Crossroads Celebration Church

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!

Just got back from Xtreme Amp’d Camp and it was the best in 18 years. We had a great time. What was cool for me was the laid back leadership of the camp management at Hidden Acres. We walked into meals and recreation times without any snags. They were totally awesome people to work with.

As for the specifics of Xtreme we had a blast. What was best for me was the art of worship. We had the best live music in years. We got back to drama and added some paintings. The mood was set for the young people to worship and respond to God. We had taken a couple of skits from GodTube and really reworked them so they were unique to Xtreme Amp’d. We had done a passion play for years and I thought some of the old timers would cry out that we didn’t do the old traditional stuff, but we did this play with Jesus in it and it was a hit. We had ten or more first time commitments to Christ and another 15 or so recommittments. Now that’s church camp and that’s what God wants to see in what we do at camp.

We had some really cool videos done up ahead of time with our theme from 1 Timothy 4.12. The youth memorized the verse during the week. “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say, how you live, your love, your faith and your purity.” We took these last five points of the verse and made them our theme for the day.

Just in case you are interested in joining us next year. The dates are July 26-31, 2008 and we will again be at Hidden Acres Camp in Dayton, Iowa.

Be xtreme in your youthfulness and amp’d in your faith!

We have done some form of Xtreme Camp since 1991. It has grown and evolved since then and all for the good of the Kingdom. I love church camp because it is one of the top places for a person, usually a young person, to accept Christ. That’s what it’s all about.

We are excited to have a new location this summer at Hidden Acres near Dayton, Iowa. The opportunities of fun activities tripled and the cost of camp was cut in half. How’s that for a bonus. With the rising cost of gas and other things of the world, it’s great to have this new camp experience at a reasonable rate.

If you are interested in: horse rides, climbing walls, miniature golf, paint ball, archery, swimming in a lake or a million dollar pool, going to a live concert/worship every day and lots of other great things to do at camp, then you may want to join us. It’s geared for 5th grade through high school and our theme this summer is 1 Timothy 4.12 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. Now that’s some good material for young people.

With all the new opportunities the youth staff suggested that we are now AMP’D. Yes we will have more energy, a new look, a new location and of course the offering of new life, offered to us by our Creator and Savior. Now that’s amp’d.

If you are interested in registering for this camp Xtreme Amp’d contact me at sacredmessage@gmail.com I would love to see you there and together let’s get amp’d!

My friend Sue had her birthday last week. Almost mid-April. She prayed for snow on her birthday. They say April showers bring May flowers, but I’m not sure what April SNOW showers bring? I know it brings some frustration for some people, but not Sue. Guess what, she got her snow. God does answer some peculiar prayers. Her story goes back to her birthday in Kindergarten and it snowed. She was thrilled and now these many years later, she still wants snow on her birthday.

I really don’t blame her though. I remember when I turned nine, our family and another family, (whose son was named Mark and was the same age, with the same birth date) went and celebrated at a restaurant called Buffalo Bills. To this day I remember that particular birthday celebration and often have a hankering for a steak or hamburger at some restaurant with a western theme. Odd isn’t it. I have a coffee mug from that trip and keep it up in the family room with other memorabilia.

I say celebrate the quirks. Enjoy the things of life that make you, you. Have fun with the little details of life that are the most memorable. Laugh and play and don’t let the details dampen your spirit. I was really looking for a beautiful spring day myself when Sue celebrated her birthday, but secretly I was praying for snow, because I knew it meant something very special to her. May all your birthdays, holidays and just any old day, be filled with little God surprises!