OK, God, can we trust you?

Where God guides, God provides. If God was truly leading me and my family to move to Stokesdale and start a new church, he would have to make some provisions along the way.

First we needed a stream of income. The wave of church planting was in its infancy, and there were not many avenues for funding. I had to find the right channels and ask the right people. With the Lord's help, we found financial help to get the ball rolling. Our local association of churches, the Baptist State Convention of NC, and three local congregations agreed to provide monthly assistance for our first year. 

In some ways the money was the easy part. More importantly, we needed people. But first we had to move into the community.

 

Now buying a house is never easy. But we had no equity, having lived in parsonages for ten years. And I had no job either. I was planning to create a job. These are not stelar points on a loan application, even in 1999. And so we went house shopping anyway. After considerable angst, we found the perfect house, affordable and functional. Just before closing, the bank balked, but finally came through when we got a co-signer. 

Once we moved to Stokesdale in September 1999, we began inviting people to our home for cookouts and Bible studies. Slowly we gathered a handful of friends who wanted to be part of a new church. 

It took time, prayer, and patience, but God provided what we needed.

But that's scary...

Who leaves a stable job for a position that doesn't exist? I had to ask myself that question in 1999. And I had another question for God himself. My reading through the Gospel According to Matthew kept drawing me toward a grand adventure.

In Matthew 14 we find Jesus walking on water, catching up to the disciples who are frantically rowing their boat. When they see Jesus, they freak out, understandably. But Peter seizes the moment. He wants in on the action. He shouts out, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water." Jesus answers, "Come." Peter steps out of the boat onto the water, and walks toward Jesus.

So my question for the Lord was, "If it's you, call me to step out into church planting." I normally hear crickets when I ask such things of God. I expected to get a sense of, well, nothing in particular. Silence, maybe. But that's not what I sensed from God. I felt him say, "Come." 

That was scary. 

I was perfectly ready to abandon the whole idea and stay put a little while longer. But now I had to pursue the opportunity. I had to make actual plans, find actual funding. I had to find a house for my family. I had to find a place for a church to meet.

Somehow I missed the rest of the story, when Peter looked at the storm and freaked out himself. He started sinking and cried out, "Lord, save me!" Jesus reached out and grabbed his most famous follower and saved him.

I would soon find myself praying this prayer over and over. "Lord, save me!"

Are You talking to me?

In 1999 I sensed that it was time for a change. Life and ministry seemed flat at the church where I served. I was 36 years old. I felt like I was a bona fide grown up, and it was time for me to make a difference in the kingdom of God. I had read Rick Warren's book, The Purpose Driven Church, and I dreamed of planting a church. From that book, it all seemed pretty straight forward, and I wanted to give it a shot. But starting a church from scratch would mean jumping ship from a stable situation. I would have to quit my job. That's not easy with a wife and two preschool children.

If I was going to make this move, I needed some assurance that God was in this whole thing. I was leading the missions team for a group of churches in the area, and for months I had tried to spark some interest in a church start in Stokesdale. That town had experienced considerable growth, and was poised for much more. Our denomination had no church in the whole town. It looked like a gap to be filled. Further, I had enough experience in church world to know that many small churches in small towns tend to be closed systems--friendly to new people, but not open to the change that comes with new members.

But I needed more than favorable circumstances to make a move. I wanted to hear from God. 

I happened to be reading through the Gospel According to Matthew at the time. In chapter 8 a leper comes to Jesus, falling at his feet. He tells Jesus, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." Jesus responds, "I am willing." Jesus heals the man.

I followed this leper's lead. I prayed, "Lord, if you are willing, you can help me plant a new church." I listened for his response. I didn't know what to expect. Such boldness with God was a new thing for me. I really expected silence from God, or a sense that I needed to wait. But soon--maybe within minutes--I sensed the Holy Spirit saying, "I am willing."

This was scary. I didn't know what to do. I had to pray some more. My new journey was just beginning.

Quarter Century Reflections

Next month Crossroads Community Church will be 25 years old. We launched as a church on February 13, 2000 with our first public worship service in the Stokesdale Elementary School cafeteria. We had imported some musicians from Burlington and some attendees from a sponsor church in Eden. As people gathered to worship, I didn't know who was borrowed from our mother church and who was a potential member of Crossroads. There was so much I did not know...

We are celebrating our 25th Anniversary on February 16, 2025 in style! We have guest speakers, special music, and a few surprises to commemorate the day. We also will serve a fully catered meal to the whole crowd. Everyone is invited, of course, but we especially want to see people who have been blessed by Crossroads over the years. It will be like a family reunion!

Although our first public worship was in February of 2000, there was a lot of work behind the scenes, months before that event. A small handful of folks had come together, believing that God would empower us to start a brand new church. Our core group included a wide range of disciples, including a retired rocket scientist, a single mom, a high school dropout, and my family. Looking back, I'm amazed at what God could do through some very naive and idealistic Christians. 

As we approach our birthday, I want to share some reflections about this whole journey. I'll be posting some thoughts over the next couple of weeks, looking back on lessons learned and the grace of God. Forgive me for being nostalgic, and let's take a trip down memory lane!

Enchanted Noel

We began our Advent series last Sunday, Enchanted Noel. Here's what it's about.

God has a story. We are a part of it. Maybe a small part. This story begins, of course, with creation and then the Garden of Eden. This place, the Garden in Eden, was a remarkable place. It was very good. It was a place of abundance, beauty, a place where God walked around. People lived there without sin. And without clothes, because there was no shame. It was heaven on earth. Heaven and earth overlapped there in the Garden. God wanted his special creatures, the ones made in his image, to expand this goodness and abundance around the rest of the earth. But before they could even get started, our first parents fell to temptation. They reached out to take the knowledge of good and bad, rather than seeking wisdom from God. And they were kicked out of the Garden.

No wonder humanity longs for connection with the supernatural.

Ever since then, God has been working his plan to bring heaven to earth. This is what Advent is all about. God himself came to this world to bring the kingdom of God here: “on earth as it is in heaven.” God’s presence brings a different quality to creation. He infuses it with his beauty and power.

This season our series of messages is “Enchanted Noel.” When I speak of enchantment in this context, I’m not talking about magic and spells or superpowers. I’m talking about qualities of this world that go far beyond the material. We step into this world beyond the material when we celebrate the Lord’s Supper: the Body of Christ, the Blood of Christ. There is more to these elements than bread and juice. There is a supernatural reality that we are all part of. I want to call our attention to this spiritual realm. This season begs us to look beyond molecules and photons to meaning and love.

On the one hand, let’s recognize that the dominant Western world view today is “science.” If you deny science, you are stupid, backward, and superstitious. The material world is the “real world.” This is a real bias of modern thought. Anything beyond the material is soft, squishy, and suspect.

It helps us to realize that this perspective is unique in human history. Most people for most of history have had a great deal of respect for the supernatural world. Sometimes that respect has led people astray, but not always.

But this material worldview cannot speak to some of life’s most important elements: meaning and love.

This is why we need Christmas. Even before Christ, there were winter festivals, feasts of celebration as days grew shorter and darker. Today in the West, we scientific people set that material perspective aside and we seek wonder and surprise and the intangible. We call it “Christmas spirit.”

We can look more closely at this world. Even this material world is full of mystery. We look farther and farther into space, and we find more and more mystery. We look deeper and deeper into the properties of matter, and we find mystery there too.

While we tend to focus on science, let's note that on the other hand, God communicates through story. The Bible is not a fact manual. Everything in the Bible has to be understood in the context of story. We speak of the Christmas story, not the Christmas timeline or formula or policy. God communicates through story because story leans on relationship. And God wants relationship. He wants relationship with you.

So he puts you in a story, in this enchanted world. It’s a story of love and redemption. It’s a world in which heaven works to overlap with earth. The more we tune into heaven, the more heaven comes to earth. “On earth as it is in heaven.”

God’s greatest work of bringing heaven to earth begins with the Christmas story.

Enchanted Noel

•     December 1 - Longing: The Prophets
•     December 8 - Watching: Simeon and Anna in the Temple
•     December 15 - Believing: The Magi
•     December 22 - Receiving: Mary and Joseph

Helene's New World

Friday morning I was delighted to see the sun come out. The fringes of Helene had blown through here with bands of windy showers. It was so good that the storm was past. Friday afternoon I was checking on livestock and erosion at the Garrett Family Farm. There were a few limbs down, and the ground was saturated. About what I expected. As I harvested some watermelons and tomatoes, it started to sprinkle again. No big deal. Then my phone alarm went off: Tornado Warning! The sprinkles got harder. I wasn't sure what to do as I climbed in my truck. My 4-wheel drive easily took me around some fields up toward the highway. But the radio repeated the civil alert announcement. A tornado warning was issued for Western Rockingham County. Doppler radar showed possible tornadic activity in Ellisboro, Madison, Mayodan, Wentworth, Intelligence. In other words, I was in the bullseye. If I left the farm, I would be going toward one of those communities. 

Fortunately the alert told me what to do. "If you are in a vehicle, seek shelter in the most substantial structure available to avoid flying debris." So I pulled the truck around to my hay barn. I sat by the bales, under the shelter, singing and praying aloud. I waited out the warning while the rain rattled the tin roof. As quickly as it came, the storm moved on. I would find out later that a small tornado touched down in Stoneville, where I had been only an hour before. In 20 minutes the storm dumped 0.8" of rain on my garden. I was so glad when the storm was over.

But the storm is not over. The rain has mostly stopped, but the waters in western NC still fill many streets and still overflow river banks. As they do recede, they are revealing a new world. Towns have been washed away. Homes slid down hills. Houses that remain are filled with mud. Livestock were swept away, many dying downstream. Roads are flooded, washed away, covered with rocks and mud. A day-long enemy air strike could not have done such destruction.

So here we are. Faced with the world left by Helene. Only now are we discovering the destruction. Today, Monday morning, the death toll is nearing 100. Some people are missing and authorities don't even know they are missing. Many communities are utterly cut off from the outside world: no phones, no internet, no roads. So no one knows how bad it is yet.

It's time for some good news. Convoys of power trucks and ambulances are making their way to the disaster. Crews from far-flung states are coming here to help. Neighbors are serving meals, grilling meat from their freezers. The NC National Guard--with other Guard assets from Connecticut, Maryland, Ohio, Iowa, Florida, South Carolina, and Pennsylvania--has been rescuing people and pets. They have moved more than 34,000 pounds of cargo to help victims with food, water, and medical supplies. And they are just getting started.

In these desperate times, our people are pulling together. Neighbors are loving each other. It is such a long road to recovery. Those of us who can help, we need to step up. You will have the opportunity to give, to go cut down trees, to rake out mud, to serve meals, to wash clothes.

I know that Samaritan's Purse, NC Baptists on Mission and many other organizations have already begun operations. 

Western North Carolina will never be the same. Some of my favorite places have been washed away. But we can ask God to redeem this destruction. And we can step in to bring the redemption. We can rebuild roads and structures. And right now we can build relationships through loving, compassionate, sacrificial giving.

Finding Treasures and Leaving Them There

Our family goes to the beach, every year. Lisa and I began our annual beach trips before our kids were born, and, with few exceptions, we have gone every year. Lisa and I like to walk on the beach, and we can't help but look for seashells along the way. It seems like there are always some beautiful shells just hiding in the sand. We squat down and sort through the crunched up remnants of shellfish homes. We almost always find treasures in the chips. 

The treasures, of course, are whole seashells. We find them tiny and large, lots of different colors. And we (almost) always bring them home. We have more seashells than we know what to do with. Lisa uses them brilliantly for home decorating. But we can't possibly use all our shells.

Seashells are meant to be picked up and enjoyed. Why just leave them in the surf?

I notice that a lot of Christians use the Bible that way. They find inspirational verses and pull them out, to put on bumper stickers and stationery. It's like these verses are scattered through boring, irrelevant Bible words, and we just need to dig through to find them. And when we find them, we take them home. We remove them from the author's flow of thought, and we use them for our own purposes. Maybe even decorating our homes.

We consider the context irrelevant. It doesn't matter where we find these treasures. We like what they say to us. Never mind what they meant thousands of years ago.

Maybe we should see Bible verses not as shells to be picked up, but as jewels in a crown. Yes, you could remove the stones from a crown, but part of their beauty is their setting. The gold prongs, and leaves, the depth and relief--all of this brings beauty to the jewels. Without the crown, they are just rocks, beautiful rocks, shiny rocks. But their meaning is diminished.

What if we found treasures in the Bible and left them where we found them? We should look at them often. But when we see them in context, we can really behold their beauty. We have to meditate on the scripture to find its depth. There is always more depth.

We can ask: 

• Who wrote this?
• Who received this?
• What kind of literature is this? A letter? Poetry? History?
• What point is the author making?
• What other Bible passages do we need to keep in mind?

When you find your treasures in the Bible, leave them there and let their beauty radiate.