Hosting District Council

Crossroads was honored this week to host the 76th District Council of the Louisiana Assemblies of God. Hundreds of pastors from all over Louisiana came to Lafayette for three days to conduct business on behalf of our district, to be encouraged by the Word of God and to enjoy the fellowship of our district family.

It may sound biased since we hosted the event, but I genuinely cannot remember a more refreshing and inspiring District Council in all the years I have been a minister with the Assemblies of God. Our guest speaker Bryan Jarrett was simply amazing! His messages were encouraging and challenging at the same time! I love this guy and look forward to getting to know him better in the days to come!

On Tuesday, we hosted a Church Planting and Development Banquet and raised over $160,000.00 to support church planters here in Louisiana! This is near and dear to my heart and I commend Pastor Al Eden for his vision and leadership over this department. It is a pleasure to serve on his team here in Louisiana. Here's a picture of Pastor Al and I along with some of my best friends in the world: Denny Duron, Bud Plake, Paul Burke, Scott Holmes and Doug McAllister.

Dream Team

I have an incredible team. I have always believed that if you really want to know what God thinks of you just look at the people He's surrounded you with. When I do that, I am overwhelmed by the love of God. He has surrounded me with some of the best people on the planet! 

Rhett Wyatt is definitely one of those people. I met Rhett when he was just a little boy. His father Ricky was my very first youth leader when Donna and I moved to Lafayette in 1986 to become youth pastors here at Crossroads. We were around he and his sisters, Meagan and Lacy all the time! I have watched him grow up into one of the finest young men I have ever been around. 

In 2004, when we decided to do a complete remodel of our facility, I hired Rhett and his (then) fiance Tiffany along with their business partner to create stage design for us. They did an incredible job. At the time Rhett was enrolled at UL getting his degree in Industrial Design. I desperately needed a Facilities Manager at that time and I was so impressed with Rhett's work I offered him the job. Thankfully he took me up on my offer. He is now an integral member of my management team. He leads our staff of custodians, maintenance personnel and grounds keepers, oversees all our stage design, set design for all our productions, oversees scheduling for our facilities and about million other things we need him to do! 

When we took on the task of building the new worship center, I had pastor friends around the country call me to tell me how incredibly difficult it was going to be. Many encouraged me to hire a professional to serve as a representative between our church and our contractor and architect. Rhett took that job on and along with overseeing all his normal responsibilities he did an outstanding job interacting day-to-day with our builder and architectural firm. 

I was honored to perform Rhett and Tiffany's wedding on July 31, 2004 and today, they and their precious little girl Amélie are just like family to us. 

Southern Hospitality!

This past weekend the Women's Ministry of Crossroads Church took the idea of southern hospitality to a whole new level! Joie de Vivre (our annual Women's Conference) made Southern Hospitality it's theme as over 1200 women gathered at Crossroads Church to enjoy two days of ministry, relationship building and fun. As they entered the foyer of the church they were greeted by XMC students dressed in old fashioned southern hoop skirts and suits serving iced tea and lemonade. The League of Southern Gentlemen (a group of over 100 men from Crossroads) also helped welcome the ladies and served throughout the conference. After an incredible opening of movie clips from southern-themed films interlaced with live drama, dance and spoken word the crowd was blessed and challenged by the music and ministry of Natalie Grant and Charlotte Gambill. It just doesn't get any better!  

The after party was enjoyed by all, featuring bar-b-que burgers, southern deserts and a cajun band providing the dance music. Southern girls sure know how to have a great time! 

Saturday morning the ladies were greeted with coffee and homemade biscuits and then got to enjoy another service featuring the Crossroads praise team, a wonderful challenge by our own Women's Ministry director Daphne Gaspard (who did a remarkable job planning the entire event) and another powerful message from Charlotte Gambill. 

If that were not enough, the gathering of ladies also answered the invitation of our beloved Stephanie Domageaux to help expand the orphanage we are involved with in Kenya by giving in excess of $12,000.00!

It was a truly remarkable conference and I told Daphne that Donna and I have never been more proud of an event put on by Crossroads Church than this one! Southern Hospitality indeed!

Underworld News

What if hell had a network newscast? That was the premise of our Easter Production this year at Crossroads Church! Obviously, demons have limited knowledge. They are not omniscient like God is. 1 Corinthians 2:8 says that if the rulers of this fallen world had understood God's plan they would have never crucified the Lord of glory! So how does Satan keep his minions informed? (Or misinformed?)


Through our production, we imagined that Satan would use "The Underworld News Tonight" - a dysfunctional underground news network anchored by Peter Sinnings, played by Adam Farley. Sinnings and his ragtag crew (featuring Ayla Bergeron, Chris LeMaster, Chelsea Bourque, Chase Doll, Kevin Wold and Lexi Armstead) attempt to keep the demonic ranks informed of their version of Jesus' arrest, scourging, crucifixion and ultimately the resurrection.  We took a tongue-in-cheek approach to what that might be like (think C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters) complete with commercial sponsors like Pitchfork Surplus, Dr. Lex Levay's Hoof Polish and the latest Twilight trailer (lol). Peter Sinnings depends on field reporters Chuck Nimrod at the Garden of Gethsemane - played by Gavin Kondo, Jezebel Jones in the spin room - played by Anna Hansen, Bob Balaam at the sight of the scourging - played by Chase Ables, Michael Moab at Golgotha - played by Bret Bates and Nebuchadnezzar Newton at the empty tomb - played by Aaron Harrington. 


Working the spin room, Jezebel Jones reports on what the believers are saying in response to the events as they unfold. Their response (in typical follower fashion - according to Ms. Jones) comes in the form of songs. Jason Rhoades performed He Loved Me Anyway in response to the betrayal of Judas. Jason, Jordy Davidson and Crossroads Musical Director Coy Watson performed By His Wounds in response to the scourging. Josef Barr performed Hero in response to the crucifixion. Jason was then joined by a vocal ensemble made up of Jordy, Josef, Geneva Orr, Lynlee Helcl, Jane Lantier, Jasmine Wagnon, Pricilla Picard, Corina Melancon and Tray Richard as he performed Death in His Grave. Tray performed a rap segment of the song that was incredible! Throughout the song, members of Crossroads Church shared the loss of family members and the hope they have of their loved one's part in the resurrection. A big thank you to James Welsh, who honored his dad Gabe, Carolyn Nelson who honored her husband Thomas, Brian and Melissa Miller who honored their daughter Brianne and Jessica Martin who honored her father, Bryan. I ended the song by honoring my dad and then shared an invitation for people to receive Christ. Over 70 people made Jesus their personal Lord and Savior! Donnie Bolton wrapped up the service with a killer cover of the Fred Hammond song He Lives. 


As always, huge props to Richard Gaspard and his staff who put together all the media support for the production. Rhett Wyatt and his team put together an incredible set for both the film pieces and the live performance. Holane Davidson coordinated all the costume and make up and the Master's Commission team worked tirelessly to help us pull off the impossible! We had over 4,700 in attendance and many said this was their favorite Easter Production ever! 

Living the Dream

I love dreamers! I love those who receive a vision from God and then work tirelessly to see it come to pass. Mike and Jaclyn Reale are dreamers! They are my dear friends and two of the most enterprising young people I've ever been around. I met them several years ago when they came to us from Florida to attend our Master's Commission program. One of the first things I heard them talking about once we got to know them a little was a dream they had to own a Cheeburger Cheeburger franchise. (Mike's uncle started the first Cheeburger years ago.)

Last night Donna and I were privileged to be among Mike and Jaclyn's guests for their prep night at their new Cheeburger franchise in Bayou Vista, LA. They officially open today! I had a great home-style burger, onion rings and a chocolate/strawberry shake! It was delicious!

This couple has additional dreams that I'm even more excited about than their Cheeburger franchise! I can't wait to see them live those dreams as well!