Crossroads Celebration Church

I’ve been making some new facebook friends and getting in touch with some friends from way back. 25 years back.

I’ve had two find me in facebook that were teenagers in the mid 1980′s. What a hoot catching up with them. I remember these people as confirmation students and in youth group in our church.

Eric and I have been doing some catching up. He is now married and a father. He is the drummer for Loretta Lynn – which is pretty impressive. I don’t mind flinging around, “It’s who you know”. Now I will be telling people I know Loretta’s drummer. But I tell you I was equally if not more impressed in this young man’s Christian faith. He grew up in a solid family, with mid-west values and I am supposing he never missed a Sunday in church. But he is now teaching Disciple bible study [which is a year long commitment and for the teacher you have to be on top of the lessons every week]; but he is doing this in the prison. That is a huge commitment. He is also teaching young people to play drums and guitar and that requires patience.

I tell you I have some pride having been this fine young man’s pastor once upon a time – but just simply having known him and his family. It is good to see such positive come out of one person’s life. Way to go Eric.

I could tell this kind of story in many young people I have known over the years and now see what they are doing and where they are heading. We are in good hands in the future and in the present.

Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. 1 Timothy 4.12 A theme we used at camp a couple of years ago.

I just can’t wait to see what some of today’s Jr. High students will be doing in the next 10 to 25 years.

I’m blessed in our Crossroads church today. Of the twenty people that regularly worship. We have almost half of our congregation in the age bracket of 18 down to 3. And I see great potential in all of them. I know one of them has told me she wants to be a pediatrician and serve in a third world country. It’s just about enough to make any pastor burst his buttons.

For those of you who cannot join us at Crossroads on a Sunday morning – I truly appreciate the contacts we make on our churches facebook and twitter pages. God bless you!

I was inspired by the radio today. Since it is President’s Day, a good reminder to pray for our President. I know we often complain about what is done and not done by the President, but seriously who would want that job anyway. So whatever your politics might be. Whether you agree or disagree with the President and what he has done or not done – he deserves our prayer. Sometimes it also might simply be having God bless him to do the right thing for our countries citizens. Everyone needs God’s guidance.

So today I will pray for President Obama and his current leadership for the US and his influence on the worlds leaders. I will pray for his family – also another difficult job. I will pray for former Presidents who are still living and their work as ambassadors of our country. I will give thanks for all of our Presidents who have influenced the history of our great country. And I encourage you to do the same. Don’t you think this is a great way to recognize President’s day, besides just a day to have no school or have the day off. It also should be a reminder to keep the President in our prayers daily. While you are doing that don’t forget the governor and your local mayor.

I can’t imagine loosing a leg. But we spent 8 hours on the road this week to visit a 17 year old young lady who has been battling bone cancer in her leg since this summer and is not winning the battle with the cancer. So surgery is probably set for the end of this next week.

Please pray for Emma!

I can’t imagine spending three years in prison and loosing both of your parents while incarcerated. This man is out and quickly getting back on his feet with help of friends and family. Working full time within three weeks of release.

Please pray for Johnny! Mostly praise!

I could go on and on with so many I can’t imagine kind of stories. I guess I lead a pretty normal life so far. Thank God and knock on wood.

What amazes me about Emma and Johnny and many other “I can’t imagine” kind of stories is the amount of faith that these people are relying on. If it were not for the foundation of Jesus Christ as their source of strength, they would have given up long ago.

Also what amazes me, is the times I have tried to minister to them – they end up ministering to me and most likely more so.

God is not blind to our human condition. He sent his son that knew hurt and pain and suffering – he absorbed it in those he touched and healed. God through Jesus is our strength. Hold on to that. I know for these two and for many others the upcoming holidays will be an additional challenge to their new experiences in life. So hold on. Hold on to faith! Hold on to the Savior! Hold on to the One who created you with His own special design – who adores you and wants the best for you! Hold on to the One who will make the old pass away and the new and perfect come and be our new norm. That may also be hard to imagine. But I am trying to imagine it. Are you?

Since that day I saw the beautiful runway lights early in the morning, I have driven by several other early mornings and the lights have been dark. How I miss those lights. It’s like have the season of Christmas all lit up and bright and beautiful and then the season is over and it is dark.

I realize the airport must not be expecting airplanes some days and it probably saves on electrical bills to shut the lights off if it is not needed, but I do miss the lights. Across the interstate from the airport is three car dealerships with really ghastly bright lot lights. It’s like the mother ship has landed and hovering over Ankeny. Amazing how the sprinkle of runway lights is beautiful and the car lot lights are gaudy.

Any way this is what I noticed recently and I guess it ties in [for me at least] with the taking down Halloween decorations and seeing people decorate for Christmas in their yards. [I will resist till Thanksgiving is over] None-the-less in this darkened season preparing for Christmas and in a sometimes darkened world may we find the beauty of Christ, the light of the world, dispelling our darkness. Find the light and bask in it’s hope and promise.

I remember as a kid how fascinating it was to drive by an airport. All those magical lights spread out on a field. Some solid and some flashing. Of course the airport was an unusual place, since I had not stepped inside one till I was thirty years old to go on my first plane flight.

This morning I was driving back from an early morning walk in the downtown sky walk and driving past the Ankeny airport. It was all lit up and still very magical to me, even though I have flown several times now. That huge maze of blue lights some orange and some red and an occasional blinking light.

Here’s what I was thinking about those runway lights. For those of us on the ground and will little flight experience the lights look like a field of lights and depending on our angle on the ground usually don’t make a lot of sense. But to those up in the air and having the flight experience, they know which end to start their descent and where they will come to a stop. It makes perfect sense for those in the air looking down on the runway. It’s their guide.

How often do we as human beings look at our world and start to wondering what is going on? We can’t see the future or we don’t know our purpose. Our world can be that runway of lights on the ground and be confusing. But up there – God looking down. God knows our future and our purpose. God is not confused by our existence.

So like the pilate who looks for the lights to guide him/her safely to the ground – let God be the guiding light in your life. Trust that God has a different perspective of our life and knows what is best for us. Seek that light and trust!

I have been enlarging my territory in philosophy this semester and something I have just learned has made some connections for me.

Scholasticism is a technic of training that makes an effort to put philosophy and theology together. It later took on criticism from Humanism that brought a tighter technic of training on philosophy and education and left out theology. Have you ever heard of someone being called a “Dunce”? Duns Scotus was a Scholatic and was made fun of for his applications of philosphy and theology and thus the nickname, dunce.

Without going into great detail, the simple thought for me is that Scholasticism had a focus on God, while Humanism has a focus on man. An example of this is evolution focuses on man, while creationism focuses on God. We could apply this to many other thoughts or philosophies. But the crux is where do we put our focus.

No wonder so many people doubt the authority of the Bible, because those who doubt are placing their focus on man or themselves and not on God. If we put our focus on God we see the authority.

I see the large church in many of our now mainline denominations being very Humanistic. We see that for some it is okay for homosexual unions in marriage – focus on man and not on God. We see that for some there are various ways of salvation – again the focus on man and not on God.

Not that I would call a Humanist a dunce or any other nickname, but I would be cautious of where I was putting my focus on any kind of research. For me my focus is on God. John Wesley had a formula he called the quadralateral: Primary – Scripture, then tradition, reason and experience. Note the focus is on God and God’s Word, then on man’s thought and experiences.

I guess I am a scholastic who sees a correlation between philosophy and theology. But I would be in good company with Aquinas, Augustine, Anselm and Duns Scotus. Call me a dunce if you want to, but remember that God is on my side when you start your name calling.

Since I am on a roll with people of fame and the context of oxymoron. Remember an oxymoron is something of contradictory terms.

Let me ask you this question, “If the head of your department at work, bragged about having sexual relationships with several staff people, wouldn’t they be fired for sexual harassment?” So how does David Letterman get by? Isn’t that the same thing? Except for the world it’s funny – ha ha. It’s boosting the ratings of his show. No one from CBS has said anything about a sexual harassment suit charged against him. He hasn’t been put on leave until things can be sorted out.

If you or I made an announcement like that at our place of work, we would be out reading the help wanted ads by now.

I thought we had ethical considerations for how women are treated in the work place? If it’s not sexual harassment, it would at least be power abuse. C’mon what’s the world coming to!

I recall the woman caught in sexual sin and the Pharisees were about to stone her to death. Jesus commented, “Those without sin cast the first stone.” Jesus came to her aid. [And by the way where was the man who was part of her sexual sin? How come he wasn't about to be stoned to death?]

I recall the woman who poured a year’s worth of perfume on Jesus and was ridiculed by the disciples. Jesus came to her aid.

I recall the woman with a twelve year flow of blood who touched Jesus garment for healing and Jesus came to her aid.

We say pornography is wrong and yet look at how large a business it is. We turn the other way when president’s say, “I didn’t have sexual relations with that woman.” or celebrities reveal their dirty laundry just to keep from having it twisted and aired by the media.

What is wrong with us to say it’s bad for one and yet good for another? October is Breast Cancer awareness month and we have our women in our lives covered in pink to show our support. How about next month we continue to show our support to women who are manipulated in the work place by power abuse and sexual harassment. How about support for women who are abused in domestic violence. How about showing our support for women who are enslaved into prostitution.

How about the next time a comedian talks about their multiple sexual conquests we say, “That’s not funny!” Tune out what is wrong in this world and speak up for what is right!

I agree with those who suggest that President Obama doesn’t deserve the Nobel Peace Prize. It seems weird to get a prize before you do anything. Let’s just go ahead and hand out the Super Bowl prize for 2010 to the Green Bay Packers.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that is contradictory to terms. Which is how the Nobel Peace Prize came about anyway. The Nobel brothers were inventors of dynamite and one got tired of being known for death and destruction, so he decided to award prizes for peace and prosperity of life. That’s an oxymoron. So is President Obama getting the Nobel Peace Prize. That’s an oxymoron.

But then again maybe I should be used to the oxymoron. In Christian faith we are told the last shall be first and the first shall be last. Jesus came to turn our world upside down. Like the physician, Jesus came to heal the sinner, not the saint. And the ultimate – we receive life from death. How cool is that! I am grateful that Mr. Nobel saw an opportunity to make lemonade from his lemon. Peace from death and destruction.

How about this. I nominate Jesus the Christ for the Nobel Peace Prize. “I am leaving you with a gift—peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don’t be troubled or afraid.” John 14.27 I know it is a peace that I’ve already received, many times over. How about you?

Let’s give thanks for those who have really shown us peace! And pray that our president will follow through with his promises of peace.

We are reading Stormie Omartian’s book “The Power of a Praying Church” and this weeks chapter struck me with this very simple concept. We don’t storm a person and intimidate them with our prayers for them. We come alongside someone and wait for an invitation to pray with them.

See the difference between praying for them and praying with them. It is team effort and not just me praying. It is not intimidating but it is by invitation. We come alongside them. I love that word, “alongside”.

I see that as the same with the power of prayer. God is a gentleman, never pushy with us. So if we want the power of the Holy Spirit to be a part of our prayers, it is with the invitation for the Holy Spirit to come alongside us in our prayers, needs, concerns, praises, etc.

I am looking for some prayer partners to come alongside me in prayer this fall. [Something else I learned in the chapter] – I confess my lack of skills in planting a church, of evangelism. We have been at this church start for over two years and the best we have is twenty people in worship. I want to test the waters of seeking the power of the Holy Spirit in prayer. I believe that Crossroads could easily have 30 plus people in worship for four Sundays before 2010 rolls around. I also believe that we could easily go over 100 in worship during 2010. This will require partners in prayer. “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.” Matthew 18.19

Is there anybody out there who will commit to praying for Crossroads Celebration Community, a church plant in Ankeny, Iowa? Would you come alongside me in prayers? Would you call upon the Holy Spirit to come alongside us?

I don’t see this as a fleece, I see this as a fulfillment of Christ’s offer for us to go to the Father in prayer. To rely on the power of the Holy Spirit and to do so in the name of Jesus. Malachi 3.10 reminds us that God will bless us and pour out those blessings if we put God to the test.

So will you come alongside this pastor and this church in prayer? Will you invite the Holy Spirit to bring the power to change our direction at Crossroads? Those of us in the study are praying for our church to be fervent in worship and to be a praying church. Isn’t that why Jesus turned over the tables in the temple, because it was no longer a house of prayer. We want to be a house of prayer.

If you will come alongside me in this prayer request for Crossroads, reply in the comments. Or email me at sacredmessage@gmail.com I would love to know of your commitment.

Crossroads Church has been in a new bible study called “The Power of a Praying Church” by Stormie Omartian. It has really gotten me back to a new and a different understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. I have some life long addictions that plague me and I find different seasons that I am not troubled by these addictions and seasons I am troubled. I have been going through a troubled season this fall. I could not shake this problem.

So with the suggestion of Stormie, I have been praying for the power of the Holy Spirit to help me overcome these addictions. I have had a couple of successful weeks. I have been realizing the power that raised Jesus from the dead is the same power I need to be tapping into. I have known about the Holy Spirit but just never have fully relied on the Spirit of God. And it is something Jesus has called us to utilize after his resurrection and ascension.

So I have been praying for others. One on meth and another an alcoholic. If there is a power to utilize here, it is certainly not something human. It is the power that raised Jesus from the dead. I am concerned for a 17 year old with cancer. If there is healing, it is not from the hands of the medical staff [not putting their expertise down] but to cure and heal 100% it will be the power that raised Jesus from the dead. So since I have personally experienced a simple healing in my life and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit, I will keep trusting this same power of the Holy Spirit will do these much bigger things.

I had a liberal pastor one time tell me you don’t have to pray in the “name of Jesus”. How wrong he was. Jesus in the gospel of John tells us to pray in his name. Just look at the times Jesus prayed and the teaching and example of prayer that he gave. Why would we not call on his name. He is the way to the Father. So pray. Pray often. Pray calling upon the power of the Holy Spirit, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead. And do so in the powerful name of Jesus. Amen and Amen.