lord!  What can I do?

I've been praying about it and have been horrified to learn even
more about what happens to the babies.

Although there are endless evils that our country now accepts that we once took a stand against, I wonder if this issue is one of the biggest abominations to the Lord that we've ever embraced as acceptable?

For some reason, I just can't get this issue off my mind, so I'm trying to listen and preparing to obey.

"Lord, I pray for an awakening against this horrible issue - please use me if there is anything you feel I can do!  I pray for mom's so desperate that they feel abortion is their only alternative - bring someone along beside them that can speak truth into their lives!"  Amen

Monday, July 6, 2015

my day off



I only left home once today - and thoroughly enjoyed the slow pace of the day!

Out to eat with hubby for brunch following Vern's vet appointment - just to get nails cut and regular monthly med supplies, quick stop at grocery story and then home for the day... so appreciative of this opportunity!

I'm trying very hard to get a slow 'groove on', time to calm down a little and focus on important things like I did today!

Things like:
Pulling weeds
Sitting
Trying not to cough (cold hanging on)
Planting just a few flowers
Chopped lots of fresh things today: strawberries, tomatoes, celery, lettuce, sliced chicken for dinner = healthier diet
Holding Vern
Washing and folding clothes
Reading
Praying
Loving my cheapo Walmart deck chair

The thing that caught my attention several times today was, when on a slower pace, I find myself noticing what God's provided and giving thanks almost constantly.  No wonder He talked about a day of rest, and Jesus often had to 'get away' from the crowd and all the demands.

I followed His example today and I could get used to this!  A great day off!



Sunday, July 5, 2015

weekend report

It was another amazing weekend at Crossroads!

I watched groceries coming through the doors for next week's grocery giveaway, I helped several more people get signed up for the Global Leadership Summit Simulcast before Tuesday's cost increase - hard to believe that's not even a month away, and I listened to stories of more young couples beginning to attend Crossroads and their interest in our new Young Adult service!  In fact, Aaron Nicolas, our Young Adult Pastor taught the weekend message.  All of it is very exciting!

Our setlist:

Announcements:  Wendell Anderson

Amazing Grace - Milo started things off with an acoustic version of Amazing Grace
Holy Spirit
This is Amazing Grace
All Because of Jesus
All He Says I Am

Message:  Freedom - Aaron Nicolas

Exit Song: Amazing Grace

To watch our services on line go to crossroadswired.com

To see what other ministries used in their set lists to to theworshipcommunity.com






Saturday, July 4, 2015

am I free

I had aspirations of sleeping until at least 9:00 this morning - my cold had other ideas.  When I lay down I cough.  With laundry in and coffee by my side, I sit down to write.  To write about anything my heart desires, to write about what the Lord may lay on my heart, to write about what pleases me and what displeases me, this is freedom.

The definition of freedom is super interesting!

Freedom
the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.


That is a powerful statement!  But then I kept reading and the definition seemed to be much more focused.

the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved.


This made me realize that freedom can be huge or small.  Circumstantial or inclusive.  Defined based perhaps on each individual circumstance.

It challenged me to decide what freedom means to me - am I free?  

In light of recent government decisions I have been feeling 'less free'.  It's easy to believe we are on a landslide toward less and less individual freedom if you consider that important issues are being decided without taking a vote by the citizens or at least elected officials.

But I've also been feeling more drawn toward my Savior.  

So guess what?  Adversity always makes us look to the only one who offers true freedom - it doesn't take a genius to realize why He allows us to experience problems!

It's interesting how much we long to look to a fellow human being to change bad things, to save the world, to save America. Nothing, not even a single word, is happening outside of God's permission here in America today.  

As I think of brothers and sisters across the world suffering just because they love Jesus, I realize their physical definition of freedom would definitely be the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved. Still, no power on earth can take away their complete belief in and reliance on Christ.

So the question I ask myself is, should I have the power to act, speak, or think as I want to without hindrance or restraint AND the state of not being imprisoned or enslaved?  Am I free?

I will never understand why I've been one of God's chosen to live in this amazing country, but I'm also learning to take it less and less for granted and that's a good thing.  They (whomever they are), always say "you don't know what you have until it's gone"...I pray for all of us - that we wake up and take advantage of our freedoms right away.  Share the beautiful Gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone He gives you opportunity to do life with.  That's the freedom they're searching for and they don't realize all of these other 'feel good now things' are a complete waste of time and in the end destructive.

This is the time perhaps like never before in my life-time, to embrace the freedom we have and love those around us despite our differences and maybe we'll taste of a freedom beyond the dictionaries definitions.

I am free and I pray for safety across our amazing country today to express our thankfulness and to be together in our freedom!