Cousins

This weekend I got to spend some time with my cousin Greg Ables who pastors in Jenks, OK. He brought me in to speak at his church and we enjoyed catching up on old times, hanging out watching football and talking shop (ministry stuff). His wife Tina and youngest daughter Hayley were wonderful hostesses (his oldest daughter Whitley is away at college) and they have a beautiful home.

Greg's staff is a great group of guys that I felt an instant connection with. His church is made up of wonderful people and they are getting ready to plant a new church in a town a few miles away. I got really excited talking about church planting. It's something we hope to do soon at Crossroads.

Mostly, we talked about family. He shared with me how important my dad was in his life and in his father's life. (My dad was his father's oldest brother). We talked about what a joy our own families are to us and how much we hope to stay more closely connected to one another in the future.

Here's a picture of Greg and I in his office before the Sunday service. (Yes, that's a picture of General Lee hanging on the wall behind us. He's from Arkansas and no one ever let him know the South lost the war!)

Putting a Face On Ministry

At Crossroads, we’re asking God to help us to put a face on our ministry. We’ve discovered that we talk a lot about people who receive Christ through our church, people who’s marriages are saved, people who are healed in some way, but what does that ministry really look like?

In Acts 16, The Apostle Paul, after looking into someone’s face, launched perhaps the greatest ministry in the history of the church. That face belonged to a man from Macedonia who, in a dream asked Paul to come and preach the Word of God to him. If you think about it, the entire Bible is really a book of stories about individuals. The Bible isn’t just a book about courage; it’s a book about the courage of a little boy named David who God used to slay a giant. It’s not just a book about obedience; it’s a book about the obedience of a man named Noah who was willing to build an ark. The Bible isn’t just a book about opportunities; it’s a book about a beautiful young girl named Esther who made the most of the opportunity she was given to save her people. We’ve started asking, “Who are the David(s), the Noah(s) and the Esther(s) of Crossroads Church? They will put a face on our ministry!

The reason it’s so important that we place a face on our ministry is because God is interested in individuals, not just crowds. He certainly can move on crowds, like He did on the day of Pentecost when His followers were filled with the Holy Spirit, empowering them for ministry! However, that move of God wasn’t about a crowd. It was about the individuals in that crowd. Their stories make up the remainder of the New Testament. If we aren’t interested in putting a face on our ministry, perhaps it’s because we don’t really love individuals like God does: We just love crowds!

The most important reason to ask God to put a face on our ministry is because, when we do, people get to see Jesus. Remember what He said when he was asked by those who stood before Him in judgment to explain to them when they may have fed the hungry, clothed the naked or visited those sick and in prison? He said, “When you’ve done it to the least of these my brothers, you’ve done it unto me.” When we put a face on ministry, it’s the face of Christ!

Every occasion in the Bible when people looked into the face of the resurrected Christ, they were filled with worship, wonder and humility! That’s why we want to put a face on our ministry. So people will be filled with that wonder, that worship and that humility that only comes about by looking into the face of Jesus Himself.

Choosing The Right "Brand"

I got a message on Facebook from a young mom in our church this week that really blessed me. She wrote,

Hey pastor, Just wanted to share something with you... My son Nathan who is two years old took a crossroads magnet off of the fridge this morning and looked at it and said, "Jesus Loves Me!" How awesome is it that he associates the crossroads symbol with Jesus' love for him! It gave me chills and warmed my heart to know that a child as young as mine has that kind of understanding. God bless you and your family!

Several years ago when we changed the name of our church to Crossroads Church, we did so for a lot of reasons. We had been founded as Bethel Assembly of God Church. When the church moved to the corner of I-10 and I-49 and built the worship center we're in today, they added Crossroads Cathedral to the name. So we were Bethel Assembly of God Crossroads Cathedral. (It would barely fit on the letterhead!) We felt Crossroads Church was easier to remember, and didn't sound as denominational or religious. It also provided a catch phrase that capsulizes our mission statement: Reaching people at the crossroads of life. When we designed our logo, we were careful to make it contemporary and appealing. We really have bought into the idea that "branding" is important. We believe that just like Nike or McDonalds' success hinges upon how their product is branded, the church must be conscientious of what people associate us with as well. This email tells me our brand is working. You see, it really is all about the love of Jesus isn't it? If a little boy can look at the Crossroads logo and be reminded of that, then by the grace of God we're doing something right!

What We Have In Common With David Letterman and Jimmy Swaggart

It occurred to me today that David Letterman and Jimmy Swaggart have something in common. Most of you have heard by now about Letterman's confession this past week of having multiple affairs with women who were members of his staff. This revelation came on the heals of an alleged extortion attempt by a CBS producer who was trying to get some hush money from the star of The Late Show. As the story unfolded, I started thinking about how many people David Letterman has made the butt of his jokes through the years for the very sins he himself was committing and then it hit me: That's the same thing Swaggart did! Remember Jimmy Swaggart? The televangelist who confessed to sexual sin in the late eighties. Before the confession of his own failures, Mr. Swaggart used to rail on the failures of others pretty strongly. Instead of making jokes about them like Letterman did, he preached sermons. Sermons about how sinful all the people are who were doing the very same things he was doing in secret!

I guess we all do this. I guess we all have a tendency to focus on the things we hate about ourselves when we see it in the lives of other people. Our pride won't let us deal with those sins in our own lives, so we feel like we have to target the things we struggle with in someone else's life and call them out. Instead, here's what the Bible says we should do. Galatians 6:1, Brothers if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.

I know there will be plenty of people who will line up to say Letterman is simply reaping what he has sown. That he had it coming! I've decided not to do that. I've decided to pray for David Letterman and his family. I'm praying for Jimmy Swaggart as well. While I'm at it, I think I'll pray for me and you!

A Pastor's Appreciation

October is the time of the year our nation has selected as Pastor Appreciation Month. As a Pastor, there's a group of people that I really appreciate and that's my executive staff. They are eight of the most talented, loyal, creative, intelligent and godly people I know. David Baudoin is our Executive Pastor over Pastoral Care, Marty Hoey is our Children's Pastor, Coy Watson is our Musical Director, Shawn Marcell is both our Student Pastor and our Master's Commission Director, Richard Gaspard is our Media Director, Courtney Lantier is our Accounting Director, Holane Davidson is our Office Manager and my personal secretary and Rhett Wyatt is our Properties Manager. In addition to being such incredible employees and department managers, these people also are some of my very best friends and I thank God for them. Pastor Appreciation month may be intended to be the month people show appreciation to their pastor, but for me it's a time I reflect on how much I appreciate the people God has surrounded me with. Any success I've known, any accomplishments I've made are because of God's grace and the wonderful team of people He allows me to work with every day!