What's on your list...

of things to do "someday"?

Here's a snippet of mine:
- Buy a classic ('66-'77) Ford Bronco
- Send writing proposal to publishers
- Take a retreat at a monestary
- Romantic weekend with my wife and NO KIDS
- Buy some new music
- Exercise

How about you?

What did you think...

...of this past weekend's services?

Did God say anything to you through the teaching, music, wall demolishing, etc.?

Friends of Other Faiths???

This weekend we explored the parable of the Good Samaritan. When Jesus made the Samaritan the hero in his story, he offended his Jewish audience in a couple of ways:

1. This guy was of the wrong race. He was a half-breed. Which tied in closely with offense #2.

2. This guy was of the wrong religion. The Samaritans practiced a modified form of faith from the Jews- ex. worshipping in their own temples.

Although Jesus doesn't say it, I like to imagine that these guys of different faiths became friends.

How about us? Do you know anyone of a different faith? Have any friends who actively practice a religion other than Christianity?

Have you had any conversations with them about the spiritual realm? What happened? Have you learned anything from them?

Removing The Walls...

This weekend Glen will bring us a powerful teaching based on the story of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). By the way, it might be a good idea to spend a little time there before Sat/Sun.

Glen will challenge us with the idea that while religion is usually used to justify building walls to keep "the wrong" people out- Jesus came to say that we need to remove the walls in our lives and let people in. Everyone is our neighbor- not just the people like us, or those who feel safe to us.

While I certainly don't want to steal any of Glen's (or God's) thunder, I think it might help up to think ahead about who we really keep on the other side of the walls in our lives.

Who are "those people" that you distance yourself from, feel uncomfortable around and avoid if possible?

As a step towards asking God to change our hearts, post your answers anonymously in the comments section.

Ripe With Paradox...

Ever notice how often we all seem to contradict ourselves- making strong statements and then finding exceptions?

For example we might talk about how wrong it is to label or categorize people, then drop a line about wanting to connect wtih "people like us".

How do we know who is/isn't like us? We categorize and label people- including ourselves.

Often we don't verbalize what it means to be or not to be like us. But let's take a shot at it here using this phrase:
"There are two kinds of people in this world, people who __________ and people who don't __________."

The idea is that you think of a phrase that describes you and insert it appropriately.

Here's one for me: There are two kinds of people in this world, people (like me) who love "The Office" and people who don't get it.

Or maybe this: "There are two kinds of people in this world, people who can drive a stick, and people who can't."

Easy enough, right?

Now try one (or more) of your own in the comments section.

What Invitation Would You Never...

...turn down?

A seat on millionaire's row at the derby?

Dinner at the Whitehouse?

A trip to Africa w/Bono?

A seat on the space shuttle?

An invite to the Oscars and the after parties?

Something else?

What's the best...

...invitation you've ever gotten?

Free tickets to a game?

Backstage pass to a concert?

A chance to meet someone famous?

To go somewhere you've always dreamed of?



When my in-laws celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary they went to Alaska and asked my wife and me to join them. At one point we're in a cessna flying over glaciers to get to the base camp for those hoping to climb Denali (aka Mt. McKinley). I remember thinking, "I can't believe I'm here!"

How about you? What's the best invite you've ever received?

Becoming More Childlike...

This past weekend we wrestled with Jesus' words in Matthew 18:3:

I can guarantee this truth: Unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Looking at a story of two people who go to pray in Luke 18:10-14, we discussed 3 changes we might need to make if we are going to approach God more like kids:

- Changing our POSTURE: Focusing more on God than ourselves

- Changing our WORDS: Acknowledging our sin and weakness

- Changing our REQUESTS: Asking God for help & mercy

Which of these feels most challenging for you & why?

What else did you hear God say to you through the words of Jesus this weekend?

What is it...

...that made Jesus cherish children so much?

In his culture, they were more of an afterthought. Easy to see as Jesus' students try to deflect parents who bring children to see Jesus.

Instead Jesus waves the kids through like V.I.P.S..

What do you think attracts God to kids? Why are they so loveable?

Summer Is Coming...

...and the kids are headed towards a couple of months of summer vacation.

Jealous? Me too.

Let's get nostalgic for a minute. What do you miss most about being a kid?

See, we CAN read your minds...

From time to time, someone will approach one of our weekend teachers and say something like, "WOW! This morning it seemed like you were speaking right to me. Like you actually know what is going on in my life."

To which we usually reply, "We do. We have 24/7 video surviellance on every Crossroad's member. It's in the fine print of the membership form."

OK- so we aren't keeping tabs on you like the FBI, CIA, NSA or any of the other secret intelligence agencies. We don't hack into your computers, track your credit cards and bank accounts or follow you around with spy satellites. We've got something better- The Spirit of God.

Why is it that on any given week we can show up and feel like the teaching of the day is speaking into our hearts and lives? Not because our teachers are mind readers, but because the God who made us knows what we need to hear. His Spirit can speak through the Bible and through the words of average people to echo into our hearts and souls.

Has that ever happened to you? Here's a story from someone at Crossroads who had that kind of experience this past weekend.

I just wanted to let you know I was really touched by today's message. I've been dealing with alot of relationship issue's lately. I've gone through a breakup, having some family issues, and a problem with a friend. I sometime's felt that Christ has left my side. I missed the service last night, and was pretty sure I wouldn't make it this morning. However, I woke up early and something inside me kept telling me that I wasn't doing anything but sitting on the couch, and I needed to pick up my nephew and come on to Church.

I was ok until you started talking about the mustard seed and the yeast. At that point I was thought "has this man been reading my blog?" You see, I bought a townhome last Fall, and have no grass in my backyard. I meant to sow seed last fall, but of course didn't get around to it. This Spring a friend of mine came over, helped clean up the yard, and threw some seed down. Everyday I would go out back and look at this seed just sitting on top of the ground. I was growing more upset everyday thinking that grass was never going to grow in my backyard. I kept watering the yard and kept watching....And nothing! Then, came the nice sunny days a few weeks ago. We had baseball games, work, and school projects. I didn't think to look at the backyard once. Going on at the same time was my break up. I woke up last Sunday thinking how bad my life was, and that I was 32 never married wondering why God wouldn't answer one of my only prayers...For a husband and family. I was baking, and decided to open the house up. I opened the front windows, and went to open the backdoor and happened to look at the backyard. I couldn't believe what was before my eyes!!! It was grass, and lots of it!!! Of course, it's still thin because it's just beginning to grow, but what used to be nothing but dirt and sometimes mud was now green with just a few patches of dirt here and there. At that moment, I seemed to understand. It's really not my time, and it really is God's time. Not only with my grass, but with my relationships, including a future husband and family. The problem over the last week is I keep forgetting that eye opening experience, and was really down today expecting not to come to church. Now, I'm really glad that I did!

Anything For You?

Did any of Jesus' words from the stories of the mustard seed and the yeast find their way into your head or heart?

Here's one person's feedback:

The message of this past weekend was unimpressive. I am using the word in the same manner you defined it.

It was so unimpressive that it caught my attention and I have been mulling and meandering around the mustard seed and the yeast since I left the service yesterday.

My girls and I have baked (had a small business) for years. Yeast is a very familiar entity to us. A mystery. I understand the science and theory of yeast, but I don't quite get the reality of it---the potential of transformation it contains. I am longing for God to work his yeast through me. Yeast must have the right temperature (too hot and you kill it, too cold and it won't be activated), and it must be fed (sugar, honey). My Father knows the exact measurements to produce a loaf in me.

I kept considering the germination time you spoke of--we mix our bread and then it must be left alone for at least an hour and a half. Sometimes it takes longer. I have warned the girls over and over to not bother the dough during this process. If you poke it, then you must start again. You must allow the dough to rise. Then it gets punched down and then it must be allowed to rise again.

Did God say anything to you this weekend?

The Bible Comes To Life

This weekend I shared an exercpt of an email describing someone's journey towards faith. Although this person wouldn't call themselves a Christian yet, it seems like Jesus' words about seeds and yeast are taking root and creeping through them. Here's the unedited version:

I was asked to write something about my spiritual journey toward faith. It has been a long one so far and I'm not quite finished yet. This all started about 10 years ago when a friend of mine from work started having conversations with me about God. I had lots of issues with the subject based on my experiences in early adulthood with my family's church and my general disillusionment with "believers", but he made a lot of interesting comments and didn’t seem to be like those other people so we kept talking.

Over the years, our conversations continued until finally I was able to take a step forward and we started having a weekly Bible study session. Now it started getting sticky since I had moved from idle conversations at lunch, to a formal sit-down thing. On top of that, my wife wanted to join in since she hadn't really studied the Bible before. During the year and a half that we had the study sessions, I passed through a lot of points on the spectrum from "How can I even be considering this stuff?" to "Maybe there is a God, but Jesus was either a made up character or just some Jewish teacher" to "I just don't know what to believe".

I am a very intense person and when I start studying something, I really dig in and study it. And boy is there lots of materials on this topic! I tried reading books that had been recommended to me, but they seemed to either be too superficial or didn't address the issues that I felt. I started looking for other resources and read a ton of stuff from the web. I was trying to intellectualize believe. I wanted to understand the logic behind God. Somehow, I just wasn’t able to understand everything…

For a while, I really got to the point where I didn't want to think about it any more and I had to take a break. During this same period, my wife began attending church on a regular basis. She accepted Christ soon after and was baptized. I would attend church with her maybe once a month so she wouldn’t get too upset with me. She had also enrolled our kids in a Christian school, so I had to set a good example for them as well…

I was being surrounded. After a break of about a year, I decided to give it another try and started to attend church regularly and to study again. I was still trying to rationalize believe, but I took a more relaxed approach this time. My wife had recommended that I look at it as a ‘philosophy of life’ and not get so caught up in the things that I couldn’t comprehend intellectually. Basically, I should let my heart lead me instead of my brain.

I have been trying to follow that advice for the last year. I try not to expect everything to make perfect sense. As my friend tells me all the time…”You just have to accept that you aren’t as smart as God”. Hard to accept, but it could be true. I am experimenting with living life like a Christian to see if and how it changes me. I am becoming more involved with the church and more giving with my time and resources.

What this has meant so far is that things are happening to me that I didn’t expect. I am finding that I have lots of people around me supporting me in my quest (many more than I realized) and I have ended up inviting an acquaintance of mine to attend Crossroads (getting in deeper and deeper). I’m still searching and I’m still dealing with my own intellectual pride, but the journey continues.

Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader...?

Have you caught this new TV game show where adults try to answer grade school questions for cash?

Try this online QUIZ to see how you'd do.

I posted a whopping 84%. How about you?

Bread Anyone...

Jesus was fond of telling stories about everyday life:

He used another illustration. "The kingdom of heaven is like yeast that a woman mixed into a large amount of flour until the yeast worked its way through all the dough." (Mt. 13:33)

Are you a baker? Do you have a specialty?

What's your favorite baked good?

Do my job for me, please.

This weekend I'm teaching on the parable of the mustard seed (Mark 4:30-32).

Jesus asked, “How can we show what the kingdom of God is like? To what can we compare it? It’s like a mustard seed planted in the ground. The mustard seed is one of the smallest seeds on earth. However, when planted, it comes up and becomes taller than all the garden plants. It grows such large branches that birds can nest in its shade.”

According to Jesus, he tells this simple story to help us understand what His Kingdom is like.

So what do you make of this? What might we learn from this word picture about what Jesus came to bring us?