Upside Down: Praying the Impossible

Have you ever had a moment in life when you have seen God come through in an amazing way? One of those moments, when you know the spiritual has crossed over and changed the physical. Maybe it was an illness or a relationship in crises.  Looking back over our lives, many of us can remember a time when God stepped in.

One of the harsh realities is that often we go through a difficult season just before these moments. On Sunday, we are looking at Acts 12 and how God stepped in and changed a difficult situation for Peter and many who were following Jesus.

Join us Sunday as we finish our series entitled Upside Down!

Upside Down: Letting God Change Our Minds

Do you have a hard time changing your mind?  You know, once you have figured something out, is it hard to switch tracks?  A couple of months ago, I was eating with my family and noticed this in my little niece.  Sometime ago she decided that she would not eat dinner anymore.  This of course was met with debate and discipline but she just dug in her heals and refused to give in.  As we sat around the table that night, she just sat there with her arms folded and a frown on her face.  Even when she was hungry and had a plate full of food in front of her, she refused to change her mind!

This weekend at Crossroads Church in Cranberry, we are continuing our series entitled, “Upside Down.”  We will be looking at how God changed the minds of those who were following him in Acts chapter 11.  This week we will see that at times God blows up the boxes that we create for Him and does the unexpected.

Join us Sunday as we continue to see how God can turn us upside down!

Bag of Sin

A number of years ago I was teaching at a church service that lead to a moment of confession and communion.  At the end of the message I asked the people in the room to write down the things in their lives that were keeping them from God. After this, I asked them to tack these confessions to a large wooden cross in the center of the room and come receive communion. 

As I lead through this service, I noticed that this was a very powerful moment.  There are times as a Pastor when you know people are “doing business” with God.  However, I did not know how profound this moment was until later when I took down the cards of sin and read through what my people were carrying in our community.  Here are just a few of the cards.

·      “I struggle with pornography and addiction to conformity to this world”

·      “Self-centeredness, Pride”

·      “Lust/sex”

·      “My hate”

·      “Fear”

·      “I’m a shitty Christian in every possible way.”

·      “Vanity”

·      ”Greed”

·      “The desire to cut”

Later that week I sat down with a group of elders and prayed through these cards.  For us it was a moment to see the needs and burdens of those in our community.  It strengthened our resolve to move ahead.

I no longer serve in this church but have keep this “bag of sin” in my closet as a constant reminder of why I serve the church.  Whenever I read though these cards I’d reminded that beneath the surface all of us carry a bag of sin.  Those things in our hearts that we long to let go. 

As I read though the cards today one card jumped out at me.  In a pile of sin one individual decided to set down his bag of sin and picked up a bag of grace.  He simply wrote: “Jesus . . . tonight I give you my life.” 

What is in your bag of sin?  Are you ready to let it go? You no longer have to carry this heavy bag.  Pick up the bag of grace.

Upside Down: God Loves You?

A friend of mine says that there are two kinds of people in this world; There are the rule keepers and the rule breakers.  There are those who love rules.   Those who feel safe by them and there are those who love to push the boundaries.  But what if God changes the rules?  What if we created a rule that God never intended?

This weekend at Crossroads Church we are continuing our series entitled; “Upside Down” by looking at how God flipped expectations and opened the door for everyone to enter the community of faith.  Join us this weekend as we take some time to look at Acts chapter 10.

Happy Fathers Day!

Review: The Elephant in the Boardroom: Adrian Furnham

I remember a conversation with a friend a couple of years ago who was completing his doctorate work at Oxford.  He was studying “the stuff” that makes great teams and found that behavior was often more important than intellect to insure success when selecting good team members. 

In The Elephant in the Boardroom Adrian Furnham and John Taylor write about how to identify disturbed leaders before they derail a team!  In their book they profile three toxic leaders that will disrupt any team!

1.    The Successful Psychopath

a.    People on this spectrum tend to succeed in the work environment. Their bold behavior and charming ways can prove quite attractive.  However, job stresses can propel them in destructive behavior. 

2.    The Self-Absorbed Narcissist

a.    Healthy individuals have high self-esteem but egoism can ascend into an unhealthy realm.  Many of these leaders are praised for their leadership potential but if left uncheck and begin to think that they are the only one that matters. 

3.    The Ruthless Machiavellian

a.    It is a dog eat dog world and these individuals will do whatever it takes to climb the ladder.  They have a take-no-prisoners approach to work and will do what ever it takes to get ahead.  They cheat and lie and can quickly break the trust needed to work as a team.

Chances are that at sometime in your life you have encountered one or two of these individuals in the work place.  In the movie Horrible Bosses we get a humorous look ask how difficult it can be to work under one of these behavior profiles.  The best way to protect the health of your organization is to develop a careful recruitment process that explores the past behavioral tendencies of your potential candidates.  It is also important to have an objective governance process to help when teammates get off track.

True Grit

True Grit is a message that I shared at Pathways Church in Denver, CO. In this message we look at the life of Nehemiah and the determination he displayed in following his dream.

Upside Down: The Worst of the Worst

Nobody likes a villain.  They delight in evil and seek to cause pain in the lives of others.  But what happens if a villain turns?  When their life is changed so dramatically that they seek to do good rather than evil?  If you are like me, when you hear stories like this it is probably met with doubt or cautious optimism. You might think, “Are they really different?”

This weekend at Crossroads Church in Cranberry, we are continuing our journey through the book of Acts in our series entitled: “Upside Down.” On Sunday we will take some time to look at Acts Chapter 9 and how God completely turned around the life of Saul and gave him a new purpose.  

Join us Sunday as we gather at 10:30am.  See you then!