In over my head...

It's late. It's been late now for several nights in a row. I probably don't have time to be blogging right now, but it's pretty therapeutic. I need a few minutes to reflect on this week. It's been one of those weeks that has been really long, but my head is spinning because it's gone by so quickly. If it wasn't for the fact that there is always one immediately urgent need after another, I don't think I'd know where to start! Brian and I have both spent a lot of time at the new facility this week waiting for contractors to show up and get a few important things done. It really feels strange to sit in a building with no table or desk and no high-speed internet connection.

It's been exciting to see things come together this week. Tuesday the carpets got cleaned. Wednesday Delta Signs installed our sign for us. It looks great! If you haven't seen it yet, come by about 8:15 some evening as dusk is settling in. Tonight we got speakers put up in our worship area. Our worship space in the new facility is very wide and shallow. I was a little concerned about how the room would sound, but it sounds great.

I just wanted to update you on how things are going. Here are a few pictures from the past couple weeks. I hope you are able to make it Sunday at 10:30 am as we meet in our new space for the first time. Please also plan on being part of our Grand Opening on Sunday, September 23rd. If you know someone who has been part of CrossRoads in the past, invite them to come check out our new place that Sunday. It's going to be a blast. I can't wait to see you there!

It's been a crazy ride these past few months. Thanks for being a part of it. Somebody asked my wife what we would be doing for Labor Day. She wisely told them we would be sleeping.

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Construction Update

Here are a few more pictures from the work that is happening at our new facility. Remember September 2nd will be our first Worship Gathering in the new facility!!!

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Content like a child...

This morning as I read Psalms 120-134, the Songs of Ascents, this psalm in particular stood out to me:

Psalm 131

Could the Holy Spirit have possibly inspired David to pick a more meaningful word picture?

"I am content like the young child I carry." Psalm 131:2b NET

My sister as well as several of our close friends have recently had children. It seems like almost everywhere we go there are babies to hold. Maybe one of the most beautiful expressions of trust and love is in those moments when I have watched these young children begin to get tired or experience some other discomfort. What do they do? They instinctively reach for mom or dad. Then, everything is OK. They are content. I would imagine this usually brings mom and dad a deep contentment, too.

While our heavenly Father doesn't have arms to wrap around us, he was so determined to show us his love and make us content in his presence that while we were his enemies, he sent his only Son to die on our behalf. Now, by grace through faith in Jesus and his work, we can be contented by our Heavenly Father.

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A Splash of Color...

We have started painting! Here are a couple rooms Lisa and Karen have started with:

This will be the room for our babies:
Before and After


This room will be our office:
Before and After


Just three more Sundays at Spicer Elementary before we move in. Make sure to check our Upcoming Events page to be part of our move-in activities.

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The Big Hope...

But I confess this to you, that I worship the God of our ancestors according to the Way (which they call a sect), believing everything that is according to the law and that is written in the prophets. I have a hope in God (a hope that these men themselves accept too) that there is going to be a resurrection of both the righteous and the unrighteous.
Acts 24:14-15 NET

What are you hoping for from faith? As a pastor, I talk with a lot of different people about faith. Actually, most conversations I have are about faith. It's interesting to me to see what people are looking for from faith. Sometimes it has something to do with guilt. We do things we know we shouldn't do; then, we feel guilty. We want our guilt to be absolved, so we look to faith. Most of the time it is about family. Someone has come to a crisis: a struggling marriage or rebellious teenager. They turn to faith for an answer to their family crisis.

What I usually find as I talk with people about ethical problems like guilt or family is that they have made a series of bad decisions that lead to bad habits that lead to broken relationships. They come to me asking for 6 easy steps to restoring a relationship or being a better spouse or a better parent. My struggle is that the Bible addresses a problem deeper than marriage or raising teenagers. The Bible's message beats continually with the sound of our imminent foe: death. The Bible begins with the story of how death entered the human race and ends with its ultimate defeat. Every page in between tells the story of how humanity has tried for thousands of years to cheat death and yet died. Then, there was Jesus.

Many people I talk to come to the Bible looking for healing because in the pages of the New Testament Jesus healed people. Many people I talk to come to the Bible looking for advice because Jesus imparted great wisdom during his time on earth. A couple years ago, I talked with a man who was literally on his death bed. He didn't ask me what the Bible says about fixing his marriage. He didn't ask me what the Bible says about raising kids. He asked how I know he can have confidence that when his body quits breathing, that won't be the end. Then, I shared the real hope, the Big Hope of the Bible. I told him that he can have confidence because Jesus' life did not end in death. He died, but he was resurrected as the first among many who put their hope in him. This is the Big Hope. This Hope frees us. This Hope transforms our lives. This Hope makes our hearts beat with the desire to share this Hope with others.

CrossRoads Links:

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A Wider Door...

Before and after: from one door to two!

Here's our latest construction update. This week our contractor installed a double door at our entrance. This will help a lot as we move in and out between our two Worship Gatherings on Sunday mornings.

I guess it's a good time to let you know about our schedule. When we move to our new facility on September 2nd, we will stay with our current schedule with one Worship Gathering at 10:30 am. Beginning Sunday, September 16th, we will begin a new schedule with two Worship Gatherings 9:30 and 11:00 am. Both Gatherings will have fully-implemented children's Sunday School and contain identical teaching, music, etc. We will begin advertising these Worship Gatherings to our neighborhood the week of our Grand Opening, September 23rd.

Are you getting excited yet? I know I am!

CrossRoads Links:

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It's always about the Message...

This week I've been reading the book of Acts as well as several Psalms. The book of Acts is about the work of the Apostles as the Church began immediately following Jesus' ascension into heaven. When most people think about the stories from the book of acts, they think about the church speaking in strange languages and the Apostles miraculously healing people. What's funny is that as we look at the stories in Acts, we find that it's not about the miracles; it's about the Message.

In Acts 13 Paul and Barnabas have arrived in a city name Paphos. There they are speaking with the proconsul who is accompanied by a magician of some kind named Elymas. Elymas did not like the message of the gospel, so he worked to turn the proconsul away from the faith as Paul and Barnabas taught. When Paul had enough, he declared that Elymas would become blind, and immediately he was unable to see. The next verse is pretty interesting:

Then when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was greatly astounded at the teaching about the Lord. Acts 13:12 NET

It wasn't Elymas' blindness that made the real news with the proconsul. He was astounded at the teaching not with the miracle that had been performed.

Sometimes it's easy for us to think, "If God would just work a miracle, people would believe." Even when God was working miracles through his followers on a regular basis, it was the Message not the miracles that brought people to God. Jesus in the four Gospels and the Apostles in Acts clearly teach that the miracles were signs demonstrating the validity of the gospel. Today, we rely on something much more powerful than miracles to verify the truth claims of our faith, but that's for another day.

There is power in the Message of Jesus. Who in your life needs to hear the Message? How are you providing opportunities for them to hear it? The gospel is the power of God. Look for an opportunity today to use this incredible power of God to make a difference in the lives of people around you.

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3 More Sundays...

The official countdown is 3 more Sundays before we move into our new facility. Over the next few weeks as we prepare for our move, we will be building our worship gatherings on several different Psalms. This morning I began thinking through the next few weeks by reading Psalms know as the Songs of Ascent: Psalms 120-134.

Psalm 134 is written for the priests who served in the ancient Jerusalem Temple overnight. It calls out to remind them that during their work caring for the Temple, they are to continually turn their thoughts to the God, the Creator of heaven and earth, who is worshipped there. They are reminded that their work is their act of worship to God.

In Revelation 1:4-6 the Apostle John tells us that Christ has made everyone who believes in him a kingdom of priests to serve God. We serve God day and night by communicating the Message that our High Priest, Jesus Christ, has offered himself as the final sacrifice removing sin and God's wrath from the lives of everyone who believes in him. Just as the priests who served God in the ancient Jerusalem Temple faced the temptation of allowing their work cleaning the Temple and preparing it for worship, we too face the danger of allowing this holy truth that has changed our lives to become ordinary to us.

The LORD, the Creator of heaven and earth, has blessed us from Zion. He has made our complete forgiveness his free gift to us in the perfect life and death of his Son, Jesus Christ. Consider this gift God has given us and allow it to change your perspective. Stand back from your tasks for just a moment to gaze at the glory of the Temple whose foundation and cornerstone is Christ and is being built up as the lives of all his followers are brought together for his glory. Consider how your life has been changed by the truth that, once you have trusted in Jesus, nothing you ever do will make God love you less because you are completely forgiven in Jesus body that was broken and blood that was spilt on the cross. The truth that, once you have trusted in Jesus, nothing you do will ever make God love you more since God views every believer as though he or she has perfectly kept the law because Jesus perfectly kept the law on our behalf.

Partnership in the Gospel...

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now
Philippians 1:3-5 NIV

This morning's blog is going to take two posts to do justice to what I read in Philippians 1.

One of the most important aspects of the Christian life is gathering with other believers. I once heard a teacher point out that when God's family gets together, there is no more important place for believers to be. Not even an appointment with the president should preempt gathering with God's family. Why? Because we need to be with one another to encourage each other. We need to remind each other of the reality of the Good News that in spite of our rebellion against God, we are forgiven and righteous because of Jesus' death on the cross. And, because Jesus rose from the grave, not even death will be victorious over us. This reality for all who trust in Jesus is the Gospel. If we neglect gathering with God's people to be encouraged and reminded of this reality, we begin to despair and begin trying to please God by earning our own righteousness. This futility drives us farther into despair and causes us to run from God.

The irony, I suppose, is that when life gets hard, church is one of the first things to go. Honestly, that's human nature. Our first ancestors taught us how to run from God. When they rebelled, they did not run to God's mercy. They ran into the bushes and tried to cover their shameful nakedness with fig leaves.

One day life will get hard for you. You will commit some sin you can't forgive yourself for, or your marriage will go through a rocky time, or maybe you will have a son or daughter who rebels against everything you have taught them. When that happens, you will have a choice. You can run from God, his family and everything that Jesus did for you, or you can run to a church family where you will find the love of God as you are reminded that Jesus completely took the wrath of God for every person who believes in him.

Wherever you attend church, come be reminded of the Gospel this Sunday. If you are looking for a church home in North Texas, come celebrate the truth of the Gospel with us. We get together at 10:30 am, and you're invited.

Click here for a map to our meeting place.

A Word of Thanks...

I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now

Philippians 1:3-5 NIV

When I take a few minutes to think about all the people with whom I work side-by-side for the sake of the Gospel, I am blown away. I think of mentors and teachers who have influenced me. I think of friends I have walked alongside for years. I think of my brothers and sisters on the other side of the world. I think of my church family that I see every Sunday morning.

This Sunday our CrossRoads Church family is going to be thanking and celebrating some of our most important partners in the Gospel. Our little church, who for right now has about 100 people each Sunday morning, has about 25 people who serve regularly teaching our children the truth of the Gospel. To all of you who serve in this most important task, thank you. Thank you for loving our children and our church family enough to take the time and energy it takes to tell our most important Sunday morning attenders the most important truth they will ever hear. You are investing in people who have as many as 80 years in front of them to be our partners in the Gospel because you are taking time to touch their lives now.

Truly, there are no words to sufficient to express my thanks. Keep up this best work! We need you to continue to answer this most important call to share the Gospel with our most important people. You're awesome! THANK YOU!

Construction under way...

Construction has begun on our new facility. Here are some pre-construction and current pictures:

This is the foyer. You can see that a wall has been removed and double doors have been added for the entry to the worship area.

A wall has been constructed to create a hallway along the back of the worship area.

This area was enclosed and a double door was added to the west end of the worship area:

I'll keep you posted. We just have 4 more Sundays before we move in!

but if it is from God...

Have you ever read Acts chapter 5? The Apostles have already been thrown in jail a couple times. God has worked miraculously to free them, and without regard to an order from the religious leaders, they are back in the Temple teaching about Jesus. They are arrested and brought before the national religious leaders. When they are threatened, they tell the religious leaders:

“We must obey God rather than people. The God of our forefathers raised up Jesus, whom you seized and killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Acts 5:29-32 NET

What audacity! What confidence! There in front of the national religious leaders the Apostles don't back down from teaching in the Temple. They, instead, clearly communicate the message they have been teaching the people, but that's not what I find most interesting about this story.

Next, one of the most influential teachers takes the floor. He has the Apostles sent out and tells his fellow religious leaders:

"So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God."

Acts 5:38-39 NET

Do you and I believe we serve the greatest being in the universe? Do we believe that we are messengers of the One True God? Do we truly believe that we serve the One who has conquered even death on our behalf?

Around the world at this very moment our brothers and sisters are finding out the greatness of our God as they are standing for him at gunpoint. They have been losing their lives, but what they have cannot be taken from them. Even now, they are together in the presence of our Savior. Today, let's pray for them that God, in his mercy, would release them to return to their families, but let's pray that our God in his power would give them confidence that as their lives are take one by one, they will answer with boldness that they must obey God rather than men and boldly proclaim the truth of Jesus to their captors. Let's pray that we would be emboldened by their sacrifice that we would follow them to the ends of the earth to tell His story.