Lots to Celebrate

The old Church of the Living God building in Stokesdale

In April of 2000, Crossroads began regular weekly worship celebrations.  We met in this building, the old building of the Church of the Living God.  Because they worship on Saturdays, they allowed us to use this building on Sundays.  It was quite a blessing for us to have a place to gather.

Our journey has taken us to ten different Sunday morning meeting places!  There were many times that I wondered how God would work things out.

Now we are celebrating ten years of ministry in the Stokesdale community.  God has done a lot through this energetic group of believers.  We have hosted community worship services, had floats in the Christmas Parade, provided live music for Stokesdale Community Days, helped in the Good Samaritan Food Pantry, served at Stokesdale Business Association Business Fairs, hosted Fifth Sunday Sings, provided parade announcers for parades in Stokesdale and Summerfield, given away pool noodles at two marinas on Belews Lake, baptized in lakes and church sanctuaries, sent youth on out-of-state mission trips, sent adults on mission trips domestically and internationally, and, well the list goes on...



Connection Point, November 2009, beginning the up fit



On Easter Sunday this year we moved to a new place called Connection Point.  Because the church owns the building, we have many new opportunities to serve.  We want it to be a place where people connect -- with God, one another and the community.



We are celebrating what God has done, and looking forward to what God will do in the next ten years!

 So, on Sunday morning, October 10, 2010 at 10:00, we are celebrating 10 years of God at work.  It's gonna be a blast!

What we can do

We have to work together.  A young man at our worship celebration yesterday told a story about teamwork.  As an Army recruit, he has begun his training.  And he has always tried to do his best.  He wants to outwork all the other recruits -- be the fastest, strongest.

His drill instructor shared a key insight with him.  "On the battlefield, it doesn't matter what you can do.  It matters what y'all can do."  After hearing this he was ready to help his fellow soldiers through the obstacle course.  That helped the team.

What a great lesson for all of life.  We are doing nearly everything with others.  When we work together, the job is better all the way around.

We also need to be on the lookout for the enemy who would divide us.

What about Ground Zero?

There has been no shortage of opinions about the effort to build a mosque near the site where the Twin Towers once stood.

I see a couple of issues here.  First, there are legal issues.  Apparently the interested parties have every legal right to build the mosque.  With freedom of religion in our country, everyone has equal protection under the law, and there is no legal reason to deny the construction.

The other issue I see is one of philosophy.  Members of this religion have repeatedly stated that they want to destroy our country.  I do not know of any other religion which has made a similar declaration.  The Communists after WWII and the Fascists during WWII clearly wanted to destroy the United States, but they were more easily recognized as national movements.  They were identified as governments, not a religious group. 

Here we have religious extremists who want to destroy us, and  have repeatedly acted out violence against us.  It seems that they may be preying upon our niceness.  We are too nice and tolerant to stop them as they infiltrate our society with the intention of destroying us from without and within.

As  planes were enroute to destroy the twin towers, terrorists told the passengers to keep their seats, and no one would be hurt.  They preyed upon our trust, naivete and goodness.  Those cooperative passengers perished, along with nearly 3,000 others. 

The philosophy in which lying and treachery are justified as means of advancing a religious war is dangerous.  Clearly those who carried out the 9/11 attacks in 2001 were willing to do and say anything to achieve their goal.  Those bombings were part of the holy war against the United States.

Ideally, the mosque would voluntarily be build in another location.  But I find that unlikely. 

We are left with two questions: 
Are all (or many) Muslims really out to kill those of different faiths? 
How much freedom will we grant to those who seek to kill us?

Dixie's Origin

I have wondered where the term "Dixie" came from, and how it came to refer to the American South.  I came across the answer today, doing some background study for an economics seminar with Classical Conversations.

A recent issue of Kids Discover magazine was dedicated to the history of money, from ancient times to today.  In the early decades of American history, there was no real standard currency.  During the 1830s a bank in New Orleans printed some $10 notes, on which they used the French word for ten, dix.  People began calling these bank notes "dixes" or "dixies."  Over time, the term Dixie referred to Louisiana, and eventually the whole south.  [Kids Discover, Vol. 20, Issue 4, April 2010]

Now that's an interesting bit of Southern trivia.

We all have a history

The more I study history, the more clear it becomes that people are not perfect.  More specifically, we are all descendants of opportunistic people.

The Western influence on Hawaii, for example, may seem paternalistic or motivated by greed.  In 1778, Captain James Cook discovered the island as he looked for the Northwest Passage.  With Hawaii on the map of Westerners, the islands became targets for merchants and missionaries.  What would have happened if the "real" culture of Hawaii had not been disturbed?  Well, according to some historical theories, the islands of Hawaii were first discovered and inhabited by people from the islands of Marquesas.  Centuries (?) later, the people of Tahiti also discovered Hawaii, and brought with them new elements of culture.

So, when you think of the "real" culture of Hawaii, is it that of the Marquesas or the Tahitians?  And doesn't real Hawaiian culture include the famous luau tradition?  I was surprised to learn that the luau tradition was actually brought to Hawaii by Westerners.  So what is the pure culture?

(We also need to ask if original, native cultures are worth preserving.  In some lands, the native culture includes cannibalism.  Should that be preserved? But that is another discussion.)

We naturally want things to be right and fair.  But human history is full of conquest.  I expect that nearly every land in the world has been conquered at one time or another.  It did not take long in history for there to be no pure cultures.

As lands were conquered, wrongs were done.  Everyone today is descended from a combination of victors and victims.  The wrongs of history cannot be undone.  Perhaps, for recent history, some compensation can be made for victims.

But in the grander scheme of life, we can only do what is right in the here and now.  I follow the laws of real estate for the current government of my land, not the laws of the Native Americans who once lived here.  I can't undo the past, but I can live honorably in the context of my life.  It's the best I can do.

Celebrating Baptism

Yesterday at Belews Lake we celebrated new life as two people were baptized.  It was a great time of excitement about the redemption of Jesus and the encouragement of fellow believers.  As the crowd gathered in the light rain, we all felt a spirit of excitement.  It was inspiring to see so many come together to share the moment.

Baptism reminds us of several things.  First it remindes us that Jesus died for us and was buried in a tomb.  On the third day he rose from the dead, winning the victory over death.  Second, it reminds us that anyone who comes to trust Christ has put to death the old, sinful nature, and has received new life in Jesus.  Third, baptism reminds us that we have friends and encouragers who will walk with us through the good times and the bad times of life.

Finally, baptism reminds us that belonging to Jesus is a reason to celebrate!  He frees us from our guilt, gives us spiritual eyes to understand the truth, and showers us with his love.  In Jesus we are truly free and truly alive!

Heaven rejoices with us when someone says through baptism, "I belong to Jesus!"

Life to the Max

I'm reading a book called A Thomas Jefferson Education.  It has lots of good ideas about learning and teaching.  The most important insight is that students have to take responsibility for their own learning.  Teachers can't make students learn.  Unless the student wants to learn, he will never do more than the bare minimum. 

Jesus also wants us to take responsibility for our own spiritual growth.  Loving God means knowing him, growing in our relationship with him.  We can read the Bible and pray with a sense of obligation, but unless we bring a hunger for God, we will never really become intimate with him.

If we miss out on intimacy with God, then we have missed out on the best part of life.  So, I want to be a student, a disciple, of Jesus.  I want life to the max.