Say it loud, I'm Mac and I'm proud!

The full compilation of PC vs. Mac vids (Christian vs. Christ-follower? Ha, ha!  Sound off about it).  See you tomorrow (invite BIG)!

e-sabbath

Yesterday was really great!  Kind of a feast and a fast. Leslie's parents are in town and she and her mom spent all day preparing a great meal for the family, the extended family, the mostly family, and the might-as-well-be family. Though not everyone in the immediate family could be there, it was a crowded table that couldn't have been better (unless it was even more crowded).  

Yesterday, I tried something unusual (for me) that I really liked, and I'm going to do again! Let's call it an e-sabbath. I shut off the BlackBerry, the email, and the internet.  Though I have plenty of work to do, I had already decided not to do any of it yesterday, so it was a day off for me (though Leslie and her mom certainly put in a full day's work).  But I think there's something to the whole electronic disconnection thing that made a day off seem a whole lot more like a sabbath.  

I've taken days off before, but I've never been truly unhooked from all the things I am involved in because of that electronic tether.  My BlackBerry can be an unfathomable annoyance if I allow it unfettered access to my life.  Same with the computer.  Email and internet connectivity always puts me back in work-mode, if only for a minute, and threatens the flow of peace that is the whole reason we take a day off to begin with.  

So, for me, it worked.  I plan on doing it regularly.  If I didn't tweet, or blog, or catch your email and it really bugged you, then you should probably consider taking an e-sabbath yourself.  Very soon.  On the other hand, if you told your computer and cell phone to take a short walk off a tall building, then good for you!  "Viva la revolucion!"  (From a practical standpoint, the phone itself was on to receive emergency calls).  

So it was a day of feasting and fasting and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  But it's back to work today.  Black Friday for me is not a shopping day, it's a day filled with the knowledge that deadlines are looming - so I will be here working.  You know, now that I think about it, a two-day e-sabbath might not be such a bad idea. Hmm...  

Sound off:  What did you embrace yesterday?  What did you give up?  Why?

"LIFE" Should Top the List

Okay, the whole 'things I suck at' trip was wild.  Lots of people responded.  Amazing how many similarities there were in the things we think we suck at.  I've got a much better exercise for tomorrow. How about a top ten list of the things you're thankful or grateful for. There's way more then 10 for me, but I'll take a crack at it to get things started:

1. Jesus who came and died and rose again to take away not just my sin, but all my suckiness, too!
2. A wife loves me, knows me, actually LIKES me and is my very best friend in the whole world.
3. Kids that I am so proud of for what they believe and what they stand for.  Though every bit as imperfect as me, at the end of the day their faithfulness never fails to blow me away.
4. That I get to pastor Crossroads.
5. The young people who have given me the privilege of speaking into their lives.
6. The incredible pastoral staff and leadership team who, despite my shortcomings, believe in what God is doing and are heart deep in the ministry.
7. That the love of God in Christ is beating out religion in the battle for the hearts and minds of people.
8. That God has BLESSED me so abundantly.  I have so much I don't have room to keep it all.  More food, and clothes, and stuff than I could ever use. (Like my friend Dave Anderson said, "I'll throw away more food tomorrow than many people in the world will have a chance to eat").
9. That I get to participate in a community where L-O-V-E is more important than anything else.
10. That I get to do LIFE with ROADIES like you. 
    
    
    

Oh my goodness!  Do this, write down ten things, and you'll go, "No, that's such a SHORT LIST, I can't possibly BEGIN to write down all the things I'm thankful for in a list like that"!  When we START to take stock of all that we have, we should start with this one: LIFE. Everything after that is gravy.

I love you guys.  Have a great Thanksgiving with someone you can show God's love to.  If you don't know someone you can share God's love with, call me.  I'll point you in the right direction (and throw in a turkey leg if you're hungry). 

Give me your ten in the comments section.  Peace. 

Things I Suck At

Wow.  Where did Tuesday go?  I went to bed Monday night, and got up with great expectation of all the amazing things I was going to accomplish today and *poof!*, it was 8:30 on Tuesday night.  Just enough time to write down the top ten things I suck at.  (Today, that is).  I reserve the right to amend this list at any time.  Or add to it, if I find that there are eleven or twelve things that I suck at.

1. Time management.
   
2. Exercise.
3. Wrapping presents.
4. Cleaning up cat barf.
5. Patience.
6. Writing lists with more than 10 things in them.
7. Being unselfish.
   
8. Not running my big mouth.
9. Liking religious people.
10. 
    

Well golly, would you look at that? I guess there were only nine (ha, ha!).  

What do YOU suck at?  

  

A Fresh Voice

I mentioned this at Crossroads yesterday, but it's worth saying again.  I vividly recall long conversations Leslie and I would have late at night as we were pouring over books like Rediscovering Church by Bill and Lynn Hybels.  One of the recurring themes of those conversations was a holy discontent we shared over the idea of single pastor, single communicator, single voice ministry.  We laughed as we imagined the eyes of attenders glazing over as the hypnotic drone of single voice ministry lulled them into sweet repose.  We carried our imaginary service to the absurd as we envisioned ushers who would patrol the church aisles like flight attendants, handing out blankets and pillows to those who desired to enhance the quality of their rest.  And our eyes burned with hot tears - not from laughter, but godly sorrow - as we realized how paralyzing, inwardly focused, and all too common single voice ministry actually is.

That is why, from Day One, realizing the importance of involving others in every aspect of the service, we purposed to do it. Holy inbred conversation Batman, can you imagine a world in which my voice - as lead pastor - was the only one you ever heard at church? Kill me now if it should ever be that way, because death would be far less challenging to live through than the abject boredom and ultimate un-listenability of one man's voice droning on and on, ad nauseam.  Give me a fresh voice! To welcome people, a fresh voice!  To lead us in worship, a fresh voice! To show us how to connect, a fresh voice!  To encourage us in generosity, a fresh voice! To bring a relevant message that leads to clear next steps in God, a fresh voice!

So, it is no small deal for me and Leslie when we hear the fresh voice of any of nearly a dozen platform communicators at Crossroads (add them up yourself).  It is like fog clearing in the presence of the morning sun when I hear a fresh voice.  I begin to glimpse what God meant when he seared the vision of multiple-voice ministry deep in our hearts.  And when the chorus of communicators bring their unique timbre to support our purpose of connecting people to God and to each other...it is music to my ears!

 

MONDAY MIND DUMP

Turning the corner on our current series this week, Ben Rice took the platform at Crossroads and delivered a message on how important it is for us to get OUT of debt.  Combined with a pastoral staff meeting on Sunday night at the Annex, yesterday was strong stuff all the way around.  My takeaways from the weekend:

1. Set-up team is getting so fast at setting up all the elements in the cinema, we may all get an extra half hour of sleep soon.  Great job!
2. The lobby continues to be a real warm, inviting and welcoming environment.
3. Unlike the lobby the main sanctuary (Cinema 3) was cold as a well diggers...uh...feet!  Kudos to all who braved the elements.  We'll get the heat thing worked out, I promise.
4. No heat problems in the Filling Station or Big Wheels Pre-school where everyone seemed to be fired up and good to go!
5. Props to Youth Pastor Ben Rice who brought the message on getting out of debt in the main service.  It is an important element of living the Blessed Life, and Ben could bring it, because he and Kelly have done the hard work, made the sacrifice, given big throughout, and seen God accelerate the whole process in the supernatural style that only God can swing.  Thank you Ben, for taking on this tough and important topic on a day when there was no heat in the sanctuary.  And thanks for keeping it succinct (that's French for short)!
6. GREAT meeting with our pastoral staff Sunday night.  It is a privilege to lead a team of people so dedicated to making Crossroads purpose of "Connecting People to God and to Each Other", the principle part of their life and work.  I am in awe of your faithfulness, your willingness, and your teachability!  Keep hammering on the devil.  We win!
7. Like I said in the first week of the Blessed Life - this IS a turning point for all of us personally and for Crossroads.  Attendance: UP.  Giving: WAY UP.  Connections: WAY, WAY UP!  While everyone of my coaches and those in my network kept telling me what a horrible month November usually is - Crossroads is seeing the EXACT opposite!  Thank you, Lord!
8. One of the great surprises of this month is the connections being made through the desire of a bunch of guys to go out and beat each other up on the "touch" football field each Sunday afternoon.  Another great Roadie experience.
9. Great to see the Annex being used more and more again.  What a wonderful space!
10. We have the best landlord in the history of church planting.  Huge thank you's to Clark and Charlie at Clark Theatres who not only support what we are doing, but genuinely care about it, and care about the people that attend Crossroads.  Go to the movies.  Support them.  Buy lots of popcorn and drink lots of Coke!

I have top make the big "ask".  Help me.  Personally. Invite BIG this weekend.  I mean, BIG, big.  I know it's Thanksgiving weekend (look for Thanksgiving posts later this week), and many go out of town, but look, it's like this...my wife's parents are going to be here (timing is everything, right?) and they think we're crazy, okay.  Know you and me, we KNOW we're crazy, but let's blow it up in a BIG way at Crossroads this coming weekend, and have them talking all the way back to California!  

Thank you for letting me be your pastor. Have a GREAT week!

TGIF

Ha.

Oh, no.

Best Singer in America.

Have a great day!  Look for another post this afternoon!  

FORE!!!

I had lunch today with a couple of guys that also pastor independent church plants in Enterprise.  Though our backgrounds and experiences are different, we find common ground in our new experiences of starting (or re-starting) church in the portable mode.  

Guys, this is unique and truly awe-inspiring.  We are smack in the middle of what could rightly be characterized as a defining moment.  I have lived in Enterprise more than 11 years now and I know of no other time when there were three independent churches doing what we are doing at the level at which we are doing it.  The key to all of this working, is to demonstrate to our community that independent church plants are good for Enterprise, and are an acceptable alternative to traditional mainline denominational churches, and that we, as independent churches, are a stable, solid, relevant and important part of the spiritual fabric of this community.  

Though some may disagree, the three of us are in complete agreement that churches like ours (or unlike ours) are not in competition with one another.  We are in competition with hell, and we intend to inflict maximum damage on it by supporting and working with one another.  

I am grateful to God for this new relationship between our churches and my growing relationship with these faithful pastors.  There is strength in unity.  Pray that the bond between me and Mike and Derek grows stronger, that God blesses our commitment to unity, and that the churches we each pastor are healthy, growing epicenters of salvation, baptism and sound relevant teaching that bring life change to those in this community.  And pray that I always beat both of them in golf.  

(You can pray about whether God wants you to pray about the golf thing.  I mean, I'm pretty sure it's God's will for me to win.  Hey, we gotta compete at something, right?)

Sandwiches at Noon

By request, here is the MAFIA Men's Group video we showed at Crossroads last week.  It is password protected to keep it out of the mainstream.  When prompted, type in the password: Sandwiches at Noon 

One more time.  type in: Sandwiches at Noon (case and space sensitive).

If you can't pull that off, then you shouldn't be watching this video, ha-ha!

Enjoy, capiche?

MAFIA AD "You Didn't Come" from Gene Oden on Vimeo.

Do You Know What Time It Is?

Do you ever feel like you're under immense pressure.  You know, like you're being crushed?  (That's an uplifting way to start a new Blog post, isn't it?).  But I mean, really. Sometimes it just feels like I'm in a grist mill.  You know what that is?  For the uninitiated, grist is grain that has been separated from chaff in preparation for grinding.  It can also be grain that has already been ground at a...you guessed it...grist mill.  

More about grist from Wikipedia you ask?  Grist can be ground into meal or flour, depending on how coarsely it is ground.  Maize (what you call corn) made into grist is called grits (thank God for grits), and corn meal when it is finely ground.  Wheat, oats, barley, and buckwheat are also ground and sifted into flour and farina.  Grist is also used in brewing and distillation to make mash ('hic!).  

John the Baptist told the crowds that pressed around him that he was not the Messiah.  He said, "I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon...(who will) baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire". And then he said this, "He is ready to separate the chaff from the wheat with his winnowing fork.  Then he will clean up the threshing area, gathering the wheat into his barn but burning the chaff with never-ending fire".  

All right!  More verses for my refrigerator!  So after that - and this is funny, to me - Luke 3:18 says, "John used many such warnings as he announced the Good News to people".  I'm sorry, being separated with a pitch fork, tossed into a never-ending fire...this is Good News?  Only if you're the wheat hanging out in the barn.  That is (dum-dum-dum) until you realize your next stop is the grist mill!  

All kidding aside, wheat isn't much good sitting in a pile in the barn. It isn't really very useful until it's ground into something life-sustaining.  That's the pressure I'm talking about.  This crushing business for me is not just a discomfort with the things the world calls good and right and a desire to be separated from it.  It's an unbearable awareness of how stiff-necked and proud and set-in-my-ways I can be.  I need to be ground into fine flour that God can use to feed hungry people.  People hungry not just for spiritual food, but natural as well.  I believe it is my own discomfort with the plight and poverty of others and personal pride in my own accomplishments that God desires to grind out of me.  How 'bout you?  

Together, let's allow God to pulverize us (painful as that may sound) into something he can use. May we all become increasingly willing to be broken of our own stubbornness, pride and high opinion of ourselves.  How?  John the Baptist says, "If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry".  He encourages us to prove by the way we live, not just the words we use, that we have repented of our sins and turned to God. I think these things are connected.  

Get out of the barn.  Get into the mill.  Start living the high life... 

It's Mill-(AGHHHH!) Time!  

New Posting Record for One Day

Okay...I am done posting to this Blog for today, I promise.  I've made five (5) new posts since last night - so scroll down and you're sure to find something of interest.  From the oldest to the most recent:

1. A post celebrating Sunday...
2. A post celebrating getting blown up by a disgruntled reader...
3. The Monday Mind Dump...
4. An incredible 7 minute video clip of a message by Tony Campolo...
5. A great new post from Pastor Matt.

See you guys tomorrow.  Out.

FROM PASTOR MATT

The following post is from Matt Mendenhall who is currently deployed to Afghanistan. Matt and Hollie Mendenhall are Crossroads' Children's Pastors. When Matt is not engaging a vicious enemy hell-bent on the destruction of freedom, he enjoys blacklight puppet shows and taking long walks with his miniature poodle 'Francine' (just kidding Matt).  Check it out guys, it's pretty intense...

Jesus Is O Negative (O-)

An interesting title for the blog no doubt.  I had an experience the other day here in Afghanistan that I wanted to share with you.  We were in a province known as, Helmond Province.  Helmond is still considered the Afghan “Wild West”, so we were all on high alert.  Tensions were running high!  We wanted to get in, let our guys do their thing, and then get’em out.  Quick and easy, right!  Well, we had inserted more than 150 troops on the ground.  My group used three aircraft, and the other guys used two.  We got everyone in without a hitch.  So far so good!  Now we wait for the call to come and get them.  Then it happened.  One of our aircraft broke hard.  Thank God we got it down in a safe Forward Operating Base (FOB) and not out in the wild country.  So at least the aircraft and our crew were safe, but it wasn’t going to be flown anytime soon.  Aircraft do brake from time to time, even in a combat zone.  The next turn of events was from the other guys who had used two aircraft.  Well…... their priority had changed, and they were not going to be able to help us on the extraction (exfil).  I will just say that this other group was not American.  It was hard for us to swallow them not helping with the exfil, but it is what is. 

Now, we have a lot of dudes to get out before dark, and the clock was ticking.  It was shaping up to be multiple trips, and they still had not made the call for extraction.   Not to mention that each trip back and forth would be at considerable increased risk.  The idea is to drop them off, SURPRISE!  And then hop back in to get them, never to be seen again.  Going back two and three times is just asking the enemy to mount some kind of retaliation.  The distance was great enough that on every turn we would need fuel, just adding to the daylight problem.  Once our guys are on the ground doing their thing it can be tough for them to just turn it off, but the option of calling them and letting them know we were on our way early was looking better and better.   

Luckily we got the call moments before we were going to be forced to go get them early.  During this time I was part of the crew with the broke aircraft.  So, I needed a ride also.  As the aircraft were in bound to get the first load we learned that the ground commandos had fought quite a bit and were ready to leave.  Knowing this just seemed to add to the tension.  They certainly didn’t like the news that we only had two aircraft and multiple trips were required.  But there is nothing they could do, but hold on until there turn arrived.  The aircrews were calculating fuel down to the liter so as to put the max amount of troops on board and still make it back to the pump.  Just another day at the office right!

During the first turn, unexpectedly, they yelled my name to hop on one of the aircraft and head out to get some guys and take them to the main staging area.  Once there, I would replace one of the pilots.  At that point the other pilot would have been flying nearly 8 hours.  So, I hop in the back and am sitting amongst several Afghan Commandos, US Special Forces and others.  Usually, an American crewmember would not take the floor, but time was of the essence, so I just squeezed in on the floor. 

Sitting on the floor of the aircraft that day I began to Thank God.  The sun was setting and all the people on board had made it home.  I asked God to get us through this last little bit, all of us.  As I looked out the back I saw a bearded Army Special Forces troop looking into the sunset.  On his right shoulder there was a patch.  It said, “A+”.  I knew right away what this was.  This is in case a troop gets shot up; the battlefield medic will know what type of blood to call for.  Why keep this vital piece of info a secret right?  Put that on your chest or shoulder so all will know.  Most of the combat troops do it.  I looked around the aircraft and saw that even the Afghans had these patches on…O+, A-, B+ etc….

This made me think of my blood type, O Negative (O-).  O- is the type of blood referred to as the universal donor blood.  O- can be received by any other blood type.  The opposite is not true.  Other blood types resist the wrong type of blood if it were to be given.  Fatally even.  You can’t just give anyone any old blood.  At that moment the Lord blessed me with an awesome thought of Christ.  That day, I had worked with the US civil and military, Afghans, Brits, and Dutch.  So many different people, from so many different places.  Each with vastly different cultures and traditions.  Seemingly so different at times it seemed that the individual differences would just go misunderstood due to their complexities.  Yet each of us has one commonality, Christ.  Like the O- blood type, Christ is the only one that every person on the face of this planet can receive.  All the faces I looked at that day, all the blood type patches, I couldn’t help but see Christ as the one commonality.  If they only knew that Jesus Christ is O-…He can be received by all.

Thank you Matt!  Our prayers are with you and all the members of the Crossroads family deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other places around the world. We're proud of you all, and we promise to hold the fort until your safe return.  

Birthday Party for Prostitutes

Guys, this is too good to pass up.  A quick video from "sociologist" Tony Campolo. All I can say to it is "Amen".  Watch.

MONDAY MIND DUMP

An unbelievably fabulous weekend (as I have already gushed in a previous post)!  Here's some quick hits:

1. Top three in attendance since we launched at the Cinema!
   
2. Largest offering for a Sunday service.
3. No one left the building while I rambled for 20 minutes before getting to the meat of my message.  The last 34 minutes made a great podcast.  Worth listening to again.  Next week: 30 minute message!  
4. Horrible sound issues with my mike - a problem that WILL be fixed this week.
5. Band sounded great, Janna sang great - and what an awesome testimony she shared of personal healing!  
6. I am grateful to God for this entire series (The Blessed Life).  It is so timely and hugely helpful to me personally and, I trust, to all who attend.
7. Set-up team ROCKED this week.  Everything was set-up and ready to go in the sanctuary in 45 minutes!  Keep it up and we'll all get some extra sleep on Sunday mornings!
8. I am totally in awe and humbled by the work of the devoted roadies that make Crossroads happen every week! Nursery, Pre-school, Elementary ministry, Lobby Team, Set-up Team, ushers and greeters, sound, lights, video, audio, band...we ARE blessed!  Roadies rock!
9. Touch football Part Deaux!  What a kick.  New faces this time.  Tons of fun.  Thanks to Kimber for sewing Mike's hamstrings back together so he could play (take it easy Gomez, you'll NEED those hamstrings later).
10. Movie night @ The Annex was fantastic.  Hugely attended and loads of fun gathering together with roadies to watch "Kung Fu Panda".  We had planned on Apostles of Comedy, but as it turns out they were more like Apostles of mildly amusing one-liners so we watched something that was actually funny!  As Max noted, "Kinda bizarre, we meet for church in a movie theatre, and then have movie night in a church".  Only at Crossroads!
11. LOVED getting flame-broiled by an anonymous commenter to my Blog this morning (see below). Already received congratulations from several supporters!
12. I LOVE the people of Crossroads.  Though I try not to take myself too seriously, being your Pastor is an honor and a privilege that I take very seriously. I fully recognize that I am accountable to God for what I teach and will ALWAYS take great care to ensure that I am hearing from the Spirit of God, and I am teaching His word, and ONLY His word!

You guys rock.  Have a fantastic day!

   

SUNDAY NIGHT ALL RIGHT!

I am so stoked about today I can't wait until I write the Monday Mind Dump to talk about it.  I just got home and Leslie was making pancakes. That's a big deal on Sunday night, because it's something we did years ago when we had to commute long distances to church, and we'd be there all day, and do a service on Sunday night, everyone's tired and cranky, and Mom would make everyone feel great with a stack of hotcakes!  

For me it was the perfect end to a perfectly wonderful day.  I have to admit I was somewhat uncertain if not downright nervous about this morning's message.  We're in Week Three of the Blessed Life, and this morning we plowed headlong into the subject of tithing and giving offerings.  Exacerbating my unease was the fact that it was just really cold this morning, and the crowd - one of our largest ever - was a bit on the cool side as well.  Normally very vocal and at least moderately boisterous, I heard crickets many times from worship 'til I was 5 minutes into my message.  

But not only did the group warm up, they totally engaged.  Guys I am so honored to get to pastor Crossroads.  What an incredible group of people God is growing into a community of Christ-followers.  

We receive the offering in our typical service long before I ever take the platform.  So I know it wasn't because I stirred emotions, tugged at heart strings, or confronted some sort of disobedience when today we received the largest Sunday morning offering we've seen since we began.  I was overwhelmed by the generosity of the people of Crossroads, and overjoyed that it was in response to people being heart-deep in their relationship with God, and not some special message I shared to generate a big offering.  

Combine the great service this morning with a seven-minute nap, an hour of touch football in the park, movie night @ the Annex with people I love, and pancakes for dinner and you have all the ingredients of a positively wonderful day!  Thank you, Lord.  Can't wait to write the Monday Mind Dump...but I will.  Have a great night!

Happy Friday!

Caitlin's favorite video...

A rare glimpse of Jesus (as you've never seen Him before)...

More extremely rare footage from the first century...

What We Believe

GOD LOVES YOU.  

YOU LOVE DONUTS.  

IT'S A PERFECT MATCH!

Then the master said to the servant, "Go out into the highways and hedges, 

and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled".  

Luke 14:23 (NKJV)

May there always be fresh Krispy Kreme donuts 

and piping hot coffee in our lobby. 

(It's a core value thing)

What Comes Around Gozer 'Round

Leslie and I were having lunch today with Chris & Jessie Brooks.  Chris is a Student Pastor at Crossroads who with his lovely wife Jessie (Crossroads Pre-School/Nursery Director), just had week two of their weekly student meeting on campus at EOCC called 'Amplify'.  Leslie and I went to Amplify today and it was fantastic.  Chris shared the best 10-minute message I have ever heard on why it's okay to ask God questions (even hard questions). Yes...I'm rambling.

So anyway (now that the introductions are out of the way), we were eating lunch at Milanos in Enterprise and talking about some new set-pieces to heighten the atmosphere of Cinema 3 - home of the Big Wheels Pre-School and the Peek-A-Boo Nursery.  And Jessie and Leslie were talking about the pre-school curriculum we are getting ready to use called 'Wonderfully Made', and how great it is, and how there's this recurring character that's an alligator and his name is 'Gozer'.  Presumably because he "goes into all the world", etc...

So, I'm sitting there thinking, "Gozer...Gozer...Gozer...", and I say to Chris, "Man, that sounds really familiar...wasn't Gozer like a demon ghost or something in the movie Ghostbusters?" And Leslie's like, "I don't think so".  And me and Chris are like, "Yeah...maybe...I don't know". So I google Gozer and what'dya think I get?  Holy junk! Gozer is the shape-shifting god of destruction that "Zuul" (remember him) is waiting for.  Gozer is also known as the Traveler (though I don't think he's going into all the world for the same reasons).

Now I'm not the kind of guy (even as a pastor) that sees demons behind every bush.  But dudes, Gozer...is gone. However, if you come to the Big Wheels Pre-School in the coming weeks, we'd be happy to introduce you to a really nice, super-friendly alligator that travels around sharing the gospel.  His name is Gary!

  

We Get To

I can remember over the years conversations I have had - too numerous in fact to mention - where the principle thing discussed was this elusive idea of doing what you LOVE to do.  You know, doing "your life's work".  Where what you do for a living becomes indistinguishable from who you are and how you live. All through my 20's and 30's, really smart people who I respected told me to do what you love, with the promise that the rest would take care of itself.  

At 48, I can honestly say I am waking up to the reality that we're doing exactly that.  But I must also admit that I am a complete moron for waiting so long to begin doing it.  Yes, years add (hopefully) a certain degree of wisdom to accompany the experience you acquire - and that's important - but what I wouldn't give for oh, say 10 years back of chasing dollar bills that I could trade in on church planting.  Just make a deal with me: Before you spend another five or ten years of your life 'working just to live', let's talk.  I think there is a better way.  

I met with a group of college students tonight from a Bible college near our town.  They wanted to interview me about our experience launching Crossroads.  I got to share with them the things we'd been through in our brief existence from the day we knew we would launch, through last Sunday.  As I shared with them highlights (and low-lights) from the hardest most difficult most awfully wonderful year of my life I realized, "Yeah, this is it. This is the part where have to has turned to get to.  And I can't imagine anything better."  

May each one of you find the place of 'get to' in your own life.  May God allow me the opportunity to see you realize it, and enjoy it in all its hardest, most difficult wonderfulness!