Posted by Adam Desmond on March 4, 2010
Last weekend we helped a friend move, and her Dad and brother were helping as well. Another family with a teenage daughter was helping also, so this made me think about Grace, and what it’ll be like when she moves out to go to college (Grace vehemently denies that this will happen…she insists that she’ll be living with us until she gets married). I really had a hard time thinking about that. It’s difficult to put into words what that felt like. I’m also dieting right now, which means I’m hungry all the time. Especially for Whataburger. There’s a specific hunger inside of me that only a Whataburger will satisfy. The feelings are very similar. An empty ache inside of me, a longing for something that brings me such joy. A yearning for my daughter.
As I was thinking about this, God interjected, “That’s how I feel for you.”
I had never considered this. God misses me terribly. There is a yearning inside of Him, a yearning that can only be satisfied by me.
I can satisfy that longing in Him when I come to Him, spend time with Him, listen to Him, talk with Him. But only partially.
This yearning will only be completely satisfied when I stand in His presence. When my life is over, and my eternal life begins, God will welcome me home, and we will spend all eternity together. I’ll feel his warm embrace, and he’ll crush me in His arms. Our souls will embrace and our joy will be made complete.
But until then, there will always be that yearning. And I’m learning to embrace it. That yearning tells me that this world is not my home. Just as when Grace is away at college, I hope it always feels temporary for her. That coming home is always a joyful homecoming.
So that’s how I feel. A stranger in a strange land. But I also catch glimpses of my Father’s heart every once in a while. They remind me of the coming joy, though tempered with longing, kind of like smelling that Whataburger, but not being able to eat it. Yet.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on
So I had an interesting thing happen this week. While planning the worship service, I prayed over the passage, (Galations 1:1-5) which had very strong themes about Christ being our Savior and how He saves and rescues us. The specific verse says “…the Lord Jesus Christ who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” As I thought about this verse, especially in the context of a worship service, I felt that My Savior My God would be a great focus song for us this week. The words are a great fit, the tone of the song communicates (to me at least) the weight and seriousness of this gift from our Lord, and it is a song that our Church loves and associates with. Some time went by, and then I sat down with the Lord to plan the service and to ask Him to show me the songs that He has for us this week. I confirmed with Him that the theme is to be about our Savior, the gift of His life and the salvation that we have in Him. God shared with me that He is excited about all of the songs that we will be singing about Jesus. We have often been singing more about God the Father, and we will be singing many songs about Jesus in the near future. Next, I asked Him to confirm that our focus song this week should be My Savior My God. Guess what he said?
He said no. He did not give me a reason. He simply said that He did not have that song for us this week, and that He wanted to re-direct us to a different song. How surprising it was to me! I did not expect His answer at all. So far, in my journey as worship minister, when I plan the services and feel led to a particular focus song God has always confirmed that song as the one that He wants us to sing. It feels very strange in a way to be re-directed so clearly. However, I really like being re-directed for a couple of reasons. First, it wakes me up. It breaks up a routine that can look very similar from day to day. Don’t get me wrong – the routine is great – it is just like a little jolt of caffeine. Second, it makes me feel so close to the Lord. It confirms, to me, that I am truly hearing His voice and not my own. If I were just hearing my own voice we would be singing My Savior My God this week. Instead, we are singing Rescue, which is our focus song, and is not one that I have led before.
How can this affect our daily walk, and not just be something that is an every now-and-then occurrence? My proposal is this – just because we think we know what God would say, we should ask anyway. Ask Him to confirm. “What would Jesus do” might be a good place to start, but our thoughts and our wisdom will never equal that of our Father’s. We never know when God wants to re-direct us until we ask. Sometimes re-direction might be scary, but it is always worth it.
Lyrics to Rescue, Crossland’s focus song for 03/07/2010
You are the source of life. I can’t be left behind. No one will do – I will take hold of You.
I need You Jesus to come to my rescue. Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved. Capture me with grace. I will follow You.
My heart is Yours for life. I need Your hand in mine. No one else will do. I put my trust in You.
I need You Jesus to come to my rescue. Where else can I go? There’s no other name by which I am saved. Capture me with grace. I will follow You.
This world has nothing for me…I will follow You…
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Posted by Jennifer Young on
As I spent time with the Lord preparing this lesson He really spoke to me about His great understanding of me. He knows me well and knows what I need before I ask Him. He showed me that in spending time with Him regularly He is able to provide for all of my needs, often even before I “feel” or understand what my need is or will be.
He is such an amazing parent. I have really felt a deep desire to receive His parenting not only for my well being which is wonderful but also for the benefit of understanding how to be a wonderful parent to our children. My Father God is the greatest role model of a great parent!
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Posted by Windy Desmond on February 21, 2010
Ron preached a great sermon this week from James 4:13-17. James never pulls any punches, you know? James talks a lot in this passage about what Ron calls “Presumptuous Planning.” Basically, making up your mind about what you are going to do without taking God’s desires into account. Making your own plans and not even considering that God’s might be superior. (Aren’t they always??) In dialoguing this week with the Lord, He showed me that one of the things that He wants for me, and the worship team, and our Church Family is peace instead of worry.
I see this concept relating to this passage in James. Why do we make these plans? Why do we decide, on our own, what needs to be done and how we need to do it? For me, at least, a big part of it is because I worry about the future both immediate and far reaching. I feel the drive to make plans to avoid pain, and waste, and heartache, and boredom, etc. I wonder if the way that the Lord wants to deal with those worries is different than the plans that I try to make? I think I know the answer to that one! God’s peace comes with giving our fruitless plans to Him and allowing Him to guide our paths.
Our response song this week was Refiner’s Fire. Here are some of the words:
Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart, let me be as gold – pure gold.
The only way to choose God’s peace over worry, His plans over our own, is to ask him to purify and refine us as we follow him. The more that we come to Him and pursue His will, His thoughts, and His heart, the more we will see the plans and purposes that He has for us that are so much better than the ones that we think up. The more that we do this, the easier it will become. The more that we do this, we will remember to come to the Lord. Father, I do ask You to purify my heart.
The last verse in this passage gives us an even bigger warning than “presumptuous planning.” It hit me pretty hard this week when I was meeting with God to plan our worship service. More to come later…
Here are the lyrics for Refiner’s Fire:
Purify my heart, let me be as gold and precious silver.
Purify my heart, let me be as gold – pure gold.
Refiner’s Fire, my heart’s one desire, is to be holy – set apart for You Lord.
I choose to be holy – set apart for You my Master, ready to do Your will.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from within and make me holy.
Purify my heart, cleanse me from my sin – deep within.
Refiner’s Fire, my heart’s one desire, is to be holy – set apart for You Lord.
I choose to be holy – set apart for You my Master, ready to do Your will.
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Posted by Adam Desmond on
This week my daughter and I were working on experiencing God’s pleasure and enjoying spending time with us, so I asked her what her favorite part of the day was. “Recess!” was her immediate response, so I asked her to try to focus on God being there with her during recess, enjoying watching her play, then ask after recess if He had fun.
When I got home from work I asked how it went, and the results were very interesting. She usually plays with one of her good friends, and for some reason on this day my daughter got upset and treated her friend badly. When I asked why she got upset, she said she didn’t really know.
I began to suspect that there was more to this than simple little girl fickleness, so I asked her to pray about what happened today and ask God why she got so upset with her friend. This sent her into a very uncharacteristic reaction, getting very upset and saying that she didn’t understand what it was I was asking her to do.
I believe that our daughter was experiencing spiritual warfare.
If you haven’t listened to the excellent sermon John Young preached on how we are blocked from hearing from God, I’d highly recommend it, because it helps to identify many of the reasons why we sometimes have difficulty hearing from God. One of them is spiritual warfare, and I don’t believe we see just how often this affects our walk with God, and indeed our everyday lives.
One factor that helps to identify this as spiritual warfare is the uncharacteristic and disproportionate reactions. When we are being attacked, it isn’t just that we believe a lie, we are pushed into reacting to that lie. It is a very active attack in most cases, though I’m sure that some people experience very subtle and passive attacks. Now, an important distinction here is that we aren’t forced to react. This isn’t possession. But spiritual warfare can be extremely persuasive.
Buddy tells a great story about going into the Marines. Everyone told him that the Corps would break him, make him into a fighting, killing machine. He didn’t think that was possible, so he said that he would do everything asked of him, but keep his mind separate, knowing that he was only playing along.
It didn’t work.
The conditioning did exactly what it was designed to do, creating in Buddy a perfect soldier, capable of following orders even when he didn’t think he could, even when he didn’t understand, even when he disagreed.
When we allow spiritual warfare to shape our minds, we are submitting to this same kind of “persuasion.” We forfeit our ability to control our actions willingly, if perhaps unknowingly, and become very much like the soldiers on the battlefield that simply obey orders.
The good news is, we don’t have to let ourselves be controlled – our God can and will deliver us from this warfare. But many times we need help to identify it. In our families, this is easier to spot, as we’re often more open, more “ourselves” around those we care about the most. But sometimes we feel the need to shield ourselves from our church family. We put on a mask around others, and it becomes difficult to see what’s going on behind the facade.
I’m especially guilty of this, I tend to be more introverted, so it’s easy for me to give polite responses when asked questions, and I’ve taught people not to expect much in conversation from me, so I give fewer clues that things aren’t going well than others. But when it comes to this, we are all called to be protectors of our brothers and sisters. We should press when we get the polite and appropriate answers to the standard questions of “How’s it going?” or “How was your week?” It reminds us to take a look at ourselves and that gives God an opportunity to show us things that we’ve become desensitized to over the course of the week.
Let’s commit to using our time before and after church to guard one another’s souls, and watch for signs of spiritual warfare. It is so much more prevalent than I think most of us are willing to admit. As Peter said, our adversary is prowling like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
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Posted by Adam Desmond on February 14, 2010
Today in Sunday School we were talking about James 4:2:
“You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, and you can’t possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them.”
For some reason this verse really didn’t resonate with me. I don’t see many people I know this consumed with envy. Sure, there is always something better than what we have, but America is so wealthy, I wonder if another form of this same sin is more prevalent today. In the next verse James tells us the real reason for these envious feelings:
“…you want only what will give you pleasure.”
Today we live in a society of instant gratification. When we want something that will give us pleasure, we simply go get it. As Americans, everyone but the very poorest in our society is susceptible to this mindset. Food, TV, sex, drugs, the internet, sports, movies, TV, they all cater to our new mindset. This mindset allows us a more passive approach to satiating our envy. Instead of fighting to take away from another, we simply substitute another pleasure.
And the most concerning part of this is that some of these pleasures are not sinful. Even James didn’t villify what his readers envied, but instead blamed them for seeking the things of this world before seeking God.
You see, God wants us to be happy. He wants us to come to Him so that He can give us good things. Our banner verse talks about God giving us the richest of fare. And in many cases what God wishes to give us is exactly what we could purchase ourselves.
This morning my daughter and I went to get donuts before church, and, being Valentine’s day, they made some heart-shaped donuts with chocolate and sprinkles. Well, as soon as she saw them, my daughter’s eyes lit up, and I knew she wanted one. We began discussing whether I would give her one, while the man in line in front of us watched with a quiet smile on his face. I let her know that she could have one, and the man in line voiced his pleasure with my decision, saying, “if you hadn’t bought her one, I would have. In fact, I’ll pay for it.” And he did. My daughter said thank you and we walked outside. I explained that I thought God had provided that donut for her, His special gift to her on Valentine’s Day to make her feel loved. He could have provided this donut through me, but he chose to do so through the kindness of a stranger to help us both see something.
So many times we don’t stop to think about a good thing, even a noble thing, and ask whether God wants us to have it. For even a selfless act has selfish aspects to it. It makes us feel good to make others feel good. And it isn’t that God will necessarily say “No” to our request (though He certainly does), sometimes He simply wants to share with us that He is the one providing this for us. He wants to share in the joy we receive in even the simplest of pleasures, from helping a friend to eating a delicious meal, to a donut shaped like a heart and covered with chocolate and sprinkles. God is the giver of all good gifts, and yet we deprive Him of sharing His pleasure with us when we simply go out and get them ourselves.
Let’s try to remember to include God in even the simplest of decisions. He wants so much to show us, at every available opportunity, how precious we are to Him. How much He loves us. And when we give Him that chance, many times we’ll find that we end up with the very thing our heart desired, sweetened by the love and generosity with which it was given.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on February 10, 2010
Usually during the worship time here at Crossland we sing a “focus song” that is a great fit with the sermon. I pray over all parts of the worship service, but this in particular is something that God communicates to me very directly. Last week, I believed that God wanted our focus song to be Ancient of Days. Hmmm. It surprised me a bit, because it did not fit very well with the passage that Buddy was preaching from. However, as I prayed about it, I was convinced that the Lord had it for our church that week and that he was going to use it to speak to our members. So, what does this song mean to me? What did I pray when I led this song?
One of the things that I like about this song is the fact that it talks about our mighty God and how His kingdom will reign over all of our earth. Here is my question to you and to me as well – are we letting God’s kingdom reign in our lives? Are our knees bowing at His throne, or are we running around mindlessly? Are our tongues, daily, declaring His glory?
Every tongue in Heaven and earth shall declare Your glory, every knee shall bow at Your throne in worship. You will be exalted oh God, and Your Kingdom shall not pass away, oh Ancient of Days!
When we sing this song, I ask the Lord to make us aware of our desire to do these things, I ask His Holy Spirit to help us do these things, and I ask that we will experience God’s GREAT pleasure and affirmation. He loves us so!
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Posted by Adam Desmond on February 7, 2010
We say a congregational affirmation each week in our church, usually after the first couple of songs but before we’re through singing and before the sermon:
Leader: Is the Father with us?
All: He is.
Leader: Is Christ with us?
All: He is.
Leader: Is the Spirit here?
All: He is.
Leader: This is our God!
All: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
Leader: We are His people!
All: We are the redeemed.
All: We praise You Lord God and bless Your Holy Name.
I really love this affirmation, because it reminds me of why we come together on Sunday. Not to learn or encourage others. These are good things, but they must flow out of the true reason we come together: to meet with our God.
But when we aren’t intentional about why we’re at church, it usually becomes something else entirely. This is a big reason why I think so many people have trouble hearing from God at church and don’t really look forward to it. It isn’t God’s fault or that He isn’t there, ready and willing to meet us. When we’re honest, we have another agenda, and that isn’t to say our agenda is bad, just not God’s. We may be coming to church to honor someone else, or because someone is counting on us, or because we think we should, or because worship makes us feel better, or even because we truly want to minister to someone in need. But this isn’t why we meet. None of these things, in and of themselves, are the goal. They may occur, and even allow us to accomplish the goal. But they can only ever be means to an end.
The real danger comes when we aren’t aware of our goal. Jesus told us that the Pharisees, when they prayed loudly and publicly, received their reward. Not that their actions were fruitless, but that their goal was not to communicate with God, but to appear pious and holy and receive the praise and honor of men. The Pharisees accomplished this goal. Yet, when compared to what they could receive by doing the same thing in a different way with a different goal, what they accomplished seems so inferior. Now, my goal here is not to bash the Pharisees. I believe some of them (Nicodemas comes to mind) were genuine in their faith. They wanted to serve God and His people. They were simply blind to God’s true goal for them.
I’m so guilty of this. Many times I come to church out of obligation. And even in those times, I do receive a reward. But it isn’t what God wants for me. When I come expecting to simply meet with God, I do. And that will always be superior to coming because we have to perform a task, or even because we want to perform a task.
Our banner verse calls us to come. Without other goals or agendas, without skills or knowledge, without holiness or piety. Simply come and listen. And sometimes we come with these things and not even know it. So we must be intentional when we meet. Seek out the things we unknowingly come with, the things we normally cling to. Let’s drop our pretense, conscious or unconscious, and simply meet with God.
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Posted by Adam Desmond on January 30, 2010
Welcome! Our church is really excited to begin this new chapter in our ministry online. We believe God wants us to be more intentional about communicating who we are to all people. You see, just like you, God has blessed us with unique and wonderful gifts and insights into who He is, and we want to be able to share those gifts with you.
Right now we’re starting with our Leadership Team. Each of us will be blogging about our relationship with God, our ministry and anything else God shares with us. We hope that these blogs bless you, but even more, we hope that they stretch your understanding of who God is.
Our banner verse for 2010, the verse that God gave our pastor to help us focus our minds on what God wants to accomplish this year, is Isaiah 55:1-3:
Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.
So each of us will be asking God to illuminate this passage in the context of our lives, our ministries, and our walks with Him, and we’ll be sharing that with you. But all of this is to focus on the great gifts that God has given us, not how great we are for having such wise, deep insights. We’re just average, everyday people, your neighbor, your doctor, your homebuilder, your network administrator, your friend. We’re just normal people who have begun to experience God in a tangible way, communicate with Him, not just to Him, and walk with Him through our lives, learning to become His children.
Sometimes we’ll be wrong, and we encourage you to let us know when you think so, but you’ll notice that comments are off on this blog. We discussed how we should communicate with people on the blog, and we believe that there are too many opportunities for miscommunication and misunderstanding in such an impersonal and anonymous method of social interaction. I’ve seen far too many fruitful discussions turn into petty name-calling and bickering over subtext and inferences. So we chose to limit these discussions to email. Each of our blogs will have a contact link, and you can email us directly with any questions or comments, and we’ll do our best to answer them. We want very much to learn how God is using this ministry, but not at the price of detracting from what should be the only focus of our site: who God is and what He is doing at CrossLand Community Bible Church.
I hope that you find the time you spend on our website to be encouraging, uplifting, thought-provoking, conscience-pricking, mind-expanding, and even fun! After all, a relationship with God should be filled with and characterized by love, joy, peace, and hope. And God’s faithful love will be the majority of what we focus on this year, so my prayer for you is that you will experience in powerful and new ways the mighty, tender, powerful, awesome, gracious, unconditional love of YHWH, the almighty God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Jennifer, Windy, John, Ron, Adam, Buddy and you.
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Posted by Windy Desmond on January 27, 2010
So, if you forgot to put shoes on would you leave the house or go back and put them on? That was the question that Buddy asked me this week when we were meeting about the worship plan. I responded with no, I would go back. Well, this living water that we receive from the Lord when we come and listen is JUST as important. It is free, it satisfies, and we need it in our lives. How exciting that He gives it to us so easily and without measure! We are going to be hearing a lot more about this concept is the sermon this week. It is one not to missed!
Our focus song this week is All Who Are Thirsty. Here are some of the lyrics: “Dip your heart in the stream of life. Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away, in the waves of His mercy…” I KNOW that some of what of what He will tell me when I come to Him will be about my feelings of pain and sorrow. I know that He wants to wash them away. Isn’t our God great? Doesn’t He love us so much?
All Who are Thirsty
All who are thirsty, all who are weak, come to the fountain, dip your heart in the stream of life.
Let the pain and the sorrow be washed away in the waves of His mercy. As deep cries out to deep
We sing: “Come Lord Jesus come, Holy Spirit come,” to all who are thirsty.
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