Crossroads Celebrates Sweet 16

            Crossroads Community Church is hosting a “Sweet 16 Celebration” on Feb. 21, to celebrate 16 years of ministry in Stokesdale. The service will include special music, and stories of the church’s work in Stokesdale and around the world. Guest speakers will encourage the congregation as they look to the future. Dinner will be served to all in attendance.

            On a Sunday morning in February 2000, Crossroads Community Church held its first public worship service in the old Stokesdale Elementary School cafeteria. Today the church has found its mission in “leading people into life-changing community in Christ,” according to founding pastor David Bailey. “We encourage people to mature from the inside-out,” he says. “That means you Center on God, Connect in relationship, then Change your world.”

            Since 2000, Crossroads has met in 10 different locations, including living rooms, the school gym, a nursing home and even a garage. The church now meets in an up-fitted warehouse on B & G Court in Stokesdale. “We never wanted to own real estate,” says Bailey, “but there is no assembly space available to rent in Stokesdale.”

            In those 16 years, the church has ministered to the community in many ways. Church members have coached sports teams, worked with scouts and participated in Good Samaritan Ministries events. For several years the church has provided refreshments and fun activities for families at the Stokesdale Holiday Parade. Members also serve as the parade announcers as the procession passes the Stokesdale Fire Station. “This is our church’s way of blessing the community every Christmas,” says Keith Street, one of the parade announcers. “We like to show people God’s love.”

            Crossroads has also reached out overseas with God’s love. In 2009 the church sent a team to Spanish Town, Jamaica to help missionaries with church building construction. In 2015 the church partnered with The Mighty River Project, sending a 12-person team to Uganda. The team met with Ugandan artisans who work for TMRP, which imports their crafts for sale in the U.S. Crossroads continues to work with this ministry which helps keep Ugandan families intact, through employment and providing health care.

Volunteers from Crossroads served at the Operation Christmas

Child Processing Center in Boone, NC in Dec. 2015.

            Every fall the church packs shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child, a ministry of Samaritan’s Purse. Last year the church sent 190 boxes, some of which were delivered to Belize. The church also sent a team of  23 to the Samaritan’s Purse processing center in Boone to prepare boxes for shipment overseas. “Samaritan’s Purse makes it incredibly easy to help bless children all around the world through Operation Christmas Child,” says Crossroads’ OCC leader Amy Strawn. “Crossroads pours out love to children around the world every year by such a simple act as packing a shoebox.”

            Locally, church members also work with Hannah’s Haven, a Teen Challenge substance abuse recovery program, and Jobs for Life, a course helping unemployed people find their way to gainful employment. The church partnered with the Kids’ Clubhouse after school program in Kernersville last summer, to bring a missions-themed Bible School program to dozens of energetic children.

            The past 16 years serve as a foundation for future ministry, says Bailey. One of the church’s home Bible study groups plans to begin ministering to refugees in 2016, working with The 514 Initiative in Greensboro.

            “It is such a joy to serve in this great community,” Bailey says. “We just need to celebrate!”

In the Beginning

Stokesdale Elementary School Cafeteria

It was 16 years ago today that Crossroads Community Church held its first public worship service.  For months we laid the ground work, doing door-to-door surveys, hosting events at my house, and looking for meeting space.  We found guest vocalists to bring some sound equipment and sing along with our music leaders for our launch.  For weeks we had promoted the event with posters, fliers, doorknob hangers, ads in the Northwest Observer, and an insert in the Greensboro News & Record.  We rented the Stokesdale Elementary School cafeteria, and prayed for good weather.

Earlier in 2000, there were several good snows.  I love snow, and had a blast playing with my family.  But then I realized that snow could really shipwreck our launch service.  Suddenly I began praying for milder weather.  On February 13, 2000 it was misty and foggy, but above freezing.  And I was a nervous wreck. 

We had volunteers setting up tables, greeting worshippers, serving snacks, and working the children's ministry.  A Sunday School class from Osborne Baptist Church in Eden provided support by showing up to worship.  My dad took pictures with a film camera.  I preached on "Getting the Love You Want," a nod to Valentine's Day.

I had no idea what I was doing, but believed God could make kingdom work happen in Stokesdale.  He has done that.  He has gathered a unique, talented, passionate, innovative, caring, risk-taking community at Crossroads.  And the ride has just begun.

On February 21, 2016 we will host the Crossroads Sweet Sixteen Celebration, recalling God's blessings and responding to his call.  Join us at 10 a.m. as we worship and give the glory to God!

Panthers and Prophets

The Carolina Panthers seem to be shaking up the NFL world.  Yes, they are winning.  Winning a lot.  But there's nothing new about that--other teams have posted near-perfect records in years past. 

But critics have found fault with the Cats.  They are too brash, too bold, too confident.  They celebrate too much.  Where did this dancing stuff come from?  They don't seem to take this game seriously.  And they are winning.

Over the decades, football has morphed from a game to big business.  You can't win with a smile on your face.  You have to grind out the accounting, and payroll, and union negotiations.  You have to deal with the press, and the fans, and the local community.

But this Panthers team has restored a key ingredient to the game:  Fun.  The players are
having a blast out there.  They dab, and jump, and give touchdown footballs to kids in the stands.  They congratulate each other and pose for team pictures.

Here's the key:  the Panthers have reminded us all that this is a GAME.  By definition, games should be fun.  This new attitude has stunned the NFL establishment.  The Cats are taking the game back to its basics.  It's competition, it's hard work, and it's fun.

Shaking up the status quo always bothers people.  When John the Baptist came along, he told the establishment that all their rules and traditions missed the entire point of a relationship with God.  It made the religious people mad. 

Jesus followed up, teaching that the kingdom of God was at hand.  He showed the religious elites to be hypocrites.  He would not play by their rules.  And they had Jesus crucified.  Jesus paid for their sins as he died.  He proved his power by rising from the dead.

When the status quo of my life gets shaken up, it makes me think.  It often makes me mad.  But when I handle it well, it wakes me up.

Unspoiled Plots

I recently read Matthew 15, and (somehow) saw it through new eyes.  I remembered that the disciples still did not “get” Jesus.  They saw him as a spiritual authority, so it surprised them for Jesus to criticize the Pharisees.  After Jesus pointed out the Pharisees’ hypocrisy, the disciples were almost shocked.  “Uh, Jesus, did you know that you just offended those religious leaders?”  They were trying to help him avoid trouble, not knowing that Jesus would never lose an argument, never back away from controversy, and never be defeated by death.

After the disciples’ admonition, Jesus takes the confrontation to a new level.  He calls the crowd to himself and explains how heart-matters are more important than appearances.  Suddenly this story had greater depth for me.  Somehow I could read the story as though it had not been spoiled.

So, how can you read the Bible like an unspoiled story?  Here are some suggestions.

Pray.  The Holy Spirit is the author of the Bible, so I can ask him to help me understand his word.

Take time.  Having a chunk of time without interruption and without distraction makes a huge difference for me.  Too often I provide my own distractions, unfortunately.

Read slowly.  I really struggle with reading the Bible too quickly.  I know the stories, so I can get by with skimming them.  When I stop rushing on to whatever is next, I can “listen” better to the story.

Try to forget what you already know.  That’s not easy to do.  It’s really the whole point of pretending that the story is not spoiled.  I keep reminding myself that I need a fresh perspective.

Read a different translation.  Unfamiliar wording often gets my attention.

Imagine the setting.  What time of day is it?  Where is this—on a mountain, on a lake, in a house?  What has just happened previously?  How would that affect the people in the story?  Is the weather mentioned?  What would that look like, feel like, as best you can imagine?

Consider who is in the story.  Is Jesus talking to the crowd, the Pharisees, the disciples?  Who is watching this happen?

Look at the details and descriptions.  Are emotions mentioned?  How are people described?  What details seem unimportant, and why were they included?

Imagine you are one of the “extra” characters.  What were David’s brothers thinking before he killed Goliath?  What were the other disciples thinking when Jesus rebuked Peter?  How did the Christians in Philippi feel when they heard the letter from Paul?

Ask questions.  Who is Jesus talking to?  How would they feel about Jesus?  What are they thinking?  Why would someone respond like that?  Why did God let that happen?

Spoiler Alert

Nobody likes spoilers.  Forgive me for remembering the old days, but there was a time when you could only see something on TV or at the movie theater.  If you missed it on TV, then you deserved to have it spoiled for you.  If you had not seen the movie yet, you needed to get to the theater fast.  Of course with no social media, the opportunities for spoilage were more rare.

A plot is spoiled when we know what is going to happen.  Much of the Star Wars episodes 1-3 was spoiled before the movies were ever made.  We knew that Anakin would turn to the dark side.  We knew that he would father a couple of children.  Key elements of the plot held no suspense.

When the plot is spoiled, we know how the story ends.  We see the disasters coming, we expect the hero to arrive, we know who will still be standing.  So, for entertainment, all we have left is curiosity about the details.  We miss the suspense.  We find no surprise with the unexpected.  Our jaws never drop.  Many stories become old and trite. 

In American culture, the Bible has been spoiled.  We know how it ends.  We know all the twists and turns, the disasters and the deliverances.  We know that Moses leads the Hebrews out of Egypt.  We know that David kills Goliath.  We know that the big fish swallows Jonah and saves his life.  We know that Jesus turns the water to wine.  We know that the woman at the well comes to faith  We know that Peter walks on water.  We know that Judas betrays his master, who is executed for fictitious crimes.  We know that the tomb is empty. 

But those who hear these stories for the first time are astounded.  God parts the waters!  Jonah can't run away from God!  Jesus offends the religious people!  Jesus forgives those who murder him!  Love conquers hate!

We can tell these stories to children and watch their eyes light up.  But by the time we are adults, our eyes glaze over.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  Tell me something I don't know.  What's your point?

If we can read the stories as though we have never heard them, we see just what a radical Jesus is.  We marvel at the power and love of God.  We get a glimpse of the story of God.

Maybe that's what childlike faith is all about:  reveling in astonishment at the work of God.

Danger

Danger

For some reason, God keeps bring to mind the word, danger.  For months, the word has recurred in my thoughts, as though God were trying to get through to me.

I know that God had called me to more than a life of safety and comfort.  But, for the most part, that’s the life I live.  But he calls me into battle. 

Just this week I stumbled across this hard-hitting quote from missionary martyr Jim Elliot. 

“We are so utterly ordinary, so commonplace, while we profess to know a Power the Twentieth Century does not reckon with. But we are ‘harmless,’ and therefore unharmed. We are spiritual pacifists, non-militants, conscientious objectors in this battle-to-the-death with principalities and powers in high places. Meekness must be had for contact with men, but brass, outspoken boldness is required to take part in the comradeship of the Cross. We are ‘sideliners’ -- coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged. The world cannot hate us, we are too much like its own. Oh that God would make us dangerous!”  --Jim Elliot

And so we dive into Danger at Crossroads. 

There are different kinds of danger.  Some danger we can avoid.  Wisdom leads us to make good decisions and escape this danger.  In Proverbs we read, “The prudent see danger and take refuge, but the simple keep going and suffer for it” (27:12).  Sometimes God calls us to avoid danger.

Other danger we can’t avoid.  We have to face it.  It sneaks up on us and surprises us.  We deal with these kinds of dangers in daily life—from road rage to pink slips.  Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble; but take heart!  I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).  Sometimes we must face danger.

Then there is the danger we need to pursue.  “Our struggle is not against flesh and blood,” Paul told the Ephesians, “but against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12).  Danger is around the corner for any faithful follower of Jesus.  “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12).  Jesus himself went directly into danger, following the Father step by step.  Sometimes God calls us to seek danger.

Here we go.

Avoiding Danger:  Wisdom for Avoiding Trouble

January 10  Trouble with the Government  (Exodus 2)

January 17  Trouble with Sin  (Genesis 19)

January 24  Trouble with Deception  (Colossians 2)

January 31  Trouble with Traps  (Acts 23)

In February, Facing Danger:  Wisdom for Handling Trouble

In March, Seeking Danger:  Wisdom for Making Trouble

New Year's Thoughts...

Here comes 2016!

And here are some random thoughts.

I love fresh, new calendars.  With my Google calendar, I miss the thrill of turning that page to a new year.  Now it's just a click to another screen.  *Sigh*

I have a cool new calendar called "The Finding Jesus Calendar."  Think "Where's Waldo," but with Jesus.  For real.  I just need to find a place to hang it...

Resolutions sometimes work, sometimes don't.  Even if they don't work, I like dreaming and planning for the new year.

Danger is around the corner.  I don't know what the dangers are, but I don't want to play it safe in 2016.  I want the danger that comes from worthy risks, not the danger that comes from foolishness or laziness.

The Panthers could make it to the Super Bowl.  Yeah, we're gonna rock at our Crossroads Super Bowl Party!

Speaking of sports, the Demon Deacons look like they may have a real basketball team this season.  Whoo Hoo!  Danny Manning is the man.

I want to put some serious energy into writing in 2016.  Better blogs, guest columns, and maybe a book.  And complete sentences.  Where necessary.

I expect this New Year to be full of excitement.  I want to live every moment in the moment.  It should start off with a bang!