Ok, so one of the major lessons God has been teaching me over the past couple of weeks is that I can’t do this….. ALONE!   This is one of those lesson you talk about all the time and sound great in discussion or teaching but is much different when you actually do it. The reason for this is it is our nature to try to accomplish everything on our own, and even though we may say with our mouth we want God to be in control our actions often times say otherwise. 

One of the scriptures that has been resounding in my heart is: Zechariah 4:6  ”Not by might, nor by power but by My Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.” Notice is says by My Spirit, not by my abilities,or creative gifts, or anything I can contribute, only by His Spirit.  No matter how hard I try or how well I plan if you take out the key component in that equation, then you have a recipe for disaster. Don’t get me wrong I do believe you need to prepare, but when your preparation begins to supersede your prayer life and dependence on God you need to step back evaluate what your purpose is.

One thing I have learned and know for sure from this point on, prayer is going to be a priority at The Crossing and in my personal life.  I will have a commitment to and dependance on seeking God and giving Him total control.

Today was a great day at The Crossing, we moved into our new facility at Kids R Kids in West Frisco and saw God do incredible things. Here is a few of the highlights.

> Today we had one commitment to Christ! That’s 25 in the past two months!!!

>The team did an excellent job of adjusting to a new location and setting everthing up.

>Worship did a great job it’s  awesome see God using Pastor Lanny as he continues to seek God.

>It was awesome to be able to set up on Saturday, since it was our first service in there.

>I love the feel of the new room, it makes it feel a lot  closer and not so far detached.

>Had a great time of prayer with the leaders and volunteers before church.

>Saw God do some great things in the altar that I can’t wait to hear the testimonies from.

Overall it was a great day and I am excited about what God is doing as we draw closer to Him and seek His face.

What in the world it has been over a month since I posted last?!!?!!  I guess this seems to be a reoccurring scenario for me, but I did say to bear with me when I first started this journey. Let’s  just say I was on a blog fast like others have said that way I don’t feel guilty or anything. HA!  

Well a lot has gone on since the last post, God is doing great things, since we began we have had 24 people make a commitment to Christ isn’t that awesome, we are also moving locations beginning this Sunday. We are grateful to the school for allowing us to meet there but it was costing us $922 a WEEK!, and to put it lightly that is a little to high for us at this point, but we know that all things happen for a reason and we believe we were supposed to be there for the short time we were. 

Beginning this Sunday we are moving to a Kids R Kids day care in west Frisco on the corner of Main and Teel St. We are excited about the opportunity to use this facility as we continue to and let God change the lives of the people in this area. We have learned as in every facet of life there are seasons and times when you need to shift to move to the next level God has for you, and that is simply what we are doing. The most awesome thing about the church of Christ is that we are not confined to a building but we are the church, and the bible is clear that when two or more people meet together in the name of Jesus Christ he is with them as well. Let’s continue to pray and watch God do incredible things, See ya on Sunday!

Wow it’s hard to believe that we are into our third consecutive week and the final wrap up to the Stressed Series. What an awesome three weeks, God is so faithful! Here’s a recap of the service today.

>Another successful day 1 more commitment to Christ!!!! That’s a total of 19 since we started!

>We had a good crowd despite people being at work and out.

>Worship went great and there was an awesome presence of God there!

>Set up and tear down went great, it’s nice to finally feel like we are getting into a groove.

>Had a glitch with the Children’s sound/video but the team did great getting it fixed before service started.

>We are seeing families return and experience Christ and become committed to Him.

>It was good to see the families that were out last week back. 

>Told a funny story on Pastor Lanny at the beginning of the message, you’ll have to go to the podcast and check out in the next day or so!

>Love all the people that are helping volunteer and make this thing happen.

>Can’t wait for the “Power of One” coming up next week, it’s going to be awesome!!!! 

>Love how people who have been coming are now starting to invite friends and family members!

God has got big things in store for this church and this city and I’m glad He has allowed me to be a part!!!

Ok so over the past year we have prepared in every aspect for the beginning of this launch. However, we learned quickly that it doesn’t matter what plans you have, because when God is in control and His timing is all that matters. We had every intention of launching come September, with preview services preceding it beginning three months prior to launch, but God had other plans. As many of you know we had a number of setbacks with the location in which God worked out in His TIMING. Due to this situation we found ourselves launching in a period of time that is not necessarily know for planting a church; considering it is the end of the year and not typically the time people are looking to start or change something in their life. 

There are a number of different ways to launch a church as a matter of fact the books on this issue are growing in number on a daily basis and if you talk to any church planter they all seem to point you in the direction they went. We followed the model of having previews and launching as large as you possibly can, and this is a great model that has been used effectively by a number of different churches. Yet in the process of following this model we found a few flaws that we were unsure of so we still continued the path we were on, while the whole time in the back of my mind searching about the way it should be done. 

During this process one of the flaws I had noticed as well as others on the team was brought out to us when we were challenged at Elevation Church in Charlotte. While I am in no way bashing this model of church planting the question that kept looming and that was asked is this: What happens when all the “well wishers” are gone and the real numbers show the next week? Which in my opinion is a good question. In other words, what if you have 250 at launch day if only 70 return the next week? Will it hurt you or help you?  Which the goal of this model is not only to launch large but in the process of previews and the large launch you add people that buy into the vision and help you further. I understood the principle, I was just unsure if people could get over such a big difference of numbers. When you launch large it includes a number of friends and family and people from other churches that come and help inflate you numbers to make it full as possibly can be, thus showing people that are visiting that something good is going on. 

Originally we had every intention of making a big push for all of our family and friends to show up but God in is His infinite timing helped us out, because by pushing our dates further and further back it virtually eliminated those that had planned to make the trip, not that we didn’t want everyone to celebrate with us, but we were unsure of what it would look like the next week. After the trip to Charlotte we didn’t make a big push and as a result just a few close family members showed up, and the cool thing is it didn’t over inflate our number thus we have maintained an average of just over 75 people on a weekly basis, but as I stated in previous posts it also caused us to focus on the fact that 18 people have made a commitment to Christ during that time, and that is the sole reason we are here as our vision is “To help people become fully committed to Christ”. God is so awesome, and I look forward to the many more life changes to come as we continue to grow in Him and through Him. Thanks to all who have made this possibly through prayer, finances, and love shown during this time, you have a part in what God is doing right here in Little Elm, Texas. Look out devil God is just getting started here with The Crossing and we can’t wait to see what all He has in store. Matthew 16:18 … upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

Well you’ve heard me say how we exist so that people can become fully committed to Christ but what does that look like, how do we make that happen, well here is what we talked about on Sunday, and what it looks like at here at The Crossing to be fully committed to Christ.

Growth- First understanding that a commitment to Christ is something that is more than a prayer it’s a lifestyle. It means that you will seek to know God and His word while developing relationships with people who need a relationship with Jesus Christ.

Gifts-  Every person has been given gifts to help others and serve God. At The Crossing, we want to put our faith into action by volunteering our time to help others become fully committed to Christ. In this we challenge everyone who attends The Crossing to serve in a way that meshes with gifts both on Sunday and during the week in the community. When each of us fulfill our role, we become much more effective as a church in sharing God’s message of love and hope.

Giving- Jesus said: “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” As a follower of Christ and someone who calls The Crossing Church their home, giving back to God at least 10% of our income is honoring God by following a biblical principle. Giving should be out of love, not pressure. Beyond the 10% tithe, giving generously and investing in others in need is a sign of where our heart is with trusting God and allows God to bring order to our financial situation.

Groups- Life can be both exciting and difficult, and we all need others to stand and walk with us in our journey. Plus, don’t others make life more fun? Living for God was never intended to be done alone; God built us for relationships. Groups are where authentic relationships occur and your needs can be met through accountability and care.

Once again sorry for the delay I’ll try and do better:

Preview #2

//Thank God for Previews, not only are they a time for others to get to know us but a time for us to get adjusted to having church in a portable setting.

//We were short a number families due to illness and family emergencies.

//We were still able to set up and tear down in a timely manner.

//We implemented the beginning of change in our volunteer area, i.e. specifically in the VHQ (Volunteer Head Quarters.)

//We were able to work out the sound bug from the children’s ministry last week.

//Had a few mishaps with worship and prayer. 

// Did I mention thank God for Previews.

//Set up special area in women’s restroom.

//The people who gave their life to Christ in the first preview were BACK, and they helped SERVE! 

//A great friend and mentor Irby McKnight and his son Jordan were there, it was great to see them.

//The staff and volunteers did an amazing job pulling together and making everything happen.

// I serve with some of the greatest team members out there.

//29 people signed up for the comeback event.

//Tommy rolled over a curb with one of the trailers and bent one of the rims and the tire deflated.

// Walmart fixed the rim for free and blew the tire back up. Tell me that’s not a miracle! Walmart and free!

//Blow ups continue to be a huge hit with the kids.

I can’t wait for November 2, and the official launch of the church, I know that God has great things in store as we continue to seek Him and help people become fully committed to christ.

Well once again there was an extended break from the blog, sorry it’s been really busy. Just quick note on the NC road trip, it was amazing we learned a lot of great principles that we’ve already began to apply. God has given us a huge vision to see people of the Little Elm area become fully committed to Christ and we want everything we do to be centered around this purpose. As I’ve stated before in no way was our purpose of going to try and mimic what they are doing because I think we all know you can’t mimic a move of God, but it was incredible to see what God is doing there in Charlotte and areas you are doing right and areas you can improve upon. 

It’s like this we’ve all hear it said if you want be a church or organization of 500 you have to act like it or if you want to be 5000 you have to act like a church or organization of 5000. I think that’s an easy concept in theory but if you don’t know what 500 or 5000 looks like you are only guessing and hoping your acting the right way. 

One of the things I loved about Elevation is that there vision from day one was “to see people for from God filled with life in Christ.” and with just the short time we where there we saw that and could see that everything they did was centered around this purpose. Sure there are programs and parts of the church that are needed in making it function at it’s best, but it is all centered around the vision.

God has great things in store for this city and I am pumped that He is allowing us to be a part of it. Look out Little Elm God is fixing to rock this city!

A couple of months ago we contacted Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina about coming up and visiting with them on a Sunday and see some of the amazing things that God has been doing there. Upon contacting them I was connected to Larry Brey their Connections Pastor who helps with teams that want to come in and learn. I had a  phone conference with him this morning and man am I pumped about this trip.

Since the launch of Elevation about two and half years ago they have grown to a weekly attendance of 5000 people. More importantly than that is the life change that is taking place as they reached out thousands of lives were committed to Christ, marriages restored, addictions broken. Don’t get me wrong, we are more concerned about the principles not the practices. We fully understand that trying copy a movement of God is insane, because only God gives the increase, but I do believe that you can learn principles that will help you grow and be all that God wants you to be. I look forward to the opportunity to learn life lessons that God has in store, and maybe even spend 17 hours in a car with three of the craziest, fun guys out there.(Tommy, Seth, and Larry, oops I mean Lanny) Ha! 

Today was an amazing day for The Crossing, and I am so pumped about everything God did. Here are few of the highlights of what when on:

//We had 85 people at our first preview!

// 6 people accepted Christ as their Savior!!!!!!

//Everyone pulled together and everything was set up and tore down ON TIME! (Great job team!)

//Couple of hiccups in logistics in the beginning but praise God we were able to work it out.

//Everyone who visited signed up for the Comeback event at 7pm on Tuesday @ Roma’s Pizza and Pasta!

//In the middle of worship we blew a breaker and lost half of the stages lighting, video (thank God we have two) but we also lost SOUND.

//Worship team did an awesome job, especially not freaking out when they lost power.

//Tommy cracked me up when he went out their for prayer and carried the mic and spoke into it with faith that it was coming on any moment. ( it was hilarious you should of saw it, but he did  a great job as well.) 

//Nursery and Kidz Crossing was INCREDIBLE!! (Awesome set up, topped off with our own inflatables.)

//Inflatables are very HEAVY!

//We actually took everything down in One Hour. Thats a record, oh wait that was our first time.

//No matter what happens good or bad if God is there and lives are changed that’s all that matters.

//Can’t wait until the next preview on October 19th!!!!!!!