today's new things

Today held some new things.

Although severely distracted by the past few days, there was work to be done, meetings to attend, new plans to begin working on and an interview with our first summer intern!

The day began reviewing comments our congregation had made since Pastor Tim's resignation letter was sent out yesterday.  I have never been more proud of my church!  Despite the huge personal loss they feel,  everyone cares desperately about furthering the kingdom and the opportunity Pastor Tim will have to do just that in Akron,  and so the supportive comments were posted and shared and celebrated!

I left our meetings encouraged today, plans for the rest of the year and exciting new things.  One new thing is the launch of our summer college intern program.  I met with the first intern from Mt. Vernon Nazarene today.  She is a worship major and will serve on our praise team as well as worship in the Student Ministry department.  How exciting to bring in young college students to Crossroads!

Building into young Christian adults - providing valuable ministry experience to students as they finish their education and prepare to go out to churches to begin their ministry careers is very exciting to me!

Please pray with me as we move forward - here we go!

a time of change

 

Today my pastor announced his departure to our congregation.  Again I cried.

His departure is sad to me on many levels, and yet I ABSOLUTELY Rejoice with he and his family!

I am sad personally because I have been a friend of he and his family since we were kids in school.  He is younger than I so I've always felt as if he were my younger brother.

I remember hanging out with his sister in high school when he was a pesky little kid running around, and hanging upside-down in trees!

I remember his family throwing Ron and I a wedding shower.

I remember how proud his parents were of him and how they adored his wife Michelle.  I remember falling in love with his beautiful wife Michelle - she has become an irreplaceable friend for life.

I remember when he came back to town for his father's funeral - just as he was going into ministry.

I remember the crazy things we tried for God in the early years of Crossroads.

I remember how we all laughed about the fun and the failures of some of our ideas.

I remember how much I learned from him.

I remember how we celebrated new lives in Christ and first steps of maturity.

I remember how we cried as we launched amazing new projects and as our congregation rose to the challenge of rescuing our precious Cambodian orphans - far exceeding our imaginations.

And now I'll always remember this day - when he announced his calling away from us.  He's always been on my prayer list - and there he will remain with additional vigor praying the Lord will accomplish unbelievable things for eternity!  And waiting on the Lord to reveal who my next pastor will be.

Thank you Pastor Tim and Michelle!

 

A Message from my Pastor Tim Armstrong:

“The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.”

Proverbs 16:9 ESV

When Michelle and I launched the church in 1996 our expectations were to remain here in Mansfield for the entirety of our ministry lives.  For the past eighteen years we have served with that assumption.  However, as Proverbs 16:9 states, “The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps.” So it is with a heavy heart that I write to tell you my time at Crossroads is drawing to an unexpected close.

After many months of prayer and diligently seeking the Lord’s will, we have become convinced that God is calling us to another ministry.  Let me assure you that our decision does not come from any discontent with the ministry, staff, leadership or you, the congregation of Crossroads.  We love you and the entire church body and consider you our family.  Our decision, albeit very difficult, is purely a response of obedience to follow the Lord’s calling.

Next month, following our Easter services, I will be candidating for the position of Senior Pastor at The Chapel in Akron, Ohio. We feel amazingly humbled to be asked to lead a church with such a rich history of proclaiming the Gospel to Ohio and the world.

I firmly believe that as the Lord is calling our family to Akron. He is at the same time preparing Crossroads for this time of transition.  We serve a sovereign and mighty God whose ways are often mysterious to us at the time but when ultimately revealed always prove to be the best for our growth and dependence upon Him.

Mike Sloan, the Elder Board Chairman, and the Crossroads leadership are already organizing to lead the church through this transition.  They are committed to finding a passionate teacher of God’s Word who will lead the church forward in its unchanging mission.  Mike and I will provide further details at the close of this next weekend’s service on March 15^th and 16^th.

I want to close by encouraging you in three ways.  First, let this time of change be the catalyst for deep and dependent prayer.  Pray for all aspects of Crossroads.  Pray for its next Senior Pastor.  Pray that God will use this in unimaginable ways to deepen and strengthen the faith of God’s people.  Second, do not fall to the temptations of fear, doubt and panic.  Those are emotions the enemy will use to splinter the church.  Remember, the Lord said, “I will build my church”  (Matthew 16:18).  Crossroads is centered on the Lord Jesus Christ and will continue to be so.  Third, anticipate great things.  This will be an exciting time as you wait on the Lord.  More than any other time, the church will need your support.  Continue to faithfully participate on Sunday, give generously and serve enthusiastically.

As you might imagine, this is an emotional time for our family, as we know it is for you.  We have been praying for you diligently and covet your prayers for us as well.

In Him,

Tim Armstrong
Senior Pastor, Crossroads Community Church

home again

We are home again.  So once again we are trying to get back into a routine. 

In some ways I don't want to get back into a routine - I liked our disrupted routine that found us in Cambodia the past 2 weeks.  I liked seeing our daughter and son-in-law and loving on rescued children, and giving them gifts and listening to plans for the future and dreaming dreams that can only be accomplished by God.

So now back home I want to still have God dreams.

I've returned home longing for a God restored country - saddened by the fact that we seem to be stepping further and further from God.  I've returned burdened to pray for the US like never before.  It was interesting hearing reports about the US from other countries' perspective.   I've been praying for our leaders, asking God to reveal Himself to them.  I've been praying for revival and that people will realize that we have an amazing country - that's it's worth working hard and valuing the freedom that we have and fighting for it.  But most of all I want to pray because I am burdened for them to know my Savior - not so that I can remain comfortable in my 'plenty' and convenience.

As we heard reports about Russia and the Ukraine I listened and prayed for both countries as well.  Even though I cared for those people I didn't know, it didn't really become real to me until I was looking at my blog stats...

People in Ukraine read my blog.

It stopped me in my tracks.  How in the world would anyone over there read my blog?  I longed to see who it was - to talk with them - to pray with them.  It made that country and their conflict seem so much more real.

Again as I write, I am humbled by the fact that these words are read.  It makes me even more committed to cover them in prayer so that these can be words from experiences God gives me and allows me to share. 

Leaving people

Our final day found us leaving people behind.

The children of Asia's Hope 

The amazing country director of Asia's Hope - Savorn, and his wonderful family

And, Ron and I said goodbye to Aaron and Jocelyn, our daughter and son-in-law.

Jocelyn kept telling us we couldn't be sad, and by the time we finished talking today about all the things they are excited about finishing up in Cambodia - none of us could be sad!

We are so thankful that God has chosen to use all of our kids and kid-in-laws in the capacity that He has chosen.

I have to tell you, there is no satisfaction connected to children that runs deeper than when you see your children doing EXACTLY what God created and equipped them to do!  So thankful!

Our last devotions

Our last devotions

Cambodia,I John 5:14-15,hope,Matthew 21:21-22

Hard to believe it's our final devotions with Jocelyn and Aaron... Such conflicting feelings 

Our teaching today is on the discipline of HOPE.

  We talked about the fact that we left a lot of our burdens and conflict behind and now we face going back home...

We can choose to hold onto things and remain in hopelessness or cling to hope.

Psalm 55:22.  The promise of sustaining hope in The Lord!  Our burdens were never mine in the first place.

It's always an issue of a lack of trust in The Lord or in the body of Christ.

I John 5:14 & 15.  Confidence in Him .  To pray is to change.

Matthew 21:21&22

Nothing could ever be too bad to take to God.   Anxiety is not even mine to bare.

Jocelyn said , " my greatest opportunity to share Christ here is the hope The Lord offers.  They are a hopeless society who for the most part chooses not to move out of their hopelessness because they know no alternative,"

This has been a profound experience!  Life changing.  

Our last full day

Today is our last full day in Battambang - and everything Ohio State is all the rage!  As I write this I hear Script Ohio playing in the background - hilarious!

We will be eating with BB7 tonight, so prior to that it's hang out time with the kids of BB3.  

We've had competitive UNO tournaments and listened to the musicians that are in Jocelyn and Aaron's music composition class.  I found myself in tears listening to one of the original songs dispute the fact that I didn't understand the words.  I found out later he was singing about Jesus dying on the cross and rising again.  Funny how music from the pure hearts of rescued orphans communicates despite language barriers!

Mostly we just loved the kids- 

At lunch time the team was generous enough to allow us to celebrate the birthday we missed with Aaron a few weeks ago and Jocelyn's birthday that we'll miss one day after return home - it was fun to give them th gifts we brought as well as the ones their friends sent with us for them, including birthday cards from the youth group girls at Crossroads!

We'll post pictures from our feast at BB7 at dinner tonight - until then I pray that your Tuesday is amazing and filled with God's love!  

Guidance

Guidance is the disciple we are studying as we begin our last full day in Battambang.

If the body of Christ submitted to one another praying for the best for one another, we would be able to see how God intended for us to live as one body.   The U.S. struggles with submission to the body of Christ.

I Corinthinas 12:12-26. We came to Cambodia and our world back home continued just fine without us - every member is equally important.

Romans 12:3-5...what The Lord has assigned to you...

"No one can hear the entire will of God in Isolation from one another in the body of Christ". If we sat on one side of a circle and looked at something in the middle our perspective would be completely different than someone on the other side of the circle.  Just because someone else's perspective is different it doesn't make the other person's perspective wrong.  We will never have a total understanding of the central object unless we value the persons' description "perspective" about what they see.

When the body of Christ sends you, the encouraging support will continue.

A great devotional explaining our differences and the desperate need to live in submission to one another!