Unsung Heroes

Just wanted to take some time to thank some great folks who either work behind the scenes at The Crossing or have just been caught doing something really nice. In the second category, I want to thank Alex and Christina Dixon for making cookies and giving them out to people at church. They did it just because they wanted to be nice...thanks kids (and Patti)!

Those working behind the scenes...
-Thanks Shelley Smith for setting up the Children's Church area every week. This is a labor of love that Shelley does every week when no one is looking. Thanks Shelley-- when you bless kids, you bless God's heart!
-Thanks to Lisa Alspach and Glen O'Loughlin for making the coffee every week.
-Thanks to Daniel Cheatham for driving the truck every week. Thanks to all the guys who do setup as well!
-Thanks to those who work with children every week at The Crossing.
If you have someone we should honor let us know.

One and Only

Yesterday we discussed the question, "what is the central point of the Bible?" I have thought about this for 20 years. Obviously to attempt to answer a statement like this is to invite controversy. I know there may be many honestly held ideas but I have not stumbled into my understanding. I believe the center of it all..the word of God, the mission of Jesus, and of the church, and even the point of attack for the enemy is oneness. God wants us to be one with him and with each other. Below is a very brief summary of oneness and Biblical history.

-God is one (Deut. 6:4)--the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit in a trinity which is simply a union or oneness of three things.
-God made mankind to be one with him illustrated by the picture of Adam and God walking in the cool of the evening in the garden in an intimate fellowship.
-God made mankind to be one with each other illustrated by the intimacy of Adam and Eve, the first people.
-The fall of man broke the intimacy between God and mankind. Adam and Eve immediately began to hide from God and each other; clearly their oneness has been ruined.
-The books of the law in the Old Testament provide a system for mankind to have partial oneness with God and each other. But this system is insufficient, temporary, and looks forward to the day when a better solution to man's loss of oneness with God and each other will be provided.
-Jesus ministry is all about restoring the oneness that has been lost in the fall of man. When asked about the greatest commandment Jesus says to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. That sums up exactly what God created and was lost in the Garden of Eden. Love is the action and emotion of oneness.
-And of course during Jesus' prayer in John 17 he talks about his oneness with the Father and his hope for his mission and for the people of the world to have the same oneness that he has.
-The early church became one and was used mightily to change 1000's of lives.
-And in the end we shall go to be with the father and with each other...together as one, forever in heaven. The restoration is complete... mankind is again one with his Creator and with each other.

So what does this all mean? It means that what God wants of is us to become one with him and each other. And our mission in life is to help more and more people to do the same. One and only!

Back to School and Many Other Things

The summer is great. The freedom...the relaxation...the rest. It is good to blow off some steam, break your routine, and not be bound by 'normal' life. It is important to visit family and friends, build better relationships, and create lasting memories. I think God wants us to have this time and we definitely need it especially living in the ATL.

But I am glad it is over! School starts for us tomorrow and it signals, for the Saunders' home at least, the return of normal, structured life--yes! I need the summer but after awhile I am ready to get rid of it. It has been great but I am ready for the fall and getting back to school and...many other things. Here are some of those other things:

1. I am ready to see my friends at church consistently. Most people miss between 2-5 Sundays in the summer with a few missing many more. The Crossing is like a family and when members of the family who were always there are suddenly gone it can be disappointing. And as good as the summer has been for us at The Crossing, there should be a good crowd there when everyone gets back.

2. I am ready to organize my life. The summer has been chaotic and routineless at times. Though not necessarily a neat person I do need consistency. I can handle chaos better than others but I don't thrive in it. I can hear many of you nodding in agreement about yourselves; you are ready for some order.

3. I am ready to see some big things happen at The Crossing. It just seems like some big things are coming this fall and I am excited about it. The fall is often a time for growth but this fall could be especially memorable...and I can't wait. You will be hearing more about it.

4. Oh and one more...I am ready for some football! The guys and I have been talking about it for a month. Logan is in full practice mode. ESPN talks about it everyday. Even Shelli said she can't wait for football...she loves the sedative effect of Sunday afternoon games!

So lets get back to school and the many other things that we all know we need. Be consistent in attendance at The Crossing, bring order to your life, and let's see some big things happen this fall at church!

Oh yea... and lets watch some football!

Who's In Your Circle?

The Alltel Phone Company asks an important question...who's in your circle? Of course there are referring to their promotional campaign where you can call five people that you often call for free any time you want. Those five may include someone you call regularly because of work or some other necessity.

But when I think of a circle I think of the people who have your back. They will stand with you when others let you down. They will pray for you and wonder how you are if they have not heard from you in a few days. They love you unconditionally and are committed to your relationship.

You probably have someone like that in your life. But how many people like that do you have in your life? In a conference I attended a few years ago a speaker asked this question, "If you suddenly had to leave the country and only had a few minutes, how many people would you have to call?" He went on to say, if you have 3 or fewer calls to make you are probably not healthy. The people around us, who are committed to us, and in our circle determine much of how we handle life. They determine how healthy we are and the more people we have at that level the healthier we are.

That is one thing I love about The Crossing...we are committed to helping you build your circle. Through our small groups which we will launch again this fall and through other ministries of The Crossing you can build relationships to strengthen your life. A trite statement says, it’s not what you know it’s who you know. When it comes to really having life that statement is even truer. So...who's in your circle? Sign up for small groups this fall and I believe your circle will grow.

Summer Slumps and Mountain Dreams

So much for posting more often. Man, I am sorry for not getting back on here more often. I was away for a while in the mountains with no computer for a week with my sons (Shelli did not have enough vacation and am just now getting back to you. In addition I have had a lot going and really too much to think about to have anything to say.

It has been an eventful Summer without much rest (thankfully I had some relaxation in the mountains with the guys.) When we made the change with Adam it did create a lot of stress and work for me. I do not do that kind of thing easily or casually. But I still know I did the right thing and that helps me not worry about it too much...God will help everyone involved when you do the right thing. I think it will eventually be the best thing for Adam and Gretchen too. Continue to pray for them and us.

And usually churches experience what is known as a summer slump as attendance, morale, and giving drops with vacations and absences. Now don't get me wrong...we aren't breaking any records but we have had a very good summer. Thank you for your faithfulness in giving and attending. And the presence of God has been so powerful in the worship and the messages the last several weeks. We have experienced some spiritual peaks this summer that make me dream of even greater mountaintops this fall.

Speaking of mountains...I love the mountains! I love log cabins, mountain streams, lush valleys, bears, rhododendrons, fresh air, Dollywood (that was weird), hikes, hiking gear, go karts, Cades Cove, historic buildings, walking around Gatlinburg, etc. The Pigeon Forge area is awesome. While we were at Cades Cove (historic mountain community with trails and wild animals) we saw a mother bear and two cubs from about 20 feet away. The cubs were as playful and cute (can you say that in a guy's blog?) as any animal could be. When we saw the bears we were talking about how cool it would be to have a cabin in the mountains. I now have a dream of having a cabin up there some time. I even know what I will call it: Three Bears Lodge in honor of the three bears we saw (and I guess of the three bears who were doing the dreaming too!)

There is nothing wrong with having a dream...in fact God often inspires them. He does so I believe because a dream for the future gives you power in the present. It gets you up in the morning and focuses your energy and creativity giving you passion. You might say that Christ dreamed a dream for us...who, for the joy set before him, endured the cross.

I think it would be cool to ask God to give you a dream. Not necessarily for something personal like a cabin but for God and his work. God, give me a dream for my ministry, or for my neighborhood, or for my co-workers, or for your family? Ask God to inspire you to dream a dream for him and for that dream to grip you and motivate you to act. What could he do in your world if you took the lid off and trusted him for something big and dream-like? Maybe we are living way below where we could be simply because we are not dreaming for what only God can do? And what are we left with? Only what we can do.

Let's dream some mountain sized dreams!

Logan's Lowdown

This week my son Logan wrote an article on his MySpace page that certainly challenged me. At times you will recognize that he is a 13 year old kid, fresh from a tremendous church camp experience. At other times I think you will feel that God is speaking to all of us through him. I felt I should share it with you.

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Yesterday I got back from Camp Adrian. It really was amazing. We listened to preachers, sang, and goofed off for a whole week. The very last night at the service we had communion. After communion, one or two kids came to the altar to pray (and cry.) Then two more came...then three...then four...until there were so many kids on the floor in front of the stage that you couldn’t see the altar. I was ok for a while until I started thinking...

"This is amazing. But imagine how many people aren’t here and aren’t having this one of a kind experience? Wait...why aren’t they here? Because...dumb people like me and you are just too lazy to save people's lives! It’s not fair."

Then I slowly walked to the altar. I knelt and began to pray...

"God...give me strength. Give me strength to spread your love to lost people. Give me the strength to not care if I look dumb or ‘over-passionate’ (if there is such a thing)."

Then came the tears.

"God help me not to judge people. I now understand that it isn’t my job to judge, it’s yours. Help me not to care if my friends make fun of me for trying to help people."

I then went to different groups and prayed for the individuals crying for about 20-25 minutes. Then I went off to myself again, and prayed for my brother and dad.

You see....some people don’t do things because they under-estimate themselves. Some are afraid of failure. But most...are simply lazy. And to tell you the truth...it ticks me off.

People die and go to hell, why? Cuz, we're too lazy to even try to help. I don’t know about you, but I intend to change the entire perspective of our so called Christianity. I’ve come to realize that our current “love for Christ” is fake. Please help...the world needs it.

-Logan

Man Up, Church

The future of any organization, community, country, or even church is frequently determined by what the men do. As the men go so goes the _____?_____ fill in the blank. Thankfully, women have often stood up when the men would not; especially in the church. Unfortunately, churches have seemed to either cater to women or just to not cater to men. For whatever reason many men have thought the church was more a place for a woman than for a man. While this may be another convenient male excuse there is some evidence for this. Just look at how most churches are decorated and compare that to every other thing out there attempting to attract an audience. Most churches (especially traditional ones) are either decorated by women or by the people that decorate funeral homes. But all restaurants and most everything else are decorated to get men to walk in the door. Name a restaurant that does not have a male theme, colors, items that attracts men. Look at commercials, billboards, ads...most are geared to men. It is as if the business world has figured out what the church has either refused to see or just can't see--get the men and you get everyone else.

I am convinced we have to appeal to and connect with men if we are going to reach everyone including men. Women will tolerate things geared to men much easier than men will for women. In fact I believe most women are hoping we will fix the men in their lives while guys are often hoping we won't mess their ladies up! The point is that a woman has a vested interest in anything that will help her husband and she will endure a lot to make it happen.

The message series that I am in right now is challenging the guys to Man Up and be all that God wants them to be. But I think churches needs to man up too. Name the women that Jesus pursued for spiritual growth? Now obviously there were women Jesus helped but they seemed to be come to Jesus while he was challenging the men. But Jesus began his ministry by pursuing 12 men to work with him. They were a cross section of blue collar and white collar, young and old, introverts and extroverts...but all men. Jesus pursued them, connected to them through their work, and called to them a great mission. And they responded with almost reckless devotion.

And the results are simply off the charts. Whatever The Crossing will be it has to connect with men and minister to them. We have to Man Up!