Here are the highlights from yesterday…

• HIGHEST attendance to date…170!  The energy was awesome!
• We had 14 people confirm they are getting baptized next Sunday.
• We had 34 FTG’s (First Time Guest).
• The band was incredible!
• KFC buffet hit the spot…Band, you guys are hilarious!
• Can you believe that I watched the last hour and a half of the Talladega race?  I never watch NASCAR!  However, I watched it with Glenn so it was cool.

Tomorrow I am going to Rupp Arena to hear some of the best motivational speakers in the country.  One of the speakers for tomorrow’s lineup was my hero when I was in the 8th grade and I cannot believe I get to hear him tomorrow…Joe Montana!  NO…He is not Hannah Montana’s dad.  Joe is one of the best quarterbacks ever to pick up a football.  If you would like to check out the rest of the speakers then click here.  I will blog later this week about what I learned.

It is finally here…My 31^st birthday.  It seems just like the other day I was in high school thinking that anyone over 30 was old.  Well, I am now officially old!  I would like to thank everyone for their phone calls, emails, text messages and gifts.

On another note, I am so pumped about tonight’s Volunteer Dinner.  I will be sharing some great news about Crosspoint and things to come.  Please continue to pray for us as we reach people who are far from God.

When you hear the word “volunteer”, what comes to mind?  Help…Work…Time?  Well, a volunteer is someone who offers himself or herself for service.  Here at Crosspoint Church, we have over 30 volunteers, and these people rock!  They’re always the first ones to show up and the last ones to leave.  Every Sunday they take care of the set-up just so you can have an awesome worship experience.  And when it’s all over, they still manage to muster the energy to break everything down and load it right back into our trailer knowing that they’ll have to do it all over again in just one short week.  You may be asking the question, “Why would they volunteer?”  Well I can answer that for you…They want to see people who are far from God become followers of Jesus Christ.  In the past 3 months we’ve seen 9 people decide to follow Jesus for the first time in their lives.  That’s why they do it!  That’s why they dedicate their time on Sunday morning.  Without them we couldn’t pull off such an awesome worship experience.  Their job is to do whatever it takes to get people from their cars and into their seats with no distractions.  Did you know that most people that visit a church have already decided whether they’ll return before they even hear the pastor preach?  Here at Crosspoint, the sermon begins in the parking lot.  What do I mean by that?  Come and find out…

Crosspoint volunteers, I just want to tell you that I love you guys and can’t wait until our Crosspoint Volunteer Dinner tomorrow night.  Thank you for all that you do!!!

Change…Some people love it, and some people can’t stand it!  Change can be difficult, and it can be faced with opposition.  Change is generally the byproduct of some desirable end result, i.e., change is rarely sought purely for the sake of change itself.  Take me as an example.  I want to be healthier.  I want to be in shape.  I want to be stronger.  These are results that I currently desire.  In order to accomplish them, I must change.  Seems like no big deal, right?  If I want the results, then I should just make the necessary changes and then sit back and watch the results come to fruition.  Well, for me, unfortunately, it is a big deal.  The food that will help me get the results is not necessarily the food that I like.  My instinct when I’m thirsty is not to grab a glass of water.  I’d much rather grab a Mt. Dew.  Working out isn’t so bad once I’m actually doing it, but it’s difficult for me to make it a priority when I consider my schedule each day, and, when time is available, I oftentimes find myself lacking the discipline that it takes to just get up and take the first step toward the gym.  You see, I want the results, but the changes that are necessary to make the results a reality…Well, they’re a whole other story.
 
Most churches struggle with this same problem.  They want results, they want to reach people, but they’re not willing to make the changes that are necessary to make it happen.  I believe churches must change to grow.  Now, there are those rare churches out there that are forced to change because of rapid growth.  However, most churches will have to change before they will ever see growth.  With that said, I want to let it be known that we here at Crosspoint are in the process of implementing some changes that will allow us to grow.  We are anticipating a miraculous work from God here in this region, and we’re in preparation mode.  We see the results that are possible, and we’re making the changes that will allow them to become a reality.  Our staff is willing to do whatever it takes to get to the next level, and God is re-positioning us to be more effective at reaching people who are far from God.  I’ll be announcing some very exciting changes this Saturday at our Volunteer Dinner.  You do not want to miss it!  Hold on…Here we go again!

Yesterday was awesome!  Here’s the rundown…

• We had our largest attendance to date…163!
• 1 person decided to follow Jesus.
• That we know of, we had 17 first time guests.
• Numerous people requested the help of prayer in their struggle to let go of past sins.
• Once again, the volunteers brought their “A” game.
• The band flat out rocked! 

And just when I felt satisfied that the day couldn’t get any better for me, I decided to top it off with a surprise family dinner at Cracker Barrel and a quick trip to Walmart.  I love being in Morehead!!! 
 
Remember these upcoming events…

• April 26th - Volunteer Appreciation Dinner
• May 4th - Our first Baptism Experience (McClure Pool - MSU)
• May 11th - Our first church-wide communion service

Just for the record, this summer is going to be awesome!!!  (Details are coming soon.)

This past Tuesday night I had the opportunity to take a personality test.  This test reveals which general personality type you have along with your strengths and weaknesses.  After almost 20 minutes of checking boxes and flipping pages, the results were final…I am a “Popular Sanguine”!  I really have no idea what the words “popular” and “sanguine” mean when they’re combined to describe a personality type, but the person administering the test, who I had never met before in my life, was able to use only the final results of my test to verbalize to me the way that I think and act even better than I could have verbalized myself.  I mean, it was like this guy knew everything but my social security number.  After understanding that my personality is largely determined by the dominance of one side of my brain over the other, certain genetic factors, etc., I realized that there is really very little that I can do to change it.  I am who I am. 
 
This led me to this question…”Why do we try to be someone else?”  You may want to be like your neighbor who has the sweet job, the nice house and the in-ground pool.  The problem is simple…You’re not.  You are who God made you to be.  The tendency to want to be someone else can be a devastating trap for preachers.  We want to be like the “preacher next door” who’s on the cutting edge, funny, dynamic or has a large congregation.  Before you know it, we serve out of inspiration as opposed to revelation.  We may observe someone else from afar and be inspired to be and act like them when we should be asking God to better reveal to us exactly who we are and to help us be ourself.  I cannot be Steven Furtick, Ed Young Jr., or Perry Noble.  I stink at being them, but I’m the best at being me. 
 
Let me encourage you to be yourself.  No one could be a better “you” than you.  Ask God to show you who you are, and then get down to the business of being yourself.  Click HERE to take your own personality test!!!
 
Question:  Who do you wish you were like? Why?

Witnessing

I’m a stay at home mom, so I could use the excuse that I’m never around anyone to witness too.  I have to make the most of my time when I do go out with the boys.  The playground seems to be the easiest place for me to share with other parents, plus Caleb always invites the kids to Kidspoint. 

Do you witness to people or do you think oh I’m too busy?  Well we all very busy and have so much that takes up our time, but we might be the only one whoever shares with that specific person.  Pray that God will open opportunities for you to share and he will at work, school, Kroger, etc.  Let’s make the most of our time because if we don’t tell others who will?

Pastor’s Wife

Yesterday could only be described as awesome!!!  Here’s the rundown…

• There were 159 people in attendance.
• There were over 30 FTGs (first time guests).
• One girl told me that she decided to follow Christ.
• A man thanked me for having the nerve to preach about sex.
• Someone suggested that I preach yesterday’s sermon twice a year.
• A girl told me that she was on her way to call her boyfriend and tell him they were done having sex.
• Several people expressed a desire to be baptized.

God is really changing people’s lives here in Morehead.  I feel so privileged to be the pastor of Crosspoint Church.  There is nothing in the whole world that I would rather be.  God is going to continue to move here in an unprecedented way, and I’m so humbled and honored to have the opportunity to be a witness of this movement.