baptism day

yesterday could have been one of the most amazing days of my life. we had baptism day at church and it was unbelievable. we baptized 100 people!! it was great to see people responding to the prompt of the Holy Spirit and follow Christ in baptism. it was actually a little overwhelming to see grown men, fathers in their sunday clothes, get up and say in front of their families and everyone else that they wanted to get baptized. it was great. humbling. exhausting. but great. we had about 16 ms students get baptized and it was really cool to see how seriously they took the time. they weren't there for anyone else. they were there for Christ. what a great day!

Sunday Wrap-Up

Theme: Prayer & Forgiveness

Student Attendance: All-time high

Leader Attendance: average

Student Involvement: average

Highlight: Voice-over announcements

Creative Element: lower than average

Lesson Learned: Expect More

not my job

remind you of something someone in your church would do????

Sunday Wrap-Up

Sunday Wrap-Up

Lesson: Surrender- Matthew 20: 29-34

Leader Attendance: Higher than average

Student Attendance: Higher than average

Creativity: Lower than average

Student Involvement: Average

Highlight: Leader Meeting- Gotta Cast That Vision!!

What I Learn From Middle School Students

Today it occured to me as I was listening to my students pray for their friends who were on their way to church that sometimes my prayer life and my idea of how to pray can become jaded. I listened to them pray with such intensity and sincerity for God to move and show up. When they pray, they believe. I am not saying that I don't believe when I pray, but sometimes my belief is down-graded to slight hope. My prayers end up being hopeful cliches that will or will not affect the outcome of what is being prayed. My students really believe what they pray...and when they pray, God shows up. I think there is something to be said about the prayer of a righteous man.

Paul says that God hears the prayers of a righteous man, so I ask,

"What makes us righteous?"

There is nothing that we do besides believe makes us right before God. After all, it was His son that did all the work for our relationship, so what can we then do to become righteous? I don't think being righteous means being perfect. If that were true then when would any of our prayers be heard? I think that what makes us righteous is the same thing that makes us right- our belief. So that being said, it is our belief that makes our prayers heard.

Wednesday Wrap-Up

Attendance: higher than normal

Volunteer Attendance: average

Volunteer involvement: higher than normal

Series: The Gospel According to Bruce

Student Response: higher than normal

Creativity: High

Fav. Element: Worship Celebration

What a Week!!

It has been a great week at Crossroads! The Easter weekend ended with 150 people + recieving Christ. Amazing!

This past Wednesday we had the most MSers ever for a Wednesday night and had 20 people accept Christ and then 14 more pray for repentence.

What a truly humbling experience.

The lesson learned from the past week is that when we pray something...God answers our prayers. We should then be careful how we pray, and how we live.

follow up for: to what end?

just finished reading a few comments that people made after the warren and harris debate. sometimes i just shake my head when i hear people in the blogosphere talking about how proud they were that rick really, "stuck it to that atheist," with his debate skills. what exactly do you expect from someone who does not know Christ? one of the deeper things that i have ever been quoted as saying is, "Christians should act like it, and not expect people who aren't..... to act like they are." people who expect anything else need to spend some time outside their church walls for a while with people who really are hurting and need more than quirky and non-sensical cliches spoken into their lives. [end of rant]

to what end?

last summer i read a book entitled, "The End of Faith," by Sam Harris. Sam Harris is an atheist who believes that not only is there no such thing as God, but that Christianity is responsible for all things bad in the world today.

Here is the link to a recent NEWSWEEK article that has a conversation between Rick Warren and Sam Harris.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17889148/site/newsweek/

after i read the article i was really just frustrated. really more because i am someone who tends to err on the side of simplicity and pragmatism here is my conclusion:

- Rick's core belief is that God created man. For him, everything flows out of that.
- Sam's core belief is that man created God. For him, everything flows out of that.

Since theism and atheism are both faith-based belief systems, how do you prove the other guy wrong in a debate?

Sunday Wrap-Up

encounter- Sunday, April 1st.

student attendance: below average

volunteer attendance: below average

student involvement/response: above average

creativity: above average

theme: passover

- first weekend of spring break for 90 % of students. many out of town. same for leaders.