Baptisms @ The Crossing

This past Sunday we had our first baptisms at The Crossing! It was such a joy to see Max and Elyse (married for less than four months) celebrate their union with Christ through water baptism. To God be all the glory!

Romans 6:4 - We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

Lukewarm and Loving It

In February, my wife and I read the book Crazy Love by Francis Chan, and God used it to shake me up pretty hard in the area of walking by faith. At that time I was working in Denver while just starting to serve at The Crossing. I was praying and begging God to provide me with some resolution that would allow me to quit the job that was keeping me out of Fort Collins for about 60 hours per week, and He answered in an unexpected way: "Quit your job." Excuse me? I thought, Quit my job? Now? Where is our income going to come from? How are we going to pay off the rest of these medical bills? I looked for a job for two months last summer up here, and now You want me to just quit my job before I have any prospects? But this was exactly what He wanted me to do: "seek first the kingdom of God and all these things (your daily needs) will be added to you." Then on my first day of being unemployed, lo and behold, I got hired with a company here in Fort Collins! Why I ever doubt God's faithfulness to His promises baffles me. God never leaves His children hanging out to dry when it comes to his they seek to trust Him... never.

Now we are reading through Crazy Love with our church, and God is shaking me up again. We just read chapter 4, "Profile of the Lukewarm," and we watched the sermon "Lukewarm and Loving It." I don't know exactly what God is doing in my heart right now, but I know that I still tend to love comfort, and God hates my love of comfort. It seems like a love of comfort will always be a trap that we can fall into, but do we realize how dangerous this trap is? It is the thorn that chokes out the seed that initially sprung up; it's the broad path that leads to destruction, and many of us are on it... or we are constantly flirting with it. But there is a narrow path that leads to LIFE. Make it down that path, and we gain God. He is the Treasure; He is the Reward. Lord, help us believe it, and lose everything to gain You.