The Resistance

I love movies. Last night Chase and I took in the latest in the Terminator series: Terminator Salvation. It was everything I expected it to be: Unbelievable special effects, intense over-the-top acting (loved the casting of Christian Bale as John Conner), more explosions than any other movie I've ever seen - it had it all! The one thing I didn't expect was the effect it had on me spiritually. Yes, you read that right.

All through the movie John Conner communicates with pockets of human survivors across a devastated American landscape by means of radio. (It's 2018, after the rise of the machines and Judgement Day has already happened leaving... oh, never mind it's complicated.) The one thing from his broadcasts that I just can't get out of my head is how he signs off: "This is John Conner and if you're listening to this - You are the resistance."

It's not machines, but evil and sin that is taking over our world today and we are at war! Yet so often we offer so little resistance. What will I do to combat that evil? What will I do to rally fellow soldiers to fight in this spiritual battle? Believe it or not, that's what my first block-buster movie of the summer left me thinking!

This is Jeff Ables, and if you're reading this - You are the resistance.

Crossroads 2009 Easter Production "Proof"

Here's the video of the Easter Production I promised. Sorry it took so long but we had to get the file the right size to work with blogger. I hope you enjoy it and I'd love to hear back from you. It's real different from anything we've ever done but it was very effective and we had a lot of people make commitments to become Christ Followers.

Mom's face lift

It's not what you think!

We had an incredible Mother's Day weekend at Crossroads Church this past week. Interestingly, while we have historically been a little lighter in our attendance on Mother's Day weekend, this time around it was one of our largest services of the year so far (over 2,500).

We're in a series called "Facing the Future" and my Mother's Day message was called "Mom's Face Lift."

Have you ever thought about what the face of your child's future looks like? (Will it be bright and beautiful or scarred and disfigured?) I challenged moms to give their child's future a face lift by instilling within and insisting upon F - Faith, A - Attitudes, C - Character and E - Ethics that please God in the daily life of their child.

There's no question the complexion of my life today has been greatly effected by my mother's influence when I was growing up. She's an incredible woman that I love dearly! Happy Mother's Day mom and thanks for the face lift!

A decade

That's right we have been serving as the Lead Pastors of Crossroads Church for ten years now! Our first service was Easter Sunday, 1999. This weekend, the church surprised us by recognizing the ten year anniversary and gave our family a paid vacation: Anywhere we want to go. (We're pumped!) Devin Lantier and Spanky Arsement, two of my board members and best friends made the presentation. One of the things they did was have everyone in attendance who has received Christ under our leadership either during this ten years or the eight years I served as Youth Pastor to stand. It was SO amazing and humbling to watch as hundreds stood to their feet. We have so much to be thankful for. It's such an honor to pastor such a wonderful group of people! The thing that's even more exciting is the best is yet to come!