Crossroads Celebration Church

Have you ever had a cop pull you over and ask you the question, “Can you justify doing 49 in a 35?” Now I will admit this hasn’t happened to me in a few years, but it has happened more than once. Usually I cannot justify speeding. I could come up with some lame excuse but it still would not justify my speeding.

I have had other Justifiers in my life. Getting jobs has been one of those great justifiers. When I got the job as a college professor they justified my transcripts to see if I had a Masters and if I had the right courses to justify teaching certain classes. Limo driving, the DOT had to justify my chauffeurs license with a driving test. The crossing guard, the Ankeny Police had to justify my background check to make sure I would be safe with kids out on the street. Certain things were required to justify my new employment and there was someone accountable to justify those requirements.

Someday I will face the Great Justifier on my Judgement Day. God will ask about the sins in my life, probably why I was speeding might be one or two of the questions, but other sins in my life. And I will not be able to justify them as well. But one thing I do know and I will claim at that moment, is that Jesus is my Savior and I believe that he died for my sins and he rose for my place in heaven. My justification will be in Jesus my Lord and Savior.

We don’t get a pass because we missed the signs. (Remember the cop asking about our speeding) We don’t get to heaven because we have an excuse. We get to heaven because we believe in Jesus. That’s it – plain and just that simple. Jesus said, “I am the Way!” John 14 So how are you planning on being justified the day of your Judgement and the Great Justifier asks about your sins?

I have a third grader that comes every morning across the street where I do my crossing guard. She has her backpack on. She is riding her bike and usually has her meds (I think she has vitamins) in one hand, her breakfast in another hand, all the while steering her bike and trying to get across the street. And she usually does a good job of conversing while doing this masterful trick of multi-tasking. She is amazing. I keep telling her she needs to grow a couple more hands and arms.

I was reading Nehemiah chapter 4 this morning and I was reminded of this multi-tasking. Nehemiah was this lowly cup-bearer for the king and accepted God’s call to go and rebuild the destroyed city of Jerusalem. In chapter 4 the rebuilding meets resistance by the enemy and so the people respond. Prepare for battle, counter the attackers with prayer to our God and set a round-the-clock guard against the enemy. The common laborers held a tool in one hand and a spear in the other. Each builder had a sword strapped on to his side as he worked. Even getting water, they kept a spear in hand.

As we face undaunting tasks we might need to have a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other, let us not forget to prepare every battle with counter attacking by being in prayer to our God. Battles will be victorious if we keep our face toward God.

Nehemiah did just that. The city was rebuilt in a record 52 days. And this cup-bearer was not only a leader in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem, but he was also the leader in a great spiritual awakening in the land. The missions that seem impossible are always possible when we begin our counter attacks with prayer to our God and willing to put a tool in one hand and a weapon in the other.

Multi-tasking is done well by a good many people, but it is even more successful when it includes God.

In a shrinking world, it seems like everybody knows somebody. In 1984 there was a movie filmed in our backyard called “Country” starring Jessica Lange and Sam Shepard. We knew the auctioneer in the film and some of those extra’s that came to the auction. We even went to the same high school as the young man, Levi, that played Jessica and Sams’ teen son. The church that Jessica and Sam went to in the film was one that my daddy had pastored just three years earlier, so we knew some of the churchgoing extra’s.

So I bet I could do six degrees to Kevin Bacon and a few other Hollywood stars. I’ve been excited more recently than the 80′s to know some celebrities. Kyle Orton the Chicago Bears Quarterback was a member of a church I served when he was in high school. We’re not buddies, so don’t think I can get an autograph. Had I known I would have gotten one earlier in his career. This summer I found out that one of my church campers is now a guitar player for Christian artist TobyMac, actually one of my favorite artists. Tim Rosenau was a pretty good musician back in junior high. I remember him doing soundtracks on his keyboard in the 1990′s. I already have Toby’s autograph back when he was in DCTalk.

So what are your six degrees to celebrity fame? Shaken hands with a president? Touched the hem of Elvis’ shiny outfits? (it’s a biblical thing about touching the kings hem)

One thing I have done is touched the lives of celebrities. I’ve prayed for our presidents and their wives and for our governors and their wives. I have prayed for Michael Jordan and Dennis Rodman. I have prayed for Kyle Orton – probably laid hands on him in prayer. I have prayed for Tim Rosenau. I have communed with both of these last two young men. I’ve prayed for these and others for the purpose of God’s movement in their lives and the potential witness their fame can bring the world, if they knew Jesus. Some of these do and some, well I can’t answer for them on their faith. But by the power of prayer and the power of God at work in lives that can be influential, Greater things than just fame can happen. So keep on praying for our nations leaders and people of influence. Six degrees (or less) of connection can possibly transform lives. It’s not just about who you know, unless the Who is God!

I was reading my Bible this morning, doing my journaling and reading about the time that Peter was being accused of being a follower of Jesus. You can read it in Luke 22. I was reading the Message translation and the third time Peter was being accused they said, He’s got ‘Galilean’ written all over him. And of course Peter denied it, just like Jesus predicted.

And it got me to thinking, shouldn’t we have, He’s got ‘Jesus’ written all over him. Or She’s got ‘Jesus’ written all over her. Would we deny the accusation or would we be proud to say, “Glad you noticed.” Or “It’s hard to hide something as good as Jesus, thanks for seeing the glory!”

I say shine! Shine for Jesus! Let the Glory of God rise up and be noticed in you and around you today! Don’t be shy – may you be accused today! I’d much rather be accused of shining for Jesus than accused of stealing someone’s parking space, or not getting my work done or cheating on…you get the picture.

I hope someone says to you today – You’ve got ‘Jesus’ written all over you!

I have been at the corner of 9th and Greenwood at 7:30 am every morning since August 15 to be a crossing guard for the nearby Westwood Elementary School. I have come to know many of the regular children and a few parents. Some are shy or bashful and some are in a hurry to get to school. But there are two that just make my day. One is a girl in fourth grade who mostly rides her bike to school in her flip flops. She has been ready for Halloween since the beginning of September. She reminded me again of her excitement today. She is very bubbly in personality and very friendly.

The other is a mom and her middle school son, who have the boys bike hanging out of the trunk of their black sports car. I haven’t a clue her name, but she stops every morning and grins and waves. I get some people to give a little wave or nod of my existence on the corner, but this woman is boldly waving and smiling as if we have been friends forever.

The sun is rising later in the morning and with the cooler temps we have had some foggy mornings and a few scattered sprinkles in the morning. No matter the forecast at my crossing guard corner, I know that I always have some early morning sunshine.

Isn’t it nice to have some bright shining people in our lives. It makes me want to smile a little more and say hi to strangers a little more often. I hope and pray that you are an encourager every morning and throughout the day. We all need a little sunshine, even on a cloudy day.

This is my favorite time of year. It’s not just a holiday or a season, it’s a whole quarter of a year or longer. I love the start of school, fall colors, birthdays in October, Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and the New Year. I am an anticipation person and this whole time of year is wrapped in the anticipation of schools start with buying new supplies and school clothes to the anticipation of the trees turning colors and the cool air coming in and then the anticipation of birthdays and holidays. These are the best of times for me.

But this year is different. Mom died in February and we have slowly hit some of the first year events without her. Like in June it would have been my parent’s 50th Anniversary. I wanted them to celebrate, but it just seems a little empty. Instead, dad was at a memorial service for the pastors and pastors wives who have died in the past year. It should have been their big celebration. It was a little quiet that afternoon when dad came over. Now it’s fall and tomorrow is mom’s birthday. It will be the first one without her and then of course Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years will all be the first without her. She was a holiday person. We cleaned out the house and she had hundreds of holiday napkins and decorations and so much more to celebrate the holiday’s. I think she is part of the reason, I love this time of year so much.

It may seem like the worst of times, admittedly I have shed a few tears yesterday and today remembering her this week, but it is still the best of times. It is the best of times, because when we remember a loved one we remember the best about them. This was also her best time of year. She was a fall colors person. And no matter what happens, this is still my best time of year. I will still anticipate the cooler weather and the day the fall colors seem their brightest. I will anticipate my birthday at the end of October and Halloween and Thanksgiving and Christmas and the New Year. I hope one day we will be adding some new things in life to anticipate in this time of year, until then I trust God to continue to bless our family and the joy of the season and the holidays. I know God has blessed my mother with an eternal home and the is the Best of Times.

I pray that you know the Father and the Son who complete the plan of our salvation. If you do not, drop me a line and we’ll talk. I hope that everyone would know the Best of Times.

Lots of churches bring in the average household in their neighborhood. What if the person who had the really nice job of executive at the big corporation needed Jesus and the homeless person also needed Jesus? What if there were a church that the average household and the executive and the homeless came together to worship together and serve together and find God together? What if there were a church that allowed anybody and everybody to worship together? That’s the desire of Crossroads! Isn’t that what Jesus did? Didn’t he say he didn’t come for the healthy, but for the sick? We are all in need of a Savior, why not come and meet some others who are searching, going through the crossroads of life looking for God.

When mom died earlier this year, my extended family told some great stories. Here’s one that I knew very little about. My mom’s parents raised seven children and were very poor. They moved into a little bungalow in Spencer, Iowa. Next door was a little bigger house and a little fancier with a white picket fence. All I ever knew was that one should never allow a ball to go over that white fence. With seven children there were a lot of grandchildren and we couldn’t all fit into the bungalow on summer days so we were in the back yard playing some kind of ball. Well of course the ball would occasionally go over and with fear and trepidation someone would quickly go and retrieve it. I knew only of that white fence and the rule of the ball and that fence. All other neighboring fences were ok.

Now as an adult the rest of the story unfolded. My grandfather and the man of the house with the white picket fence didn’t get along. The neighbor seemed to like to call the police on my uncle Bob. The youngest and maybe the most precocious. So one night, grandpa and grandma heard noises outside. The neighbor with the fence was digging up gravel (stealing) from my grandparents driveway. Grandpa wanted to call the police for all the times the neighbor called about my uncle. Well grandma said, “What would Jesus do” or something to that affect. The police weren’t called.

Making the story shorted, both men died. Grandma asked her two daughters about mending fences and inviting the widow neighbor lady over for coffee or lunch. My mom and my aunt suggested that would be a great idea. Grandma made the first step and invited the neighbor lady over. Then grandma got invited over and well they became friends. At my grandmothers funeral, the neighbor lady came and stood at her casket for the longest time, saying nothing and then finally she said, “Jennie, you taught be how to love. I’ll miss you.”

Despite keeping balls out of the neighbors yards and gravel stealing in the middle of the night, God breaks through and shows two people how to be true neighbors and how to love. Jesus was once asked, “Who is my neighbor?” And Jesus told the parable of the Good Samaritan, about enemies setting aside their differences and making sacrifices.

Don’t let fences keep you from doing God’s work of loving and caring for people. Reach out or over if that’s the case and offer a blessing to that person who may not like your balls flying into their yard. Overlook the petty offenses and live as Jesus taught and as he set the example for us. Be a good neighbor.

This noon I was eating lunch with my wife and daughter and watching the school children play with a ball close to our garden. There is a ten foot chain link fence between us and the school property. About ten nine year old boys were playing a game and the rubber ball got kicked over the fence into our yard. I put down my sandwich and walked outdoors to the fence and picked up the ball and threw it over. I’m guessing I got about eight “thank you”s from the boys. It reminds me of the ten lepers in Luke 17 that Jesus healed and only one came back and said those two simple words, “thank you”.

The school and/or the boys parents have done a good job of teaching some manners and reminding them to say, “thanks”. The ball was such a simple thing to give back, and yet Jesus gave ten men their lives back and only one could muster up a kind, “thank you”. Hopefully this is a lesson for all of us. Simple or life fulfilling things, don’t forget those two words. Try it today and everyday.

I love it when a familiar scripture comes at you with a brand new insight. That’s what happened this week reading about the transfiguration. Luke 9: 28-36 is when Jesus takes three disciples up on the mountain and there they meet Moses and Elijah. I was reading out of the Message translation and it said, “At once two men were there talking with him. They turned out to be Moses and Elijah—and what a glorious appearance they made! They talked over his exodus, the one Jesus was about to complete in Jerusalem.”

I’ve preached sermons about the disciples wanting to build tents for the three. I’ve studied how Jesus was all glowing (transfigured). But this is what was new for me this time I read it. This was like the coach in the locker room at half time. Here’s the game so far and here’s how we can best finish the game and win. Jesus had two of the best coaches of the Old Testament show up in the locker room and suggest to Jesus how this “exodus” of Jesus would be best played out. How to finish and finish well. We all know the victory of Jesus over sin and death, over the cross and the tomb. And we know that there were some critical moments for Jesus [turning over the money changers tables in the temple and praying in the garden that this cup may pass]. It’s nice to know that when the disciples abandoned him, that the coaches Moses and Elijah had done their part to help plan Jesus’ “exodus”.

Do you suppose that when Jesus was being betrayed and denied and tried before Pontius Pilate and being nailed to the cross, that the game plan was in Jesus mind and heart and spirit? Did he hear again the wisdom and the encouragement from Moses and Elijah? I do believe that the cloud of witnesses from the Old Testament were holding up Jesus’ in those tense moments of his “exodus”. Just like the final moments of the game when the fans and the players and the trainers and coaches are anxious to see how the final second will bring an outcome. I have new eyes on the transfiguration, like a half time session preparing the key players for the final victory. Go, Jesus, Go!