Day 1 of fast.

Starting off on January 1 fasting and seeking God in prayer. Seems weird to fast, to let go of what normally sustains you, and asking God to fill that void.

I don't really like to fast, but I do like the results. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness in Luke chapter 4. He ate nothing (fasted) and was tempted by the devil.

He fought off temptation with scripture, and emerged after 40 days full of the Holy Spirit's power.

During my time of fasting, I am just trying to be like Jesus. I am leaning into God's word, praying to be full of the Spirit's power, hoping to be able to minister to people by pointing them to Jesus.

Why ALL Crossing Campuses Matter!!

First off, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this. If you are reading this, I think it's because God has something he specifically wants to say to you.

As many of you know, The Crossing Church now has 4 campuses. I want to share some of the reasons why we have so many campuses:

1. People need to know about Jesus!! The more campuses we have, the more opportunities there are to let people know that God is for them and not against them!!
2. Convenience: How cool is it that you can go right down the street for an awesome Crossing service?
3. We really believe that the church is the only hope for all the world! Every town should have a place where people can go and get changed, loved, and cared for.

If you attend The Crossing and you have never checked out the campus in your town I am challenging you to do so this weekend!! This weekend is going to be amazing at every campus. I am challenging you to start getting involved in what's happening in your city. Start inviting people to the campus down the street and see your city and neighborhood change!! My hope and prayer is to see every town with a Crossing campus in it on fire for God and changed because the love and hope of Jesus became real in ton of people's lives!!

I get to do ministry with some of the most amazing, selfless people on Earth. People who are committed to seeing Jesus show up in their city. I challenge you to get involved and volunteer and make a difference, and watch as Jesus shows up and changes the world through The Crossing campus in your town! God's hand is on this church... at EACH & EVERY campus. Some of us on a large scale, some of us on a small scale. But life-change happens ONE LIFE at a time no matter which campus you're at. And every life MATTERS to God.

So, come and join your neighbors and help make your town the hardest place to go to hell from!! Come and check out The Code of the Samurai this weekend, it is going to be off-the-chain amazing!! Go to www.crossing-church.com and see where the campus closest to you is!!

Praying what you preach.

The talk this weekend at Crossing Church was amazing. It really got me thinking about planting and harvesting. So I wanted to talk about 3 seeds that I want to plant in my life this week, I hope you will too.

First is Preaching. Everyone who calls themselves a Christian has the responsibility to preach. Preaching simply by talking. Talk about what Jesus has done in your life and share how much His love has changed you. Preach.

Next is Practicing. If you are going to preach, you had better make sure to practice what you preach. Your life should be a reflection of what you profess with your mouth. This part is a little harder - it means you have to put in the work of living out what you say, not just paying lip service.

Last is Prayer. If you are going to follow Jesus and try to live like He lived, you should be in constant conversation with Him asking Him to share with you how He did it!! You need to ask God to change you and empower you to do the practicing after the preaching. Prayer is the thing that brings the first two into line and makes them work. Without prayer, you are doing it on your own and when you do it on your own it will not work.

So, now here is the challenge I have for all who just read this blog:

Will you preach? Will you talk to your friends and loved ones about Jesus? Will you invite them to your church so that they will hear how much He loves them and wants to do life with them?

Will you practice what you preach? Will you set an example worthy of wanting to follow?

And finally, will you pray? My wife and I are committing to pray at least a half an hour each day this week for the city of Zimmerman, the Zimtown campus, the Zimtown volunteers and leaders, and for lost people who don't know Jesus.

I firmly believe that God blesses you when you talk to people about Him, serve Him with your life, and seek Him and His wisdom and guidance. No, wait, I know He blesses you when you do this.

So join us in prayer this week and pray that He fills our church with people who need HIM! Plant the seeds of Preaching, Practicing, and Praying.

Zimtown Thank You!!

I just wanted to take a few minutes and thank all the people who volunteer to serve and do stuff around the Zimtown campus to make it happen each week.

Thank you!! Without your hard work and dedication to seeing people meet Jesus each week the Zimtown campus would not happen. You are all amazing, keep up the hard work. What you are doing is making a difference in Zimmerman and making it one of the hardest places to go to hell from.

Good Job, I look forward to serving with you all each week, you are the highlight of my week. I am truly blessed to have you in my life and to serve you and serve with you, keep it up!!

Stormy weather.

Ever feel like Jesus asked you to do something and when you obey all hell breaks loose? It feels like a storm is raging in your life and you are headed toward destruction? Ever feel that way? I have.

There are times when I feel like I am doing the right thing and everything is falling apart, waves are crashing, wind is howling, and there is not a chance I am going to survive.

The disciples had one particular experience like this. Mark ch. 4: Jesus tells the disciples to hop in a boat and go to the other side of the lake. They all hop in and part way across a storm hits, not a little one either. Wind is blowing, waves are coming into the boat, death seems imminent.

Where is Jesus? He's in the back of the boat, snoozin'. He just got done serving, and preaching his guts out and he is tired. So the disciples really freak out, they wake him up and ask if he even cares that they are gonna die!!

You see up to this point the disciples have only had a glimpse of who Jesus is. He is a great teacher, a miracle worker, an amazing leader. But he is about to reveal the most awesome thing about who he is.

He stands up in the boat and says the wind and waves "Peace, be still!" Then it is dead still, a great calm comes over the water and waves.

You see, I think a lot of us forget one huge thing about Jesus, he is God!! Up until now the disciples just kind of looked at him as a really great man. But he is so much more, he is also God.

Psalm 65:7 (speaking of God) 'who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves'.

It is at this moment that Jesus' followers realize that Jesus is much more than just a mere man. They know that only God can still the waves and the wind like this. Jesus looks at them and asks "Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?"

The disciples look at each other and are filled with great fear and say, "Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?"

So where is your faith at today? Are you rowing frantically trying to figure out what is going on, or are you realizing that Jesus is God and with a word he can calm the storm? Have faith, Jesus allows you to go through storms so that you can see one thing, He is God, don't forget that.

Keep the faith!!

I was thinking that sometimes it is really hard to always be faithful. Sometimes it just seems like life is kicking you in the teeth and all you can do is let it happen.

It is times like these when I think of Ephesians chapter 6:16, "In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one." You see, life gets really hard sometimes, you lose your job, a loved one dies, you get sick, bad things happen. The first thing I want to do when life gets hard is doubt that God loves me and that he has blessings in store for me, in other words, I put down my shield.

In battle, one of the most important things you have is your shield, it keeps you from getting shot!! I want to challenge you today, if you are getting shot at, to keep your shield up. Stand on what God promises you and march forward through the onslaught, believing what scripture says. God will protect you, he does love you, he wants good for you!! Lean into him in times of trouble, don't doubt his love for you, he will see you through.

Jeremiah 29:11, "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

We don't always know why things get hard or what the results will be, but God does. Trust him with your future he will deliver you. Don't allow yourself to get shot by dropping your faith, keep moving and trusting in his Word.

Confidence.

Hey, I know it has been a while since I have blogged anything, so to get back in the swing of things I thought I would make it a quick one!!

Genesis Ch. 5 "... When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them..."

Sometimes I really struggle having confidence. I think at some point in every one's life they struggle with this. I just want to remind you today, that you were made in God's image. That means you are an amazing creation! You have the ability to do awesome things, just like God.

There is a story in the book of Genesis where all the people get together and and decide to build a city and a tower that will have it's top in the heavens. Now I don't have an hour or so to get into the wrongness of what they are doing or why it happened, but, one thing I find really interesting about this story is what God says about these people.

And the Lord said , "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing will now be impossible for them." (emphasis added)

Now, of course, in this story the people were not doing God's will. But, the amazing thing God says, before he confuses all their language so they can't finish their city and tower and make a name for themselves, is that nothing will be impossible for them. You see, God created us to do amazing things.

Now we live in a fallen world and often times man uses his God given abilities to do evil, like in the story of the tower of Babel. But the good news is we can use the abilities God has given us to do many amazing, Godly things.

If we use our abilities to do good things, unlike the people in the Babel story, God really does bless what we do. Just remember God created us in his likeness, and blesses us when we bear his image well!! You really do have the power to do the impossible when you follow God's will for your life!!

Have confidence!! God blesses!!