Grease Monkey's

Thursday was just so nice...I had to blog twice! Went to our youth meeting tonight at the Annex, where the new logo for THE GARAGE (our new youth facility) was unveiled. Everyone involved in tonight's service did a jam up job!  

The atmosphere was electric with the largest crowd ever at a youth service at Crossroads.  It was kickin' from the top. THE GARAGEBAND was great! (Good name, yeah?)  The Launch roll-in always gets me stoked! Kelly took charge early and led announcements and communication cards like a pro. Natalie was captivating and funny, teasing the group with the lure of great door prizes. Chris is sold-out insane for Jesus, and rocked the offering.  Will's video work was a HUGE high-point. And Youth Pastor Ben Rice was totally fantastic, leading with ease from the platform - funny, engaging, purposeful and on point!  

What a strong community we have involved in leading our young people at Crossroads. Several other adult leaders in attendance demonstrate to these teens how important they are to life at Crossroads. Thanks to Jason and Kendall for bringing The Loft group to THE GARAGE.  You guys really showed out and were a great blessing!  It was so good to see our "old youth" again!  

What a great way to end a great day! 

5400 Lumens - 80' Throw!

At the beginning of the week I told you there was a church that agreed to pay for half the cost of the new projector we need in order to do church at the College Cinema...IF we came up with matching funds by the end of the week.

Well it's only Thursday and I'm here to tell you that I picked up a check for the amount of those matching funds from a company in Dothan this morning!  After I told the church we had the matching funds, they made an online donation to keep their commitment.  in fact they went beyond what they committed to do, by giving an additional $100 to cover the cost of the on-line processing.

So...we'll have the projector for launch.  

Guys, I don't want to make anyone uncomfortable, but I'm feeling straight-up Pentecostal right about now...somebody get up out your chair and give God glory!!!!!!  Whoo-hoo!!

Because Someone Said It...

For the record - just in case anyone was wondering - Crossroads was never involved in a church split.  Leslie, Me and the kids were were graciously planted, with about a dozen others from Cornerstone Church in Dothan - on purpose, with the blessing, prayers and financial support of Pastor Bobby Marks and the congregation at Cornerstone - for the purpose of starting a new work in Enterprise, the town we have called home for 11 years.

The relationship between Cornerstone Church in Dothan and Crossroads is a MODEL of how churches should be birthed.  It is a success story that all involved are proud of and grateful for. It was planned for more than a year, and it could not be further from a church "split".

At Crossroads - and in my life, personally - the only splits we'll ever experience are the kind with ice cream and bananas in them!  

Tuesday: A Great Day To Be Alive

Take a look at the image to the right.  It's up on today's Google page to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of NASA.  Wow.  NASA is just a couple of years older than me. Now if you're a good bit younger than me, that makes NASA seem old.  But if you're my age, or older, you clearly see the amazing things that can be accomplished in a short period of time when people work together in unity.  

This weekend will be our last Sunday AM service at the Annex.  We'll be focused on the subject of community.  We'll talk about what a community of believers looks like.  We'll talk about how important it is to be relevant to our community at-large.  And we'll be challenged as leaders to exemplify the standards of the community that is Crossroads.  Be sure to attend our Leaders and Volunteers meeting at 4:00PM this Sunday at the Annex.  

Random Stuff

Here's a short list of things that totally bugged me Tuesday:

1. The American Family Association's boycott of McDonalds (That'll win people to Christ...)

2. How the price of gas goes up really fast when oil goes up, but goes down really slow when oil goes down.

3. The cost of prescription medicine (Drug companies 1 - Consumers 0).

4. Why churches don't plant more (they'd sure split less...).

5. Peter Popoff and his 'Miracle Manna", OMG! (Popoff 1 - Believers 0).

 

Here's a more important list of great things that happened Tuesday:

1. Wal-Mart donated $250 to Crossroads!

2. Our lighted sign is now in the lobby of the College Cinema!

3. I didn't have to run or do push-ups or sit-ups!

4. Got to see Dr. Akinduro ("Mah cheeldrin...")!

5. Got to have dinner with a beloved brother!

6. My wife loved me for another day!

7. I woke up as the lead pastor of Crossroads!

12 Days 12 Hours 12 Minutes

Just a quick one to let everyone know that today we got some great news. A friend of mine who pastors a purpose driven church committed to give us $2100 toward the $4200 projector we need to purchase for Cinema One - where we will meet beginning August 10th!

Guys this is HUGE! But there's a catch. We have to raise the rest by the end of this week to capitalize. Just as I challenged you on Sunday to go "whole hog" concerning your giving, it seems our friend has laid down a similar challenge. He's challenging us to raise half the cost, and he'll put up the other half. That's a challenge I'll take on any day!

Often we think that giving is something that we do when we have "extra". I learned many years ago the antidote for that kind of thinking in my life. I learned that it is God, Himself, who has given me the power to get wealth. The simple truth of the matter is, that without God, we have NOTHING. If we have anything at all, it is by his grace and love for us, not 'cause we're so smart, hard working, or talented. Don't forget - those abilities are God-given as well.

Don't give because you feel guilty. Don't give because you are compelled. But give - and give because you love. Give because God gave FOR you. Give because God gave TO you. Give as an act of worship, to the One True God, from Whom everything we will ever have, comes.

Do it on-line this week. Click it!

http://crossroadsenterprise.org/giving.html

Let's not just meet the challenge, let's beat the challenge!

CHECK OUT THE ROLL-IN FOR THE LAST WEEK OF COUNTDOWN...

Untitled from Gene Oden on Vimeo.

It's The People...

People often ask me why – after living in Colorado for 30 years of my life – that I would want to live in South Alabama.  That’s an easy one.  And my answer is always the same.  My father grew up in a town of 2000 people in West Texas.  Ever been to West Texas?  There’s nothing out there but asphalt, mesquite trees, cactus and rattlesnakes.  Colorado was my father’s dream.  But it wasn’t really mine.  I don’t even like snow.  

In a bit of irony however, I absolutely loved West Texas.  It’s a bleak, harsh, hot and unforgiving land full of wrinkled people worn out by sun and hard work.  

I had a chance to go back there after my dad died in 1994.  Guess what?  It wasn’t the same – ‘cause all the reasons I loved it were buried in the cemetery 2 miles outside of town.  I realized it was the PEOPLE I loved, and not the place.  I love this place here because of the people, not because of the place.  I’m not committed to Enterprise, Alabama because we're the only city in America with a monument to a bug on Main Street.  I’m committed to our community because of the people that live here.  Crossroads, launching, donuts, coffee, good music, all the rest…don’t mean a thing without people.

Invite someone to love this weekend!

Two To Go

Matthew 28:19 records Jesus instructions to go an make disciples of all the nations (or all peoples), baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

I think about that scripture every day.  And every day, I get more excited about it as we approach Crossroads official launch date of August 10th.  For five months now we have been focused on building a launch team, and creating an infrastructure to support the work of making disciples. Though the organization and training of Crossroads leadership will always be a top priority, dig this: Starting at 10:01 AM August 10th, our focus will be making disciples, not launching a church plant.  Because we will be launched!

Getting launched has been, and continues to be, a tremendous challenge - but it is one that is consistently met at every point by the dedication of faithful people and God's great grace and provision. And I know in my heart we will launch large!  We will meet the goals set for us back in January when we first learned the significance of the strategy we have been carrying out. Vision and passion are indispensable, but the clear, purpose-driven strategy we have made our own, will harness that passion to make the vision a reality.

I can't WAIT to get focused on making and teaching disciples, just like Jesus told us to do.  And trust me,  I cannot WAIT to baptize people at Crossroads!   Wow!

Let's keep our shoulder to the wheel and work hard.  Two more Sundays at the Annex and we're haulin' the mail!

Tick Talk

I wish I had some newfangled thing to talk about tonight.  I wish that together we could plumb the depths of our vast theological brilliance and impress one another with astounding observations about what God meant when He did this, or what Jesus meant when he did that, or what the wheel in the sky really was, or if lizards came from dinosaurs doesn't it mean that dinosaurs are real, or why God really wants us to have a new Ferrari...  

But I just don't have it in me.  I have something else in me.  

I feel like we're in an action adventure movie and there's a digital counter (like you'd attach to a bomb) hard-wired to the spirit of thousands of people, and the counter is clicking out the seconds left until they face eternity, and I have this vision of those people, normal people, regular people, people that God loves, looking at you and me standing there impressing each other with our deep spiritual knowledge, and they're saying to each other, "What are those guys talking about, and why should I care?  And what the heck is that TICKING sound?"  

The clock to the right of this post, counting down the time to Launch, isn't nearly as persistent as the clock on the inside of each of us reminding us what a frightfully short time we ALL have left on this planet to reach people for Christ.  Can you hear that tick talk?  

We're never going to reach people by arguing about theology with each other.  I LOVE what atheist Matt Casper says after attending a dozen "cutting edge" churches with Pastor Jim Henderson, in the book Jim and Casper Go To Church, "Is this what Jesus told you guys to do?"  

What's that ticking sound? 

Hmm...

As I sit here 19 days, 10 hours and 13 minutes from Launch I am thinking about all the people that do the stuff that makes the rocket go up in the air, and all the ground we have covered since Feb 3rd and all the conclusions you could reach from all the things that are happening and the conclusion I have reached is that we are (oh, my) ABNORMAL.

What is happening at Crossroads isn't normal.  It's not.  Not normal. It's not normal that we should be as large as we are before we've even launched. It's not normal that we should have the immense talent at every position in the church that we do.  It's not normal that everything should be coming together for us like it is.  It's not normal that we are seeing a tidal wave of love building in our community. It's not normal to have such a fantastic pastoral staff this early in the game.  It's just not normal.  NOTHING that is happening at Crossroads is NORMAL.

We're ABNORMAL.

That concerned me.  So I looked it up in the dictionary.  

ab-nor-mal [ab-nawr-muhl]  

     1. not normal, average, typical, or usual; deviating from a

         standard

     2. extremely or excessively large

I think I'm okay with that.  I think we might want to start expecting ABNORMAL results.  And expect that ABNORMAL things will probably happen at Crossroads. 'Cause I'm pretty sure by the above definition that God is Abnormal...

Bumper sticker?  Hmm...maybe later. 

YOU ARE HERE

Blown away.  Again.  In the past three weeks the attendance at Crossroads has increased by 33%. Runaway  largest crowd ever today at the Annex, 

in our countdown to Launch on August 10th at the College Cinema!

I think we got "Mo" (mentum).  What do you think?

  

Let's pray, yeah?  And keep praying.  Things like: "God, help us to SERVE Your people with humility and compassion".  Be straight.  Have a great week!

Talk it up.  Invite. God is transforming people's lives! 

Vacancy

When our family was younger, Leslie and I and the kids traveled a lot. When they were little it was easy to get a single motel room and pile everyone in.  As they got bigger, it got crowded.  So we would often get two motel rooms and split up into two groups.  One parent and a couple of kids in each room.  

The best set-up though, was when we were able to get "connecting" rooms.  You know, two motel rooms, right next to each other, that had a door in the wall between the rooms, connecting them together.  When we got rooms like that, we threw the door in the wall open and it was like being in one big room.  Together! Unity!  It was great!  

We could stay in two rooms right next to each other, but if they didn't have a connecting door, we didn't have the same experience.  We were close, but we weren't together.  

Some people have a hard time getting connected to others because they grew up learning how to build walls and not open doors.  Some may have grown up seeing there was a door in the wall, but it wasn't open to them.  Others may have seen an open door, only to have it slammed in their face.  

You know what Crossroads is?  Crossroads is the place in the wall where the door used to be.  We took the door off its hinges.  You're welcome to come in.  We have connecting rooms.  Let's do LIFE together, in Christ.  

See you Sunday!  Bring a friend.

How To Get Out Of Working For An Hour

Power washing at the annex this morning!  Great meeting about children's ministry at noon! Awesome youth service tonight! And all of it done by capable people other than me! So what makes me think I can lay carpet?  

Did you know that those really cool carpet knives have razor sharp blades on the bottom AND on the top?  Me too...now!  The expression "One for the Thumb" has a different meaning for me than Auburn's fifth consecutive Iron Bowl victory.  I got a boo-boo. Waaahhhh!  (Truly it was a VERY minor injury, although the Men's Room at the Annex looked like a very nasty crime scene until we got it cleaned up.)  

I need to take a page from Andy Stanley's Next Generation Leader. He says that the key to successful leadership is "concentration by elimination".  That means: Only do what only YOU can do.  Know why?  Because if I am doing something that other people can do, then 1. I'm not focused on doing what only I can do; and 2. I have just stolen someone else's job - taken away from them an opportunity to serve.  

Either way, another leadership lesson failed (or is that "learned"?), another opportunity to be humbled by the reality that as a carpet layer - I'm a pretty good drummer, and another trip to the emergency room.  I did my best to convince "Nurse Ratchet" that I had gotten a tetanus shot at Toys Are Us last week when they had their annual "Buy A Milton-Bradley Board Game And Get A Tetanus Shot FREE" sale, but she didn't bite.  My arm hurts worse than my thumb.  

The cut was small, but the lesson was big.         

The GOOD Life

I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything,  I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little.  for I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.  

Philipians 4:12-13 (NLT)

Be Strong. Pioneer UP!

Come Alive

I was looking at a picture from a road trip I took with some guys from a youth band I led some years back and a line from an original song bubbled up:

     "Are you moved with compassion, do you feel their need?"

And the last half of the chorus chimed in to my internal worship-fest:

So put your pride away - never did you good anyway

Pick up your cross and say, "Follow me"

We all get a chance to take up our cross.  What we take up is the responsibility to live out the new life given to us by dying to ourselves.  Jesus says in Matthew 10:38, "If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine".  Ouch!  Strong words from the Master are often hard to hear, but best to obey.

We all want the best that life has to offer us.  But whose life is it anyway?  The Apostle Paul said that he no longer lived his own life, but that Christ lived in him.  When we come in direct contact with the Word of God, and are changed as a result, the best that life has to offer is to be moved to action with compassion for others.

When Jesus sent out the first twelve Apostles he said, "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it".  You want the best that life has to offer? Jesus told us what it was. Exchange our way for His.  Exchange our truth for His. Exchange our reality for His.  Exchange our LIFE for His.  

Take up your cross.  Follow Him and come ALIVE!     

Getting Schooled

One of the great things about the church planters coaching network I belong to is that once a month I get to sit around a table and look into the eyes of people doing the same thing as me, knowing that back at home they are supported by people like you wanting them to make the very best decisions they can make.  

And each time I go, I come face-to-face with the reality of what Crossroads might look like, what your opinion of my decisions might be, how much more difficult this journey would be, were it not for the NEXT Initiative, and people like Hal Mayer and Ron Sylvia and the many other purpose-driven leaders I follow, who are so generous with their time, talent and treasure.  

I wish I could do more to show each and every member of the Crossroads Launch Team how important it is to seek leadership, wisdom, information, and inspiration OUTSIDE of yourself. That lesson alone makes us stronger and better able to pursue the purpose that God has for our church.  But there is so much more.  One of the great lessons I take from the coaching network is the reality that "nobody is smarter than everybody".  And the collective wisdom that has been brought to bear on our efforts at Crossroads is astounding.   

It is as if we have on our own staff, men who have built churches that serve thousands of attenders each week. Because their guidance, leadership and influence can be found in every decision I make concerning Crossroads.  Ron Sylvia says it's all about this: "Learn and Return".  I hope I get the chance to return, because I have already learned way more than I ever paid for.  Thanks guys.

Look outside yourself this week.  You'll be amazed at what you can learn!  Sure beats coming up the hard way.   

Big Sunday, Big Monday

Fantastic service on Sunday!!! Biggest crowd to date, yes. but Bigger than that are the new people we're meeting and the new connections we're all making. It's thrilling to see people connect with God and connect with each other at Crossroads. It's why we're here.

Leslie and I are in Ocala, Florida for our monthly coaching network meeting on Monday. It's sure to be a barn burner! Look for podcast of Sunday's service this Tuesday.

Thanks to all who worked to make this weekend a success! Have a great Monday!

Beautiful Day

Roll-In from our Go, Love, Serve, Repeat service a couple of weeks ago...

Untitled from Gene Oden on Vimeo.

30 Days

Thirty Days from today we open at the College Cinema.  

Thirty days.  Are you ready?  Are you ready to GO wherever lost or hurting people may be found? Are you ready to LOVE at any cost? Are you ready to SERVE with humility and compassion?

If you are ready to own this challenge, this purpose, then you have 30 days to compel those in your circle of influence to be at the College Cinema on August 10th.  You know, the Apostle Paul specifically instructed us not to give (money, as in offerings) because we were compelled to do so. We will never compel people to give at Crossroads.

But Jesus said this about compelling people, in a parable you can find in Luke Chapter 14: "Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled".

Make compelling your compulsion.  

Jammer

Had a fantastically great time in San Diego this week!  Here's the LAUNCH video I promised to post for you.  Music by Dawn of The Dude...

See you soon!

LAUNCH from Gene Oden on Vimeo.