The Incredible Journey

Dear Crosswalkers, Bono, the lead singer of the group U2, gave this testimony about his own walk with Christ: Your nature is a hard thing to change; it takes time…. I have heard of people who have life-changing, miraculous turnarounds, people set free from addiction after a single prayer, relationships saved where both parties "let go, and let God." But it was not like that for me. For all that "I was lost, I am found," it is probably more accurate to say, "I was really lost. I'm a little less so at the moment." And then a little less and a little less again. That to me is the spiritual life. The slow reworking and rebooting the computer at regular intervals, reading the small print of the service manual. It has slowly rebuilt me in a better image. It has taken years, though, and it is not over yet. This Sunday, we are looking at the second part of Crosswalk’s vision for the future.  The first and foundational part of the vision is Empowering Prayer. The Second is Spiritual Formation. This refers to the journey of going deep with God; of allowing the Holy Spirit to form your character so that it becomes more like that of our Lord.  The New Testament actually speaks of Christ being formed in us! Galatians 4:19 (ESV) says, “My little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!”  Our goal this Lord’s Day is to go deep into God’s purpose for us to become more like Jesus! This is a great week. Monday and Tuesday I was at Redwood Christian Park teaching at the first National Conference for International Leadership Institute! The conference will last all week, and I was privileged to teach classes on Spiritual Leadership and Servant Leadership. I will return on Thursday and Friday. Last weekend, a group of Crosswalkers attended a clean water seminar at Saddleback Church in Orange County. They are equipped now to bring clean water to the next mission trip to the Philippines (as well as “the Living Water” of the gospel, of course!).  At our school we have our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Walk-a-thon, this Friday.  On Saturday we feed the homeless and preach a message of encouragement at the Refuge in Washington Park. Plus this week we are dedicating ourselves to living a life of absolute dependence on God through Empowering Prayer! Today, I’m praying that you will experience a spiritual breakthrough this week! Blessings, Pastor John