minimizing me...making much of JESUS!

Approaching the 1/2 Way Mark

2010-08-27T12:20:00.004-05:00

WOW!!!! Where did the week go? I've been planning to send out an update all week long and the next thing I know it is Friday and I haven't blogged in over a week. Tomorrow is the 1/2 way mark of our 40 Days of Fasting and Praying - it is almost 1/2 over...I just can't believe it.

On one hand, I am getting really, really tired of fasting...I really do just want to quit. I'm missing my food, I'm missing my coffee and Diet Coke and I'm missing being able to "veg" mindlessly in front of the TV late at night after everyone's in bed. HOWEVER!!!! I cannot even begin to tell you all of the things that I have witnessed from God during these last 19 days, and I cannot imagine what He is going to be able to accomplish in the next 21 Days if I will just buckle down and recommit myself to passionately pursuing Him so that He can have 100% of my absolute and undivided attention to show me what He has always wanted me to know but I was never interested enough to seek His face. Do you know what I mean? Are you experiencing this too in your personal walk through this 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting? I have heard and seen with my own eyes some INCREDIBLE STORIES of God revealing Himself to people of our church, changing their hearts and minds and moving them to a place they've never before been in their Christian Walk.

As we continue to pray, I want to put another "corporate request" before you. We've already started to see God do some work at showing us what He wants for our future and where He wants that to be. This prayer thing REALLY WORKS!!! I want to ask you to continue to pray for ONENESS of direction for the next steps of Crossroads in having a place to bring our family and friends and neighbors to see and experience the LOVE of GOD through this local body.

The next thing that I want to ask you to pray for ONENESS in our body is in the area of PASSION. Please pray that God would em-passion the people of Crossroads with a ONENESS of MIND and HEART and SERVICE to reach out to this community with the message of Christ's love to spare them the awful torments and eternal loneliness of Hell. I'm calling on the partners of Crossroads to plead with God for a ONENESS that motivates and empowers people to get out of their seats and serve and minister like they never have before - that EACH AND EVERY PARTNER would be involved in some kind of ministry THROUGH this church family.

I'm calling on the partners of Crossroads to beg for the ONENESS of themselves WITH their brothers and sisters to be faithful to God in their giving in order to allow God the opportunity to prosper His obedient people who are part of our church family, prosper our church and make it the LIGHTHOUSE in this community that directs outsiders to the eternal power and love of Jesus Christ. Beg God for such a ONENESS of the Crossroads body that there would be a supernatural outpouring of the Spiritual Gifts and Abilities possessed by our partners that this community would be transformed by the Love and Grace of Christ THROUGH Crossroads Church.

I'm begging God that Jesus Christ be KNOWN in this community THROUGH Crossroads Church. Sadly, less than 10% of the population of Grain Valley even knows that we are here, much less Oak Grove, Blue Springs, or the surrounding communities. Let's beg God for an outpouring of His power through His willing servants here at CROSSROADS and that EVERY PARTNER and PEW WARMER would catch of vision to be a part of God's Work right here. Can you imagine, people standing outside the doors of this assembly waiting to get in and see what God is going to do next? God WANTS to do that in every one of His churches...I'm pleading for it to happen through completely surrendered followers of Christ in obedience, submission, and commitment that are part of this ONE CHURCH.

Enjoying the Journey Together with YOU!
Padre

Direction4Living...for the whole church family

2010-08-20T09:04:00.001-05:00

How are you doing with your fasting and praying C2? Don't quit now! If you've stumbled, tripped, fallen off the wagon...get back up and dust yourself off and get back on!!! We've still got 28 days to make a HUGE difference. Don't let that nasty tool of Satan called "guilt" make you lose focus and quit on us. God wants you...the rest of Crossroads needs you! GOD desires passionately to be ONE with you and I believe with all my heart, that He has led us as a church to this point of fasting and praying to give us that chance to reciprocate. If your fasting hasn't brought you closer to God in a walk with Him and His Word, then maybe you need to step up what it is that you are fasting...give up a little more...focus a little more on Him than on what you've given up...focus a little more on Him than on replacing what you gave up...replace it with HIM!!! God wants to bless our church soooooooo much...I stand in faith on that. He wants to multiply our numbers, expand our territories, send relevant examples of His transforming power into a community that is searching for meaning and purpose...BUT He can ONLY do that if we are obedient and submissive and committed to surrendering completely to Him during these 40 Days...COME ON CROSSROADS...ARE YOU WITH ME!?!?!?

One of the things that I feel led for our church to pray about corporately...I shared this with those in our last 9:30 C2 Studies a couple weeks ago, I've shared this in our prayer groups and I shared it at our Lord's Supper Launch of the 40 Days...we need direction, all of us together as ONE, about the location where God desires for us to do ministry...a ministry "center".

The building that we are in is rented, it's not conducive to large gatherings of people (heating, cooling, parking, classroom sizes), it's not conducive to our ministry style, small classrooms, low ceilings in the worship center, nursery away from other children's classes, and there are several areas of much needed updating, renovation and repair.

We own 5 1/2 acres of land just a mile away. It's paid for...has been for nearly 5 years now. The cost to build the amount of square footage that we currently use in this building is going to run us, furnishings and all, right at one million dollars - that's $10,000 per month in mortgage compared to the $3000 per month that we barely get paid in lease right now.

What does God want us to do to continue to be a relevant, growing, inviting environment for people to come in and meet Jesus? Does he want us to stay where we are and invest in renovating the building that we are currently in? The rent is as cheap as they come...we've got good exposure to the interstate and the GV exit ramps. Does he want us to stay here and make this building work for us for a little while longer and begin a MASSIVE capital fundraising campaign to build a building on our land? It's a great piece of land, plenty of room for everything we need, easily accessible from the interstate, close to a high percentage of the GV population. Does He want us to find another building that will fit the way we do ministry now so that we can grow and follow the way that He is blessing and guiding NOW? Something like a school or a theater where we can cut costs and save money for a building? Or does He want us to scrap our land and go for a building like the Kmart in Blue Springs or another similar building that is vacant or will soon be vacant?

What does God want for us? Where is He leading us? Are you willing to fast and pray that God will give each of us as a church family a ONENESS of direction? Do you believe that God wants to prosper our church? If you said "yes", then how is He going to do that? The only way that God can prosper the church as a WHOLE is if He prospers the church body members, right? And according to His Word, the only way that He can prosper you and me is if we are obedient and committed to following His Word. Are you willing to do that? Are you willing to BE that?

Enjoying the Journey Together.
Padre

The Journey Continues: Why are we doing this?

2010-08-18T06:23:00.000-05:00

Good morning crossroads|church. Well, the journey continues and there have been some really high "highs" and some really low "lows". Slow and steady...one foot in front of the other...know that you have brothers and sisters that are walking with you and are there to support and encourage you.

I wanted to spend some time this week talking to you about "why" we are fasting as a church, together, as one. What are our goals? What are we asking to to "Make Us One" about? Before we go into any of that, I just want to encourage you to have the right goals in your fast. Don't fall into one of the pitfalls of fasting. If you are not careful, you can make the fast about "the fast" and not about prayer.

Remember, fasting is not a personal "challenge" to see how long you can go without something just so that you can say that you did it. If you fast from TV for 40 Days...that's great, but how much of that TV time did you spend in intimate conversation with God and in His Word? It's wonderful that fasting from Facebook gave you more time of togetherness as a family...but that's not the goal. How much of your sacrificed Facebook time did you spend discovering new things about God in prayer and reading of His Word that you had not discovered during the rat race of life before this fast? Fasting is NOT the goal. Fasting is the means, the pathway, to the goal. Ronnie Floyd, in his book "The Power of Prayer and Fasting" says this: "Spiritual fasting is the means - the once hidden, unexplored, misunderstood vehicle - by which we humble ourselves before God."

Conversing and communing with God in a way that you never thought possible...THAT'S THE GOAL! Knowing God in such an intimate way through your prayer life that you become "one" with the Godhead as you are indwelt by His Spirit. Our goal, as a church, is that as we each become ONE with God that we will find that we are ONE with one another...that the ONENESS of God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit would be experienced among our church family...each member of the body...each partner of the crossroads|church.

THAT'S THE GOAL! So, how are you doing at reaching the goal? We are on Day 10. You've still got time...31 days left that you can fast and pray for ONENESS individually and corporately. Tomorrow, we'll talk about some of the things for which we are seeking God's direction corporately, as a church body.

Anybody got anything good to share? Anyone have any questions? Anyone have any burdens to share?

I'm Enjoying the Journey Together with You, Crossroads.
Padre

I wish Sunday would hurry up and get here!!!!

2010-08-14T18:57:00.000-05:00

I get excited every Sunday morning when I get to church and realize what kind of work that God wants to do around me that day. Have you ever been so excited about something that you just couldn't sleep?? I remember when I was a kid, there were a few things that got me that excited. One was Christmas Eve. Another was the night before leaving on vacation. My favorite memory though, is the night before we'd go to the amusement park. We lived 2 hours from Kings Island and 4 hours from Cedar Point, so we'd only go one time each year. I'd lay awake, what seemed like most of the night, and plan my trip around the park...what I wanted to ride first, what I wanted to eat first, how I was going to avoid having to go see a show, what I was going to eat next. I loved going to amusement parks.

But I've got to be honest, I haven't been this excited for Sunday to get here in quite a while! Having everyone all together for ONE worship service at the same time. I'm telling you...its going to be the bomb. Our C2 Worship Crew has never sounded better...they have been ninjas @ worship the last few weeks, and Daniel...dang, he's got a great voice and we never knew it. The First Impressions Team is ready for a big crowd, ready to park cars and make sure everyone's got a seat. The last six days of fasting have been a long week for some folks and a tough week, lots of withdrawals and some sickness. But every story of pain or discomfort is accompanied by a story of God changing lives, hearts and minds. I know there have been some sweet changes in my home, in my marriage and in my personal time with God...its enlightening what happens when you HAVE TO depend on God. Stay with it folks...push toward the goal. Some have said it hasn't been too rough for them...maybe it's time to dial it up a notch. Challenge yourself...challenge God. No pain - no gain.

I had a great time meeting with the Ironmen this morning. We had a great group of guys and just a really nice time of hanging out, talking about the Word, being authentic and then getting to pray with the men of C2. I like to listen to men pray with passion and not just offer up something they've heard said or always said. It was just cool. Just a little sidebar commercial here - guys @ C2, some may not realize that IronMen is not a club that is "by invitation only". It's for all men who would like to come - even our teen guys are welcome.

Well, I'm turnin' in early for the night. God a truckload of blessings to unload early in the morning. We could use some help unloading them...show up and join us @ 10 am @ C2 - cafe opens for breakfast and authentic community at 8:30 am.

Enjoying The Journey Together.
Padre

"I'm Not Feeling It!"

2010-08-12T09:04:00.006-05:00

In seeking advice, someone told me that they weren't "feeling it" the way that others seem to be "feeling" this fast. With their permission, I thought maybe others could benefit from an excerpt of my answer.

First, "feeling it" is very subjective. That could mean so many different things to so many different people. What I am "feeling" right now is sick, tired, draggy and a little bit depressed. I am fasting breakfast, supper, any kind of snacking during the day or evening, coffee, diet coke and all other beverages. So, I drink water all day long and I eat a large bowl of tasty salad and a bowl of soup for lunch. I'm also fasting from TV - none at all, all day long for 40 days. Now let me tell you how big of a deal this is for me. I drink coffee ALL day long, every day. I down several Diet Cokes a day while I eat a few bags of chips from the cafe during the day, have breakfast appointments and lunch appointments at nice restaurants periodically throughout the week, eat a good supper at night and then snack on chips and salsa, potato chips, popcorn, and various sweets while I veg out watching several of our favorite shows on DVR nearly every evening between 9 pm and 12 am. So what am I feeling? My head hurts, I feel very sleepy, somewhat grumpy and every time I pause from my work or whatever I am doing, I desperately want to go grab something to eat and reach for the remote. Just 10 minutes ago I was in the kitchen to fill me a big glass of yummy water (total sarcasm) so that I could take some more Ibuprofen for my headache. I was alone and I was tempted to grab two handfuls of something, anything sweet or salty and shove it in my mouth and reach for another big handful before anyone caught me. I'm dead serious...there's at least 15 things in our kitchen right now that I could have done just that. I didn't cheat...I didn't even eat anything healthy, not even one little bite. I walked away with my glass of water and my mouth watering for what it is used to at that time of night.

BUT...here's how I handle that. Every time I feel that temptation or that pull, every time I feel a pain of hunger or the thought occurs to me to turn on TV to veg, I force myself to pray. You see, I don't feel "pulled" to pray. (I used these words "pull" and force" because the person told me they didn't feel much of a "pull" coming from their fast) I feel pulled to gorge myself with a frozen pizza or a bag of chips, but instead I force myself to pray for someone that I feel that God places on my mind at that time or I pray for answers to the growth problems of Crossroads or or I pray for our church's finances that are suffering from people who can't trust God or I pray for a leader who I know is struggling or a marriage that I know is not experiencing intimacy and oneness. I pray for my children to know God better than I know Him and for my wife to experience as much joy in our relationship as we experience in our relationship with our children.

As a result of forcing myself to pray, God gives me peace or joy or contentment in that moment. I feel a little release from the temptation to do what I promised to "give up" and then I feel excitement that in that moment, God and I were one and we won over the temptation or the urge and spent some quality time together. I still have a headache...I still feel like I want something salty to eat and I'd still rather be watching TV right now than typing this email. I'm not excited about the feeling I have right now...I'm excited about the sense that I know that God is doing something in my life and in the life of others. I'm excited because I know that God is gaining victory in lives, just like mine.

I hope that you are staying strong in the journey...push forward, pray for one another and enjoy the day given to you by God Almighty.

Enjoying the Journey Together.
Padre

Getting a little more challenging...

2010-08-11T09:10:00.003-05:00

Good Morning, Crossroads. Well, it's day three for the many, many of our church that are fasting from something that is vital to their every day lives. For some, this will be a difficult day, especially if you are fasting from something that is a regular part of your schedule - like, TV, meals, caffeine, sugar, facebook. How many times did you almost check your status on your phone yesterday or go to the fridge to get a snack or grab the remote just to see what was on? I just wanted to encourage you today in a couple of things:

Don't give up! Pray THROUGH the struggles. That's an integral part of the fast...the sacrifice of something you enjoy or depend on, replaced by PRAYER and MEDITATION on God's Word. You are going to feel weak and want to cave in, but pray through it. Those hunger pangs or temptations to do what you committed to give up are great opportunities to turn to God and pray harder for strength and for ONENESS with His Spirit. They are also great opportunities to pray for your partners at C2 who are facing the same struggle right about now. YOU ARE NOT ALONE IN THIS!
IF you do stumble, cave in to that cup of coffee, eat that piece of cake, find yourself in the middle of a facebook feast...don't beat yourself up. Don't give up because you failed. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off and recommit yourself to whatever it is that you have committed to fast. All is not lost because you stumbled. There are still 37 more days to focus.
Remember that fasting is about letting God get OUR ATTENTION through focused prayer and meditation in God's Word. Fasting is not about GRABBING ATTENTION FOR OURSELVES. Normally, a personal fast is meant to be kept just between you and God. However, since we are fasting together as a church family, a "corporate fast", and everyone already knows that the other is fasting and since it is such a long fast of 40 days and since the focus of the fast is for ONENESS, sharing our fast with one another is intended for the opportunity to pray for one another and encourage one another. Just make sure not to glorify yourself, your accomplishments or your sacrifices - we want God to get all the glory for what is accomplished in this focused time.
Don't compare your fast to someone else's. Comparison is one of the greatest destroyers to ONENESS. Wouldn't it be tragic if you allowed your sacrificial fast for ONENESS to be the actual cause of pride in your life and looking down on another brother in Christ? Take comfort in knowing that each person prayed about what God would have them to fast, just as you did and celebrate that they are doing so for ONENESS with the Savior AND with you, their brother/sister in Christ.

I am so very excited about what God is doing in our church right now. People are excited, they are encouraging and they are anticipating something incredible from God. Someone told me yesterday that the "We Are ONE" Lord's Supper Service was the most incredible service they had ever attended...and they grew up in church. YEAH GOD!!!! It was an incredible atmosphere to have our worship center crowded, incredible worship, focused attention on God's Son and not ourselves...I just can't wait until Sunday!!!! Don't forget, we are starting ONE SERVICE ONLY this coming Sunday, August 15th @ 10 AM.

Let me know how you are doing and how I can pray for you Crossroads. I love you all!
Enjoying the Journey Together.

Padre

The Journey Has Begun!

2010-08-10T00:31:00.002-05:00

Well, today begins one of the most ambitious journeys we've ever made here at crossroads|church. Today is "day 1" of a journey we are calling "We Are One: 40 days of Prayer and Fasting for ONENESS." It could not have kicked off any better than it did last night. We had one of the most awesome services I've experienced at C2 in a long, long time - if ever. The worship center was full and the house was rockin' in absolutely incredible worship and the energy was electric as we shared in one of the most intimate experiences a church family can share in ONENESS: The Lord's Supper. It was one for the books, my friends and I'm sad for anyone of our church family that had to miss it, but based on what we experienced, i believe there are more of those days to come for our church family.

Today, I began my fast for personal ONENESS with God, a more passionate ONENESS with my beautiful wife of 18 years, ONENESS together with my wife and our children that are quickly outgrowing the boundaries of our home, and ONENESS with the submissive, obedient, and committed brothers and sisters who are in complete surrender to Christ and His church. I almost typed members instead of "submissive, obedient, and committed brothers and sisters"...but over the years I've learned that membership, or partnership as we call it at C2, in a church does not necessarily mean ONENESS with the body of Christ. I am praying intensely for God's Spirit to guide me into ONENESS in those four areas: with God, my marriage, my family and my church. As many, many of our partners at C2 are doing, I'm even fasting, or sacrificing vital elements of my everyday life for 40 days in order to demonstrate to God how serious I am about this need of ONENESS and to carve out the extra time needed to talk with God and absorb myself in His Word so that He can do the work in me necessary for me to experience complete ONENESS with Him and those that He has brought into my life. We are going on this 40 Day fast and today was my first day of the journey without TV, flavored or caffeinated beverages, breakfast and supper.

Other than a headache, I've done well today. I found myself, even at lunch (the one meal per day that I am eating) drifting off into prayer for some very dear people in our church that I feel have drifted away, gotten hurt, offended, lazy, busy or just burned out in their relationship with Christ and His church. My heart was broken and filled with love for some people that maybe I haven't reached out to in a while. It really is amazing how much more focused you become and how much more sensitive you are to what the Holy Spirit lays on your mind and heart when you muffle or silence some of the clutter in your life.

I was wondering how my other brothers and sisters have done today. I don't think that we should brag on what we are giving up , how much we are giving up or how much more time we've spent in prayer or in The Word (God's supposed to get the glory - not us). BUT...I do believe that we should encourage one another and edify one another...we should celebrate the joys and the triumphs and help shoulder the burden of the attacks and the struggles. That's part of ONENESS...an integral part of it.

Share your experience with me and with the other readers. Feel free to comment on the blog either through http://www.pastordarryl.blogspot.com, http://www.facebook.com/pastordarryl or http://www.facebook.com/crossroadsgv.

Enjoying the Journey Together.
Padre