A Direct Line to God

God came through big time for us today! We've been stressed out all week because Sunday is the final day of a 45-day window that our bid on our worship center is good for. We had planned on signing the contract this week and then our lender let us know that we had another test that has to be done in association with our apartment complex that we're using as part of our collateral. This test could take another few weeks to complete. We immediately began to scramble to put together a legal addendum to the contract that would protect us if for some reason the financing fell through, so we could go ahead and sign the contract and not lose the bid price we have received.

This morning the president of the construction company we've selected called our architect to say, "Tell the pastor we have no problem extending our bid long enough for them to get their test done." He said, "We've done business with several churches in the past and they always get their money approved so we're not worried about it."

Our architects we're ecstatic! They called to say, "Obviously yall have a direct line to God!" (It appears this kind of thing is very uncommon.) So thanks everyone for praying! This is yet another way God has proven that we are fulfilling His will in expanding our facilities here at Crossroads Church!

The New Halter Boy

Last summer, my good friend Carol Thibodeaux brought a little six-month old AQHA weanling out to our farm as a gift. The kids named him Humphrey. Today, I finally got a halter on him. I've been working at it for weeks. Because my time with him is limited to just a few minutes before I get ready for work, the process took a lot longer than it should have. Now that I have the halter on him I can start halter breaking him so he can be led where I need to take him, tie him when I need to, teach him to trailer load, etc. All of this will ultimately lead up to this fall, after he turns two, when he'll be taken to the trainer who will break Humphrey to ride. It's all a process that results in a greater relationship between horse and owner, enjoying many hours on the trail together.

I've been thinking about doing a message series called "Horse Sense." I think it would be fun to take the film crew out to the trainers and capture some of the process on film to illustrate my messages with. Maybe I'll even bring Humphrey out on stage for one of the services. There are so many references in scripture to horses and there's a lot to learn from the parallel between how horses are trained and how God trains us. I certainly hope I'm more easily trained than Humphrey!

The Most Talented of the Least Talented

So this is what it comes down to in season nine of American Idol: Lee Dewyze and Crystal Bowersox battle it out next week for the title. They definitely are the most talented of the contestants this year in my opinion. The problem is, it wasn't a very talented group this season! When I think about the thousands that auditioned I think, "Really? These are the best singers in America?" But I know that's not the case. My good friend Timmy Gautreaux auditioned a couple of years ago and didn't even get to sing for the judges and I promise you Timmy could sing anybody in the competition under the table! We've got singers that perform at Crossroads each week that are far more talented than this group. I'm not saying that to boast or to criticize, it's just a fact.

But at the end of the day, despite the awkward moments that Ryan and Ellen served up (Who knew those two could make Paula seem normal?) it was a fairly entertaining season. With Cowell out of the mix next year I don't know if I'll even bother watching.

As far as Dewyze and Bowersox go, I think I'll root for Bowersox. I like her mic stand!

Man's Buildings, God's Buildings

When we were in New York, one of the highlights of our trip was going to the top of the Empire State Building at night looking out over the city. The view was breathtaking! We paid a little extra and got the audio tour: A set of headphones with the voice of a guy named Tony who pointed out all the attractions of the city. It was well done and really enjoyable. At one interval Tony pointed out one of the historic churches in town and stressed how small it is compared to all the commercial buildings. He explained that the reason is because New York, unlike many other historic American cities, wasn't established as a religious center, but as a business center. The comment bugged me a little, but otherwise Tony did a good job and we really enjoyed the tour.

A couple of days later we visited the Tribute Center at ground zero. It was an inspirational tour led by a survivor of the attacks on the World Trade Center. During the tour, he pointed out how every building around the perimeter of the towers was damaged (windows blown out, sides of the building scorched by fire). Every building but one: St. Paul's Chapel (one of the oldest churches in America). It sits right on the perimeter of where the towers stood and yet it wasn't damaged at all. Not a scratch! In fact, it became the staging center for feeding the flood of relief workers who carried out the recovery efforts amidst the wreckage of the fallen towers.

As I heard this, I thought of Tony's comments from the audio tour at The Empire State Building and I thought, "No matter what man's motive in building this city (commerce, trade, materialism) the church stands by the grace of God to accomplish His will and purpose on the earth! When all the business, commercialism, buildings and trade come crashing to the ground, His work continues and nothing can stop it! Jesus said, "Upon this Rock I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it!" (Matt. 16:18)