Going for the Gold

Dear Crosswalkers,

In London, the Olympic athletes are going for the gold. They are trying to be the best they can be. They are putting forth the very best effort to excel in their sport.  At Crosswalk, we also want to be the best we can be. We want to excel in the high calling of serving and honoring the Lord with our lives. God has blessed us with a healhy number of children and youth. Our Tru curriculum is helping us to be the best we can be in our children's ministry. In September we plan to have a "Children's Ministry Open House" so the entire church can get on board with what God is doing with our kids.

How to be a Great Person

This Sunday at Crosswalk, we will tackle the subject "How to Be a Great Person." One of the key points is Humility. I'm at RCP's family camp this week and in one of my conversations with the evening speaker, he said, "This is my prayer: Lord, please humble me but don't humiliate me!" 

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.

A Popular Myth is Busted

Earlier this week I read a great piece by Ed Seltzer which exploded a myth that is very popular in the church today. I'm told it is ubiquitous on Facebook, and I have heard it repeated constantly. It is a quote from St. Francis of Assisi: "Preach the gospel. Use words if necessary."

What's the problem with this nice quote? One, according to Church Historian Mark Galli, there is no record that Francis ever said such a thing. In fact, he founded the Franciscan order, which is a preaching order. St. Francis sometimes preached 5 times a day, presumably using words! The second problem is that it is not even a biblical sentiment. Here's what I mean:

Four Core Beliefs of America's Spiritual Culture

Dear Crosswalkers,

In his book Bad Religion, author Ross Douthat examines the core beliefs of America's wave of "spiritual but not religious" teachers such as Deepak Chopra, James Redfield, Eckhart Tolle, Paulo Coelho, Neale Donald Walsch, Oprah Winfrey, and Elizabeth Gilbert (the author of Eat, Pray, Love). Douthat claims that their "creed" shares four essential beliefs. Unfortunately, many churches and followers of Jesus have "bought in" to this pop spirituality. Why? Because it is easy and caters to our self centered nature. I've listed the four core beliefs of America's spiritual culture below, with a few points comments and Scriptures to refute them:

What Is God Doing in the World Today?

Dear Crosswalkers,

Every now and then it is of great encouragement to step back and rejoice at what God is doing in the world today. Dan Meyer wrote a book entitled Witness Essentials. He lists some encouraging statistics about the growth of the church around the world:

• In 1900 Korea had no Protestant church. Today, there are over 7,000 churches in just the city of Seoul, South Korea.
• At the end of the 19th century, the southern portion of Africa was only 3 percent Christian. Today, 63 percent of the population is Christian, while membership in the churches in Africa is increasing by 34,000 people per day.

Loving Abusers? Sleeping with the Enemy?

Dear Crosswalkers, Last week's email about the evil of Domestic Abuse garnered a host of responses. I'm happy to say that all of them were positive and appreciative. Several women shared their stories of being abused, and how they lived for years in quiet fear. Others shared how their churches didn't help, but rather sided with the abuser and made the situation worse. Many others wrote and said they would offer their homes as a sanctuary for any woman who wants to flee her abuser.

As promised, this week we need to look at "How to Love an abuser." Now some of you will wince at these words. "Love an abuser? Impossible!" No, it is not impossible. The Lord of Love said, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute (abuse) you" (See Matthew 5:44). So the question isn't "Should I love my abuser?" but rather "How Should I love my abuser?"

To begin with, let's look at How NOT to love an abuser.

For this, we need to be introduced to "the Stockholm Syndrome," Police and psychologists are well aware of this disturbing phenomenon. It refers to the emotional bonding that takes place psychologically between an abuser and the victim. On August 23rd, 1973 two criminals toting machine guns entered a bank in Stockholm, Sweden. The two bank robbers held four people (three women and one man) as hostages for the next 131 hours. The hostages were strapped with dynamite and held in a bank vault until rescued five days later. An article explains what happened next:

After their rescue, the hostages exhibited a shocking attitude considering they were threatened, abused, and feared for their lives for over five days. In their media interviews, it was clear that they supported their captors and actually feared law enforcement personnel who came to their rescue. The hostages had begun to feel the captors were actually protecting them from the police. One woman later became engaged to one of the criminals and another developed a legal defense fund to aid in their criminal defense fees. Clearly, the hostages had “bonded” emotionally with their captors.

This "Stockholm Syndrome" of a dysfunctional emotional attachment with an abuser has been observed in Abused Children, Battered/Abused Women. Controlling/Intimidating Relationships, Incest Victims, Cult Members, and many others. In fact, this is why many battered women refuse to press charges. 

This syndrome has the positive benefit of increasing the victims chance of survival in physically abusive situations. Negatively, the abused person may not be cooperative with law enforcement personnel in bringing the abuser to justice. You can read a comprehensive article entitled Love and Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser by clicking HERE. I highly recommend this article. Note that this is a secular article, but also remember that all truth is God's truth.

Let's get this straight: THIS IS NOT HOW TO LOVE AN ABUSER! This is a psychologically dysfunctional emotional attachment from which the abused person needs to be delivered through the ministry of prayer, the Holy Spirit's healing, and counseling. When Jesus said, "Love your enemies" he was NOT referring to emotional feelings of the heart. Love in the Bible is not a feeling or an emotion, but rather a commitment to act in the best interest of the other person. Jesus wants us to act in the best interests of others. That's how we love our enemies.

For this we need to be introduced to another reality: Tough Love. One of the greatest enemies of healthy relationships in today's world is misplaced compassion. This refers to the rescuing tendencies on the part of the victim that enables the abuser to continue abusing. This is not compassionate and it is not loving. Rather than acting in the best interest of the abuser, rescuing behavior acts in the victim's misguided need to feel good about themselves. Helping someone to continue in destructive behavior is called codependency. There is nothing loving about it.

Here is what victims of abuse need to do. First, they need to tell others (caring family members and friends), about the abuse. Secrecy is the best friend of the abuser and addict. Another "best friend" is a sad misunderstanding of the Bible's teaching on divorce and compassion, some of which we discussed last week. Next, confrontation must take place. Dr. James Dobson says this: "...Behavior does not change when things are going smoothly. If change is to occur, it usually does so in a crisis situation. Thus, a crisis must be created and managed very carefully."

The crises that is created could include calling the police and an intervention with family and friends; but it must also involve the victim moving out of the relationship with no intention to return unless a broad range of treatment is successfully implemented. This could involve many months or many years. Healing may never happen. The point is this: The abuser must be held accountable for his actions. This is in the abuser's best interest. It is the loving thing to do! For further information, I highly recommend the book, Love Must Be Tough, by Dr. James Dobson. You can also get some very helpful information from the Troubledwith.com  website. You can click HERE to access the abuse and addiction section of that website. The easiest thing is to do nothing. It is also unloving. The hard way is as outlined above. It is worth it.

Above all, the weapons of our warfare are spiritual, not secular. They involve putting on the whole armor of God (see Ephesians 6:10-20), prayer and fasting, taking spiritual authority, and loving with the love of Jesus.

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

The Three A's and Spiritual Malpractice!

Dear Crosswalkers,

In my first church, well over 30 years ago, I was confronted with a terrible situation. A wife came to me who had been physically abused by her husband. I’ll spare you all the details which led to the particular decision we made. Bottom line – through a friend in the church with a private plane, and in consultation with our local physician, we flew her out of state to the home of a caring relative. The husband threatened to come after me with his gun. A month later we saw each other at a community swimming pool, and there was a confrontation. Thankfully, other men from our church family were able to intervene and prevent an altercation.

Physical violence against women is a growing tragedy in our country, and the churches are not doing a very good job in dealing with it.  

A survey by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) found that 1 out of every 4 women surveyed say they were physically abused by their husbands or boyfriends. Can you believe that? It is a reprehensible and disgraceful statistic. It is a shame on the blessed relationship of marriage that God ordained for so many. You can read the report in the USA Today by clicking HERE.

How should the church handle this silent atrocity in our communities? Where is the church when it comes to women suffering from physical abuse in their own households?

Sadly, many women feel that they are trapped. There is nowhere to go and no way out. They fear even greater violence if they seek help outside the relationship. Even worse, many women somehow blame themselves. We live in a politically correct world where moral equivalency is used as an excuse for putting up with all kinds of outrageous behavior. Women need to hear that it is NOT THEIR FAULT. There is no excuse for a boyfriend or husband to physically harm a woman. None. Men who do so are cowards.

Worse yet, many in the church believe the Bible would justify this behavior on the basis of passages taken out of context in which God says he hates divorce and our Lord says to turn the other cheek.

Let me say emphatically that there is no biblical justification for staying with an abuser; in fact it is spiritual malpractice to suggest otherwise. Evangelical Bible Teachers are nearly unanimous in their understanding that the Bible allows for marital separation and divorce for three reasons, often called the “Three A’s:” Adultery, Abandonment, and Abuse.

Adultery is a straightforward reason which is explicitly found in Matthew 19:9 and by implication in many other passages. Divorce is not mandated by adultery, but it is allowed. Why? Because the sexual oneness of marriage unites intimacy and trust, which is the very framework of the relationship. If it is broken, the marriage is also broken.

Abandonment is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 7:12-16. Here, physical abandonment is in view, but the application of this principle clearly extends to the third A, which is Abuse.

Most Bible scholars agree that physical abuse is such a despicable dereliction of the marriage vows that it is equal to abandonment. In fact it is worse. In such situations your spouse is forcing you to leave, or to separate. In Evangelical Ethics we read:

“Behavior such as persistent physical abuse is a violation of the marriage covenant and is... a de facto desertion of the marriage covenant.”

Wives who are being physically abused should separate themselves for the purpose of personal safety and the dignity of God’s covenant of marriage. You wives are biblically blessed with the opportunity to exit this marriage. This is especially the case where children are involved, because their safety is of paramount importance to God. The Lord Jesus said, in essence, that those who abuse children should have a millstone tied around their neck and be tossed into the deepest sea.

Women who are being physically abused by their boyfriends should do this: END THE RELATIONSHIP NOW! Abusers are living and acting so far outside the will of God that they do not deserve your affection.

Two last and very practical matters:

First, Crosswalk is a church family that wants to do a better job of handling these very devastating situations. Are you an abused woman who needs help? Counseling? Safety? Email me or any of our church staff and we will be there for you. Mark your connection card in church. Let us know. Or perhaps your heart of compassion leads you to help those who are hurting. Could you temporarily offer space to an abused woman? Let us know.

Secondly, what about the abusers? Are we not called to love our enemies and show the love of Jesus to them? Yes we are. How can we do that? We will answer that question next week. Stay tuned!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie   

A Revealing New Report!

Dear Crosswalkers, We have a week and half left in our 40 DAYS IN THE WORD spiritual growth campaign, but this Sunday will be the last message in this series where we tie it all together. Even if you have not been in a small group or have not participated in the journey, I strongly encourage you to attend because we will wrap everything up with a message entitled "The Joy of Integrating the Bible into My Life!" With a sense of perfect timing, a 2012 research study on the state of the Bible in American Life was just released. The study was commissioned by the American Bible Society and conducted by the Barna Research Group, and it revealed some good news and bad news about Bible reading and biblical literacy in America. First, here's the encouraging news: 85 percent of households own at least one Bible, with a household average of 4.3 Bibles. 68 percent of Americans believe the Bible provides answers on how to live a meaningful life. 27 percent say their Bible reading has increased in the past year, while only 12 percent say it has decreased (58 percent say it has stayed the same) But here's the bad news: 36 percent of Americans read the Bible less than once a year. 79 percent of those surveyed believe they are knowledgeable about the Bible, but 54 percent were unable to identify the first five books of the Bible. 46 percent believe the Bible, the Koran, and the Book of Mormon are different expressions of the same spiritual truths. In most every category, the "Mosaic Generation" of 18-27 year olds were less committed to the Bible in terms of their beliefs and practices than the rest of the population. This is a group we are trying to reach! You can read the entire report in pdf format for yourself by clicking HERE. Interestingly, survey participants also indicated their biggest frustration about reading the Bible was that they "never had enough time to read it." This is why our 40 DAYS IN THE WORD study has been so important! The truth is we DO make time for what is important in our lives! God wants to speak to us through the Bible, and in these 40 DAYS we are learning to prioritize reading the Bible and also we are learning how to hear God speaking to us. I encourage you to finish well with your 40 DAYS journey, and I pray that the skills you are learning will become a regular habit in your daily life. This Lord's Day is also on the Memorial Day weekend, and as always we will be remembering those who died in service to our country. Love in Jesus, Pastor John Christie

A SPECIAL PLEA FROM YOUR PASTOR (And it has NOTHING to do with MONEY!) Here's something I've noticed and I wonder if you can help with a very practical matter that would make Crosswalk a more caring and worshiping community of faith. At both services, the people who get there early or on time often seat in the back of our Worship Center. I know for a very few of you there are good reasons for this, but for the majority I wonder why this is so. Studies have shown conclusively that the best students always sit in the front of the class! The word disciple means student! It communicates a greater love for your church and an enthusiasm for worship when you sit closer to the front. Also, for a very practical reason, when latecomers enter they have to walk past everyone in the back and make more of a disturbance. If you are presently sitting in the back 1/3 of the building, can I please encourage you to SHOCK THE WORLD by getting out of your regular place and moving to the front 2/3s of the worship center?   Also, while we are at it, this is a special problem in the 10:35 a.m. service because so many of you are in the habit of showing up very late for worship! Can I tell you something? Guests come on time! It would be very nice if you were here on time to meet and greet them!!! By the way, in our second service as a follow up from the Tru Conference, we will be giving a blessing to the children before they are dismissed for their classes. So please sit with your children up front!   This is my special plea - PLEASE make every effort to be on time, and please move toward the front so our guests see that our worship is something we want to do and we want to do it well!! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE FOR YOUR HELP IN MAKING CROSSWALK A BETTER PLACE FOR WORSHIP!!!

A SHOCKING CONVERSION? Hugo Chavez, the normally brash, out-spoken, anti-USA, Marxist President of Venezuela, has surprised the religious and political world by apparently giving his life to Christ during his long battle with cancer.Prior to his last round of cancer treatments he said,"Christ my Lord … will lay on a hand on this treatment." In fact, according to an article in theHuffington Post, now he practically always mentions God or Jesus whenever he makes a statement. It's difficult to determine the depth of his faith in Christ, but at the very least this story illustrates for us human vulnerability and our need for God's help. You can read the remarkable story HERE. Let us hope and pray that the Lord has indeed drawn President Chavez into a saving relationship with himself!

Atheists Ad Campaign!

Dear Crosswalkers, This Sunday we will begin Week 5 of our 40 DAYS IN THE WORD sermon series. Last week we began to look at the important subject of interpreting the Bible.  At that time we saw that the key to Bible Study is asking the right questions. Here are some of the important questions to ask about any passage:   WHAT DOES THE PASSAGE SAY? (OBSERVATION) WHAT DOES IT MEAN? (INTERPRETATION) WHAT ELSE IN THE BIBLE HELPS ME UNDERSTAND THIS PASSAGE? (CORRELATION)       WHAT DOES GOD WANT ME TO DO ABOUT IT? (APPLICATION) We will take the next step in Bible interpretation this Sunday by looking at some other crucial considerations that help us understand what the Bible is really teaching us! Why is this so important? Many reasons, but one is that recently the content of the Bible has come under attack by a number of Atheist organizations. These attacks can plant seeds of doubt in uniformed followers of Jesus. One of the new tactics is the use of billboards. Here is one example: Really? Just living, just breathing, is enough to find meaning and purpose and a life of peace and hope? What happens when your living becomes compromised by disease or tragedy? There are millions of people whose life experience says that merely breathing does not give life meaning and purpose. Besides, living naturally leads to dying. Then your meaning dies with you. God made us for more than that! The Bible says that God has put eternity into the human heart, and so we yearn for much more than this life has to offer!  Here's another: At least this one deals honestly with the following truth: Everyone worships something. The question is this - "Which God will we worship?" The Bible says that when people reject God, the result will be the worship of the things God made - like chemistry and physics - rather than the God who made them! The Scriptures put it like this:   They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen.        - Romans 1:25 Unfortunately, these billboard ads have taken a darker turn. Now they are using the Bible to target African-Americans, among others, to turn away from their faith, and misinterpreting the Bible in the process. This Sunday we'll look at some of these billboards, and at how the Bible is being misused. We will also become equipped to answer those who"distort (the Bible), as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction" (2 Peter 3:16). As always, we will have some wonderful life lessons that will bring us encouragement and joy as we live out our faith! Please invite a friend to come to church with you, and Lord willing, I will see you Sunday!   Faithfully yours, Pastor John Christie

Mother's and Miracles!

Dear Crosswalkers,

This Sunday is Mother's Day which is always a GREAT DAY at Crosswalk Church! Of course we will have gifts for all ladies who are present, and we will celebrate some of the values that make moms so dear to our hearts, even as we continue our study of the Bible in 40 DAYS IN THE WORD (See article below).

On Mother's Day we are reminded not only of the moms and grandmothers and other influential women in our lives, but we are also reminded of the amazing gift of life itself.This is exemplified by Alexander Tsiaras, a mathematician and visual artist, who uses special visualization software to explore the unseen human body. In a lecture at TED.com he explained how his technology has enabled him to scan the development of the fetus from conception to birth. Although we hear nothing about his faith, throughout the lecture Tsiaras refers to what he calls the "marvel" and the "miracle" of an unborn baby's development. He even uses the term "divinity." Tsiaras highlights the miracle of life with the following examples:

• At 25-28 days, the baby's heart, which resembles a "magnificent origami," is developing at a rate of one million cells per second.
• At 32 days the arms and hands are developing.
• Within five weeks you can start to see the heart's early atrium and ventricles. A week later the baby's heart is actually becoming mature.
• At 52 days the retina, nose, and fingers are developing.
• By the time the fetus is full-term, it has 60,000 miles of vessels inside its body—although only one mile of vessels are visible. The other 59,999 miles of vessels are quietly working to bring nutrients and dispose of waste.
• Tsiaras calls a pregnant woman's body a "walking immunological cardiovascular system that … can actually nurture and treat this child with the kind of marvel that is beyond our comprehension."

Tsiaras summarizes his talk by saying,

The complexity of these [facts about human development], the mathematic models of how these are indeed done are beyond human comprehension. Even though I am a mathematician, I look at this with marvel: How do these instruction sets not make mistakes as they build what is us? It's a mystery; it's magic; it's divinity… beyond any comprehension of any existing mathematics today.

The video of the reproductive process and development of the unborn child is absolutely stunning. The background music is gorgeous. The marvels a modern visualization technology show God's creation of each person like never before! You can view this 9:37 minute video for yourself by clicking HERE. Two minutes into his lecture the video begins, and it is best to view it "as is" rather than enlarging it to fill your screen. As you watch this video, keep in mind what how the psalmist celebrated the gift of life:

Psalm 139:13-17 (NLT) -  
¹³ You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb.¹⁴ Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.¹⁵ You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.¹⁶ You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.¹⁷ How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!
 

Happy Mother's Day!

Pastor John Christie

7 Crucial Questions

Dear Crosswalkers,

Many have observed that those of us who follow Jesus in 21st Century America have it easy compared with our spiritual forbears. In fact, we have it quite cushy compared to some other locales on the planet. For example, earlier this year a report was given by Asian Access (or A2), a Christian missions agency in South Asia. In this report, they listed a series of 7 questions that church planters must ask new believers who are considering baptism. (Due to safety concerns, Asian Access does not mention the country's name.) The country is predominantly Hindu, but over the past few decades Christianity has grown in popularity—especially among poor and tribal peoples. These are the seven questions asked to help determine a new convert's readiness to follow Christ:

1. Are you willing to leave home and lose the blessing of your father?
2. Are you willing to lose your job?
3. Are you willing to go to the village of those who persecute you, forgive them, and share the love of Christ with them?
4. Are you willing to give an offering to the Lord?
5. Are you willing to be beaten rather than deny your faith?
6. Are you willing to go to prison?
7. Are you willing to die for Jesus?

If the new convert answers yes to all of these questions, then A2 leaders invite that person to sign on the bottom of the paper that of their own free will they have decided to follow Jesus. But here's the risk: if a new convert signs the paper and is caught by the government, he or she will spend three years behind bars. The one who did the evangelizing faces six years in prison.

How would you do answering those 7 crucial questions? Can you imagine what would happen if everyone who followed the Lord in baptism in America were given these questions? This is a sobering thought that requires some reflection.

My first thought is one of gratitude. Many Christian pioneers suffered greatly for us to enjoy the religious freedoms we now possess. I praise God that we don't face these terrifying prospects now; and it energizes me to do my best to insure that these freedoms remain in place for our children and grandchildren. 

On further reflection I am driven to pray for those who suffer greatly for the privilege of following Jesus. The persecuted church worldwide is following Jesus closer than many of us can ever dream of doing. They deserve our prayers and our deep admiration. They are heroes of our faith.

Lastly, I am forced to reconsider what "suffering for Jesus" really means in the context of the Silicon Valley in 2012. Is it really even suffering to step out of my comfort zone to share my faith with someone else? Is it really such a sacrifice to give 10% of my income to the Lord's work? Does it really constitute sacrificial love to volunteer to serve Jesus through my church? Or are all these things the very least I can do to express my love and gratitude to the Lord who has so richly blessed my life?

Here's a challenge: How would you answer the 7 crucial questions? How will you follow Jesus with more resolve in our time and place?

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie 

The Most Powerful Force in the Universe!

Dear Crosswalkers,

Last Sunday we kicked off our 40 Days in the Wordspiritual growth journey, and I praise God that this week we will have 190 Crosswalkers in small groups studying what the Bible says about itself! Last night three small groups met on our campus, and tonight we launch three more! Other groups are meeting in homes.

Tonight we will also be returning to our Wednesday evening dinners and children's program. Dinner is served between 5:30 - 6:10 p.m., and the DVD for tonight's study will be shown in the worship center beginning at 6:20.  You are invited to come even if you haven't signed up for a small group! We will find a place for you! I hope to see many of you at dinner!

This Sunday our message will feature a look at the most powerful force in the universe! What is that "most powerful force?" I know the right answer is "God." But let's move beyond the obvious. I'm not talking about someone but something. What is that something? This Sunday we will look at the answer together!

Also, last Lord's Day I mentioned that evangelical leader and founder of Prison Fellowship, Chuck Colson, went to be with the Lord. His life is a sterling example of a man who had been transformed by the grace of our Lord Jesus. He was a former Marine who was sent to prison for his role in the Watergate scandal way back in the Nixon Administration. He promised the prisoners he would never forget them and he never did. Prison Fellowship is now in more than 100 countries worldwide. Someone is quoted as saying about this about Colson's death: “I have to believe Mr. Colson just heard a Galilean voice say ‘I was in prison and you visited me.’”. 

Chuck was a great thinker who championed the Biblical Worldview through his many books. Just recently at Crosswalk, we featured his DVD study series entitled, "Doing the Right Thing." CNN had a wonderful tribute written by Bill Bennett, which you can read by clicking HERE.

Lastly, I have to share a great story about love and marriage. Lloyd Ford, 102, and Eunice Ford, 100, recently celebrated their 83rd wedding anniversary! At ages 17 and 19, the young lovers were married in secret late one night by a Baptist preacher in Paris, Texas.That was the night of April 9, 1929.

Just so you know, 1929 was the year of the famous St. Valentine's Day Massacre and the Stock Market Crash that ushered in the Great Depression. Bobby Jones won the US Open, Green Bay Packers won the NFL Championship, the Philadelphia A's won the World Series, and the price of gasoline was pushing 10 cents a gallon! That was a long time ago!!

Lloyd Ford was asked the secret of their 83 years together. He said this: “The first thing is they’ve got to love one another,” Lloyd said. “If there ain’t no love, there ain’t no marriage.” Yer darn tootin!!

Eunice claims they never had a quarrel in 83 years!  Amazing!  What was the secret for the way they handled disagreements and anger? Well, you'll have to read the article by clickingHERE.

I praise God for you all! Have a blessed week!

Pastor John

Answers to an Acoustic Conundrum

Dear Crosswalkers,

Here's something for those of you who believe that silence is golden. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the quietest place on earth is the "anechoic chamber" at the Orfield Laboratories in South Minneapolis, MN. The room is 99.99 percent sound absorbent. Most people cannot handle the silence. It literally drives them mad. The company’s founder and president, Steven Orfield, says this: ‘We challenge people to sit in the chamber in the dark... When it’s quiet, ears will adapt. The quieter the room, the more things you hear. You'll hear your heart beating, sometimes you can hear your lungs, hear your stomach gurgling loudly. In the anechoic chamber, you become the sound.’

And this is a very disorientating experience. We can't handle the quiet. We can't handle hearing ourselves alone. Apparently, the longest anyone has stayed inside was a reporter who lasted 45 minutes! You can read the full article by clicking HERE.

WHY CAN'T WE HANDLE THE SILENCE? It's an acoustic conundrum!  Here's the answer: We need to hear the voices of others because we were made for relationships. More than anything else, we need to hear the voice of God, because we were made to be in a relationship with our Creator!

This is why we are engaged in a spiritual journey called 40 DAYS IN THE WORD at Crosswalk Community Church! Above all else, these studies are designed to help us hear the voice of God speaking to us through the Bible!

Will you please join us? We have 170 people signed up to participate in the study. If you haven't joined a group, you can do so by emailing Pastor Linda Jackson at this address:ljackson@crosswalkchurch.com or by signing up after services this Sunday! The group study kicks off next week!

Faithfully yours,

Pastor John Christie

Who Can Tell What God Can Do?

Dear Crosswalkers,

This is a very exciting time at Crosswalk Community Church!  Beginning this Sunday we will launch a brand new spiritual growth journey called 40 DAYS IN THE WORD! We will be honored to have Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church delivering the message to get it all started. The following Sunday will be our first challenge of the 40 Day journey, and our small groups will begin meeting the week of April 22. It’s amazing how many significant events in the Bible center on the time period of 40 days! Here are some examples:

Exodus 34:28 (NLT) - Moses remained there on the mountain with the LORD forty days and forty nights. In all that time he ate no bread and drank no water. And the LORD wrote the terms of the covenant—the Ten Commandments—on the stone tablets.

Numbers 13:25 (ESV) - At the end of forty days they returned from spying out the land.

Deuteronomy 10:10 (ESV) - “I myself stayed on the mountain, as at the first time, forty days and forty nights, and the LORD listened to me that time also…”

1 Samuel 17:16 (NLT) - For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.

Jonah 3:4 (ESV) - Jonah began to go into the city, going a day’s journey. And he called out, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!”

Mark 1:13 (ESV) - And he was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. And he was with the wild animals, and the angels were ministering to him.

Acts 1:3 (NLT) - During the forty days after his crucifixion, he appeared to the apostles from time to time, and he proved to them in many ways that he was actually alive. And he talked to them about the Kingdom of God.

When we survey these verses, it is clear that the time frame of 40 days is often used in the Bible as a time to undergo spiritual transformation and to get closer to God.  Let me isolate just one of the instances above. In response to Jonah’s eight word sermon to the people of Nineveh, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown!” the king of Nineveh told his people to turn from their evil ways and give themselves to God. Then in Jonah 3:9 we read his rationale.  The king says, “Who can tell? Perhaps even yet God will change his mind and hold back his fierce anger from destroying us.” This is a great attitude to have during our 40 DAYS IN THE WORD journey: Who can tell what God can do in your life and mine? 

According to my calculations, in an average lifespan 40 days represents .001% of our life! Here’s what God wants us to do:  Give him these 40 days, totally and unreservedly.  Let’s devote ourselves wholeheartedly to the time the Bible says it takes for us to be spiritually transformed, and see what God will do. 

Here’s what I’m praying for:

1. God will knit together the people of the Crosswalk Community into one heart and mind about being “a people of the Book (the Bible).”  

2. God will show us how to understand the Bible for ourselves.

3. God will utterly convince us of the truth of his Word.

4. God will help us develop new habits for reading and memorizing the Scriptures.

5. God will draw people to faith in Jesus Christ, and some will experience the loving forgiveness of God for the first time. 

6. God will lead more Crosswalkers into small groups than ever before, and as a result, many will be led out of sinful and/or destructive habits, and many more will make a new commitment to holiness in heart and life. 

7. God will teach us to Love the Word, Learn the Word, and Live the Word.

I strongly encourage you to join the adventure with us! You can start by signing up to be in a small group THIS SUNDAY! 

Who can tell what God may do in your life during our 40 Days in the Word?

Faithfully yours,

Pastor John Christie

Easter: Welcome Home!

Dear Crosswalkers,

Recently, a guy named Bob Goff wrote about his sailboat race from Los Angeles to Hawaii. As a young boy, Bob had a dream to sail from LA to Hawaii. As an adult, he fulfilled that dream. Bob and four of his friends entered the Transpac Race, which is a semi-annual sailboat race from Los Angeles to Hawaii. In spite of his rudimentary sailing skills, the men filled their thirty-five foot sailboat with supplies and set sail.  Bob writes:

There's a tradition in the Transpac Race no matter when you finish the race, even if it's two in the morning. When you pull into the Ala Moana Marina in Oahu, there's a guy who announces the name of the boat and every crew member who made the trip …. It's the same guy, and he's been announcing each boat's arrival at the end of every Transpac Race for decades.

Just when we came to the end of our supplies, we sailed across the finish line just off Diamond Head and into the marina. It was a few hours before dawn. It had been sixteen days since we set out from Los Angeles in our little boat knowing very little about navigation. Suddenly, the silence was broken by a booming voice over a loudspeaker announcing the name of our tiny boat …. Then he started announcing the names of our ragtag crew like he was introducing heads of state. One by one he announced all of our names with obvious pride in his voice, and it became a really emotional moment for each of us onboard.

When he came to my name, he didn't talk about how few navigation skills I had or the zigzag course I'd led us in to get there. He didn't tell everyone I didn't even know which way north was or about all my other mess-ups. Instead, he just welcomed me in from the adventure like a proud father would. When he was done, there was a pause and then in a sincere voice his last words to the entire crew were these: "Friends, it's been a long trip. Welcome home." Because of the way he said it, we all welled up and fought back tears. I wiped my eyes as I reflected in that moment about all the uncertainty that had come with the journey, all the sloppy sailing and how little I knew. But none of that mattered now because we had completed the race.

I've always thought that heaven might be kind of a similar experience …. After we each cross the finish line in our lives, I imagine it will be like floating into the Hawaiian marina when our names were announced, one by one. At the end of our lives, after our many mistakes and midcourse corrections, our loving Heavenly Father will simply say, "Friends, it's been a long trip. Welcome home."

AMEN! Easter makes possible a warm welcome into our heavenly Father's home after our convoluted journey through life. This is our faith, our hope and our joy. And it's what we want to share with others this Easter. Here again is our EASTER schedule:

THIS THURSDAY, April 5, HOLY THURSDAY COMMUNION SERVICE @ 7:00 p.m.This is the most devotional and worshipful service of the year! Please plan to join us as we celebrate our Lord's death on the cross for us. The devotional is called, "Behold the Man!"During our one hour service, child care will be provided for nursery and preschool aged kids.

April 6, GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE, 11:00 a.m. to Noon. Sunnyvale Christian School hosts this service for the students and their families, but of course everyone is welcome to attend!

April 7, COMMUNITY EASTER EGG HUNT @ Washington Park! Check in at 9:45 a.m., hunt begins at 10:15 a.m. In addition to the hunt, we will feature face painting, a raffle, a special craft where the gospel is shared, and a few carnival like games for kids. Please pray for this event and help us invite people to Easter Services!

April 8 EASTER SUNDAY! This will be a grand celebration of the Good News. The message is "What Easter Means Today." It will be a practical message that you can freely invite friends and family to attend. People are very open to visiting a church on Easter! Please invite them to Crosswalk!!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie

The Greatest Love of All

Dear Crosswalkers,

On April 14, 1912, the Titanic struck an iceberg and sank in the icy waters of the North Atlantic. In a couple of weeks we our culture will mark the 100th Anniversary of this disaster that has captured the hearts and minds of so many. It was touted as being "unsinkable." Yet more than 1,500 people perished as "the ship that not even God could sink" sank. One third of the passengers survived to give testimony to the horror that unfolded around them.

There have been a seemingly endless series of books, articles, movies, documentaries and exhibits dedicated to the memory of the Titanic. Phrases and images ("rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic") have stuck with us. Lessons and analogies have been continuously spun from the tragedy. Here's what gets me: Although the death toll was immense, the fact is many more people could have been rescued. The Titanic was certified to offer 1,178 people lifeboat space. But of the twenty lifeboats lowered overboard, only a few were filled to capacity. In fact, records reveal that many were less than half full!

Exhibit A is the first lifeboat that was lowered, boat seven. Records indicate it had room for 65 people, yet history tells us just 28 boarded. Lifeboat one could accommodate 40 people but left the sinking oceanliner with only 12 people on board! There are many more tragic examples. Only 40 percent of the available lifeboat spaces were filled, and thus only 711 passengers and crew were rescued. When the Titanic went down, hundreds of people floated in the open water wearing life jackets. Yet only one of the vessels went back in search of other survivors.

Why were so many spaces left unfilled?

Investigators found a couple of reasons. First, some of the Titaniccrewman wrongly assumed that filling the lifeboats to their "sea capacity" would cause the boats to break during the lowering process. Such misplaced caution cost people their lives. Secondly, some of the passengers, believing the ship was "unsinkable," didn't board the lifeboats because they didn't feel that there was really a pressing need.

For God has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son,who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.   

                                                                                                                             - Colossians 1:13-14

Easter is all about rescue. It shows us the greatest love of all. At Crosswalk, God wants us to "make room" for people who need the salvation ("rescue") that Jesus alone provides. Are there misconceptions that prevent us from rescuing those around us? Salvation is available, but we have to see our need and get into the lifesaving boat.

The next two weeks at Crosswalk will celebrate and make available this divine rescue mission. Here is our schedule:

April 1, PALM SUNDAY! This will be a great day as we look at one of the most important and foundational teachings the Lord has given us. The message is entitled, "How to Avoid Ruining Your Life!" Lord willing, we will feature a powerful testimony from Whitney Houston! This would be a most excellent day to invite a friend or family member to church.

April 5, HOLY THURSDAY COMMUNION SERVICE @ 7:00 p.m. This is the most devotional and worshipful service of the year. Please plan to join us as we celebrate our Lord's death on the cross for us. The devotional is called, "Behold the Man!"

April 6, GOOD FRIDAY SERVICE, 11:00 a.m. to Noon. Sunnyvale Christian School hosts this service for the students and their families, but of course everyone is welcome to attend!

April 7, COMMUNITY EASTER EGG HUNT @ Washington Park! Check in at 9:45 a.m., hunt begins at 10:15 a.m. Please use the invitation cards and talk up this event! Post the cards at coffee houses, etc. And then on the day of the hunt help us invite people to our Easter services at Crosswalk!

April 8 EASTER SUNDAY! This will be a grand celebration of the Good News. The message is"What Easter Means Today." It will be a practical message that you can freely invite friends and family to attend. People are very open to visiting a church on Easter. Please invite them to Crosswalk!!

Love in Jesus,

Pastor John Christie