CrossTalk

Discipleship Strategy 2012

2012-01-30T16:25:00.000-08:00

Dear Members of Crossroads Christian Church,

Crossroads is being transformed by God into a more effective tool for His Kingdom. This process is going to require significant changes to the way we do things and how we define membership. We have determined that we need to better clarify our mission and align our discipleship strategy with it.

We need a simpler and more direct strategy for making fully developed disciples. Every member and every convert should know HOW Crossroads does discipleship. For example if you had a friend or family member accept Jesus Christ, what would you tell them to do FIRST after being baptized?

To that end, it has been decided that after Sunday, February 26th, Crossroads will no longer have traditional Sunday school. This decision was not made lightly. Back in 2006, the leadership team formed a group tasked with doing an in-depth study of small groups. It was the unanimous recommendation of that group that we transition to small groups. It is time to make that transition complete.

Beginning with the first Sunday in March we will be concentrating all our efforts on making our worship experience awesomely inspiring to believers and compelling the lost. It will begin with what we are calling "Open Connection" at 9:30am. This will be a time of open fellowship. There will be pastries and coffee. Our children's area will be open to provide fun childcare while their parents mingle and talk.

During the month of March, we will be retooling our small group structure and recruiting facilitators and/or host locations. Our intention is to launch our new groups on Easter Sunday. They will meet on a weekly basis. It will be important for every member to be a part of a small group. The curriculum will be carefully selected to challenge each of us to be transformed more like Christ.

Joining a small group will be the NEXT step in our discipleship strategy. When someone comes to Christ, they will be encouraged to commit to a small group. The group curriculum will help them grow in their spiritual walk. The relationships they develop will encourage them to remain strong.

One of the main objectives of each group will be to challenge members to serve. This is the NEXT step in our strategy. We want everyone to be involved in ministry. Our ministry teams are the critical element at this point in the process. It is through serving that we begin to find our purpose in the body of Christ.

The FINAL step in our discipleship strategy will be to develop a greater personal sense of God's Great Commission. Each of us is called to making disciples in our own way. Our intention is to facilitate members being involved in a variety of mission opportunities locally, nationally, and cross-culturally. This will hopefully sensitize their hearts for the lost and lead them to guide others to Jesus Christ.

There are many details yet to be worked out. However, we wanted to keep everyone informed as these changes develop. As always, your input is greatly appreciated, as is your prayers.

The leadership Team
Ron Holladay, Fred Townsend, Troy Yeoman, Dave Nance, Michael Duff

Thanksgiving Surprises

2011-12-02T01:51:00.000-08:00

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. My wife and I were invited to the home of my son's new in-laws. They were were very gracious hosts and we felt quite welcome. We enjoyed getting to know them and had a great time.

The highlight was my son and his new bride announcing that she is pregnant. Having just been married in October, they obviously did not waste any time. They are going on their official honeymoon at the end of December. Please keep both Mitch and Melissa in your prayers and ask God for an uneventful pregnancy along with a healthy baby.

As most of you know, the Sunday before Thanksgiving is designed as My Brother's Keeper Sunday. On that day, we take up our special offering for our benevolence ministry. This year we received over $4400 to help those in need. Given the state of our economy and our own financial difficulties as a congregation, this is truly a testament to the graciousness of God working through His people.

This is just the beginning of what I know God is going to do through My Brother's Keeper. With a new team of people, the ministry will grow and touch even more lives than it already has.

Transformation or Degradation

2011-12-02T01:47:00.000-08:00

My wife reminded me that Sunday (first Sunday in October)was my tenth anniversary as the preacher of Crossroads. Whether you see that as a good thing or a bad thing depends on your prospective I guess. For me personally, it has prompted some deep introspection. It is not that I don't have regrets because I do. If you have ever tried to do anything worthwhile for God, you will make your share of mistakes. The secret is to learn from them, not dwell in them. The source of my personal reflection is that I have been long enough to see the long term results of my labors.

I continue to be amazed by the transformation God has brought about in the lives of some of our members. I am equally concerned when I see that some people have not grown at all in nearly ten years. I wonder what can we do as a congregation to inspire more transformation in the lives of individuals. The business axiom "the system you have is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting" keeps coming the mind.

I am researching this subject and praying that God will open my eyes to areas where we can improve. It may be that we need to totally rethink our whole structure. At this point, I am open to suggestions and invite your comments.

Changes Coming to My Brother's Keeper

2011-11-04T19:21:00.000-07:00

In the month of November, we will be receiving our second special offering of the year for our benevolence ministry, My Brother's Keeper. We celebrate the ministry and receive the offering on the Sunday before Thanksgiving (November 20th). In its brief history, you have exceptionally embraced this ministry, as a congregation. Your contributions have helped many families in need. You have been faithfully using your PayLess gift cards, as well as participating in our two garage sales.

There are two important changes being made in the ministry. The first is that I will be turning over the primary responsibility for MBK to a team of members. The team will be headed up by Mark Gosney, who did an outstanding job serving on our management team. He will be working with Tonya Grimm, Becky Holladay, Stacy Tilton, and Jeff Parks.

I am excited by this change for a number of reasons. First and foremost, these folks are very connected to the community around our church. They know the needs of the families in our neighborhood. They are also very creative and resourceful individuals who will be able to grow the ministry.

The second change is that the ministry will now be handling all of our benevolence needs for members and non-members. It is more efficient to have one system dealing with this type of need than two separate systems. This will mean that MBK will need to develop additional revenue streams to cover its expanded responsibilities. Look for new opportunities to support this key ministry.

However, by far, our special Thanksgiving offering is the single greatest source of revenue for MBK. Please keep this offering in your prayers. I fully realize that these are challenging financial times for all of us. We need to remember that we serve a great God who is bigger than our present difficulties. Keep in mind that what you give needs to be over and above your weekly tithe or offering. I encourage you to think of something you can do or not do in order to give generously to this offering.

Our Stewardship Strategy

2011-10-06T14:22:00.000-07:00

At Crossroads, we have a comprehensive strategy when it comes to stewardship. It is comprised of four (4) key elements. Each element is critical to the overall success of our congregation financially.

The first element is that we, as a congregation, tithe of our income. Ten percent (10%) of every dollar we receive in our general offerings goes into a separate checking account to be distributed by the missions team. The purpose for this is simply to honor God as the source of all our resources.

We also want encourage all of our members to be tithers as well. While this would obviously bless the church, the greater benefit would be to the individual member. If you are not currently tithing, it will take you to a whole new level spiritually speaking as well as financially.

The second element of our strategy is debt reduction. The wise leadership of the past has provided us wonderful facilities with a manageable amount of debt. Our current mortgage balance is around $480,000. While we have always made our payments, we feel strongly that we need to pay off this debt as quickly as financially feasible.

To that end, we have committed three percent (3%) of every general fund offering to reduce the principal balance of our mortgage. This might not seem to be a big amount, but every dollar paid now saves us a great amount of interest over the length of the loan. Coupled with that commitment is our pledge to never borrow money to pay operational expenses. This is why we have an emergency fund set aside to handle unexpected expenses.

The third element of our strategy is prioritized spending. Our annual budget is divided into two (2) sections. The first section is essential expenses. These are the basic necessary expenditures of the church. These include such things as insurance, mortgage, utilities, and staff salaries. These are fixed expenses that really must be paid.

The second section is what we call discretionary expenses. These are resources we give our ministry coordinators to carry out their individual ministry. While they are somewhat flexible and less time sensitive, they are important. For example, teaching materials are a discretionary expense. Our coordinators work hard to get the greatest value they can out of each and every dollar spent.

The final element of our stewardship strategy is radical generosity. Twice a year, we provide any opportunity to outrageously give to God through a special Sunday offering. Our first special offering of the year is taken on Easter Sunday. This is dedicated to special purpose or project. This year's offering was used to replace our outside playground equipment. We received over $12,000 on that day.

The second special offering is taken on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. All the funds received go into our benevolence ministry called "My Brother's Keeper". These funds are combined with proceeds from our garage sales and the Pay Less gift card program to help those with financial needs. We have expanded the program to provide assistance to both non-members and members of Crossroads.

Just like the legs of a table, these four elements provide a solid foundation for our stewardship. However every member of Crossroads has a critical role to play. Unless everyone does their best to become effective stewards of what God has given them, we will not have the proper amount of resources to operate effectively. We have provided tools to help you manage your giving to the church. One of those tools is online access to your giving record. Once you enroll, you can check your giving at anytime, print a statement, and even set up automatic drafting of your giving.

I especially like this feature of online giving and highly recommend it. Never again do I have to remember to write out a check before leaving for church. All I had to do was set up how much I wanted to give and how often I wanted to give it. Dave Ramsey calls this "automated discipline". It also benefits the church as well because there is no paper check to mess with and take to bank. My giving record is updated automatically and the funds instantly available to be used.

If you ever have a question about your giving, contact Stephanie Guinn. If you have any questions about our stewardship strategy, feel free to ask me or one of the elders.

Laying on of Hands

2011-09-19T18:13:00.001-07:00

A few Sundays ago, I had the privilege of ordaining three men as elders of Crossroads Christian Church. To my knowledge, this is the first time any elders have been actually ordained by our church. Some of you may be wondering why this is. Fundamentally, the answer is this is what the Bible teaches we ought to do. God, in His wisdom, created a form of church government that provides a "check and balance" system between the elders and the evangelist. In His structure, the evangelist ordains the elders of the church. This insures that the elders are Biblically qualified and not just popular men in the church.

The evangelist is also the person to whom accusations against elders are taken. This is why Paul warns the evangelist Timothy, "Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. But those elders who are sinning you are to reprove before everyone, so that the others may take warning." (1 Timothy 5:19-20) This kind of accountability is vital to a healthy church.

We will be having another "first" here at Crossroads the last Sunday of this month. Our new elders will be ordaining David Nance as an evangelist. He has been working with me for last two years as well as doing in-depth Biblical studies. This is an important moment in development in a congregation.

Please be in prayer for all these men as God uses them to grow his kingdom.

What's happening!

2011-09-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

I have often said that when I preach my sermon, it is as much for me as anyone. Lately I have been clinging to the concept that God is in control of everything. My life has been a bit crazy, to say the least.

Let me organize this by age. My oldest son, Mitchell, is getting married in October. His wife to be is a wonderful woman and we could not be happier for them. However, as those of you who have married off a child know, this event requires some planning. Even the father of the Groom has responsibilities.

My second son, Miles, decided back in July that life would be much happier living in Tennessee. When we went down for vacation, he stayed on. It has been difficult finding a job, but he has one now. The next step is finding an apartment he can afford that allows pets. His dog is starting to get on my nerves.

Our daughter, Megan, is going to graduate school in Connecticut. She is a brave independent soul. It is the best school for what she wants to study. Of course I have to make arrangements to get her home for the wedding next month.

If nothing else, this is going to be an interesting year both personally and professionally. I trust that God has a handle on it, even when I feel like I am losing my grip.

Congregational Meeting Results

2011-08-30T19:47:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we had the first of our two annual meetings. All of the candidates for elder and ministry coordinator were approved. We will be doing the ordination of the elders on September 11th, rather than the next Sunday since it is a holiday weekend.

One thing that was mentioned by several of the ministry coordinators at the meeting was the need for more volunteers to serve in their ministries. From seniors to children, we need more people to get involved in ministry. There is always an opportunity to serve available at Crossroads. If you are not actively serving now, let me know, and I will give some suggestions.

I am hoping that we will see more folks in church now that summer is over and school is back in session. We have had a great number of guests each Sunday, but our some of our members have been missing. Some of this has been vacations and such. Some of it has been by neglect. If you have missed church, you have been missing some great stuff.

I want to commend Dawn Nance and the worship arts ministry for their dedication and hard work. I have really enjoyed the services, especially the new music blended with the old hymns. I continue to hear lots of compliments from guests about the quality of our services.

A few weeks ago, we highlighted our children’s ministries in the morning service. MaryAnne Duff is currently serving as our children’s minister. She oversees our Kidmo, Little K, and Special K programs as well as nursery. She is currently looking for someone to direct the nursery program. If you are interested in either serving in or leading the nursery ministry, contact her (maryanneduff@hotmail.com 532-1303).

Finally, on Sunday, September 25th, we will be ordaining our first “Timothy”. Dave Nance will have completed his formal internship with our congregation. He and I have been working closely both on his educational development as well as professional development. Scott Thatcher who served as an elder here, will be returning to participate in this important event.

Dave plans to continue serving as associate minister on a volunteer basis. We will be looking around though, for an opportunity for him to serve as an interim minister somewhere in community in order to get him some experience on his own. He has blessed our congregation immensely through his ministry as both Student minister and associate minister. Please make every effort to be there to support him in this important achievement.

What's been happpening!

2011-08-23T03:27:00.000-07:00

It seems like forever since I posted a new blog. The reason is that it has been a very long time. I must confess that blogging has not been high on my priority list. Lots has been going and is still going on. Having said that, however, I have decided that I am going to post every Monday from now on. Lord willing!

I know the departure of Tyler from our staff in one subject that I have not really addressed. His reasons are his own so I won’t comment on them. What I will say is that Crossroads was blessed to have him serving with us. I can only hope that he and Torie have been equally blessed by their time ministry here. I know that we all pray that God uses them in whatever congregation they choose to serve.

With Tyler’s departure, the management team hired MaryAnne Duff to serve as our children’s minister and Raf Caudillo as our student minister. Both are part-time positions and cost us less than half of what we were planning on paying Tyler to continue with us. This is a needed savings since our offerings are still falling consistently below our projected budget.

I am really pleased that we are now able to offer our members both online access to their giving records, and the ability to give online. I have personally set up my tithing online. It helps me to more disciplined and consistent. I don’t have to think about writing a check.

I cannot encourage you enough to sign up for this service. It makes life a lot easier for our financial secretary, Stephanie Guinn. She would have less cash and checks to deal with on any given Sunday. Even if you don’t have internet access, you can still give online. Just fill out the form in the brochure and give it to Stephanie.

There are several very exciting events coming up in the next few months. First, we will be ordaining our new elders on Sunday, September 4th, along with our ministry team coordinators. It has been a while since we have had elders. It will be good to have them again. The three men who are nominated are Ron Holladay, Fred Townsend, and Troy Yeoman. They have my full support.

Another exciting event is opening of the film, “Courageous” here in Lafayette on Friday, September 30th. This is a great film that will both entertain and inspire you. We are planning on making an evening of it. We will be providing childcare at the church.

Finally, we will gathering with the Elmwood Church of Christ, First Christian Church, and West Lafayette Christian Church for a joint worship service at the Long Center. Ever since we began doing this with the Great Communion two years ago, it has been a tremendous time of sharing and worship. It is my honor to bring the message this year.

I am excited about where Crossroads is headed. We have a great staff, a new leadership, and a very engaged team of ministry coordinators. Please be praying that God will continue to bless our congregation as we seek to do His Will.

Important Announcement

2011-04-08T07:43:00.000-07:00

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

At the last management team meeting, the decision was made that, as of July 1st of this year, Tyler Brooks will be working part-time for Crossroads and his salary will be reduced to $300 per week. His responsibilities will also be reduced to serving as our youth minister and only working with our middle school and high school students. This was not an easy decision, but one that was unanimously supported by everyone, including Tyler himself.

This is NOT punitive or performance related in anyway. It is simply a matter of being financially responsible. The current economic climate has affected many, including those in our congregation as well. Our weekly offerings simply will not allow us to continue with TWO fulltime employees and keep our commitments to tithe and reduce our debt. Since January 1st, we have been running a deficit that cannot continue.

Tyler will be seeking fulltime employment in the community and we ask that you keep him in your prayers. It would be a tremendous blessing if he could secure a job that provides, at least, access to group health insurance. This is especially needed with a child on the way.

The management team is committed to assisting Tyler as much as possible during this transition. We appreciate greatly his commitment to continue serving at Crossroads at this time. It was also decided we would use any funds remaining from the Easter offering after the playground was constructed to restore our general and emergency fund to their proper levels.

We strongly encourage you to pray for God to bless us in special way this Easter Sunday.

Working Together for His Glory,
Crossroads Christian Church Management Team

Special Easter Offering

2011-03-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

At 12:01a.m. on Friday, April 1st, I will again be fasting and praying about our special Easter offering. My objective is to fast one day for every one thousand dollars of our goal. As you know, our goal is $15,000, to be used to replace our current playground with a new and safer one. Last year, I fasted for twelve (12) days, which is the longest I have ever fasted. While we did receive a great offering, we fell short of our goal of $15,000.

I must confess I am somewhat concerned about this year's goal being reached. Now I know that God is in control and that anything is possible with Him. I have every confidence that HE will be able to help me make the whole fifteen (15) days of fasting. What fuels my concerns is our current shortfall in meeting our weekly budget. As I write this, we are currently over $500 under budget in our weekly giving, which translates to over a $6,000 budget deficit. This is nearly half of our discretionary budget for the entire year and we are only in the first quarter.

Over the last few years, we have pursued a simple, consistent stewardship strategy. We are committed to following priorities: 1) give 10% (a tithe) to missions, of every dollar we receive in general offerings; 2) take 3% of every dollar we receive and make additional principal payments on our mortgage, which is presently just under a half million dollars; and 3) fund our budget with fifty (50) weeks of offerings, and have two (2) special offerings each year. We have one special offering the Sunday before Thanksgiving to fund our benevolence ministry, My Brother’s Keeper. The second offering is on Easter Sunday to fund special projects, like the playground renovation.

Another important aspect of our stewardship strategy is that we divide our annual budget into two sections -- essential and discretionary. We can only spend money on discretionary expenses if our essential expenses are covered. Our current weekly offerings are nearly two hundred dollars ($184) per week less than our essential expenses. This is unsustainable. If it does not change quickly, it will require that we cut salaries and/or staff.

I do not believe in gimmicks or fancy campaigns when it comes to stewardship. I believe that complete honesty and total disclosure are most important. We will not spend money we do not have. If our weekly offerings do not increase, our expenses MUST decrease. Since there is no fat in our budget, we must cut "muscle," and that means lowering our essential expenses. The single biggest item in the essential expense budget is salaries. These are the facts.

What can we do about it? First, I believe everyone needs to be in prayer. The problem is not that our God lacks the resources. Second, each of us needs to take a serious look at our giving to the church. Since it is tax time, you can easily see if you have been giving as God has blessed you. Third, we each need to be very disciplined about our giving. Oftentimes, people forget that when they are not in church, our expenses go on. This is why soon we will be introducing online giving where you can set up an automatic draft from your checking account for your giving.

These are hard financial times. The economic situation of our nation has increased all of our costs, personally and congregationally. Yet, I believe God is still in control and is greater than all of these circumstances. He will provide the resources if we do our very best and leave the results up to Him. As I fast, I will be praying, not only for our special offering, but for each and every household in our congregation. I will also be asking for wisdom for myself, the staff, and the management team as we consider our options over the coming weeks. Please add your prayers to mine as we, together, seek God's blessing.

Saying good-bye for now

2011-02-17T06:15:00.000-08:00

As most of you know, we held a funeral service for Linda Harrold at the church. It was a beautiful service of which I had a small part. The auditorium was filled to capacity. It was a tremendous testament to the impact that Linda had on so many folks in this community.

I was extremely proud on how our folks worked together to provide both the facility and the meal following the service at the cemetery. It was a great blessing to Linda’s family as well as a witness to the community of our congregation’s sense of community.

As I mentioned in my words at the service, I did not really get to know Linda until I started leading the small group she attended at the home of Scott and Melissa Flack. This is incident reinforced in my mind and heart just how essential small group involvement is. As a group, we were able to walk through some difficult times in Linda’s life, and offer encouragement.

This past Sunday was the start up of our small groups. I could not help but think about Linda as we began our group. She will be missed. However, the opportunity for you to be blessed and encourage still exists. If you have not attended a small group, I cannot stress enough how important it is to your spiritual development.

There are three groups and plans for a few more. Our next small group meetings will be Sunday, February 27th at the following locations and times:

4pm – the home of Scott and Melissa Flack

6pm – the home of Jason and Rachel Smith (childcare provided)

6pm – the home of Troy and Kristina Yeoman

There are also plans being made to begin a small group specifically for singles that will launch in March.

Our vision is to become a place where people experience transforming grace in genuine community. Genuine community begins with getting involved in a small group and doing life “together”!

Seasons Greetings

2010-12-24T20:36:00.000-08:00

What a great service we had celebrating Christmas! The kids did a fantastic job opening our service with their special music. We need to thank MaryAnne Duff and Sherry Gick for giving their time to practicing with the children.

Dawn Nance did a wonderful job planning, preparing, and leading the service. It makes me anxious to see what the worship ministry will accomplish in the coming year under Dawn’s direction.

Tyler is planning and preparing our children and student ministry and working to make it even better. I share his passion to see our young people come to know Christ as Lord and Savior as well as realize God’s purpose for their lives.

There are some who have doubts about the direction of Crossroads. It is understandable whenever change is made to have some level of uncertainty. However, for me personally, I have none. I see this change as one of the most positive and proactive decisions that our church as ever made.

One of the easiest things for a preacher to do in difficult economic times is to cut staff, play it safe and “hunker down”. Some churches are doing that very thing. Ministers are protecting their own job and salary, while trimming budgets to the bone. They will trade on the personal loyalties of members to secure their own futures.

The reality is that one can do this and the church will continue without showing any signs of a problem. Congregations tend to decay slowly and can run on momentum for a while. This only puts off the problem for a few years while squandering the opportunities God provides for the church to reach lost people.

The fact is the future of Crossroads Christian Church does not rest on me, but on the gifts, talents, passions, and dedication of EVERY MEMBER of this church, as well as the staff. I only bring a portion of what is needed to achieve our mission and vision as Christ’s Church.

Our ability to reach lost people increases as we are able to move members into active ministry in the church. The work of our staff and our ministry coordinators is critical in this regard. My role is to keep everyone focused on our mission and training leaders for the future.

The best days of Crossroads are still ahead of us. Even in these difficult times, God is still in control. He is able to provide for our congregation through those who are dedicated to Him and our vision of becoming a place where people experience transforming grace in genuine community.

Grow or Go?

2010-11-03T08:20:00.000-07:00

I recently received an e-mail from a church growth "expert." He was selling his latest CD series, "Six Reasons People Leave Your Church". Frankly, I was surprised that he could only come up with six. Having been a preacher for more than three decades, I could have come up with six hundred excuses I have been given for members leaving the congregation. However, the first thing you learn in the ministry is that most people never tell you the real reason.

This is not to say that they are actually lying. Some have convinced themselves that they are doing something principled when in fact they are really running away from themselves. They believe that they are in control of their lives, rather than God.

You see, many believers have been misled into thinking of a church as they would their favorite restaurant. They want convenience. They want a menu that satisfies their pallet. They want it all at a comfortable price. To achieve this, they will seek to control the church through whatever influence they have.

The flaw in their logic is this underlying assumption of them being in control. As you have heard me say many times, God is in control. Everything that happens, He either allows or causes to happen. This is true both in your life and in the church. You see, God is working not only to grow the church, but also the disciples in that church. Growing as a disciple is a difficult and often painful process. Some would rather leave than learn the lessons God is trying to teach them.

Ironically, when they leave and join another congregation, they soon become dissatisfied again. The reason being, the problem was with themselves, not the church. They will continue the cycle until God finally breaks through this false assumption that they have about themselves. Until then they will wander from congregation to congregation, or worse, just stop going to church completely.

This is not true of every person who leaves a church. There are principled reasons for leaving such as immoral, unethical, or unscriptural practices of conduct within the congregation. If one has done all they can Biblically to correct the problem, they have no choice but to seek fellowship elsewhere.

In some cases, individuals are led by God to another congregation in order to advance the Kingdom. They leave as friends and with the blessings of the church. Many times, it is only for a season of time and then they return to continue serving God with us.

Finally, the door of the church is always open. No one has ever been banned from the church in the ten years I have served as the evangelist of Crossroads. Anyone who has left is always welcome to return. However, they must return committed to supporting the vision and mission of Crossroads. Otherwise they would be just as unhappy as when they left.

Saying goodbye

2010-10-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, we said our good-byes to the Thatcher family. Nancy and the children will be here for a little while longer as they wait on the sale of their home. Scott begins work this next week. Keep him in your prayers, as he is there in Minnesota starting a new job without his family.

While it is difficult to see such good people like them leave our congregation, we know that God is in control of everything. I am sure that God has great plans for Scott and Nancy in whatever church He places them. They have been such a tremendous blessing to us, and to myself especially.

Scott is a man of great character and solid integrity. When I think about his contribution to Crossroads and to my ministry here, I am reminded of a story from the book of Exodus, the seventeenth chapter. Moses was growing tired as he held up his staff which provided the means for the Israelites to overcome the Amalekites. When his arms dropped, the Israelites started to lose the battle. Aaron and Hur stepped in and held up Moses’ arms so that victory was given to God’s people that day.

I feel that Scott Thatcher, along with Dave Nordhielm, did this for me during a very difficult time here at Crossroads. Scott was a consistent source of strength and encouragement, both as an elder and as a friend. There are not many men who would stand up for what is right when the pressure is on. He did and our congregation is the better for it.

His wife, Nancy, has also been a blessing as well. She possesses a spirit of grace and wisdom that has lifted me more times than I can remember. When I would be feeling discouraged, Nancy would come along with a smile and a simple word of encouragement about how she was touched by my preaching. It made me realize that God works in ways that I often do not see.

Finally, we all need to remember that it is God who builds the church and He “has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as He wanted them to be” (1 Corinthians 12:18). Just as He has a plan in moving the Thatchers, He has one for those whom He will move into our community and our congregation. Let us not forget that there are really no “good-byes” in Christ. We are friends and family forever!

The Great Communion, again

2010-09-28T09:59:00.001-07:00

On Sunday October 3rd, we will be gathering at Harrison High school auditorium to worship with three other churches in our community. This combined service was started last year and was such a tremendous experience we decided to make it an annual event. Elmwood Church of Christ, First Christian Church of Lafayette, and West Lafayette Christian Church will be there, and want our congregation to be well represented as well.

The value of such a service is the realization that the Body of Christ extends beyond our four walls. It is exciting to see individuals from different congregations recognize each other from work or school or even their own neighborhood and realize they are fellow believers. Sometimes relationships are renewed with past members and friends. It is a great time of worship and fellowship you will not want to miss.

See You There!
Mike

Change is coming!

2010-09-09T07:03:00.000-07:00

When Tyler Brooks was hired to serve as both our worship and student minister, we knew, at that time, that it was a temporary situation. We had discussed with Tyler that at some point in the future, he would be transitioned into either ministry full-time. While Tyler has done a good job of sustaining the ministries, having a divided focus has limited his ability to expand either of them successfully. Through discussions with Tyler, he has decided that his passion lies with student ministry.

Therefore, the management team has decided that beginning on January 1st, 2011, Dawn Nance will be serving as our minister of worship arts on a part-time basis. Tyler Brooks will be focusing full-time on serving the needs of ALL of our school students as student minister. MaryAnne Duff, who has been serving as our children’s ministry coordinator, will be our new coordinator for preschool ministries. We are convinced that these changes will position us to continue to grow as a congregation.

In order to minimize the financial impact on our budget, Dawn will not receive a salary but assistance with educational and ministry-related expenses. This is a win-win for both Dawn and the church. She is able to gain advanced training and education in the field of worship ministry, while we benefit from both her heart for worship and improved skills. Those of you who know Dawn personally are well aware of her passion for serving God through worship ministry and her desire to make this her vocation in the future.

To facilitate a smooth transition in January, you will be seeing more of Dawn and less of Tyler on the platform leading worship over the next few months. While Dawn is gradually taking over responsibilities in worship ministry, Tyler will be getting more involved with “Kidmo” (children’s worship) and the rest of children’s ministry. Hopefully, by January, everyone will be comfortable in their new roles and responsibilities.

With two people both serving in ministries that they are passionate about, I can see only good things happening as God continues to bless Crossroads.

Where have all the Elders gone?

2010-07-24T13:43:00.000-07:00

This past Sunday, the men of the congregation had another meeting in regards to the future leadership of Crossroads. As most of you know, we have been operating for the last six (6) months with a management team. Under their leadership, we have done very well as a congregation. We continue to grow in number. Our finances are very stable, and we are currently on track to make our budget for the first time in a decade. These men have done well serving in this capacity.

The topic of discussion, however, was our need to return to being led by a Biblical eldership. With the economic upheaval and our constantly transitioning community, maintaining a willing, qualified body of elders has been difficult. Combine that with leading a growing congregation in these challenging times, and you have even more difficulty finding willing men desiring the position of overseer.

I attended a seminar at the North American Christian Convention called, “Leading Beyond Today”. It was given by Dr. Don Wilson, from Phoenix, Arizona. He said so many great things, but one item that stuck with me was the need for great leadership in the church. He made the point that churches struggle because they have the wrong leaders. He said the means you use to choose your elders is extremely important. If you use politics to pick them, he said, they will be political elders, not leaders.

There is no question that Crossroads needs to have a strong eldership if we are to grow as a congregation. We are committed to having Scriptural elders, but not at the expense of having good leaders as well. We are praying not only for godly men who desire to serve God in this way, but men with a teachable heart and a commitment to the vision and mission of Crossroads. Please join us in prayer for God to speak to those whom He is leading to become a part of those who will lead us.

See You Sunday,
Mike

Mission Trips

2010-07-19T13:13:00.000-07:00

This week I want to share some thoughts about the recent mission trip, and some changes that will be taking place in regards to the trip. This was not my first mission trip. I have been to Haiti and China. Each trip is unique and provides a different perspective.

This was our congregation’s second trip to Show Low, Arizona. Last year, Tyler and Torie led our group. Both years, we have partnered with the Francesville Christian Church to provide a week of church camp for reservation children. They are great folks and a wonderful group to work with. Our hope for the future is to be able to make this an annual event in our church calendar. We want to make this opportunity available for anyone who desires to go.

This year, MaryAnne and I led our group of ten (10) on the trip. I must confess to a little concern over the fact that we were the oldest and the rest of the group was young adults and teens. My concerns were dispelled however as soon as we hit the ground in Arizona. Every member of the team worked very hard, and I did not hear one word of complaining. They proved themselves to be willing servants in every respect.

This was needed because there was a last minute problem with the Francesville team. Due to a death, the minister and several members of their group had to cancel. However, everyone on both teams stepped up, took up the slack, and got the job done. I could not have been prouder of our young people. To see them work with the Native American children and touch them with the love of God was truly amazing.

While there are many benefits to participating in such trips, there are a few downsides as well. Every year we have done a mission trip, there has always been a struggle to raise enough support for those going on the trip. Our current policy has been that each individual had to pay for half the cost of the trip themselves, and the rest would be covered by fund-raising. While the congregation has been very generous in their support, we have had difficulty in covering the cost of the trip.

After discussing the problem with the staff and the management team, we have decided to change the way we finance the mission trip. There is total agreement that each person needs to continue to pay for half of the cost of the trip. This insures that the people going have some “skin in the game” and take the trip seriously. Rather than invest time and resources in having fund-raising events, we have decided to establish a separate, dedicated fund within our church finances to which individuals can give over and above their regular tithes and offerings to the church. The funds given will be used to reduce the cost of the trip, up to 50%, but no more than that. The fund will continue from year to year, and hopefully carry enough of a balance to keep the trip affordable for those who desire to go.

For example, the trip to Show Low costs approximately $700 per person. If ten (10) people sign up, the fund would pay $3,500 or $350 for each person (50%). If there is not enough in the fund to pay that much, then the fund would cover whatever amount it took. Regardless of the amount in the fund, it would never pay more than half the cost of the trip.

We will keep you informed through the bulletin on how much is currently in the fund, and once a year, we will do a special Sunday emphasis on the mission trip where we will encourage you to give. We firmly believe this is a better way to support the trip without spending time on bake sales and such that may be distracting from our mission as a congregation. Our hope is that you will support this fund. You can simply designate in the memo on your check or on your offering envelope, “Mission Trip Fund”.

God bless,
Mike

Speaking of Core Values

2010-04-26T18:33:00.000-07:00

First, let me apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I have been really busy. However, I need to become more disciplined in doing this every week. I think the conversations can be helpful in working through our own thoughts and ideas.

Recently, I have been working with the ministry coordinators on developing a new set of core values for the church. It is not that our current core values are bad, but I don’t feel they are truly reflective of where we are today.

The struggle comes when you attempt to put into words the values we share as a congregation. Not only that, but then you need to prioritize the values as well. Some might question the need for having these defined, but repeatedly I find that many of the discussions that members have are over core values. This is because core values answer the question, “Why do we do what we do?” In his book Church Unique, Will Mancini defines core values as “convictions that guide decision-making and reveal the strengths of the church.”

During the Sunday school hour, I gave my class a list of some of those values I have been working through in my own thinking. I want to share them with you and see what you think.

We believe in:

• The sovereign control of our Lord God

• The absolute authority of the Word of God

• The supreme value of every individual soul

• The infinite grace of our Savior, Jesus Christ

• The transforming power of the Holy Spirit

So tell me what you think of them and why you think that. Which of these values should be placed first above all the others? Remember, while these are based on Scriptures, they are not really intended to be doctrinal statements.

Challenge or Opportunity?

2010-02-16T17:51:00.000-08:00

As most of you now know, one of our two elders, Dave Nordhielm has been transferred by CAT back to Peoria, Illinois. He will be moving there in short order. We will miss Dave, Patty, and their children. We have been greatly blessed by them being a part of our congregation. I recall vividly when they came forward on the second Sunday that they worshiped with us. They hit the ground running and have been faithful servants of God.

Dave’s departure presents our congregation with either a challenge or an opportunity depending on how you look at it. I prefer to look at it as an opportunity.

As a New Testament church, we are required to have a plurality (more than one) of elders. This means that we must either add another elder to serve with Scott Thatcher, or put into place an interim leadership structure until enough elders can serve. My preference would be to have more men step up to serving as elders.

This coming Sunday, during our Sunday school hour, all of the men that are members of Crossroads will gathering to discuss this opportunity. I see it as an opportunity because it will give qualified men a chance to serve as an elder for six (6) months before making a commitment to a three (3) year term. Those who desire it would be nominated and voted upon at the annual meeting in August.

Please make this meeting a matter of serious prayer. Great leadership is a key to the future success of our church. Ask God to speak to the hearts of those men HE wants to raise up to serve as elders. If anyone has any questions or concerns, you are welcome to contact me or one of the other members of the leadership team.

Renewed Direction

2010-01-13T20:09:00.000-08:00

In the last two weeks, I have preached on the mission and vision of Crossroads Christian Church. I will be combining these two messages into one CD to be used in our outreach to guests, as well as making them available on the website.

Recently, we began a five (5) week campaign called “OUTFLOW.” This study is about learning to let God’s love and power flow out of you and our church, into the lives and the community around us. We will be having a special small group study time on Sunday mornings from 9am – 10am. Everyone will gather in the auditorium for the video portion of the lesson. We will then split up into small discussion groups. This will be followed by worship and a message, all coordinated with the subject of the day. Each person is asked to reinforce the concepts with daily readings from the book “Outflow”.

In the sermon on the Church’s vision, I mentioned that we would be launching a new discipleship strategy in 2010. We are excited about the possibilities this new strategy has for really integrating new believers into both the church and their faith in Jesus Christ. It is, however, a major shift in our thinking about discipleship.

Those of you who have been disciples for awhile have probably witnessed the following scenario a few hundred times. An individual enthusiastically accepts Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. You see them in church and occasionally in a Sunday school class or Bible study or even a small group. Then suddenly their attendance begins to fall off or stops suddenly. You wonder what happened to them. Once it is discovered they have encountered a problem, it is too late to do anything. Another brother or sister is lost back to their previous life without Christ or involvement in His Church.

Now there are lots of reasons for this. Sometimes it is a failure to properly shepherd the individual. Other times, it is simply the difficulty one has in making a lasting change in their life. It is a problem, though, that must be addressed by our strategy on discipleship.

Up to now our strategy has been to encourage individuals to get involved in either Sunday school or small groups in order to disciple them. However, since both of these programs are also trying to disciple those who have been believers for some years, the strategy falls short in meeting the needs of new Christians.

This is why we are adding another component to our discipleship strategy. It is called “Life on Life Discipleship.” To put it simply, every new believer is partnered up with a mature believer to walk with them through the first twelve (12) months of their spiritual life. Statistically speaking, if a new convert stays faithful through the first year, they will probably stay faithful for a lifetime.

In order for this strategy to be successful, we will need mature believers who are willing to commit 1% of their time to discipling another. You see we all have 168 hours in a week. One percent of that would be a little less than two (2) hours a week. By investing that time with a new believer for one year, you would be having an unparalleled impact for the Kingdom of Christ.

Now you might be thinking, “I don’t know what I would even teach or talk about with a new believer.” That is no problem because we would provide support training and a curriculum for you to follow. The key is that you would meet and mentor them on a weekly basis, at a time convenient for both of you, for one year. The objective is two-fold. Not only do you ground them in the fundamentals of the faith, but you groom them so that they can become a mentor for someone else.

Please prayerfully consider if God is calling you to this vital discipleship ministry. We will be having a meeting to showcase the whole strategy and I hope you will attend. God bless!

Christmas

2009-12-22T22:03:00.000-08:00

We are only a few days from Christmas, and you can already tell this year it is going be different. So much has transpired in the last twelve months, and a lot has changed for Crossroads. While it has not all been good, most of it has been a blessing to see happening. In the wake of last year, there is no doubt that we, as a congregation, are growing again.

If you were in church Sunday, you witnessed this firsthand. If you missed Sunday, you lost an opportunity to see God at work. It is not that anything “miraculous” happened, but that one could feel the presence of God and of pure joy. Of course, not everyone felt it, but most did. Everything blended together, the music, the preaching, and the attitudes. There was an alignment of purpose that made the whole service special.

As I said in my message, this past year has been challenging for me as a preacher and church as a whole. However I believe we have come through the difficulties as more focused and dedicated congregation. We have made needed changes and remained committed to seeing them through to completion. Our direction is set and we are seeing the results each and every week.

This is not to say that everything is great and that no more work needs to be done. Our community is still dealing with unemployment, financial struggles, and with the effects these have on individuals and families. Our congregation has been touched by these as well. As never before, we need to be faithful stewards of all the resources God provides us as individuals and as a congregation. As leaders and ministry coordinators, we will need to spend every dime for maximum impact in fulfilling our mission.

We must not forget that even in the midst of difficult, GOD IS WITH US! He did not bring us this far to abandon us. He has positioned, prepared, and provided for us to reach the lost in this community. This Christmas should mark more than another year to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. It also marks the beginning of a new season of growth for our church.

My wife and I are proud and humble to serve this congregation at this time. We are eager to see what God has in store for His Church in the coming year. We wish you and your family a merry Christmas and a blessed New Year.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-26T11:22:00.000-08:00

I must begin by apologizing for my lack of posting. I have been so busy preparing for the holidays. I love this time of year but it does challenge one's schedule. It does not help that I am wearing far too many hats. Gladly, this is changing.

Beginning in December, Brad Fassnacht will be taking over as facilities coordinator. He has been a tremendous help these last few months. In fact, the whole facilities team has been great. My thanks to Jim Coffin, Mark Gosney, Jim Woodruff, Dave McCabe, Jeff Parks, and Brad Fassnacht. I also want to express my appreciation to everyone else who has pitched in to help clean, organize, and keep the church in good repair.

Several big projects have been completed in the last month. We had to replace the roof on the oldest section of our building. It was damage at sometime by a hail storm. We were able to get the job done at no cost to the church at all, thanks to Mike Tharp for his generosity. An interesting sidebar, the old steeple was removed. While it was down, I got a call from another congregation who was in need of one. They wanted to buy it from us, but I was glad to get rid of it.

It was also necessary for us to replace the pump and pressure system on our well. With the expansion of the building and the age of the pump, it had to done. I saw the old pump, and it was packed with iron deposits. It is a wonder that we got any water or pressure. The cost of the new system will be paid for out of the emergency fund. You should see significant improvement in the water pressure.

Another project has been to switch the church phone system to Comcast and provide internet service here at the church. Soon, you will be able to use your wireless devices in the foyer. However, I want to warn you that using them during a service in the auditorium could result in a virus that transfers all your funds into the offering! (Joking)

We truly have a lot to be thankful for, as a church. Our greatest blessing is not our facilities, but our people. Their willingness to serve and give continues to permit us to fulfill our mission and vision. Thank you God for the people of Crossroads!

Summer Mission Trip

2009-11-02T08:36:00.001-08:00

At last count, we are going to be sending fourteen (14) of our members to Show Low, Arizona this summer for our annual mission trip. We will again be partnering with the Francesville church to provide vacation Bible for the Native American children in the community. The group is a combination of adults and students. Some of them are alumni from last year's trip, as well as several new folks making the commitment.

One might ask the question, "Why do a short-term mission trip?" That is a reasonable question, given the great number of local service opportunities and the cost of traveling. The answer is that a short-term mission trip is more than just serving others. It is about getting a taste of both what it means to be a missionary and to minister in a different culture than your own. While the trip is a huge blessing to those you serve, it blesses you as well because it changes how you see the world.

Having been on two mission trips, one to Haiti and one to China, I can testify to this from first-hand experience. When I was in Haiti, I learned what real poverty is. When you work with the poor in America, you are one of many different institutions. In addition to the church, you have other charitable organizations like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. You also have many government agencies helping out as well. In Haiti, all you really have is the church working with outside organizations like CARE (Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere).

If you want to lose weight, try eating your dinner with two hundred (200) starving people staring at you through a barbed wire fence. In your heart, you want to feed them, especially the children. In your head, you know you do not have enough food to even make a dent in their poverty. Feed this group today, and you will have a thousand here tomorrow. Then twice as many the next day, and the next day! When you have experienced that reality, you become a changed person.

If you were in the worship service when the group from last summer's trip shared their testimonies, you would understand what I am saying. They spoke of how the children and their living situations touched their hearts.
This is why we believe in short-term mission trips. It results in changed hearts and more dedicated lives to the mission of reaching others for Christ.

My Sincerest Apologizes

2009-10-24T19:53:00.000-07:00

If you have been following this blog, you know how the number of comments has exploded in recent days. This fury of discussion caught me off guard. I was beginning to wonder if anyone ever read my posts, and then all at once I have total strangers posting their opinions. This has caused me to accelerate my learning curve on responsible blogging.

First, I want to sincerely apologize to the leaders and members of Crossroads for not being more knowledgeable on this subject. I should have set up this blog to be fully moderated by me. By failing to do so, I allowed others to post comments that were disrespectful and misleading about our church and our leadership. While I did delete those comments, I should never have allowed them to be posted before I had a chance to screen them.

In all honesty, I did not want this blog to be simply my thoughts alone but also to provide a forum for dialogue about some of the principles and issues that we are facing as a congregation. However, I failed to take into account that some people do not understand how to have a respectfully discussion without engaging in personal attacks or causing dissension. I am not saying that everyone who posted a comment did that, only that some did. This reflected poorly on the church to anyone who might be considering visiting our congregation and reading my blog.

Dave Nance and I had an opportunity this past week to attend a two-day conference. It was excellent and applied to many of the challenges our congregation now faces. However, one of the speakers said something that hit home with me in reference to this blog. He said, "The internet is the social lubricant of our time". He said that for decades alcohol had been the social lubricant that caused people to lose their judgment and say things that they would not normally say to someone. Today, he said, social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, have given people opportunity to say things that they later regret.

While I am still committed to this blog being a conversation, it will now be a moderated dialogue. Comments will seen by me personally first before they are allowed to be posted. You are free to disagree, question, and offer other points of view. You must do it, however, in a respectful manner. Personal attacks will not be tolerated in any form. If you don't like the rules, then don't waste your time and my time commenting. In the interests of fairness, I have deleted all comments, including my own, so that we can start fresh.

A Wrestling Show in a Church?

2009-10-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Since it was announced that we would be hosting a fundraising wrestling show for the summer mission trip, there have been a lot of questions raised about it. In order to save time answering questions over and over, I want to address some of the concerns that have been raised.

Why a "wrestling show"?

Most of you know who Guy Louks is. He shared a testimony during our reunited service. What you might not know is that he has been involved in professional wrestling for many years both as a wrestler and as a promoter. He approached me with the idea of doing a show as a fundraising event for the church. Since we do not fundraising for the church, I suggested doing the event to support those going on the summer mission trip.

Is this appropriate?

While I grant you, it is out of the ordinary, there is nothing inappropriate about the event. Guy Louks and his guys have done events like this for other churches and for charities in our community. He has assured me that the show will be very family-friendly and will not cause the church any embarrassment. A wrestling show may not be your favorite form of entertainment. However, many in our community enjoy it and some of our members are involved in it.

This would not be the first time we have used our facilities for programs or events other than worship services. We have had garage sales, movie nights, and New Years Eve parties that have utilized our buildings. Some might have consider those "outside the box", but we have done them successfully and with great results.

What are the financial arrangements?

First, let me say that there is absolutely no cost for this event to the church itself other than providing the location. The proceeds of the ticket sales are to be evenly split between the wrestling company and the summer mission trip. Those who are committed to going on the trip will provide a concession with hotdogs and such. All proceeds from the concession go for the trip as well.

What risks or liability does the church have?

None at all! Guy has done these shows for years in all types of venues. He carries all the appropriate insurances on his wrestlers and his events. The ring he uses is designed with pads that lift it off the floor to prevent any possibility damage.

What are the benefits?

There are several benefits to hosting the event at Crossroads.

1) It provides an outreach to a part of our community that might never even know that our church exists.

2) It provides free advertising for our church in the community even to those who do not attend the event.

3) It provides a means of raising support for our mission trip without asking for funds from the congregation.

4) It allows members of our congregation to use their talents and abilities to help support the mission trip.

5) It gives those going on the mission trip an opportunity to work for the support they receive for the trip.

What's the downside?

The only potential downside is that some might not like the idea of having such an event in the building and in the auditorium. I understand their concerns, and do consider them as having some validity. The question from my prospective is simply this. With all positive benefits of hosting the event, is anyone really harmed if we do it? On the other hand, if we don't take advantage of the opportunity, there may very well be people who might not ever come to Jesus Christ otherwise. Of course, no one knows for sure, but I think the possibility exists.

While you might not attend the event, should not the possibility of reaching just one lost person through it make as least worth attempting?

What does it mean to be a mission-driven church?

2009-10-17T10:13:00.000-07:00

There are two kinds of congregations today. There are mission-driven churches, and there are member-driven churches. They are vastly different in many respects. Member-driven churches are focused on trying to keep the greatest number of members in the congregation "content." This usually involves keeping changes to a minimum, avoiding anything that is controversial, and always playing it safe.

Mission-driven churches are focused on accomplishing their God-given mission as a church. This means that they are willing do whatever it takes to get the job done. This usually involves making frequent changes in order to be more and more effective, thinking "outside the box," and being willing to take big risks. They are different from member-driven churches in another important way –- they are growing and reaching the lost!

Crossroads is a mission-driven congregation. Our mission is to connect people to God and to each other. You see the results of our pursuit of that mission every single Sunday morning: new faces, new families, and new believers being baptized. These things are not happening by chance but by the Sovereign work of God, as we intentionally seek the lost with passion and intensity.

As we make plans, we look for ways to bring the lost into our building and to connect them to God and our people. Some people will simply come to a worship service. Others will never accept an invitation to church because they have preconceived ideas about what church is and who Christians are. This is why we do more than just "have church."

For example, on Saturday, November 28th, Crossroads Christian Church will host its first-ever wrestling show, as a fundraiser for our summer mission trip. Guy Louks and NWA Indiana, his wrestling company, will have this show in our auditorium. It will be extremely family friendly and entertaining because it is, of course, a show. Those who are committed to the mission trip will be helping out with the show and providing the concessions.

Now I know this idea is a little unusual for a church, but think about it from the perspective of our mission. We will have over 120 people from our community attending this show who might never normally enter our building on Sunday. I will have an opportunity to share with them during the evening and invite them back for church. I don't know how many will come back, but I think it is worth the risk.

We have another outreach event planned in December. We are again hosting a Life Line Screening on Saturday, December 19th, from 8:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. Life Line will be doing a tremendous amount of advertising in our community for this event. It will draw a distinctively different crowd of people into our building. It costs us nothing but the use of our building. Both events help us to accomplish our mission by helping us connect with vastly different groups of people in our community.

You see, it does not matter whether a person is coming to get screened for osteoporosis or to root for their favorite wrestler; the opportunity is the same. They are coming to us and we are connecting with them. Please be praying for these events and asking God to use them to help change a person's eternal destiny through Jesus Christ.

The Great Communion Service

2009-10-08T09:09:00.000-07:00

I know I have said this before, but it is as true as ever. If you missed the Great Communion, you really missed a work of God. The day could not have gone any better. The worship was awesome and the Spirit was definitely moving in the service. The power of unity was on display with the greatest of simplicity. Four congregations were coming together to celebrate not our differences, but our commitment to Jesus Christ through communion.

Three emotions dominated me that day in the service. First, I was humbled by the presence of God working through the combined talents of the praise team. Brothers and sisters from all three traditions and all four congregations, working in both spiritual and musical harmony, blessed us with a great worship experience. If you were not touched by that worship you are in serious trouble, spiritually speaking.

Second, I felt a great sense of pride in our people who participated in the service. I especially want to recognize Tyler Brooks for the excellent work he did working with the worship personnel from the other congregations on this service. If you ever had doubts about Tyler's talent and professionalism, this service should have removed them. He did a fine job, as did all those who played in the praise band from our congregation. I also appreciate the men of our congregation who helped with the serving of the communion during the service. Your willingness to serve was a blessing and added to the overall effectiveness of the service.

Third, I felt humbled to be a part of the process that brought this service to reality. It is a risky proposition to bring differing congregations together for such an event. However, the spirit of respect and cooperation among the ministers in planning the service was refreshing. We all worked well together. God answered our prayers and honored our planning with an event that surpassed our expectations in every way.

Finally, as I did that day, I want to thank both our leaders and the leadership of the other congregations involved. To dismiss a single service at church is a scary thing for church leaders. It opens you up to criticism that you could easily have avoided. By supporting this event, the leaders of these congregations provided each of us a glimpse of what heaven might be like someday. A day when the Church of Jesus Christ will, indeed, be ONE.

Questions and Comments

2009-08-28T11:33:00.000-07:00

As we approach the congregational meeting the leadership team has received some thoughtful questions and comments that we feel need to be addressed. We appreciate those who have raised these questions because there may be others with the same questions. We want everyone to have a full and complete understanding of our intentions.

Some have expressed a concern that the wording used in regards the term of office for elders is unclear. They believe it could be interpreted to limit elders to serving only six (6) years total. Respectfully, that would be a misinterpretation of the restriction. It clearly states “consecutive terms”. No limit is placed on the number of terms, only on the number consecutive terms.

It is the leadership team’s responsibility to recruit and nominate elders, if they did not want a person to serve, for whatever reason, they simply would not nominate that person. They would also not allow any individual to improperly use this restriction against anyone else. The provision is quite clear as written. It prevents an elder from serving more than two (2) consecutive terms. It does not limit the number of non-consecutive terms in anyway.

Another question was asked about staggering the terms of elders. This is a good idea and will occur without any added provisions. If approved, those elected next year will be one (1) year staggered from the current elders. Each year, as new elders are added, their terms will be staggered as well. In six (6) years, only the two (2) current elders would be prevented from serving another consecutive term. After a year off, they could be elected again to serve.

In regards to the addition of the positions of Treasurer and Financial Secretary to the constitution and by-laws, there have been some questions. First, it must be understood that the current constitution and by-laws contains NO PROVISIONS regarding how the church finances must be handled. The leadership, under the ministry team structure, created the Stewardship team as a means of handling the finances. When using the team approach to managing the finances proved to be ineffective, the leadership instituted the Treasurer and Financial Secretary positions. This change has successfully improved our financial management and accountability. This is why the leadership team decided to include this significant change in the constitution and by-laws.

Finally, the question was asked about how these recommended changes were developed. In the past, we have put together a team of people to review the constitution and by-laws for changes. That was not done in this situation because we were only making a few changes, and most are minor changes. We are planning however in the coming year to put together a team of individuals to totally review of the constitution and by-laws. If you would be interested in serving on such a team, please contact one of the members of the leadership team.

State of the Church

2009-08-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

The past year has been one of the most significant years in the history of Crossroads Christian Church. The congregation has undergone many changes. Some were intentional, while others were forced upon us by circumstances. However we have weathered the difficulties and God has proven faithful throughout.

Leadership Changes
We began the year electing two (2) new elders to the leadership team. Since that time, the two (2) currently serving elders have stepped down for personal reasons. This has left us with only the two (2) new elders remaining. Leading a congregation is not an easy task, even under the best of circumstances. These men have done a tremendous job of leading the congregation and dealing with difficult situations that were not of their own making.

Fresh leadership has given us a fresh perspective and a renewed focus on our mission and vision. The congregation is growing and reaching our community. We are adding new members and seeing visitors coming nearly every week. There is a new positive attitude that pervades our services and ministries.

We have discovered that we need to work on long-term leadership development and continuity. To that end, the leadership team is recommending a change in the church Constitution that increases the term an elder serves to three (3) years, but limits them to only two (2) consecutive terms. After serving six (6) consecutive years, an individual would have to “sit out” for, at least, a year before returning to the leadership. Our intention is to keep the leadership fresh and prevent burnout.

Economic Challenges
We are all well aware of the economic condition of the greater Lafayette community. While not as bad off as other areas in the nation, we have been impacted financially. The downturn in the economy could not have come at a worse time for the church. With our increased mortgage payment of our recent building expansion and the decision to increase our staff by another full-time position, we were forced to deal with some weakness in our financial structure.
The restructuring was difficult. However your generosity and support have allowed us to fully and successfully implement our new stewardship strategy. We are now in the best financial condition we have ever been in, systemically. We have a spending structure that is tied directly to our weekly offerings. We have established financial priorities, and debt reduction is one of them.

This is not to say that we have all the funding we need. We still have some members out of work and have lost others because of relocation to seek employment. Since July 1st, our offerings have not met our budget target, which means we will not have the resources for discretionary spending. I am still optimistic because July is traditionally a lower month for offerings.

Additional Staff
Beginning in September, Dave Nance will serve as an unpaid associate minister intern. I have agreed to mentor Dave in a study of ministry that will eventually lead to his being ordained to the preaching ministry. The program will combine study and practical experience in all related ministry areas. He is already leading our new young adult ministry, “The Bridge.”

Goals for the Future
Our primary goal will be to continue pursuing our mission and our vision by intentionally reaching out to the lost in our community. We have identified some key areas that need attention this coming year:

1. Add more elders to the leadership team through the recruiting and mentoring of qualified men in the congregation this year.

2. Reestablish our commitment to building a quality, growing small group ministry that connects members in authentic community.

3. Create a team of members to review the entire Constitution and By-laws and make recommendations on possible changes to be considered by the leadership and the congregation.

4. Develop a strategy for discipleship development that involves specific outcomes in terms of knowledge and behaviors.

5. Maintain vigilant adherence to present stewardship, worship, and ministry strategies.

As always, the leadership team is open to your suggestions, constructive criticism, and especially your prayers. God continues to bless our congregation because we remain faithful to His purpose for the Church.

August 30th - Congregational Meeting

2009-08-19T10:33:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, August 30th, we will be having our annual congregational meeting. A lot has transpired since last year’s meeting. We have lost some folks and we have gained some folks. All in all though, we are doing well as a church. In the meeting, we will be considering some changes to our Constitution and By-laws, as well as approved leaders and coaches for the coming year. The changes range from a simple change in terminology to a more significant change in the office of elder. It is important that you understand why these are being recommended for your consideration.

The first change is simply substituting the word “coordinator” for the current term we use of “coach.” This is more than just a cosmetic change. Our ministry team structure relies upon men and women to serve as deacons and deaconesses over specific areas of ministry. Originally, we chose the word “coach” because it was descriptive of what we thought their work would entail. However, we have discovered that the role is more coordinating existing ministries than coaching individuals in a specific ministry.

To that end we wanted to make this change to bring some consistency to our ministry structure. When a person is in charge of a specific ministry or event, they are called a “director.” For example, we have a VBS director. Their responsibility is solely for Vacation Bible School. We also have a nursery director whose responsibility is specifically over the nursery ministry. What is needed is not someone to coach them, but an individual to coordinate their ministries with all the other children’s ministries at Crossroads. This is why we want to make the change. A coordinator will coordinate similar ministries for greater effectiveness.

Another change we have proposed is the addition of the two (2) newly created positions of Treasurer and Financial Secretary. This division of labor has worked as planned in providing better financial accountability while not overburdening a single individual. These are positions that are vital to our new stewardship strategy. We want them to continue to be a part our congregational structure.

The final change proposed is to the length of time an elder serves. In the past, elders have been elected for single-year terms, and could be elected continuously with no limit. Given the importance of the eldership to the future success of the church, we decided that we wanted to increase the length of time they serve, but limit each elder to six (6) years of continuous service. They then would have to sit out for one (1) year before being elected again.

There are several reasons for this change. The first is that it creates consistency in the eldership. Single-year terms open up the possibility of several new elders coming on board at one time without enough seasoned elders to support them. With the three (3) year term, you would have only a few elders being elected each year. This would prevent any radical shifts in leadership.

The second reason is that by having a mandatory "sabbatical," we prevent elders from getting burnout and out of touch with members of the congregation. Oftentimes, leadership can only see the church from a leadership perspective. By taking time away from leadership, an elder can often get a fresh perspective and return better able to serve.

These changes are designed to help make Crossroads a better church. They will not be the last changes, however. As we go forward, I am sure there will be other ideas for improving our structure, as well.

The Hardest Part of Being a Preacher

2009-07-29T09:59:00.001-07:00

If you were to ask me, “What is the hardest part of being a preacher?”, you might be surprised by the answer. I am not sure every preacher would have the same answer to that question. Each individual minister may struggle with a different aspect of the ministry. We are not all the same.

Honestly, though, in my thirty-some years of experience, I can honestly say for me the hardest part is living with a constantly broken heart. We have all had our heart broken at one time or another. Everyone who has ever loved someone knows what I am talking about. Unless you have lived a totally isolated life, you know the pain I speak of.

This may be my own character flaw or it may be the one area of my life that I have achieved some Christ-likeness. The fact is that I live with a constantly broken heart. I can remember colleagues warning me about getting too close to people of the church. Their advice was to not make friends in the congregation, and maintain a professional distance. It could be their counsel was the result of some bitter experiences in their own ministries.

What I have discovered over the years is that I cannot do this work without getting emotionally involved. I simply cannot bring myself to the point of not caring about the people I serve as an evangelist. This is not true for every job I have had.

When I have worked other jobs, I honestly made every effort toward being a great worker. I tried to do quality work and be a good employee. However, I had no emotional investment in the job. In fact, one of my supervisors criticized me in an evaluation by saying, “You come to work happy and you leave happy.” She was right because I never took the job “home” with me.

Being an evangelist, to me, is a calling more than a job. It is not about money or the size of the church, or even personal recognition. To me, it is about the lives of people. I truly believe that what God does through me is to transform people’s lives and their eternality. I cannot involve myself dispassionately in that process. It is too important.

Thus, the reason for my constantly broken heart is people. People are a messy business. They will break your heart sometimes, but they will bless it as well. Nothing feels as good as playing a small role in the transformation of someone into a disciple of Jesus Christ, to walk with them in their spiritual growth, and to see God working in them.

Such joy will, in turn, make you vulnerable to heartache when they stumble. While you know you cannot make their choices for them, you can no less turn off your concern for them. There is a danger that if you care too much, their pain can become your pain. As I often say, a sure way to insanity is to make yourself responsible for what another person says, does, or thinks. I say this for my benefit as much as anyone else’s. But it still hurts.

I do find great comfort in the realization that Jesus, Himself, suffered from a constantly broken heart. Jesus wept, and wept a lot. Because He loved deeply, He was constantly having His heart broken. Whether it was betrayal by Judas, failure by Peter, or abandonment by all His disciples, Jesus lived with a constantly broken heart.

Before the crucifixion, Jesus spoke with His disciples and said this, “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you” (John 15:9-12).

I guess if I am going to love people as Jesus loves me, I will have to learn to live with a constantly broken heart – but a heart that also knows the joy that comes from serving Him.

Our Stewardship Strategy

2009-06-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

One of the most difficult subjects for the church to address is the issue of congregational stewardship – not how much you give as members, but how we, as the leadership, handle the tithes and offerings you give to be used to support the work of the church. It can be a very touchy subject because everyone, and I mean everyone, puts a different value on a dollar. What one person would spend their money on, another person would never think of spending money on. This is why we have taken some time to pray over and determine a long-term stewardship strategy for Crossroads.

With our perilous economic times, it is even more critical that we have a solid, wise, and long-term strategic plan for the church finances. We believe we have such a plan that addresses our current situation and will make our position better in the future. It incorporates a lot of expert advice and wise counsel. It is based, in part, on Dave Ramsey's “Financial Peace” principles of money management.

The strategy can be understood best as a five-legged stool that is well-balanced on all five legs, where each leg supports the weight on the stool. The five legs of this stool represent our five stewardship priorities. These priorities have been prayerfully and carefully established in a specific order.

1.Tithing to Missions
We are committed to tithing ten percent (10%) of our general fund income to support missions. We cannot ask our members to tithe of their income if we, as a congregation, are not trusting God by doing so ourselves. We believe this ought to be our first priority and that God's blessing will follow our faithfulness.

In the future, we will carefully consider increasing this percentage, but only after we are fully funding our other priorities. It is a mistake to believe that simply increasing this percentage arbitrarily demonstrates our spirituality. As our congregation grows so will our income, and in turn, so will the amount we tithe.

2. Reducing our Debt
We are committed to putting three percent (3%) of our general fund income toward additional mortgage principal each week. It is extremely important that we eliminate our debt as quickly and responsibly as possible. With our recent refinance, we did lower the rate of interest and our payment. We want to use part of that savings to accelerate our repayment.

If we can maintain our weekly offering of $4,000 or more, this three percent (3%) applied to the principal of our mortgage would shorten the term from twenty years to fifteen years. It would also save us over $110,000 in interest over the life of the loan. This is money that could be used for expanding our ministry, as well as funding the final phase of our master building plan.

In the future, we will carefully consider increasing this percentage, but only after we are fully funding our other priorities. We cannot starve our ministries for resources, because they produce the growth in our congregation. There is no wisdom in paying off a building that will be empty.

3.Proper Financial Management
Properly managing the finances of the church is critical. The leadership team must submit a budget that demonstrates wise and thoughtful planning. It must take into consideration past giving trends and current financial conditions. It must be rooted in the practical realities of our community. It must be an attainable goal for our congregation.

Having a reasonable budget is only half of the equation. There also must be a reasonable system established to handle the appropriation of the funds when they are received. Not everything in the budget is of equal importance. Just as in your own personal or family budget, there are essentials which must be paid FIRST. Only after these have been funded will funds be made available for discretionary spending. Every dollar must be spent carefully and effectively, and never before it has been received.

Meeting and exceeding the budget will be seriously pursued by the leadership and the ministry teams. As God blesses, any funds received in excess of the budget will NOT be considered a surplus until the end of the budget year. At that time, the leadership team will determine the best use of the funds for the good of the congregation.

To support proper money management, we have created a "contingency fund" of $5,000 for emergencies. Should the church need funds for an unplanned expense, these would come from the contingency fund. At that point, funds going toward debt reduction would be diverted to the contingency fund until it reached the previous balance, at which point the funds would go back toward debt reduction. This eliminates scrambling for funds in an emergency.

4. Separate Funding for Benevolence
As a Christian Church, we believe that the budget of the church must be funded by the tithes and offerings of the membership. We do not have fundraisers to pay salaries or the utilities or the mortgage. These are the operational expenses of God's church and therefore the responsibility of God's people. God's work is not the responsibility of the unbelieving.

However, in the case of benevolence, all the funds spent are for the benefit of those who are NOT members of the church. This is why the decision was made to establish a separate fund for community benevolence. This way, we can raise money through various means to build up resources for benevolence requests.

Each year on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, ALL of the money received on that day will go to support our benevolence ministry "My Brother's Keeper." We will report to the congregation on the number of people that have been helped and how they were helped. The objective is to build up enough resources that when times are tough and money is tight in the church budget, we will still be able help those in serious need.

5. Special Projects Funding
Our recent special offering on Easter Sunday demonstrated the kind of generosity God can provide through His people. We have decided that every Easter, we will have a large special project or several small projects that we want to ask the congregation to give a sacrificial offering to cover. These projects would include, but not be limited to, capital improvements in the building and grounds.

The goal and the project(s) will be announced in time for members to prayerfully consider and make such personal sacrifices as they deem necessary to give generously. The proceeds of the offering will be used strictly for that purpose and that purpose alone. However, it will give one and all the opportunity to give as the Lord leads.

We believe that by having and following this stewardship strategy with dedication, Crossroads will continue to be financially strong and able to meet the challenges of the future successfully. With God's blessing and your faithful generosity, we will have the resources to achieve our mission and fulfill our vision.

What is "My Brother's Keeper" ministry?

2009-05-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

What is “My Brother’s Keeper” ministry? It is the benevolent ministry of Crossroads Christian Church. In the past, benevolence, assistance given to non-members of the church, has been handled through the general budget. Often, this would mean that funds were not available when the needs would come in. This resulted in our missing opportunities to reach out into our community with the love of Christ.

This is why we have decided to handle benevolence through a separately funded ministry called, “My Brother’s Keeper”. Through this ministry, we will able to respond to financial needs in the community by developing several funding streams in addition to the funds provided by the church.

Funds for the ministry will come from three possible sources. First, the church itself will contribute directly to the ministry two ways. One will be through a special offering we will receive on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. This will become our annual “Benevolent Sunday”. Our service that day will be centered a round our responsibility to care for the needy in our community. We will also report to the congregation on what the ministry has done in the past year.

Another way that the congregation will contribute to the ministry will be through our annual church garage sale. This event has been used to fund several different missions and projects in the past. However we would like to focus this event on raising funds to help the needy in our community. The event is a great outreach ministry as well. Currently, we are in need of someone to direct this event this summer.

Besides direct giving, My Brother’s Keeper will be funded through secondary giving by leveraging our spending. For example, if you shop at Payless or Marsh, there is a way that five percent (5%) of what you are already spending can be donated back to our benevolent ministry through using gift cards. There are several other such programs that we will talk about on May 31st when we launch the ministry.
I hope you will come and hear the exciting possibilities of this ministry and God can do through you. The movie is great, and the evening is free to all. Bring your family, neighbors, and friends on May 31st at 6pm to see a "One Night with The King" and hear more about My Brother's Keeper Ministry.

God is GREAT!

2009-04-23T05:21:00.000-07:00

God never ceases to amaze me. When the leadership team determined the goals for our Easter Sunday, I believed that only with God's help could we attain them. I know many of you prayed daily for God to move us, and He most certainly did. Six (6) new members, over twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) in a single offering, and over two hundred in attendance at worship (204), are clearly a demonstration of His presence in our church.

Most of you are aware of the challenges faced by our congregation in the past twelve months. However I believe we have turned the corner on those difficulties and that the accomplishment of these goals is evidence of that reality. You see, struggles are not always all bad. God often uses them to test our faith and commitment. He will use them to cause us to grow in ways that we are either afraid or unwilling to grow in. They make us reassess our motives and our beliefs. They make us stronger in the end.

This is not to say that we still do not have more challenges to work through. However we now have a true spirit of unity and cooperation in which to deal with them. With God's guidance and help, none of them are beyond our ability to work through. Some of them will require that more changes be made in the way we do things. We will need greater commitment from all of our members, including those who serve in positions of responsibility within our church.

On that subject, I want to express my appreciation to a man who has served as an elder in this congregation from its very inception, Neil Anderson. During my eight years, Neil has served continuously as an elder, with the exception of an accident-forced sabbatical. He has worked in both leadership and service. He has served in shepherding and in oversight. He has stood strong in the face of criticism and of difficulty. He successfully led us through three building campaigns. It is no exaggeration to say that Crossroads would not be where it is today without Neil Anderson.

Recently, Neil has stepped down from serving as an elder. He will continue to serve as the coach of support ministries and wants to focus his energies there. This is the ministry that deals with the maintenance of our facilities. As you might imagine, as our building has grown, so have the responsibilities for taking care of it. Neil, along with his wife Jennifer, has recently taken on the task of cleaning the church each week. This is no easy task, with all that we are doing through the week as a congregation. I am sure he would love to have more volunteers.

The leadership team will be looking to add more elders in August. We will be speaking to several men in the meantime about this. Please be in prayer for Scott Thatcher, Dave Nordhielm, and myself, as we continue to lead Crossroads.

Church Membership

2009-03-30T17:15:00.001-07:00

In recent weeks, the subject of church membership has come up in different conversations. For example, just yesterday, I received a call from a Christian organization asking about a person in our congregation. Their question was, "Are they a member in good standing?" Ironically, that phrase, "member in good standing," is one that I have given a lot of thought to lately.

Membership is a word that can have different meanings. In some situations, membership is one-sided. For example, someone can buy a membership at a health club or gym, which then entitles them to come and use the facilities when they want to. As long as they continue to pay their fees, they get to keep their membership. Whether or not they actually use their membership does not affect whether they keep it. In this context, "member in good standing" simply means you are current on your dues or fees.

In other situations, membership is two-sided. Sometimes, the group to which you belong has requirements or expectations of its individual members. When a member fails to maintain the requirements, the group then removes that member from their membership. Thus, the term, "member in good standing" here means that you are actively engaged in the group and meet the requirements.

What about church membership? Is it one- or two-sided? If it is a two-sided relationship, who decides what the expectations or requirements are? I have met people who thought that church membership was simply one-sided. They believe they are a member of the church until they decide not to be. To some, church membership has no connection to their actual participation in the congregation itself. This means that in some churches, there is a large gap between the number of people attending on Sunday morning and the number of people on the membership rolls.

The question of church membership has prompted some congregations to eliminate the whole concept of membership. If you come, that is all that matters; if you don't come, then that's okay, too. There is no accountability at all by the leadership for those people. Other churches have enacted very strict membership policies. I recently read an article advocating that ALL members be REQUIRED to tithe and to prove it.

At Crossroads, we have a membership covenant which we talk about in the Discovering Crossroads class. Every member signs a copy when they join, so they know what the expectations are for membership. In the covenant, it states that members are to be "attending faithfully" the services of the church. I used to believe that you did not have to specify to people exactly what "faithfully" meant, but recent events have caused me to reconsider that opinion. I have never been a big fan of restrictive policies and rules because they replace authentic relationship and actual accountability. I am not sure reducing membership to numbers and percentages helps individuals to grow into mature disciples. This is, of course, the goal of membership, or at least, it ought to be.

Miracle On Easter

2009-03-20T18:01:00.000-07:00

Most of you have already heard about MOE, or more accurately our "Miracle On Easter" campaign. The Leadership is challenging the congregation to pray and work toward accomplishing goals in three key areas.

The first area is that of finances. You are all well aware of the financial difficulties through which our community is going right now. Layoffs have hit several members in our congregation, and this has impacted the church. The leadership team has been proactive and has made a number of difficult decisions to address the situation.

We believe God is bigger that the current economic situation. We believe that He is able to do far more than we can ask or imagine. Therefore, we are praying and believing that He is going to provide through His people a $10,000 plus offering on Easter Sunday.

These funds will be put to good use. Primarily, a $5,000 emergency fund would be provided to be held in reserve in the event the church would need to make a quick repair or deal with a financial emergency. For example, just this week, we discovered that someone had stolen two of our air conditioning units; they cut the lines and took them away. While we do have insurance coverage, there is still a deductable. There will be other such expenses in the future. Our original building is in its 18th year under a 15-year-old roof. The original furnaces are also 18-years-old, with blower motors that could go out at any time. Our water needs are served by a well with a pump that could fail at anytime. It is wise to prepare for such "emergencies" with a reserve fund.

The rest of the offering would be used in our general fund, so that we can begin to accumulate resources toward our ministries. There are programs that need to be funded, such as VBS and our children's ministries. However, we will be very cautious in our expenditures to maximize the effectiveness of every dollar given.

Some might think such a goal is too ambitious, given the current circumstances. As I said, that is why we call it a miracle – because it exceeds our human potential. Yet some of our current offerings have caused me to question whether I set the goal too low. God is truly blessing us through your generosity.

I want to encourage everyone to think about ways of sacrificing something until Easter in order to give that little bit extra. Everyone's participation is critical in order for us to achieve our goal for God's glory. Do not let the devil convince you that your gift will not make a difference. Every dollar given can be multiplied by God.

The second goal is to welcome ten (10) new members into our congregation on Easter Sunday, whether through transfer or baptism. We have many folks who worship with us on a regular basis but, as of yet, have not become members. We are having our membership class "Discovering Crossroads" on Saturday, April 4th at 10:00 a.m., to answer any questions you may have. Those considering membership are encouraged to attend.

Our final goal for Easter is to have over two hundred (200) people in attendance. This is not a difficult goal to accomplish. It only requires that EVERY member of Crossroads commit to being here that day, and to inviting as many others as possible. Easter is a great time to invite friends and family to visit our services.

The key to realizing these goals is praying for God's intervention. Miracles still happen if believers will be unified in prayer and commit to being used of God. Pray for MOE every day, several times a day if you can. Ask God to show you want you can do to be an instrument of His will to make this miracle on Easter happen.

See You Sunday,
Mike

First Congregational Forum

2009-03-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

The first our congregational forums is behind us. The meeting was well attended and there was a diversity of members there. The purpose of the forums is to provide another means of receiving input from the congregation on matters that the leadership is considering. This particular meeting, however, was an opportunity to address any questions or discuss any issues members had.

As you would imagine, many of the questions received were about the recent change to one service and the type of service we have been doing in terms of worship style. For example, someone asked, "What is a blended service?" Several people afford their prospective on the question and gave suggestions. Tyler shared that his goal in designing the service is that everyone would find, at least one element of the service that connects them to God in worship.

Another subject that came up in several different forms is how the make-up of the church has changed over the last five to ten years. This will always be true of growing congregations. Our demographics have changed. Our talent pool has changed. We have different musicians with different talents. This affects the type of blended service we can provide with quality.

While the discussions were, for the most part, good, I was disappointed in the fact that much of it was focused on the past and on the negative. This was to be expected since we did invite members to share their questions and concerns. A certain amount of "venting" is healthy and even beneficial. However, I now believe the time for that is over. We need to put the past behind us, and move forward together.

I did not say much at the meeting because we wanted to hear from the congregation. What I did say was that while it is true we are a different church than we were eight years ago, I firmly believe we are a BETTER church than we were then. I also believe that eight years from now, we will be an even better church than we are now. We are growing as a congregation both numerically and spiritually. We have a committed and united leadership that is truly focused on our mission as a church. We positioned to reach this community during this time of difficulty as never before.

Future forums will be more focused on specific ideas or plans that the leadership team is considering. Congregational input is critically important to our success as a church. Their focus will be on the great things God is doing through us to reach the lost and build His kingdom through Crossroads.

Deeper Look

2009-02-18T11:22:00.000-08:00

When the decision was made to return to a single service format, there were many reasons to do so. One of the biggest reasons was to provide the ability to return to having a Sunday school hour. With our two service format, we were limited in terms of classroom space for adult classes. Since returning to a single service, we have re-launched a full hour of Sunday school called "Deeper Look".

We have seen the number of people coming to Sunday school grow each week. We have three (3) adult classes along with classes for high school, middle school and younger. The women's class is already filling the classroom where it meets. My class has already been discussing some very interesting topics as we study Romans. Mike Dunn and Jerry Mathews are continuing their class on the minor prophets of the Old Testament.

Something else NEW at Crossroads is our congregational forum coming up March 6th at 7pm. This is the first of, what we hope to be many, such forums where members can discuss concerns and questions with the leadership team. We will also use this time to communicate with our plans for the future as well as the current condition of the church. Please make an effort to attend the forum.

Here are the guidelines for the forum:

1. Those who have questions for the leadership should provide those questions prior to the meeting so that we can have an opportunity to provide full and accurate answers.

2. Those who wish to speak at the meeting will need to let the leadership team know in advance so that we can keep the meeting to a reasonable length of time.

3. Those who speak need to talk about positive solutions as well as problems and concerns.

4. Comments and discussion must be focused on the topic, and should not be personal in nature, but respectful of others and their views as well.

5. The meeting will be limited to discuss only. There will be no debating, negotiating, problem-solving, or decisions made.

6. The moderator will control the length of discussion on any single topic, and will change the subject when all points of view have been heard.

7. The meeting will begin on time and will end on time. We will have other such meetings and other opportunities for congregational input. The meeting will be limited to ninety (90) minutes so that members can arrange for appropriate childcare and return home at a reasonable hour.

You might be asking, "Why have guidelines?" The answer is that we want the forum to be both positive and productive. As a Leadership team, we want to give members the opportunity to provide input and feedback to us on the church and future plans.

Finally, I am going to be writing a new blog post every week from now on and I would like to invite you to send me your questions or subject you would like me to address. In this way, we can continue the discussion and communication within our congregation.

In Christ,
Mike

A Question of Stewardship

2009-01-27T21:47:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, I served a congregation in the south western corner of Pennsylvania. The church had a number of unique problems, which mostly revolved around money and stewardship. This was caused by a couple of circumstances, one of them was that a member had died and left them nearly a half a million dollars in her will.

Early on in my ministry there, I was speaking with one of the elders. He informed me that he was not giving to the church at all. While he believed in tithing, he had stopped giving because the church did not "tithe to missions". He was convinced that what he was doing by "voting his pocket book" was totally correct. He reasoned that since the church was not doing what he thought they should do, he was justified in withholding his tithe and offerings.

To be honest, I was a bit taken back by what he told me, and I did not know exactly how to respond. After some thought, I sat down with him and lovingly confronted what he was doing. I explained to him that there is no such a concept in Scripture as "voting your pocket book". In my opinion, if you don't financially support the church of which you are a member, especially an elder, then you ought to go to a church that you can support.

What he was doing clearly demonstrated that he had no concept of Christian stewardship. In his mind, he could use HIS money to manipulate the church into doing what he thought they should do. The problem is, of course, it was not HIS money, but GOD's. God blesses you with material wealth so that you can GIVE to support His church, not attempt to influence HER leadership.

In my message on vision, I said that we needed to equally value and honor every single member of this congregation as Paul wrote in Corinthians, "so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other" (1 Corinthians 12:25). This principle especially applies in the area of stewardship and giving. No one should use their tithes and offerings as a means of controlling the church. Doing so is dangerous both to the spiritual life of the member and to the future of the congregation.

This is why I never want to know how much a member or family gives to our congregation. How much you give is between you and God, who blesses you with ability to give. You will always get the "equal concern" from me regardless of your giving. To do anything else is nothing more than favoritism which the Scriptures condemn.

Withholding one's tithe and offerings is extremely harmful to the member as well. You rob yourself of the blessing that comes from giving as well as turning your heart away from the Lord. Remember what Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." (Matthew 6:21). When you don't give, you don't care, and when you don't care, you can do a great deal of harm.

The fact is that every one of us could find some excuse not to give or not to give as much as we know we should. If we must agree with everything in church and in the budget before we can support it financially, then Crossroads is doomed. I have given faithful to Crossroads even though I had serious disagreements with some things. I did this because I am giving to God in support of HIS Church.

Leaderships change. Budgets change. However my obligation to the Lord does not. As long as I am a member of THIS congregation, I must support THIS congregation with my tithe and offerings. If, for some reason, I cannot, then I need to find a congregation that I can support.

This is not to say that the leadership of a congregation should ignore the membership. We need to be open to suggestions and willing to listen to your concerns. Everyone, regardless of how much they give, should be heard and treated with respect. As John Maxwell once said, "A leader with no followers is just man out for walk".

I would be the first to confess that, as a leadership team, we have not always done our best in listening to your input as a congregation. That is changing though. We are committed to pursuing the mission and vision of Crossroads Christian Church. We want and need for you to come along side us on this adventure.

In Christ,
Mike

Congregational Meeting Sunday

2009-01-23T17:40:00.001-08:00

This Sunday, we will have a short congregational meeting to vote on a proposal to refinance our two existing mortgages into one single one. You might asking, "How did the church end up with two mortgages?" The answer is that when we built the addition onto our existing building, we took out what is called a "construction loan". This loan gradually releases funds to the contractor as the structure is being built. Ordinarily, this mortgage would have been combined with our existing mortgage when the building was completed.

What happened was that when the time came to combine the construction loan with our existing mortgage, the interest rates had climbed to 8.75%. If we had combined them, we would have increased the interest on our existing mortgage by 1.25% (7.5% to 8.75). Obviously, it was better to leave the existing mortgage alone, and simply take on a second mortgage for cost of the construction. The downside was that it more than doubled our monthly payment for our debt to nearly $6,000.00 per month.

Now that rates have come down, we can refinance both mortgages into a single mortgage and lower BOTH rates to 6.75%. This will mean that less money will be spent on interest, and allow us to put more money on the principle of the loan when we can.

Since we have paid tens of thousands of dollars on the principle of our first mortgage, some people have expressed a concern about increasing the length (term) of the mortgage. The proposed mortgage is for twenty (20) years, and the interest rate is fixed for five years. Lengthening the term to twenty years DOES NOT increase our debt at all. As with all mortgages, you pay interest on the unpaid balance every month regardless of the term.

The length or term of a mortgage is determined by how much of the principle you pay every month, not interest. You never prepay interest, only principle. For example, if you have thirty (30) year mortgage, and you pay twice as much as on the principle each month, you will pay it off in fifteen years. Regardless, you still paid the interest on the remaining principle balance every month.

This is an opportunity for the church to greatly improve our finances and our cash-flow. There is no practical reason not to approve this proposal. Without this refinance, it will be more difficult for us to weather the challenging financial times ahead. By paying less interest, we will have more funds to invest in the ministry and growth of our congregation.
That is good the church and for the Kingdom of God.

Our Vision for the Future

2009-01-16T05:45:00.000-08:00

First, I want to begin by thanking all of you for your words of encouragement and support for my recent message on my vision for Crossroads Christian Church. It was a difficult message to preach given our challenging circumstances, but one I felt was desperately needed. When times a hard, it is really easy to become negative and pessimistic. This is why I believe we need to focus on a positive vision for the future.

I know it may not have seemed to be a positive message in the beginning, but I wanted everyone to know that I am not in denial about our current difficulties. Yes, our congregation faces some financial challenges. Members have lost their jobs and have had difficulty in finding employment. Yes, our offerings have dropped in recent months and it is reeking havoc with funding our ministries. These and other challenges make being a leader in this congregation tough.

However, I have been through such situations before. I am supremely confident that God is greater and more powerful than all these circumstances. It is times like these where true leaders rise the occasion. Our current leadership team is meeting these issues head on. We have made some tough decisions that will help us, not only to survive these things, but thrive in them as well. But it takes more than a few strong leaders.

We, as a congregation, can no longer rely on just a few dedicated folks to make this church work. Each and every member needs to take a good hard look at where they are and what they are doing in regards to this church. It is in times like these where every hour of service and every dollar given is critical. We cannot achieve our mission or fulfill our vision without the full support of everyone who is a member of this church.

For example, I said in my message that I believe we can have over 200 in worship every Sunday by the end of 2009. This is a very real possibility, but it would require all of us to genuinely commit to being in church every Lord's day. We have 113 actual members of Crossroads with 27 children. Add to that the 60 regular attenders with 12 children, and you have 210 people. This does not even account for the number guests and new members we will add in coming year.

This year will be a great year of opportunity for our church. As life itself gets more difficult, people will begin to question their priorities, and values. They will look around for answers. Just as the economy may cause us to lose some folks as they move to find work, it will also bring new folks to our community as well. We need to be ready to respond to these people when they come to us.

As long as we stand united as a church and work together to build God's Kingdom, we will grow under these present conditions. We have all the elements necessary for that to happen. We have the right staff and proper facilities. We have strong and visionary leadership. We have a good group of dedicated volunteers. But most of all we have God who specializes in making the impossible, POSSIBLE!

In Christ,
Mike

What a Wonderful Christmas!

2008-12-28T18:02:00.000-08:00

I hope that you enjoyed your Christmas holidays. I know I did. So many good things have happened. Our Christmas Eve service was the best ever, and we owe a great thank you to Becky Dunn for coordinating that for us. We also need to thank Becky and my wife, MaryAnne, and Sara Foster for putting up our Christmas decorations as well.

Today, I combine two of our texts from Acts into one sermon. I did this because I really wanted to do a New Year's sermon this coming Sunday. It will be an important message on the future of Crossroads Christian Church. We will talk about the challenges and the opportunities that face us as a congregation in 2009.

My wife and I want to thank all of you for the gifts, the bonus, the cards, and for your presence at our Christmas open house. We love all of you very much and feel honored and blessed to serve this congregation. Even with the recent "rough patch", we are more convinced than ever both that God has us where HE wants us and we are doing his Will serving at Crossroads.

I want to extend a invitation to all of you who do not have plans for New Year's eve to come to the party at the church. It is tremendous fun and we enjoy good Christian fellowship. We share in a variety of activities and well as in snacks. You would not believe how much fun a group of believers can have. Not only that, it is a great time to invite your friends and family. They will be amazed that Christians can have such a good time.

Mike

Christmas Time!

2008-12-12T06:47:00.000-08:00

I love the holidays for many reasons. The opportunity to get together with friends and family is always welcome. As Christian, I especially appreciate the body of Christ at this time of year. The open house we have is just one small way of showing that appreciation. I want to thank everyone who came to our home to celebrate with us. My wife and I want you to know how much you are loved.

Being over fifty (50) years old, I have seen a lot of Christmas seasons come and go. Growing up in home with five other kids, Christmas time was a great deal different than it is today. As a child, we did not get lots of presents because my father was not a wealthy man. He was, for most of his life, a laborer. He would work as much overtime as was available, and even work second jobs to pay the regular monthly bills. But at Christmas time, we got to pick one toy we wanted Santa to bring us for Christmas.

Yes, I must confess, I was one of the children who were so deceived by my parents. I believed that there really was a Santa Claus. I also believed that he sent my mother and father a catalog of the toys his elves were making this year. This is probably why I love that movie, "A Christmas Story" so much. It reminds me in many ways of what Christmas was like growing up. I also wanted a "BB gun" for Christmas (which I did, in fact, get).

This Christmas season is different in many ways. With the economy in serious trouble, some families are facing difficult times. Everyone is concerned that things may get worse before they get better. In many ways, it is comparable to the very first Christmas, when Christ was born. The Jewish community, under the Romans, was facing difficult times as well. They were ready for the Messiah to come and deliver them from their oppressors.

Ironically, the Gift that God gave them; Jesus, was not really the gift they were seeking after. Then, as now, people were wrapped up in the materialism of this life. While we all need money to provide for ourselves and our families, money does not really meet our deepest needs. Without a personal daily relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, no amount of money, no job or career, and no single possession, regardless how costly can obtain salvation for us. Our security, as Christians, rests solely on the sovereignty of God, not the next paycheck or government bailout.

I think that going through a Christmas season with a limited ability to give material gifts might help each us to really focus on the kind of Christmas gifts people really need, the kind money cannot buy. Things like grace, peace, and love cannot be bought. They are given when we willing try to be "like Jesus" our Lord, and forgive others. They are given when we are humble enough to accept others as Christ accepted us, unconditionally. They are given when we are open to being connected to God and to others in the body of Christ in genuine relationships.

My prayer for you and your family is that God blesses you in ways that are lasting this Christmas. That after the wrapping paper is in the trash, and the batteries are all installed, you will discover that God has given you a greater faith in His control over your life and your family. I hope the greatest gift you receive is far more than the one you want, but is really the one that meets your needs.

Merry Christmas!
Mike

Fulfilling Our Vision

2008-11-25T06:46:00.000-08:00

The vision of Crossroads Christian Church is to become a place where people experience transforming grace in genuine community. That is a tremendous, God-honoring, and Christ exalting vision. It is a vision that I hope we ALL are committed to fulfilling.

Since we cast that new vision at our ReUnited service, some people have come forward to express concerns about our current situation as a congregation. A few have decided to seek fellowship and worship else where, even one from our own leadership team. While this saddens me, what grieves me the most is that sometimes there is a sense of gladness with some people about some of those that have chosen to leave.

Let me make myself perfectly clear on this matter. We should NEVER take pleasure in the loss of a single individual from our church for less than positive reasons. When people leave our congregation for such reasons, we need to see it as our failure to fulfill our vision. You and I failed to motivate them to be "transformed" by God's grace and grow as disciples of Jesus Christ. We must work even harder to become that place of transforming grace.

I will grant you that they also bear responsibility for their failure to be transformed. Some people are unwilling to accept the accountability and authenticity that comes from living in genuine community with other believers. This does not make their leaving a good thing however, because we lose the opportunity to minister to them and for them to be used of God here. We need to pray earnestly that God directs them to another congregation that will help them to grow in Christ.

The challenge that remains for us is that we need to be focused on the mission and vision that God has given us as a congregation. God is blessing our church! Each and every week we are seeing new faces in the congregation. While I know that our single worship service is not meeting everyone's needs perfectly, I can clearly see a commitment to work together to make it better and better every week. If you are not experiencing God in the worship service, you are simply not looking for HIM.

In closing, I need to mention our financial situation. Since the beginning of the fiscal year (September), our offerings have been running at only 75% of the budget. With over 80% of our budget being made up by fixed expenses (mortgage, salaries, insurance, etc), that does not leave any funds for actual ministry programing. This trend cannot continue without serious consequences. The leadership team is already considering options to deal with this situation, but the fact remains we need everyone's consistent financial support.

I know some of you have lost your jobs and others are still looking for jobs. Others are being squeezed financially, and most of us are concerned about the economy. We cannot forget however that GOD IS STILL IN CONTROL. He has promised to bless us in proportion to how much we are willing to give. We need to understand that our tithe is anchor of financial strength. When we are faithful to God, HE is faithful to us.

God Bless!
Mike

ReUnited Service

2008-11-03T08:24:00.000-08:00

I wanted to rewrite this post last night but I was just too exhausted. I cannot imagine God doing more than what HE did yesterday in our first service of the new single service format. God used everyone involved in a very special way. I want thank Guy and Archie for being willing to share their thoughts with the congregation. Their words came straight from the heart and were a tremendous blessing to all. It is good to be reminded of the lives our congregation has touched.

This was an especially important service for us because the devil has been working overtime trying to bring a negative and divisive spirit into our fellowship. This is why I decide to have a prayer breakfast for the men of the church on Saturday. What a fabulous time we had together. Men encouraging other men. Honest and transparent sharing of our struggles and joys. It was such a blessing, we are going to another one on Saturday, December 6th at 8am.

For those of you who missed the service, I can only say, I warned you. Our theme of reunited was woven throughout the service. We asked our people, not only to be reunited in one worship service, but also in our mission and new vision statement. We closed the service with an initiation to demonstrate their support by signing one of two large posters of mission and vision statements. We will have these available for everyone to sign for next couple of weeks before we laminate them for mounting in the church.

What I love most about our vision statement is that it expands on our tagline "experience community". Our vision is to be a place with people experience transforming grace in genuine community. As I said Sunday, community is not a place, but a relationship that exists between people. It is the feeling you get when you know you are where you belong and are genuinely accepted. As was evident from the service, Crossroads has helped transform lives through God's grace.

I realize that not everyone is totally on board with our decision to return to having only one worship on a Sunday. Let me assure you that it is the desire of the leadership to return a two service format when attendance justifies doing so. We have already established benchmarks for when the transition will begin. When we fill the current auditorium for two services, we will begin the process of constructing our actual auditorium. Nothing would please me more than to see us again on a consistent growth track for the future.

Finally, I want to encourage you to speak to me, email me, or call me if you have any questions, concerns, or problems. Often times, people are upset about something that is not even TRUE. They have been misled by someone else, either intentionally or unintentionally, who has a personal agenda and is not seeking the good of the church. Our congregation is strong and now is united behind a God-honoring and Christ exalting mission and vision. God has great things planned for this church.

ReUnited!!!

2008-10-22T20:07:00.000-07:00

On Sunday, November 2nd, Crossroads Christian Church will return to a single service. We are praying that this first service will be a catalyst for a new passion and renewed sense of mission for our congregation. I believe God is ready to do tremendous things in our church. You will not want to miss this service at 10:30am.

I also want to mention how pleased I am with our newest staff member, Tyler Brooks. He has jumped right in and is actively working to make our worship experience better and better each week. Moving to a single service on Sunday will allow him to really focus in on making the service the best it can be. Tyler's style of leading worship is different that Dawn's or Sherry's or Max's, but it comes from a genuine desire and heart to worship God.

I want to ask each of you to do two things. One, pray for the leadership and staff of Crossroads Christian Church. We need to hear God's voice and follow His direction. Secondly, take some time and personally get to know Tyler and his wife, Torie. Invite them over for dinner some evening or after church. Let Tyler know you support him. We are his first church and we want to spoil him with encouragement and kindness.

What's Happening to Our Church?

2008-09-29T23:56:00.000-07:00

As some of you have noticed, we have suffered the loss of several families in the last few months. When I am asked why, I wish I had a really good answer. There is no one singular reasons for every situation.

The best I can come up with is that our congregation seems to be in a holding pattern. We need to break free from this spiral of discouragement and negative thinking. We need to get focused on our mission again. This is going to happen and we are going to get back on a growth track.

The key is going to be leadership, and here is where your prayers and words of encouragement are essential. Pray daily for the leadership of our congregation. Let them know that you support them 100%. There are real difficult choices that need to be made and it will take courage and wisdom from God to make them.

I would also ask you to pray for Tyler and myself as the staff. There is much that we need to do together to be effective. I think we have gotten off to a great start, but more work lies ahead.

Finally, pray for the people of Crossroads as well. Difficult times in a church test the very nature of our commitment to the church and to one another. Hang on and hang in with us. I know that we are on threshold of great things as the Body of Christ. God is GOOD, ALL THE TIME!

Graduate School....

2008-08-28T16:42:00.000-07:00

Last Tuesday evening, I began a graduate school class at Indian Creek Christian Church (The Creek). I was reminded why I did not pursue higher education. While I love to learn, I don't love it enough to spend $1250.00 for the privilege. It is a great class and will be immensely helpful to my ministry. Dr. Gary Johnson is the minister of THE CREEK and is focusing the class on the practical side of church leadership and management.

What I find to truly be a work of God is that this "free" class is exactly what I need to be studying and discussing with a man of God like Dr. Johnson. We are covering material on leadership that speaks to both my needs and the real needs of Crossroads. It is a great experience.

What has made it even greater is that one of the other students in this class is brother in Christ named Jeff. He was a member of the church I served on the south side. His education was in journalism, but his passion was for ministry. He has been preaching now for several years on part-time basis and working as a chaplain at a cancer hospital. He is taking the class because he needs more education, as well as being free. What a blessing to see that he is still serving the Lord after all these years, and to have played a small part in his life.

GOD IS GOOD!

Thoughts on our Congregational Meeting...

2008-08-21T17:11:00.000-07:00

First off, I want to thank all of you who attended the annual congregational meeting Sunday afternoon. I also want to thank those of you who have spoken to or emailed me since the meeting expressing your concerns for my feelings. Let me assure you all that I was not hurt or offended by any comments that were made during the meeting. The purpose of these meetings is not just to vote on a ballot and a budget. They are opportunities for members to express their own feelings and concerns about what is going on in the church.

For those of you who did not attend the meeting for one reason or another, there was a discussion dealing the format of our current worship services. Part of the discussion was about the difficulty we are having in staffing volunteers for children's programming during each of our TWO (2) services. The leadership has been considering several options in this regard, but no decision has been made. One idea is to return to having only one worship service. With the new larger auditorium, we could accommodate everyone quite comfortably with plenty of room for growth.

Related to this was a discussion about the possibility of returning to a regular Sunday school program again. While it is a possibility, there are some serious logistical and staffing problems to consider before that could happen. All in all, I believe it was a good informative discussion where individuals expressed their views respectfully.

There are serious challenges facing our congregation as well as great opportunities. We need to be focused on achieving our mission more than ever. In difficult times, we need to remember that our God is able to do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine. Please continue to keep the elders and myself in your prayers. With our new elders, Dave Nordhielm and Scott Thatcher, serving with our current elders, I believe we have a solid foundation of leadership on which to move forward and continue to growth.

Who Stole My Church?....

2008-07-31T17:06:00.000-07:00

I have just finished reading a book entitled "Who Stole My Church?" written by Gordon MacDonald. In the book, he writes about dealing with change in church. He approaches the subject from a different prospective. He writes about a fictional church in New England and how they struggled with the changes necessary to be a growing, thriving congregation in the 21st century. Through the characters in the book and their interaction in what they call "the Discovery Group", we see a transformation taking place in how they deal with and eventually embrace needed changes in the 150 year old church.

What I found most interesting was not how they all, actually almost all, came to accept the needed changes in the church. Every congregation has to deal with change. Even Crossroads has undergone changes, and still has more change coming. What I found most interesting was how this group evolved into an intimate and caring group experiencing authentic community and real spiritual growth. What began as a group of congregation members opposed to the leadership of the church ended up being a perfect example of a small group.

Over time these people find that they are not really connected to each other even though they have been members of the same church for decades. As the trust level of the group increases, individuals became transparent about their lives, their struggles, and their failures. They share things about themselves that no one else ever realized. They begin to pray and encourage one another, and even those outside of their group.

This is the vision I have for our congregation's small groups. People living in intimacy with God, community with other believers, and influence with unbelievers. When we are in those kinds of small groups, dealing with change is not as difficult. We have our eyes on the right things, and little things like instruments, styles of worship, and such are that important.

Sunday's Sermon...

2008-07-22T11:29:00.000-07:00

I know sometimes people think that the preacher is preaching at them. In reality, I am, often times, preaching to myself. Studying the Scriptures brings one face to face with mirror of God's Truth. It challenges me and my thinking and my actions as much as anyone.

When I said that I understood the apostle Paul and the choice he made to separate from Barnabas I meant it. It is always easier to end a relationship than fix it. It is always easier to burn a bridge than build one. What is not so easy is to honestly and brutally look at one's own actions in the light of the Scriptures. We can be quick to point out where others have failed, while ignoring our own failures in the past and in the present.

While we should strive to be more like Barnabas in the way he encouraged others, we also need to remember that he was man with his own faults as well. Paul tells us in Galatians 2:13 that "The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray". You see one can be too focused on relationships and lose sight of their Christian principles. Barnabas who had opposed the attempt make the Gentiles disciples into Jews, was now treating those same Gentiles with disrespect for the sake of maintaining a relationship with those same Jewish believers.

As Christians, we must balance people and principle properly in our lives. That balance is found in our continued study of God's Word and in our authentic community with one another.

What a GREAT CONVENTION!

2008-07-10T20:36:00.000-07:00

I have always enjoyed the North American Christian Convention. However, this year was better than most. The services were great and the messages inspiring. It was also great to see friends and renew relationships.

One man, Robert Kitchen, or "Dad", as I call him, was there. I was able to connect with him after losing track of him for few years. Bob was the man who spent hours and hours talking to a rebellious teenager about God, the Church, and a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. After a year or so, things began to make sense to me and I accepted Jesus Christ.

The funny thing is most of Bob's kids went to college and two of his own sons were planning to be ministers. None of them are still in the ministry. Only I remain in the ministry. I think Bob is pretty proud of that fact.

Another thing happened at the convention. MaryAnne and I were in the elevator going back to our room after the evening service. There was just us and a little old woman. When I look at her, she seems familiar to me, but I could not figure out how. I looked at her name tag (everyone wears a name tag at the NACC), and saw her name - Lois Wool. Finally, I just had to ask her if she was married to a man named Ruby. She answered that she was, but he had passed away about ten years ago. Then she looked at my name tag and said my name. I could see the light go on. "You're Mike Duff!" she shouted. "Yes I am", I said, "Your husband baptized me!"

Her husband. Ruby, was an elder in my home church. One summer Sunday morning, when the preacher was gone on vacation, he preached his first sermon from the pulpit of the South Redford Church of Christ. Not only that, but I think I was his first baptism as well. He looked pretty shocked when I came down the aisle of that auditorium. One thing you should know about Ruby. He was short. Like Dave Nance short! I was as tall then as I am now, maybe even taller. He struggled baptizing me, but he got the job done.

All this got me to thinking. You know my conversion was the product of the efforts of several people, many of whom, were not paid staff. Now in fairness, the minister of the church had also worked with me and was an important factor, but it was a team effort. From Sunday school teachers, to youth sponsors, from caring church members, to leadership that was not afraid to step out of their comfort zone, all these people were used to reach me for Christ.

To often, church members forget that evangelizing the lost is EVERYONE'S job. There are people in your life right now who need to hear about Jesus Christ. Some of them might just need a ride to church. Some of them might just need a friend. Some of them might need someone to ask the question, "Do you have a daily relationship with God through Jesus Christ, His Son?" Reaching the people of this community is a TEAM effort. Why not get in the game?

Memories of Church Camp!

2008-06-26T09:27:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I worked a partial week of church camp at Hanging Rock. I am still recovering from my two and half days of working with the kids. I have not work in camp for almost ten years. I forgot how tiring it all can be. It was great to see children from our church involved. You need to congratulate Emma Thatcher for being the most valuable girl on her team at camp.

I am sorry that I have not been posting lately. Things have gotten really, really busy this summer. In fact, I am right now preparing to leave next week for the North American Christian Convention in Cincinnati. It is a great time to renew friendships and build new ones. I also enjoy the awesome worship services they have.

This does not mean that I am not enjoying our services. Tyler has been doing a tremendous job since starting June first. I can already see a difference in our services. We are blessed to have him here working with our congregation. I encourage you to offer him your help. He has a TWO very important ministries to manage, Worship and Student. I know he needs all the assistance he can get.

In closing, I have noticed that attendance has been down in the month of June. This is understandable because people travel on the weekends to enjoy the nice weather. However you need to be careful that you don't get "out of the habit" of being in church. Spirituality is as much a habit as anything else in our lives. Please make every effort to be in church during these summer months. Remember, also, that our expenses continue even when you are not there. Your faithfulness in giving regularly is how we are able to minister to each other and to our community.

Balancing the Focus...carefully.....

2008-05-22T18:25:00.001-07:00

One of the greatest challenges in leading a congregation is balancing the focus. I am currently reading a book entitled, "7 Practices of Effective Ministry". It talks a lot about how churches walk a fine line between discipling their members, and reaching out to those outside the church. We want to be effective in both arenas, but there is always a tension that exists.

What is sometimes missing in the equation is honest input from the congregation. As a leader, I try to listen to what people are saying and what they think is important. Often times the only thing I hear is complaints about the church, our services, and the direction we are going. I learned a long time ago that you cannot please everyone. It is not my intention to make everyone happy. I would like to know what people think, whether or not they understand the "what" and "why" of the things we do.

For example, we have initiated having two distinctly different worship services: Patterns and Innovations. The goal has been to provide both members and guests a clear choice. Patterns is a traditional service designed to honor worship tradition that we all have enjoyed. Innovations is a contemporary service designed as a venue for newer, more modern worship. Each has it's own audience. Judging by attendance, many people have enjoyed the Patterns service. First service attendance is up.

What do you think about the two services and their formats?

Being a Proud Parent!

2008-05-20T07:01:00.000-07:00

I have often said that my decision to get married was a easy one. Others have told me that I made a much better choice than MaryAnne did, and I tend to agree with them. She has been such a blessing to my life that I cannot even begin to describe it.

However the decision to have children was much more difficult. As some of you know, I am one of six children. In growing up in a big family, I saw all the difficulties in being a parent. I was not able to have the relationship with my dad that I want because he was always so busy working to keep us feed, clothed, and housed.

When we talked about children, MaryAnne and I had agreed on limiting the number to only two. Well, as least, I thought she agreed. We have three great kids, and I love each of them very much. I hope I have told them that often enough.

Recently my wife and I attended my second son's (Miles) graduation from Johnson Bible College with a bachelors degree in Media and Bible . I am very proud of him and what he has done in his life. Going to college and finishing school is an important step in his life. While he does not yet have a handle on what exactly he wants to do, he does have a good foundation of knowledge that will serve him whatever he does. I am sure that God has great plans for his life.

CrossKids Daycare Ministry

2008-05-08T09:18:00.000-07:00

One of our greatest, growth generating ministries here at Crossroads has been our daycare ministry. Since it was started over five years ago, it has been instrumental in bringing a steady stream of new families into our congregation. While I may be accused of a little bias because my wife, MaryAnne, is the director, the fact of the matter is that this quality program has been a tremendous asset both to us as a congregation, and even more to the parents it serves.

Some of you new folks might not even be aware that we have a daycare here at the church. It operates Monday through Friday, from 6:30am to 6pm, all year long. We offer full time care to children for a monthly rate of $340.00. This is one of the lowest rates in the community for a program that includes preschool instruction. The daycare accepts children who are three years old and potty trained through kindergarten. It also has a before and after school program for school age children up to fifth grade.

Our daycare ministry is truly a ministry. Our tuition rates are kept very low so that we can help working families afford quality childcare. However our mission is to reach them with the love of God and saving grace of Jesus Christ. If you have time, stop by for a visit, and see the difference the church is making in these families. Even better, you can offer to volunteer some time to help. An extra set of hands in always appreciated. Contact MaryAnne Duff if you have an interest.

Thursday, May 15th, at 7pm, CrossKids will be holding the graduation program. This is where the older children are "graduated" out to kindergarten. You are welcome to attend the program, and show your support for MaryAnne and her teachers.

Back From Graduation...

2008-05-04T17:37:00.000-07:00

Well, we are finally home for awhile. It seems like we have been gone forever, but in reality we have just missed a couple of Sundays. It was great to see Miles graduate from Johnson with all of his friends. His immediate plans are to move in with his brother and find a job.

May is already shaping up to be a very busy month. With Dave and Dawn leaving us, and Tyler and Torie coming, we have a lot to do. We are finalizing programs and schedules for the summer. For the first time, since coming to Crossroads, I have been asked to work in camp. I hope I have not lost my touch. I will be a team coach, teacher, and campfire speaker for 3rd and 4th graders, June 22nd-24th.

Back from Nassau, Bahamas

2008-04-21T08:18:00.000-07:00

Well, we are back in town! It was great to get away, but even better to come home. MaryAnne and I enjoyed the cruise. There were a few disappointments, but all in all as they say, "a good time was had by all!"

I understand that things were interesting in my absence. I hope everyone enjoyed the SCAMPS group and Loren's sermon. It was great to hear that two students were baptized in connection with the SNA, which was attended by over sixty (60) people. Seeing people getting connected to God is what Crossroads in really all about!

Getting Ready for Vacation....

2008-04-14T18:17:00.001-07:00

MaryAnne and I are getting ready for vacation. It is a lot of work to prepare to not work. You need to make sure every one of your responsibilities is covered. You have to make sure all the details of your travel are right. Hopefully, you don't forget something important!

There is a lot going on while I am gone this weekend. Dave and Dawn will be doing their last SNA with the students. Tyler and Torie will be in town apartment hunting. SCAMPS will be leading worship in the INNOVATIONS service.

With all this stuff going on, it is easy to overlook how much God has blessed us. For last few months, Sherry Gick has been serving as our interim worship coordinator. She has done a tremendous job. I have enjoyed both working with her and the services she has planned. I believe one of the best services I have ever experience here at Crossroads was coordinated by her. Please let her know how much you appreciate her work.

Lots and lots of Changes!

2008-04-10T08:46:00.000-07:00

Unless you are totally out of the loop, you know that lots of things have been and are changing at Crossroads. Soon, Dave and Dawn Nance will be leaving us for Atlanta. I will really hate to see them go because I personally and professionally have been blessed by them both. Their involvement at Crossroads has truly been a blessing.

Dave has served us well as student minister. He, along with Dawn, have touched the lives of our young people in ways that have shaped them for the future. We could never have afforded someone of his quality, giftedness, and talent, let alone the sheer number of hours he invested in the ministry.

Dawn has also served in her own special way as well. Her work as worship coordinator and leader has given our congregation a better understanding and appreciation for worship. Besides worship, Dawn has filled roles in both student ministry and in our daycare ministry. She is truly multi-talented.

While they will be missed, I firmly believe they have positioned us well for our new student and worship minister, Tyler Brooks. He comes to us, fresh out of college. He and his wife, Torie, will be starting in June. I am excited to have someone to share both the ministry and the blessing of Crossroads with. Please keep them in prayer, that they will be able to find good housing here in Lafayette and that their move will go well.

Finally, I am aware that some people have expressed some reservations about both the process and the hiring of Tyler. Some of this is the result of being unfamiliar with our congregation's procedures. This is understandable because this is the first time we have hired a full-time staff member since the constitution and by-laws was rewritten. As always, I would be happy to sit down and explain both our process and the reasoning behind it.

Some of the reservations, I believe, are due in part to the fact that we are moving to a whole new level as a congregation. Hiring a second full-time staff member is a big step for a church financially. While Tyler's salary is not that much more than what we have been paying our two part-time people, it is a much bigger commitment. With part-time people, if you have to let them go, you know that you are not their main source of income. However, with a full-time person, your responsibility increases. It is a much greater commitment.

I am confident that God's hand has been and is continually involved in this congregation. He has provided us someone who meets our needs and can grow with us. We can do this with God's help and your support!

Why have a Blog?

2008-04-04T08:32:00.000-07:00

With this being my first entry into the world of blogging, I thought I would start by sharing my reason for having a blog. I know that there are questions and concerns that Christian people have that they either do not take the time to ask or do not have the appropriate forum to ask. In the past I have had some excellent discussion with folks by way of email. This allows us to go back a read what we said, and how the other person responded. Often I have thought that others might have benefited from our conversation if they had seen it. Thus I have started this blog. It is my hope and prayer that we all will learn more, be encouraged more, and understand more about ourselves, others, and most importantly our God.