Access To Great Truth

This week, Donna and I and our executive team attended the ARC All Access Conference at Healing Place Church in Baton Rouge. The ARC (Association of related churches) is a wonderful church planting network and they put on an incredible conference with a stellar line-up of speakers. Following the lead of a fellow-blogger and one of the members of that executive team that enjoyed the conference with us (Daphne Gaspard) I thought I'd share a few of my favorite speakers' quotes.

Priscilla Shirer

John 11:55 says that people were leaving the countryside of Bethany going to Jerusalem at Passover looking for Jesus. John 12:1 says that at the same time Jesus was leaving Jerusalem for Bethany. We need to make sure we're not going the opposite direction of Jesus! They assumed He'd be in Jerusalem where the crowds were. He was more interested in the three people waiting in Bethany - Lazarus, Martha and Mary - one who would fellowship with Him, One who would wait on Him and one who would worship Him!

Robert Morris

Mammon is a spirit. All money has the spirit of Mammon on it and the only thing that can take it off is the tithe! The spirit of Mammon talks. It makes false promises about things only God can really provide. Mammon is the spirit of anti-Christ. That's why in the book of Revelations, the Bible says those without the Mark of the Beast will not be able to buy and sell. Tithing is actually a type of Jesus. The tithe is our first fruits and Jesus was God's first fruits!

Stovall Weems

The apron and handkerchiefs that Paul wore that were taken and placed on the sick to heal them in Acts 19 were items Paul wore when working as a tent maker to support his ministry. This is the kind of Kingdom sweat that produces miracles. If we want God to work we've got to be willing to work! Sweat is also generated by the heat of God's fire, provided by the Holy Spirit. In Luke 22, Jesus prayed until His sweat became like great drops of blood. The blood of Jesus was being shed before He ever reached the cross because of Kingdom sweat! Kingdom sweat has a redemptive nature!

Good stuff, huh? Just a little sample of some of the wonderful truth we had access to this week. We are so thankful we got to attend and soak it up!

New York, NY

Our family loves a good vacation. God has really blessed us through the years and we've been able to take some really great trips. This past week was no exception. My daughter Robin chose New York City as the destination for her graduation trip. Since the selection was made, my wife Donna - who we lovingly refer to as the Vacation Nazi - has been planning every minute of the six day trip to the Big Apple. God gave us favor throughout the entire trip! First of all, we get to New Orleans to fly out and they put us on a direct flight to New York instead of our original itinerary which had us flying through Memphis with a lay over. This put us in New York much earlier than we planned so we got to go down to Time Square and have a look around. When we got ready to leave on Friday, our Taxi service was upgraded to a limo ride to the airport for no extra charge!

Sunday morning, we visited China Town and Little Italy, we walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and visited Trinity Church. That afternoon we had tickets to the Yankee's game and watched the Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 5-2. We had excellent seats along the third base line and had a blast observing New Yorkers heckle the Rangers' left fielder, David Murphy. Our favorite line of the day was, "Hey Murphy did you bat yet? Do they let you bat, Murphy? No, Murphy barely made the team!" After the game we checked out Trump Tower, The Plaza Hotel, Tiffany's, Prada and Rockefeller Center. Man! Did my feet hurt by the time we got back to the hotel! (I was feeling the effect of visiting New York with the Vacation Nazi right away!)

Day two began at The American Museum of Natural History, from which one of our favorite family movies, Night At The Museum, got its inspiration for most of its characters. It was so cool seeing all that history - despite the prevailing evolution propaganda and political correctness. (Don't get me started!) One of the most fascinating things that happened was when (in a city of over nine million people) we were standing in line at the museum and heard someone call, "Hey Pastor Jeff!" (A lady from our church who is a teacher was visiting the city with her class. It truly is a small world!) After the museum we had dinner at Babbo (Iron Chef Mario Batali's restaurant.) It was an incredible experience! Then we went to The Empire State Building and looked out over the city at night - something everyone needs to do before they die.

On day three we enjoyed visiting The Statute of Liberty and Ellis Island. What an Iconic, inspirational experience! We spent most of the day there but got a quick visit to the New York Library in before heading down to Broadway and taking in the musical Wicked. I wouldn't want to live in New York, but it would be awesome to have regular access to the theater. We enjoyed it so much!

Day four began at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. From there we headed out to Central Park on an absolutely beautiful day! This is the perfect time of the year to visit the city. The weather was perfect. Springtime in New York is cool, but not cold with the trees and flowers in full bloom. (I will say, I am more allergic to something blooming there than I am anything here and the allergies were kicking in big time!) We ended the day in Greenwich Village enjoying the musical Stomp. Incredible!

We slept in on day five (thank you Vacation Nazi!) and then visited The Tribute Center at Ground Zero. It was an inspiring memorial to those who lost their lives on 09/11/01 in the terrorist attack. The memorial includes pictures of all the victims and testimonies from survivors. The events of 09/11 are indelibly imprinted on the souls of Americans and to be there was surreal if not haunting. Twenty years ago, while visiting New York City, Donna and I enjoyed a spectacular view of the city from the top of The World Trade Center. Looking at the place where those towers once stood was a reminder that there are many in this fallen world who hate freedom and everything this nation stands for!

The last thing we did was to visit The American Girl store on 5th Avenue. Robin grew up collecting American Girl dolls and our visit to this three story wonderland for little girls was very special for her. It was a fitting ending for a trip that was mostly hers but enjoyed by us all!

Excellence in ministry - A real smash!

One of our core values at Crossroads Church is to do what we do with excellence. The idea is - If it's worth doing for God, it's worth doing right! We try to practice that week in and week out with every service, activity, outreach, etc.

This week, our Women's Ministry personified this core value with their second annual Joie de Vivre conference. This year's theme, Ever After reminded women they are princesses in God's sight! Everything about the conference: The decor, the banquet, the entertainment, the speaker selection (Nicole Johnson), everything was done with absolute excellence and I am SO proud of Daphne Gaspard and her team of hard working women who provided such an EXCELLENT weekend of ministry for the ladies of our church!

Here's a picture of Daphne (in her fancy princess dress) smashing the negative mirror images so many women have of themselves so they can see themselves through God's eyes!

Reconnected

One of the greatest influences on my life and ministry through the years has been a great man named Denny Duron. As a youth pastor, I used to have Denny in from time to time to speak at youth rallies I hosted here in the Lafayette area. I'd love to tell you my main motive was to expose those young people to one of the greatest preachers I've ever heard, but the truth is I just wanted to get to spend some time with Denny. He is one of the most authentic and inspiring Christians I've ever been around. I almost went to work for him in 1993. One of the most disappointing moments of my life was when I felt I heard God tell me to let Denny know I couldn't accept the position. I moved away not long after that and lost the connection with this great man of God. After returning to Louisiana in 1999, I called a couple of times to invite him to preach for me at Crossroads, but we weren't able to make it happen. A couple of months ago, I had the opportunity to reconnect with Denny through an organization he is helping to coordinate called RAN (Relational Assemblies Network). He asked my help in organizing the Louisiana network and I was more than glad to oblige. (Once again my main motive was getting to spend some time with Denny!) I just went up for a couple of days at his "Vision For A City" conference and it was awesome! The presence of God is all over everything this guy does and I am SO blessed to be reconnected to this great friend and mentor!

Dad's voice

The Graduate

One of Robin's graduation photos. Wow! Talk about your mile marker...

Stones: 2010 Easter Production

Once again the Crossroads team has pulled off another highly successful Easter Production. This year the presentation was called "Stones." It was the most unusual telling of the resurrection story the presentation team (under the direction of Richard Gaspard) and I have ever come up with, but I'm very proud of how it turned out. The story takes place on a caving expedition experienced by six vacationers and their guide on the week leading up to Easter. Once inside the cave (that few know exist) the party is trapped by an avalanche that leaves their exit sealed off by a huge stone. Tension runs high as the group attempts to survive for three days in the cave. One by one, their personal struggles are revealed and we discover that the boulder blocking their exit isn't the only 'stone' in their lives. Each of the characters have things standing between them and God's best for them. All our actors did an incredible job bringing the script (brilliantly written by Daphne Gaspard) to life. As each character's struggle was revealed, the music team followed with a song that addressed those issues. (Example - A father and son's struggle to reunite after years apart was followed by a cover of John Mayer's "Say.") Our music team (led by Coy Watson) is so incredibly talented!

The set, designed and built by Crossroads' Property Manager Rhett Wyatt and his team was the biggest and most elaborate we've ever attempted and it looked phenomenal! The stage was transformed into a mammoth cave complete with multiple levels, various sized stones and stalagmites. I kept thinking, "If I were a little kid I could play on this set for hours!" Finally I grabbed an Indiana Jones torch and did just that!

Everyone in attendance was given a stone when they entered the auditorium. I reminded them that the stone that sealed the tomb where Jesus' body lay represented a lot of things to the disciples: Things like disbelief, disappointment, disillusionment. But God rolled that stone away, bringing forth the resurrected Jesus as a redeemer for all mankind. I told them the stone we had given them represents the things standing between them and God's best for their lives. I asked them to write what that is on their stones (fear, anger, addictions) and bring it to the altar. They did - by the HUNDREDS! It was a powerful moment. We plan to use those stones in our landscaping and let them serve as memorial stones. I believe in the years to come, people will see those stones they wrote on this weekend and be reminded how God, on Easter weekend 2010 rolled away the stone in their life that stood between them and His will!

We had five performances this weekend (We should have done six) and had over 4,000 in attendance with nearly 100 decisions for Christ! Thanks to everyone who had a hand in presenting this life-changing production! I plan to post the video soon.

Socialized Medicine and the Parable of the Talents

Many who want to socialize medicine and other aspects of American life and turn them over to government control have found themselves teachers who are willing to tell them what their itching ears want to hear. These ‘teachers’ say that our Christianity requires us to go along with this socialist agenda for the sake of the poor and needy.

One quick question: What do you do with the parable of the talents? In the parable of the talents God reprimanded the wicked lazy servant who hid his talent and refused to do anything with it. What he had was taken from him and given to the servant who was busy using his talent in a way his master was pleased with. Socialism does the opposite: It rewards the wicked, lazy servant by taking from those who are working diligently and giving what they’ve earned to those unwilling to work. That doesn't mean that every poor person is a lazy person, but there's no question that many fall into that category! If a person is disabled and can't provide for himself, I have no problem with a portion of my tax dollars going to help him. The truth is, my tithe dollars are already going to help many, many poor and needy people - and this is the Biblical context for helping the poor!

There’s no question that Christianity obligates us to help the poor. But there is nothing in the Bible that would suggest that assisting the poor should be something regulated by the government. You cannot regulate benevolence. It is an act of compassion motivated by God’s love.

The truth is, much of the poor in America have healthcare provided to them through charitable organizations, hospitals and clinics. Is it on par with the medical care others in this country have access to through health insurance policies or private wealth? No, but it is typically head and shoulders above any ‘health care’ provided in socialist nations. I’ve been there. I’ve seen their socialist health care system and believe me – We don’t want that in America!