My Pile Of Rocks

“Joshua set up the twelve stones that had been in the middle of the Jordan at the spot where the priests who carried the ark of the covenant had stood.  And they are there to this day.”  Joshua 4:9

I was lucky to spend this last weekend camping in the Sierra Nevada instead of home in Sacramento where the temperatures were creeping up and slowly cooking everything outside.  It is a trip that I have been organizing annually for a couple of years.  Each year I keep a list of the people coming, take care of shopping for the food, and try to keep a semblance of order over the cooking.  On Saturday we go for a hike along the lake and sometimes see a Bald Eagle cruising for fish.

Saturday afternoon is the time out I take during the weekend.  I hike off by myself to a lake that I discovered a number of years ago.  There is no trail and it is a little hard to get to.  I have never seen any evidence that other people go there so I can treat it like my own private outdoor sanctuary.  It is a great place to spend some time on Saturday afternoon by myself, away from the group.  It is my Sabbath rest during the weekend.

This lake is special to me for more than being a great place to relax, take a refreshing swim, and just resting in a place where an insect buzz is the loudest thing around.  It is special to me because the second time I was ever there turned out to be a formative spiritual experience for me.  I can still remember getting out of the water after a swim and feeling compelled to praise God.  I am normally a very calm and measured person.  It is not in my nature to be charismatic and sing or pray with my hands raised over my head.  But on that day I felt compelled to praise God in that specific way.  I suppose it is probably the most pure moment of praising my creator that I have ever experienced.

I have returned to that lake many times since that day of praise.  Every time I have hiked over the ridge above the lake, I have wondered if that time I would be able to praise God like that again.  I wanted to go back again and again hoping it was the place where I could praise God in a less inhibited way.  This time I went back with the same hope I have always had; to experience it once again.  But it didn’t happen this time either.  I left as I always have… disappointed.

I have been reflecting on that expectation and disappointment since I returned.  I realized that maybe I am thinking about it all wrong.  I have been going back to the lake year after year hoping to repeat something from the past.  But the past can’t be relived, only remembered and honored.  I am resolved that next time I return to my lake, I will celebrate what happened on that special afternoon a long time ago.  I will make it a monument to my relationship with God instead of a thing to be duplicated.

[PhotoCredit:keepwaddling1 & Mrs Logic]

Hit The Bullseye

We’ve all heard the phrase, “Ready, aim, fire!” But in my own life, so many times I think I get it confused. Often times I tend to “do it” as “Ready, fire…aim!” I think we’ve all misfired, or shot randomly, at some point or another in our lives. We get so excited, or so busy, or so focused, or so distracted that we shoot at the wrong target. I used to think it was bad enough to miss the target. But, I’m beginning to wonder if it’s not even worse to hit the bullseye dead on center…only to realize that it’s completely the wrong target (in fact we might’ve been shooting at someone else’s target and not ours in the first place).

If you need to re-calibrate, or just step back and take a second look at where your life is headed. Maybe it’s time to just back away, and relook at some things or some targets or “goals” that you’ve been shooting at. Now might be a good time to check your aim, and make sure you’re shooting at the “right” target! Come and join us, and invite a friend, to Crossroads Church as we begin a new message series entitled: “Hit the Bullseye“. We’re going to look at what target(s) the Bible says are really worth taking aim at! We’ll see what Jesus told His disciples about where they should “shoot”. Let’s take some time together to sharpen our aim, and adjust our focus so that we can Hit the Bullseye in our own lives! Invite a friend, and join us this week as together we learn to “Hit the Bullseye!”

Pastor Glenn

[PhotoCredit:guineves']

Join Us for Lunch on August 15th

Drop whatever you had planned and join us for a celebration of  our new worship center.  On Saturday, August 15th, we are getting together for lunch to enjoy the new center and share time with each other.  No need to bring a dish, but consider bringing a friend.  Our regular worship starts at 10:30 a.m. and lunch will be served after worship, around noon.  There is also a blood drive starting at 12:30, if you are interested in donating.

[PhotoCredit:Savannah Grandfather]

But Is It Changing Me

“Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  Mark 11:24

I have been praying as long as I can remember.  I first learned how to pray by listening to my dad pray.  We always had a prayer before a meal started, even if we were out at a restaurant.  We also would have family worship time together several times during the week and it always included prayer.  I attended a Christian school as I was growing up and heard many prayers there by my teachers.  And since my family went to church every week, I had even more prayers to listen to and learn from.  When I finally left home I was pretty comfortable praying in a group.  But my prayers were really just a combination of all the prayers I had heard before in my life.  I was a little like a parrot that learns how to talk by listening to the people closest to it.  I had not yet taken ownership of what I was saying during my prayers.

What I hadn’t learned yet when I first went out into the world on my own, was that there is a difference between praying in public and praying by myself.  I had learned how to stand up before a group of people and ask God to bless the hands that prepared the food.  I had learned how to ask God to be with the sick and those confined at home.  I could ask God to help us remember Jesus in the Christmas season.  I knew the words for asking God to protect us until we met again.   Those are all good things to pray about in a group, but I didn’t know very much about prayer that makes a difference in my own life.

Søren Kierkegaard once observed that “Prayer does not change God, but it changes him who prays.”  I have been thinking about that for a while now and trying to figure out what he meant.  I wanted to dismiss the statement by pointing to places in scripture where great men or women of God prayed for something, and God answered.  But my desire to get an easy answer, the one that would be convenient, couldn’t overcome my desire to get the right answer.  So I have thought about that statement for a long time now.  In the mean time I have continued to practice praying.

What I am beginning to see is that prayer does change me.  I am finding it is hard to be disagreeable with my pastors when I pray for them every day.  I am finding it is hard to ask God for something I want, when I am praying for a friend that needs a job.  I am finding it is hard to complain to God about my sore foot, when I am praying for a friend of a friend that has cancer.  I am realizing that prayer does change me.  I think that this month, my heart is a tiny bit closer to the heart of God than it was last month, and the only thing that has changed is prayer.  I wonder what else God still wants to change in me?  Now maybe that is something to ask for God to give me.

 [PhotoCredit:Dazzie D & It's Holly]

Friday Prayer on August 7

From time to time, all of us feel like our prayers aren’t going any higher than the ceiling.  We desperately want to call out to God but for what ever reason (physical, emotional, spiritual) we just aren’t able to do it on our own.  When that happens, the best thing to do is find a couple of friends to pray for you!  This Friday we will meet at the Crossroads worship center for a potluck meal together at 6:30pm, followed by prayer together for about an hour.  We take prayer seriously and see it bringing changes in our lives, our church, and the community.  We would love to have you with us, so we can pray together.

This is a recurring event that happens on the first and third Friday of each month at the Crossroads worship center.  The next several times: Aug 7, Aug 21, and Sep 4.

[PhotoCredit:resclassic2]

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