An Incredible Moment in Time

In Mark 2:3-5 a paralytic man was being carried by four men in order to meet Jesus. The crowd however, being so large, made his experience even more of a challenge. The men carrying him however, being committed in an extra ordinary way so that this man could have his encounter with the Messiah, did the unthinkable, and made an opening in the roof above Jesus, and after digging through it, lowered the mat that the paralyzed man was laying on in order to overcome that obstacle and meet Jesus. This past Sunday, which was Palm Sunday, served to be a similar moment, in that not only were there hundreds of people coming forward, accepting Jesus, and immediately being baptized, 3 of the people that came forward were in wheel chairs. This was an incredible moment at Crossroads, where some of the men, seeing the challenge, but committed in an extra ordinary way, so that these individuals could have and experience this special moment, lifted each of them into the air, lowered their bodies down into the water, and baptized them in the same way as any other person would desire, upon making a decision to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior of their life. Now do I believe that Jesus loved them anyways, absolutely without a shadow of a doubt, yes. But for them to not be able to experience baptism because of their physical limitation, is something that our church family does not accept or embrace. Therefore, as I stood and watched as each of these individual's were baptized, with tears running down my face, I looked up and praised our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for being so privileged as to witness such a moment as this. This experience gave me a much deeper perspective of just how much our church family here at Crossroads, is committed to one another, and committed to changing the world for Christ.

A Need for Change!!!!!

Thinking about the last few years, it is quit amazing to see where all God has taken the disABILITY Ministry. We have so much going on and I am always filled with so much joy every time I get to be around our participants within the ministry. Reflecting upon this, I began considering how our Friday Night Live Bible Study has truly evolved. It started off with about five volunteers and maybe two or three participants who would come regularly, and when there were more, we were all so excited. Each week, we would serve dinner for a small donation to offset the cost of the pizza, then do a light Bible Study, that would go from 6:30 - 8:30. Well, just last night, as I was standing back watching the dynamics of the evening flow, I just felt the presence of God ever so clearly within our room. God has taken us from a room of maybe 3 participants each week to now over 20, and about five to six volunteers who each week give of their time and poor into the lives our guys. But more amazingly, is that because of the level of growth, and the fact that a couple years ago we were burned out on pizza and began doing the cooking ourselves, time has become our greatest challenge. By the time we worship with Impact and get everyone back into the room and fed, the time left for Bible Study is definitely left wanting. Therefore, we have decided because learning God's Word should not be something that just gets squeezed in, starting in April, we are going to extend our study and go until 9 pm. I am so excited for this change and can't wait to see how God continues to move within our midst each week. And of course, I am definitely praying for a cooking team to be put together soon - LOL

The Planning of Events

This is a picture of most all of our volunteers from last years Pirates for Praise Day Camp for the disABILITIES Ministry. What an amazing day that day was. Many of us dressed up and interacted with the participants in such a fun way as they moved about the campus doing crafts, singing praise songs, and learning about Jesus. But one of the things that just gets me so excited is the planning of the day. And this year is no different. I am just so excited about the new level that God is taking us to in order to provide amazing events for such an amazing group of people. With each day that goes by, God reveals more and more of what we are able to do in order to shower His love upon each and every one of the participants that come. And not only that, the volunteer team for this event has grown so much, that it is hard to believe that I now have to have a waiting list for the volunteers. I mean really . . . what a great problem to have. That rather than running from an area that the world would typically have us do, here at Crossroads, people are flocking to it in order to serve. The hearts that people have here is amazing and I just stand in awe as they each continue to serve at such a level, in order shine God's Light, God's Hand, and God's Love, upon the ministry as a whole, and the events that we are so privileged to be a part of. So when we hear how much better it is to give than it is to receive, coming into this ministry truly reveals the fine truth to just how real that statement is.