There are days

There are days I wake up, and think to myself...is this happening? Really? Is this a dream? Is this reality? It happened when I woke up following days such as when I asked Heather to marry me, when we actually got married, and when Maddy and Eli were born. Defining days...days you don't forget.

Ministry wise, I still remember the last day at New Life and how that felt. And the next morning after being confirmed in my heart that I would leave State Farm for ministry full-time. And that Sunday morning of sharing the news with the Body that I'd be coming on staff. These are days a person wakes up and thinks...really? Sure you know the reality of it in your head, but it strikes you in a unique way on these days.

I had a couple of those days last week. Monday night, the Leadership Team affirmed me as Crosspoint's next lead pastor, prayed over me, and told me they were behind me 110%. Then this past Sunday, all of those changes were discussed in our service, following a letter that was sent to our body. It is on those days, where you realize the possibility is no longer such. It is a reality, and it is coming. I can't believe it, and yet I completely can. I knew in my heart this day might come. I didn't know how or when, but now I see God's plan unfolding before my eyes.

I'm humbled. I'm excited. And here's the thing I know...God is God and He can somehow use me to further His work. I sometimes am not sure how, but He can. I can't wait for it. I trust in Him, and not in "my" self-produced ability. And I cling to 1 Timothy 4:12 and 2 Timothy 1:7 on these days.

Sunday night thoughts

- Big Sunday at Crosspoint today. The Leadership Team discussed the transition of Jeff leaving, and me coming on as Lead Pastor. Guys, you did a great job! What you all said was right on. Thanks for sharing your heart and passion for God and HIS plan. :)
- Did Blago just put his name in the same sentence as Mandela and Dr. King???? Wow...
- We are blessed at Crosspoint with great musicians and servants. Thanks band!
- God continues to humble me to the core with this transition. Anyone stepping into such a role in their own confidence and strength, rather than relying on God's is a fool.
- Someone asked me today if my shoulders were nice and broad for this new role and season...my answer..."not sure, but I know God's shoulders are big enough." Church family, whatever you might be going through in your life, I hope you grasp that truth. Jesus is enough.
- I flat out, without question, love my church. I have seen God, over the past 6 years, grow my love for the people at Crosspoint. I look forward to being able to talk to the church body on a regular basis.
- I encourage you, if you have any questions at all about this transition, please don't hesitate to contact a member of the Leadership Team, including myself. No question is a silly one. We want you to be informed!
- Heather and I heard a lot of encouragement from friends this morning. You have know idea how good that makes us feel. Thank you for your affirmation. I encourage you to do the same in recognizing the missions heart in Jeff and Angie, and God's call on their lives.
- We won our first regional game on Saturday. They only get tougher from here on out. Next game is at 6:45 Monday night.
- Got to watch our nephews tonight and tomorrow morning. I love having them at our house.
- We have great leaders at Crosspoint! We truly do. If you have an opportunity to thank someone this week, do so. Write a note, an email, or make a call after you get done reading this, and thank someone for serving.

Thoughts on Being Daughters of the President

A Tale of Two Responses

On Tuesday night, Heather and I finally told our kids about this transition into the lead pastor role at Crosspoint. I wanted to share with you, and give you a glimpse into the two types of responses we got. We had just sat down for supper, and started talking to the kids about how we believe that God is faithful, trustworthy, and always has a plan. That when we left State Farm, we were trusting in God, and He has proven faithful in an abundant way! We all talked about that a bit, and then I shared with them, that we had some news that we wanted to tell them.

Maddy's first guess, 'We're moving?' Nope. Rather, I shared that Pastor Jeff and his family are moving and going to be missionaries on the Gulf Coast. That as a church, we would be sending them out. To which, Eli got a sad look and shared that he'd miss the boys after they left. Whether you (Blake, Grant, Pete) know it or not, Eli looks up to all 3 of you.

Then we shared that as a result of Pastor Jeff leaving, that I would become the Lead Pastor at Crosspoint. We asked what they thought and Maddy immediately took a deep breath started fanning her face with her hand (very dramatic) and said, "I think I'm going to cry. Hold it together Maddy." We said it was ok to cry, and then the floodgates opened up. Amidst the tears, she shared how proud she was of me, and that she was so happy for me. I don't remember specifically if she said much more than that, because all of that caused Heather and I to start crying too. It was the most humbling experience as a Dad. I'll never forget it. Totally took Heather and I by surprise.

And then we look to Eli...and he's looking at the 3 of us crying, and he's not sure how to respond. He doesn't know why we're crying, so what was his response to the big news...he just started giggling and laughing. And then sticks another tortellini in his mouth. To which, we then all start laughing at his response and alternate between the crying and the laughing for the next several minutes.

We continued to talk about it more, and it was an incredible time as a family. I pray moments like that are etched in our memory and the kids' memory for a lifetime.

Transitioning

Many of you blog readers might have already heard the news, but in case you have not...

Yesterday, Crosspoint sent out a letter (Click HERE to read it) to our church family sharing that Jeff (our current lead pastor) feels called and is leaving for the mission field this year. This will be an exciting thing for our church body to send out our first missionary from our church, and what better way than to send out our best. With that change, I will be moving into the ‘Lead Pastor’ role at Crosspoint, as of March 8th.

Heather and I are really excited for this change, and can see God’s hand through it all over the past 6-7 years of this journey. It seems we’ve come full circle now. As things progress and such, I’m sure I’ll be sharing here on the blog.

We covet your prayers through this, and look forward to what God has in store in the coming years!

Sports and Hope

If you're a regular blog reader, you know that I love sports and the stories behind the game. To see how a game can impact lives. Heather ran across this one today. Click HERE to read a great article weaving the game of football and hope together. This is a must read!

ps...what is it about stories like this that cause me to get so welled up?!?!

Monday thoughts

- Someone recommitted their life to Jesus yesterday! I love to see God working in lives. Praise God!
- I am blown away by the encouragement I am getting from some friends right now. Thank you all.
- It was fun to get the Paslode going in yesterday's service. I wonder if I can work that in every other week????
- My apologies to all the little babies that were taken to a 'safety zone' yesterday, away from the fumes and noise. :) Hey, but where else than Crosspoint do you get to see a wall built and some paint being sprayed in a service??
- It is going to be a great year at Crosspoint! I am so excited.
- Just yesterday, I had a couple people talk to me about how and where they can get involved in serving at Crosspoint. Praise God! I am praying and working toward seeing 90% of our body serving by Together 2009! I think God can do it!
- I am blown away by the volunteers that we have Crosspoint. We have people who are just flat out faithful. They make themselves available and are 'all in' when it comes to serving. I am thankful for them.
- And they are gifted and skilled! I wouldn't want to be anywhere else than right here.
- Trying out a new office chair right now. I figure if I'm going to be sitting here as much as I do, I should might as well be comfortable. :) Thanks Kate.
- Basketball regionals start this Saturday! This is where all the practice and hard work hopefully pays off.
- My office is a disaster. Ugh...I hate disorganization. BUT...our house is really organized right now, which I love. Thanks Heather!

A Flair for Drama

Heather here....just had to share a few pics of Maddy over the past few days. She participated in a dance clinic at EHS last weekend and then performed at half-time during the varsity game on Tuesday night. She got her groove on to Hannah Montana.

And then another one from lunch yesterday (yes, we were still in our PJ's at lunchtime--it was freezing and we weren't going anywhere!) She despises raw carrots (me too, but I'm an adult, so I don't HAVE to eat my carrots anymore). But she only had to eat 2 little ones...so I taught her how to hold her nose and chew/swallow them so she could get the benefits of all the vitamins packed into 2 baby carrots and not gag...

Her teacher said on her report card (straight A's!), "Maddy is a joy to have in class. She works very hard and is very willing to help her classmates. I've enjoyed her stories and artistic flair on many occasions..." I smell what Mrs. B is stepping in, don't you? :) I love this girl....

There's always a chance

Saw this highlight last night on TV.

Faithful to the call

Heather and I have friends who left for China recently, in order to do missions work there. Because of their destination, I am unable to give names online, but I had to share a quick section from an email they sent out recently.

Over six years ago, on a Tuesday night at a Eureka College Campus Crusade for Christ meeting, we were challenged to consider investing our life in the Lord’s work around the world. There were no lights that shown or bells that went off, but for both of us, in the quietness of our hearts, we told God we were available. We didn’t know what that meant, but for the last six years, we have attempted to follow Christ with our whole lives, and He opened the doors wide open for us to go to China.

We are ready. On Wednesday we will board a plane and arrive 13 hours later in China. We will be picked up by our team and travel two hours to the city we will call home. Although there are many unknowns right now, we are excited to continue this journey of walking with the Lord. Thank you for being part of our story and for all of your encouragement and love as we have prepared to go.

These small paragraphs are like the cliff notes of seeing God's plan and will unveiling before our eyes. And I think in them, you see the heart of these two that we dearly love, and have seen take each step over the past 6 years.

We have always been blown away by their obedience and humility as they serve God. They are faithful to God's call on their lives, and have been willing to GO where ever God sends them. Faithfulness emdodies who they are, and who God has made them. I have no doubt, He will do incredible things through their lives! I can't wait to hear about it.

When God Prompts

Do you ever sense God prompting you to do stuff? It is as if, God says, I want you to follow me here or obey me by doing this. Whatever 'here' and 'this' is. When I first started believing in Jesus as my Savior, I never grasped that He wanted to speak life into me. The Bible says that He never leaves or forsakes us, but does that truth impact your daily life?

Do you grasp that if Jesus Christ is your Savior, that His Holy Spirit lives inside of your heart? That He never leaves you. When you get up, He's there. When you drive to work, He's there. When you talk to that friend, He's there. When you do, what seems like a mindless activity, He's there. And through it all, I believe that if we listen closely, and walk in that tight relationship, He's prompt us to do stuff that we may not expect.

Practically speaking, here is how it played out in my life last week. Had lunch with a friend. We were catching up on life and sharing random personal stuff. Nothing huge. Then he shared that their family was struggling financially, and as he shared it was like God gave me this sudden burden that I needed to give them this cash that I'd been saving in my desk drawer. You see, over the past few months, I've been saving up some cash for another purpose, but for some reason, I still had it in my drawer. And as God prompted me in that coversation, I thought, 'Duh, of course God. I'll obey you.' I got back to my office, and counted out the money, and prayed over it, and was a little emotional just thinking about how this little gift might impact the Kingdom of God. I had this sense that in that moment and in this step of obedience, I was at the very center of God's will and heart.

Now this might sound mystical and kind of weird, but its not. I don't hear this audible voice from God, but I am expecting Him to speak to me. Through the Bible, Godly friends, prayer, etc. I'm trusting that if I live in a tight relationship with Him, that He'll use me to impact people's lives.

I don't share this story to somehow bring the spotlight on myself. These things don't happen to me everyday, but I pray they might increase in my life. I want to live in such a way that responds to the prompts of God. I challenge you to do the same, and that is why I share it.

How He Loves Us

Here is a song I am loving right now...

Wednesday links

Here are some good links to check out...

Christian Books vs. Men's Magazines Nice post Jon! So to all you readers...how is your life different because of God?

Be the church...stop playing church Awesome challenge Pete! Well said.

Is our vision too small? What a great challenge to take to your personal life, business, and church.

It takes all sorts of churches Having a Kingdom mindset will be big for Crosspoint in the coming years I believe

Praying with faith

I was reading up on the subject of prayer today (we're doing a series on prayer in February, that I'm really looking forward to). Anyways, I ran across this quote from Wayne Grudem on praying with faith. Thought it was worth sharing...

Hebrews 11:1 tells us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." Biblical faith is never a kind of wishful thinking or a vague hope that does not have any secure foundation to rest upon. It is rather trust in a person, God himself, based on the fact that we take Him at His Word and believe what He has said. This trust or dependence on God, when it has an element of assurance or confidence, is genuine biblical faith...Prayer is never wishful thinking, for it springs from trust in a personal God who wants us to take Him at His Word.

This goes along with my thoughts from yesterday and the devotional I posted. I'm not sure what giant you're facing in your life, but my challenge to you is to pray in faith, believing God will do a big work in your life...according to His will!

Waiting For God's Answer

Got this devotional from James MacDonald this morning. I'm not sure what you could be going through in your life right now, but I pray this encourages you.

More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. - Romans 5:3-5

The Christian life would be easy if the space in time was small between when you first believe God's promises and when you receive what He promised. If you could read about it one day and get it the next, Wow - wouldn't that be great!? But life's not like that.

The hard part is in the waiting between God's promise and His answer; and even harder, when the waiting comes with uncertainties. Where's this going? Where am I going to end up? What's my future look like?

The reality is, we just don't know how circumstances will play out and it's this not-knowing that crushes us. We doubt because we don't know. We worry and despair because we don't know. We falter and sometimes fail - all because we don't know. If only we knew how this trial was going to end, we would be okay. But we don't.

We all have areas of uncertainty where we need to hold tightly onto what God has said while we wait for Him to work. I couldn't go forward another day if I didn't believe what He told me. So here's what we each must do: We must review His promises all the time. We must remind ourselves that our faith is in God and not in what He does for us. He knows what He has promised, He can't lie, and He can't forget. He will deliver on time, all the time. Who else can make promises like that?

God knows that it's hard for us to walk by faith. So He assures us, I'm not going to leave you wondering what I'm going to do. I don't want you to be overcome by fear. So I'm going to make some promises to you so that you can get through the difficult days. You don't have to take your view of life only from what you can see happening right in front of you. You're not imprisoned by the crazy talk someone is putting into your head that you know isn't true. Hang onto the things that I told you.

And while we wait, God builds our faith.

Resolutions?

So...anyone willing to share resolutions you're making this year? I know some are in the camp of 'I don't make them', but for those that do set goals/commitments/whatever you call them, what are they?

What are you hoping to start doing this year? What do you hope to stop doing this year? What do you intend to change or modify?

Ouch...