Easy to be Confused... and Lost!

Dear Crosswalkers,

Halloween is coming up, and special thanks to all who volunteered to help at our Community Trick or Treat event which will be this Monday, Oct 31, from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. on our campus.  Also, thanks to all who have donated candy for our event!  We have received 9,000 pieces of candy, and to reach our goal of 10,000 we need only 1,000 more pieces!  If some of you bring candy this Sunday we will easily make it! We still need volunteers to help hand out this candy! If you can help, please email us or call our church office!

This is a fun and safe and sane event in an otherwise crazy holiday.  This  year we have a new feature as our youth will be putting on a black light puppet show! Please pray that this event will have a positive impact on our community!!

I came across an interesting story that shows how easy it is to get confused at best and lost at worst.  Some of you will think this story funny, others will consider it downright scary.  A dad and mom took their two kids to have a fun afternoon at a 7 acre corn maze on a farm near Salem, Massachusetts. As you can see from the photo, it is a maze with the Halloween season in mind!  Unfortunately for the family, it was a classic case of a fun day gone bad when they got disoriented and lost in the maze. Dusk was turning to darkness, and the panic-stricken mom called 911. The family huddled together until police came with a tracker dog.  The distressed family was found in minutes; they were only 25 feet from the exit! The mom said, "We thought this would be fun. Instead it's a nightmare. I don't know what made us do this."  You can read the whole story here: http://newsfeed.time.com/2011/10/13/family-calls-911-after-getting-stuck-in-corn-maze/

What happens when people who love the Lord get confused or even lost, not in a eternal sense, but lost to the reality of God in their lives? This Sunday we are going to look at a beautiful passage from Mark's Gospel that will remind us of God's purpose in calling us to be a part of his family. This message will give us the victory over negative circumstances that can leave us helplessly confused in the maze of human life. In fact this Sunday would be a perfect day to invite a friend or family member to come to church with you. The message is entitled, "What it means to Follow Jesus!"

Love in Christ,

Pastor John

A Fullfiller of Good Intentions

Dear Crosswalkers,

Speaking of action, I just finished reading the massive three volume biography of Theodore Roosevelt by Edmund Morris.  Roosevelt was the 26th president of the United States, and most scholars place him in the top five of all U.S. presidents.  He is enshrined on Mt Rushmore. The books are 2,245 pages of the fascinating history of an incredible life.  Roosevelt was born sickly, and in response he dedicated himself to living what he called “the strenuous life.” His 60 years of life were packed with adventure and accomplishment. I can’t even begin to sum up his exuberant personality and high intellect and raw courage. He was a man of faith and a man of action. 

At his funeral, his favorite hymn, “How Firm a Foundation,” was recited rather than sung:

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,
Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said—
To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not harm thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,
I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.

The author concludes his third and final volume of TR's life with these words about the former president: "He was a fulfiller of good intentions." I was greatly inspired by Roosevelt's life and legacy.  In today's world it's so easy to excuse ourselves from an active life by falling back on our intentions. May it be said of Crosswalkers - We are fulfillers of good intentions.

One incident shows his persona perhaps more than any other. After 8 years as president, Roosevelt took a break and then reentered politics and campaigned for president again, this time with the independent Bull Moose Party. In 1912 he was in Milwaukee to deliver an important speech, in fact the last speech of his campaign. Thousands of admirers lined the motorcade route, hoping for a glimpse of the great man. Roosevelt was in an open-air motorcar, waving his hand and flashing his famous toothy grin at everyone.

Suddenly, a crazed man pointed a pistol at the former president and fired a single bullet into his chest. Roosevelt was knocked across the car and visibly dazed. Blood began oozing from his chest. Police officers tackled the gunman.

Immediately, TR’s advisers planned the quickest route to nearby a hospital. But the wounded Rough Rider wouldn’t even consider it. “You get me to that speech. It may be the last one I ever deliver, and I’m not going to miss it,” he ordered to his entourage.

Minutes later, Teddy Roosevelt was standing before a huge audience, unaware that their hero had just been shot.  Roosevelt said, “Friends, I shall ask you to be as quiet as possible. I have just been shot, and even now the bullet is in me. So I cannot speak for long, but I will do my best.” He held open his coat and revealed his crimson stained shirt. The audience gasped.  Medical personnel offered help, and Roosevelt’s handlers again tried to get him off the stage.  But he refused.  He spoke for just over an hour and a half! Can you imagine that? He grew pale, and his voice weakened, but he gave the speech of his life.  Slowly he turned to his friends and advisors and said, “Now, we can go to the hospital.”

A thunderous applause erupted and continued until the he had left the building.

At the hospital it was discovered that the bullet’s speed had been slowed because it passed through the handwritten transcript of his speech that was tucked in his coat pocket. Then it ricocheted off the steel case for his glasses and went into his chest. Amazingly, he survived.

He was a fulfiller of good intentions. Note his priority: It was the message. A person with a message that must be shared is a powerful wonder to behold!

Jesus was also a fulfiller of good intentions. Mark's Gospel shows the Lord as a man of action with a message that must be shared. We are returning to our series through the Gospel of Mark and this Sunday we will look at how the Lord Jesus modeled a life of grace in the midst of a judgmental society. Jesus was also a man of courage, and a man of action. He is God in a human body, and this week we will be encouraged to live a grace-full life and become fulfillers of good intentions!

Blessings,

Pastor John

P.S. Many thanks for all of you who responded to last week's email with movie reviews of your own! Many of you have seen and recommend Courageous! Also, missionary Marty Hooper passed through our office and highly recommended Seven Days in Utopia, which is a film about God and Golf!

Let's Go to the Movies!

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday we will wrap up the series entitled "A New Vision for Crosswalk Church." I hope you have been blessed by the new direction we are taking! Many of you have commented about how pleased you are at this new direction. Life for us will be all about living by EMPOWERED PRAYER. Then it is about going deeper in our Christian life. It is called SPIRITUAL FORMATION, and it's all about Christ being formed in us! Life is truly an adventure when you dedicate yourself to becoming more like Jesus! To move us forward though, we need the next level, which is LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT. Last Sunday we saw that everything rises or falls on leadership, and that God's plan to change the world always involves calling a leader to step up with a burden to meet needs and a passion to glorify God. Leadership is not just for those with titles, it's for those who have a testimony. It is about influencing others by rightly handling the word of truth.

Now we will wrap it up this Sunday with the pinnacle of our Triangle for Tomorrow. It all points to reaching our community (and beyond)! David Bolhorst will be bringing the message this weekend. You won't want to miss the message  as it is the capstone for the series!

There is also a community service event planned for those who are free on Sunday afternoon. 

    Where: Ortega Park in Sunnyvale    When: Sunday, Oct. 16th from 1-4pm    What: Spreading mulch in the park using shovels and wheelbarrows

The parks and recreation department will provide the tools needed but you are welcome to bring gloves and shovels. Please plan to join the happy crew who will serve our city in this way!

There are some new movies out that are of interest.  One is a Christian film entitledCourageous. This is from the makers of Fireproof and Facing the Giants. A secular film website gave is 6.1 stars out of 10.  The plot concerns a tragedy that leads four police officers to struggle with their faith and their roles as husbands and fathers. As a group, they make a choice that will change their lives. I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure men will be encouraged by the positive message of this film (Rated PG-13).

Another recent film is Machine Gun Preacher.  This is a secular film that has gotten good reviews for telling the true life story of an ex con who get converted to Christianity and ends up on a mission in Sudan. A review in the Minneapolis Star Tribune says this:  "The film intelligently explores the impact of religious conversion on a man of explosive impulses. The story is inspired by the experiences of Pennsylvania ex-con Sam Childers (portrayed by Gerard Butler), a violent biker and drug dealer whose wife, Lynn (Michelle Monaghan), found religion while he was in prison. She drags the reluctant ex-con to services. His baptism introduces Sam to a Christian community of fellowship and affirmation, and a new sort of addictive high... Then Sam visits Sudan and has a revelation. He becomes consumed by the plight of child refugees, Christian southerners pushed out of their villages by northern Muslim raiders. He tells Lynn that God has spoken to him and returns to build a modest orphanage. This puts him in conflict with the murderous local warlords, who abduct young boys and brutally train them to be soldiers."

Again, I cannot genuinely recommend movies I haven't seen, but I am intrigued by a secular take on an essentially spiritual reality. Warning: This movie is rated R for Violent content including disturbing images, language, some drug use, and a scene of sexuality. Clearly, you will want to research further and use discretion if you want to see this film.

One film I did see was Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt. I thought this was a great movie, but then again I like baseball.  The reason I would recommend it is because there is a lesson about God's grace.  The baseball team featured in the movie was the Oakland A's, and I saw them as a parable about the church. Specifically, the story reminded me of how God delights in choosing and blessing unlikely people.  In 2002 the Oakland A's couldn't compete with big market and wealthy baseball giants like the New York Yankees (an annual salary budget of $40 million for the A's compared to $125 million for the Yankees). The film is about A's General Manager Billy Beane (played by Pitt) and Peter Brand (a fictional character who represents Paul Depodesta), an economics major at Harvard.  Together, they went after overlooked players who had skills that most baseball teams didn't value—like on-base percentages. The story is primarily about "innovating to succeed"; but on another level it's also about God's grace and the wonderful way God builds his church by choosing what is weak to shame the strong. It's fun to see spiritual lessons even in very secular films!

I hope to see you in church on Sunday!

Blessings,

Pastor John

iWorldview

Dear Crosswalkers, The death of the co-founder of Apple is big news in the Silicon Valley and in the world. Shrines are appearing at various Apple stores. In San Francisco, flowers and candles appeared, and post-it notes covered the store windows.  One simply said, “isad,” and another followed: “isad2.” Of course we all admire his creative genius. He has been compared to Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Walt Disney, which is elite company.  As a visionary leader, he is a champion. He had the courage to live out his motto to "Think Different." In so doing he encouraged many other great leaders and innovators to see things, not merely as they are, but as what they can be! Steve Jobs is credited for inventing the Mac, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad.  In a culture that cherishes technology, he is at the top of the heap. Our school is filled with iMacs, and I have been blessed with ipods and itunes, not to mention my iphone. Is he a genuine hero? That is not the terminology I would use. A genius, yes! A hero of technology? Affirmative! A visionary leader extraordinaire ? Unquestionably!  Here in the Silicon Valley he will be rightly cherished and fondly remembered for his absolutely stunning accomplishments. Jobs died yesterday at the relatively young age of 56 after a battle with pancreatic cancer. His life was a gift from God, and we should pray for his family. We should also appreciate the way God gifted him, and see his visionary leadership as a gift to the world. At the same time, it is appropriate to evaluate his spiritual legacy in the light of God's word. Back in 2005 he gave a now famous commencement address at Stanford University. Clips of this address are being prominently featured on TV, and quotes from the address are cropping up everywhere. It is important that we are discerning about the veracity of his speech in the light of Biblical truth. Below are some pertinent quotes from that speech in italics, with my comments in ALL CAPS: "Sometimes life's going to hit you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith." GREAT ADVICE, BUT FAITH IN WHAT? "When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: 'If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right.' It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: 'If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?'"GOOD QUESTION! GREAT ADVICE! "And whenever the answer has been no for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something." AGAIN, GOOD PRACTICAL ADVICE! WE DON'T NEED TO BE STUCK IN AN UNHAPPY AND UNFULFILLING SITUATION. GOD GIVES US THE POWER TO CHANGE OUR LIVES FOR THE BETTER! "Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose." UNTIMATELY, IF SPEAKING ABOUT MATERIAL GOODS, THIS IS SPOT ON. NO HEARSE EVER PULLED A U-HAUL TO THE CEMETARY! HOWEVER, THE LORD JESUS SPOKE ABOUT THE TRAGEDY OF GAINING THE WHOLE WORLD AT THE EXPENSE OF LOSING YOUR SOUL!  THE TRUTH IS, WE DO HAVE SOMETHING TO LOSE, OUR SOULS. "No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don’t want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it.”  THESE WORDS ARE A GOOD REALITY CHECK! “And that is as it should be, because death is very likely the single best invention of life." WITH ALL DUE RESPECT FOR HIS BRILLIANT INTELLECT, I HOPE WE CAN AGREE THAT THIS IS NONSENSE! IN FACT IT IS THE EPITOME OF A SECULAR WORLDVIEW. FAR FROM THE BEST INVENTION OF LIFE, THE BIBLE CALLS DEATH “THE LAST ENEMY.” IF WE HAVE NO SOULS, AND IF THERE IS NO ETERNAL LIFE, AND IF EVOLUTION IS THE PURPOSE OF LIFE, AND IF MOMENTARY FAME IS A MARK OF A GREAT LIFE, THEN DEATH MAY BE THE BEST INVENTION OF LIFE. BUT IF THE BIBLE IS TRUE, THEN LIFE IS A PRECIOUS GIFT FROM GOD. AND SO IS ETERNAL LIFE. THE BEST INVENTION OF LIFE IS NOT THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH, BUT THE LIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE! "It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true." OK, BUT CLEARED AWAY AS RUBBISH? AS ANTIQUES THAT HAVE LOST THEIR VALUE? AS JUNK TO BE DISCARDED? THIS IS THE UTILITARIAN WORLDVIEW WHICH POSITS THAT LIFE IS ONLY VALUABLE IF YOU CAN CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING TO SOCIETY. ON THE CONTRARY, THE BIBLE SAYS THAT ALL LIFE IS OF VALUE BECAUSE WE ARE CREATED IN THE IMAGE AND LIKENESS OF GOD! ULTIMATELY, WHO YOU ARE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN WHAT YOU CAN DO. "Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life." THIS IS WONDERFUL ADVICE, CLEARLY IN LINE WITH BIBLICAL TRUTH!  "Don’t be trapped by dogma -- which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."   UNFORTUNATELY, THESE NICE SOUNDING WORDS EMBODY THE ESSENCE OF NEW AGE PHILOSOPHY IN WHICH YOU ARE YOUR OWN GOD. THE NEW TESTAMENT SAYS THAT GOD IS GREATER THAN OUR HEARTS! OF COURSE THERE IS A SENSE IN WHICH WE SHOULD FOLLOW OUR GOD GIVEN DREAMS, BUT AREN'T THESE WORDS A BIT ARROGANT? IS EVERYTHING ELSE SECONDARY TO YOUR HEART AND INTUITION?  THE TRUTH IS YOUR INNER VOICE CAN BE VERY MISLEADING. THE BIBLE SAYS OUR HEARTS ARE DECEPTIVE ABOVE ALL ELSE. THE FACT IS WE NEED THE WISDOM OF OTHERS. WE ARE BETTER TOGETHER! WE HAVE ALL BEEN BLESSED WITH THE WISDOM OF OTHER PEOPLE'S THINKING! AND MOST OF ALL WE NEED THE WISDOM OF THE SCRIPTURES. WE CAN DECEIVE OURSELVES, BUT GOD’S WORD WILL NEVER DECEIVE US. IT IS A LAMP FOR OUR FEET AND A LIGHT FOR OUR PATH. WE CAN LET OURSELVES DOWN, BUT JESUS WILL NEVER LET US DOWN. HE HAS WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE. HIS TRUTH IS OUR JOY! Steven Paul Jobs leaves a mixed legacy, as most of us will. I encourage you to embrace the courage and innovation and visionary leadership of his legacy. When it comes to matters of eternal significance, I encourage you to listen to the Bible! This Sunday at Crosswalk, we will celebrate the word of truth as the one way to help us influence others for all eternity.  It will be a great day at Crosswalk; I hope to see you in church. Blessings, Pastor John

DEAD SEA SCROLLS ARE NOW ONLINE! The Dead Sea Scrolls (first discovered in 1947) are now available in digital format. Click here to check it out for yourself:  http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/ But here's a fascinating story demonstrates the trustworthiness of the Bible. The Great Scroll of Isaiah from the Dead Sea Scrolls was written in about 150 B.C. The Aleppo Codex, one of the best manuscripts for our version of the Old Testament, was written in about 1000 A.D. Now you can compare those two versions of Isaiah chapter 1—written over 1,100 years apart! To do so click here:  http://dss.collections.imj.org.il/chapters_pg It's stunning how much they agree! All of the variations are minor differences. So don't let anyone tell you people changed or corrupted the Bible over the passage of time. It simply didn't happen that way. God used the diligent ministry of those ancient Hebrew scribes (the Masoretes) to carefully preserve and copy his Word.