Firewalkers, Skywalkers or Crosswalkers?

This Sunday we come to a powerful passage about the possibilities of faith. In one of our verses for this Sunday, Jesus says, "All things are possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23). Obviously, this is a controversial passage. What I find interesting is our culture's obsession with the power behind this verse without tapping into the source of all power, namely, God.

Building Intimacy With God

Ever have those moments of stagnancy in a relationship?  They are the moments which seem like the relationship is not what it could be, or used to be.  You become guarded and seek a comfortable position and the intimacy just isn’t there.  I can have those moments in my relationship with God and it is a challenge to get it back.

Transformed Through This Church

God first brought me to Crosswalk back in 1999.  I was a quiet young man who was bad at holding a conversation and angry at a world which didn't seem to accept me.  Worse, I had no purpose in life.  But I was also aware of those traits, and acknowledged them as barriers to a fulfilled life so I wanted to change.  Religion seemed to be the best way to affect change.  I was interested in Christianity (though not yet a Christian) and had been church shopping for a bit.  I visited a few other churches but was generally unimpressed by what I had found.  When I visited Crosswalk there was one thing which set it apart for me: the people.  A quick scan of the crowd revealed a diversity I hadn't seen at other churches.  People from different races and age groups accepted each other and actually spent time together (which seemed like a rarity at the time.)  I also noticed as I watched people interact, that they actually wanted to be there.  I was brought up in a church which felt like people were there out of obligation rather than choice (it was a Catholic church).  Crosswalk was a group of people who wanted to be with God and with each other - they were engaged.  By the end of the first service I was hooked, this was not just a church, this was a community.  A community of people with a genuine heart for God and each other where people were connected.

America's Answer to Bullies and WWJD?

Dear Crosswalkers,

Recently the topic of bullying has taken center stage in American culture, and rightly so. This year, over 13 million American kids will be bullied at school, on the bus, at home, online, through their cell phones and on the streets. Last year, a powerful documentary entitled BULLY was released. Then last week, Karen Klein, a 68 year old grandmother, was bullied by a small posse of middle school boys. It was captured on You Tube, which you can view by clicking HERE, and it went viral, being seen in snippets on most all the nightly news programs. I should warn you it isn't pleasant viewing, and it does contain profanity. Over a span of 10 minutes the boys relentlessly poked and prodded her, and hurled cruel insults at her, mostly about her weight but also about a suicide in her family. A great blog was written on the Mockingbird site which described the incident like this: "It's like grandma got dropped in the middle of Lord of the Flies." I encourage you to read the whole piece HERE.