Cross Creek Church Blog

Politics as “Un”-Usual – Breaking Down Platforms

Image result for ballot box

Our suburban community recently completed much-anticipated municipal elections.  Voters turned out in significantly higher numbers than 4 years ago and “regime change” proved to be the order of the day.  Neighborhood residents in the area are probably all happy to have the normally scenic wooded hillsides no longer blocked by the collage of signs with LARGE LAST NAMES and tiny slogans.  But for many, myself included, the intense local campaign season, actually provided a welcome distraction from a befuddling national political scenario.

Feel free to jump to the bottom of this post if you want to get right to some summaries, from one Christian perspective, of what the national parties generally stand for.  But, if you have a moment, perhaps you will want to join me as I try to frame things up…along these lines.

It seems maybe some lessons from the local might help with the national.  Certainly our municipal election was a reminder of the privileges and responsibilities of living in democratic republic like ours.  In fact, although our church is not a massive one, we have close association with two candidates who attend, or have family who attend.  With 12,000 votes cast by residents of our 90,000 population community, one of these candidates squeaked out a win by just 9 votes (still being confirmed in fact).  We get to vote, and our votes do make a difference.  A whole lot of people throughout history, and throughout the world today would not be able to say that.

“Acting locally, and thinking globally” also provides a fresh lens on the biblical teaching that God’s sovereignty always supersedes (could have used another verb starting with a “t” there) human will.  And at the same time there are primary and secondary causes working simultaneously, such that, it is perfectly sound to urge one another to conscientious action and at the same time to prayerful trust in God.

Keeping all that in mind, I do get asked from time to time about my political thoughts.  I am pretty sure the role of pastor is not to play party politics, while simultaneously proclaiming a message of the one King of Kings and Lord of Lords who reigns over all nations and peoples.  However, I also know that Christians are called to seek the good of their city, state, and nation, as well as their world.  That does not happen only through politics, but it can include political involvement.

With that goal in mind, I hope if you’ve read this far you will take some time to click on the following links, which as we approach November, may be helpful summaries for all those who name the name of Christ, and even those who are not sure about such things, to read before we cast a ballot.  My younger sister will probably not be happy that I did not include the Green Party, but beggars can’t be choosers and the Democratic, Republican, and Libertarian were all I could find from this source.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-you-should-know-about-the-democratic-party-platform

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-you-should-know-about-the-republican-party-platform

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-you-should-know-about-the-libertarian-party-platform

Crossing the 2 Samuel Finish Line! 

As we finish up our sermon series in second Samuel this Sunday it is a great time to pause and reflect on all that I trust God has been teaching us these last few months. In a sense he has also been teaching us since last year when we journeyed through first Samuel.
Going through an entire book of the Bible as we have done in this series certainly takes focus and concentration. Growing through weekly sermons is like a lot of things in life – God must work,but we also get out of it what we put into it. So now is a good time to pause and think back on some of the central themes that we have seen particularly in the life of David.

The central question we have addressed is, who is king? And of course we have seen this somewhat rhetorical question answered each week in the recognition that God is king and the kingship of the Old Testament people of God is ultimately fulfilled only and perfectly in King Jesus.

As I share a final message from chapter 24 this Sunday we will hopefully get a chance to reflect on some more of the lessons learned over the last few months but I found the following article to be insightful both for our current national situation and for dealing with one of the most common struggles and sin patterns we all face of worry and anxiety and fear. I hope you will take a few moments to read through it. Oh and stay tuned for info coming soon on a topical outreach series I will preach through in aug and sep, “Knowing and Sharing Our Faith” starting Aug 7.

https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/what-king-david-can-teach-us-about-overcoming-political-anxiety

Man is Wolf Unto Man: A Reflection on Dallas, Nice, & Beyond

[Written by Ben Halbrooks]

Having taken 5 or so years of Spanish in school and remembering only the food-related vocab words, I certainly won’t pretend to know any Latin, with the exception of a few famous phrases. One is this: Homo homini lupus – “Man is wolf unto man.” It’s an ancient saying about human nature that’s difficult to deny after the violence and division our country has witnessed just in the last few weeks. Of course, American soil isn’t the only one with fresh stains – in Nice, France, the blood of its terror victims cries out from the ground for justice. In our own country, racism, hatred, and hostility threaten to further factionalize a nation increasingly dominated by a spirit of bitterness and accusation.

My heart aches at the brutal, senseless loss of lives. The families! How will they ever recover? As we mourn and earnestly pray for healing, the news of such horrors is a sobering reminder of an unpopular truth: people are not basically good. Evil is real. Scripture is crystal clear on the point. “The heart,” wrote the prophet Jeremiah, “is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” (17:9)

We want to believe that deep down we’re all naturally decent people. That we can fix our situation, our world, through self-help and determination. This regimen. That policy. Trial and error, and we’ll eventually find the perfect ingredients… right? Believing it makes us feel better. But who are we convincing? We look outside ourselves for the problem and within ourselves for the solution. The Gospel shatters our illusions and tells us that’s backwards.

If we strip away all our excuses, we find the core of the problem is us. We are fallen. In and of ourselves, we have no power to overcome evil. Even our best efforts succumb to selfishness. We are all Lady Macbeth, scrubbing our dirty hands in vain. Guilty. The Apostle Paul’s characterization of humanity left to itself is far from flattering: “They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans 1:29-31) Man is wolf unto man.

But there was one man who became a lamb.

“Behold, the Lamb of God,” John the Baptist declared of Jesus, “who takes away the sin of the world.” There is no hope but His. “For Christ, our Passover Lamb, has been sacrificed.” (1 Corinthians 5:7) This is the hope of the Gospel. The hope that something outside of ourselves, Someone outside of ourselves, can bring us peace. “You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.” (1 Peter 1:18-19) Salvation from sin and the brokenness and misery of a fallen world – salvation from Dallas and Nice and every other unspeakable tragedy – comes only through the blood of the Lamb. And His way is love.

So as I mourn, pray, and reflect on these events, my hope is not in the wolves, but in the Lamb. “They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb… For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” (Revelation 7:14,17)

People of the Lamb, rest in this:

“‘For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. I will rejoice in Jerusalem and be glad in my people; no more shall be heard in it the sound of weeping and the cry of distress… The wolf and the lamb shall graze together; the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain,’ says the Lord.” (Isaiah 65:17-19,25)

April Showers Bring May Flowers …. Reflection on Motherhood

Spring Flowers[Written by Christine Cox, Ministry Admin. Asst.]
A cute little ditty, but, as I think about it in a different sort of a way, it reminds me of God’s Beauty in His Creation, marred by sin and redeemed by His Love and Mercy pouring upon the earth as April showers to bring forth a new creation. As showers bring forth new seedlings from the soil, so God’s Love and Mercy create a newness in you and me for if “anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17).”

In this month of May, flowers manifest motherhood – a flower’s beauty, the beauty of a mother’s love; the many varieties of flowers, the uniqueness of each mother’s God-given gifts; each lovely, each charming, each delightful to God for “the splendor of the rose does not rob the little violet of its scent nor the daisy of charm. If every tiny flower wanted to be a rose, Spring would lose its loveliness and there would be no wildflowers to make a meadow’s gay…so it is in the world of souls, which is the Garden of Jesus.” (Therese of Lisieux)

However, this beauty gets tarnished in this star-crazed world, where there is a constant striving for perfection, to be the first, the best – the best and perfect mother, with the best and perfect children, the best and perfect family. And, for some the subject of Mother’s Day is discouraging, not for disappointment as a mother, but for longing to be a mother, and struggling to wait on God’s timing or deal with the loss of miscarriage.
Thus, we fail to see the perfection that God actually wants. We fail to see His Love and Mercy in our struggles. He simply wants our love and trust, faith. He wants us to do His will; in His timing. Be His instrument. In this He rejoices.

Knowing our failures, He gives us wonderful examples of how He worked in and through the many mothers listed in the Bible – from our first mother Eve, to Mary, the mother of our Savior; through one, pain commenced; through the other, peace restored.
Though through Eve’s mistrust we have the wound of original sin, God showed His Love and Mercy by promising a restoration (Genesis 3:15) and then clothed Adam and Eve with garments (3:21). In Mary, called by some the ‘New Eve’, we see a deep faith as was with Abraham who “in hope believed against hope should become the father of many nations” (Romans 4:18) so Mary believed that she would become the mother of God’s Son. Through her belief, trust, and obedience mankind was blessed with its Redeemer, God’s Love and Mercy as was promised in Genesis.

And, He shows us other mothers, who were imperfect creatures, bruised and broken vessels, who were discouraged, struggling with issues and disappointments in their lives – Sarah, Rebekah, Rachel, Tamar, Rahab, Ruth, Bathsheba, Jochebed, Hannah, Elizabeth, Eunice and Lois, to name a few – yet, we see how He poured His Love and Mercy upon them; thus, how all were part of the tapestry in salvation history. All in His perfect timing.
As each were so unique and each can be a lesson on striving how to be that beautiful new creation used by God, so each mother, each woman, today is uniquely gifted to be His instrument to our families, to our communities, and to His church.

To all Women, for we have mentored many –
Happy Mothers’ Day!

[Image Credit: Josephine E. Cox/www.photosbyjosie.com]

Coming Full Circle

[Written by Liz Getz, Nursery Director]
For weeks I have been trying to settle on what I wanted to write about for my first blog.  As we move into the month of May I inevitably think about Mother’s Day and my own Mom.  Some of you know all or most of my story but I’m sure many of you do not.  I was raised in the Presbyterian Church and my childhood is full of memories of Sunday School and VBS in the summers, children’s choir and confirmation class, youth group on Sunday evenings and church retreats to the beach and the mountains in my teens, lock-ins, and summer camp in North Carolina each year of high school.

My Mom was a Sunday School teacher, volunteered with pretty much everything and my Dad was an usher.  When I started college at Auburn I was a typical college student, my Sunday mornings became more about sleeping in and less about getting up for church.  I went with my family on holidays or special services.  I worked in my church nursery just like the college girls do now for Cross Creek so I was often there but never actually a part of worship.  But I didn’t feel disconnected from the church – yet.

Then everything was turned upside down when my Mom passed away very unexpectedly in May 1999.  She was only 47 and still healthy and vibrant with so much left to experience in this life.  I was just 19 at the age you think you have it all figured out but in ways you cannot see yet still just a child.  I wish I felt the comfort of being a beloved child of God but I just felt like a motherless child.  When you lose someone before their time it can be very hard to see or understand that it was in God’s timing.  It took a long time before I felt real comfort in the scripture.  “You can make many plans, but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.”  (Proverbs 19:21)

I started attending Cross Creek Church in early 2010 just a few months after the church had officially started services.  I was invited by the Hughes family as I have been friends with James and Casey for years (and years and years for my friendship with Casey).  They had both been telling me for weeks I should come to a service at the new church they were attending.  I was reluctant at first but eventually agreed.

Once I came to my first worship service I kept coming week after week.  Soon I was in a life group and over the years I have served in a number of areas including teaching Sunday School, hospitality and now as the Nursery Director.  I know many people are led to new churches through friends or family but for me this was coming back to the church.  I’ve not only come back to church but now I have come full circle.  I think my Mom would love the fact that I am back in the church and that I’ve come to walk in many of her footsteps as well.

Without the wonderful mothers we have in Cross Creek I wouldn’t have precious babies and toddlers to love each week.  So this Mother’s Day I thank those mothers and I thank my own Mom for all that she did to make me who I am.  She had a huge heart and loved to serve, it was one of her many gifts and I feel she passed many of those traits to me.  Our church is built upon our service to one another, that’s what I found to be at times challenging but also extremely rewarding about being a member of church that started as a church plant. It takes everyone being involved to make our church thrive and the Children’s Ministry especially cannot work without dedicated volunteers who are willing to serve.  “As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace” (1 Peter 4:10)

I want to give a special thank you to Jackie Culp who sent me this quote for encouragement:
“If you want to see a future preacher, president, leader, missionary, or hero, just sign up to work in the church nursery.  When God gives us children, He gives us the privilege of nurturing the future.”
–    David Jeremiah

hymns, musicians

Re-Tuned Hymns? What is that?

[Written by Jeff Koonce]

If you’re new to Cross Creek Church (CCC), you may have noticed that some of the songs we sing during worship on Sundays are a little bit different from what you might sing in other churches or hear on Christian radio. The songs we sing at CCC may have 4 or 5 verses containing a lot of words, some of which you may have no idea what they mean. The words and phrases seem to come from a different era, but the music is being played by what looks like a modern worship band. What’s going on?! Well, you have just experienced some “re-tuned” hymns.

What’s a re-tuned hymn, you say?

A re-tuned hymn is simply an old hymn text that is set to a new tune or melody. In our context at CCC, we arrange the music of these hymns to fit the instruments and musicians we have available. With our set up of acoustic guitar, mandolin, and keyboard, we lean heavily on American folk and bluegrass styles.

Over the life of the historic Church, thousands of texts have been written for the purpose of being sung during worship. Some of those texts were paired with great music and become some of the most famous and best loved hymns of the Church; hymns like “Amazing Grace”, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, “Be Thou My Vision”. Some of these texts were less fortunate and either paired with a tune that did not stand the test of time or no tune ever really stuck with the text.

“Re-tuning” hymns is hardly a modern invention. People have been re-tuning hymns for as long as there have been hymns. It’s not uncommon to flip through a hymnal and find the same text paired with 2 or 3 tunes. It’s rare that a hymn text and tune were written together by the same person. More often, they were written separately with a musician writing music for a pre-existing text. Most hymn texts are written in a poetical meter, and it was common to apply a standard tune of compatible meter to many different texts. The hymnals of the 18th and early 19th centuries were only compilations of texts; there was no music included.

The modern re-tuned hymn movement began about 20 years ago centered around some Reformed University Fellowships (college ministries of the PCA). A few RUF pastors and musicians began taking these all-but-forgotten hymn texts and writing new music for them in an effort to expose college students to deep Gospel truth delivered in a relevant musical language.

The most prominent early adopter of re-tuned hymns was Kevin Twit, RUF pastor at Belmont University in Nashville. When Kevin, also a musician, song writer, and audio engineer, found himself pastoring to an exceptional group of young musicians, they recorded the first “Indelible Grace” album. 17 years and 9 albums later, hymns by Indelible Grace are some of the most popular and reliable re-tuned hymns being used in the Church today. Some of their hymns we sing at CCC are “And Can It Be”, “Psalm 130 (From the Depths of Woe)”, and “Jesus, I Come”

Here in Birmingham, a group of musicians from Red Mountain Church (myself included) began re-tuning hymns and released 7 albums as Red Mountain Music. Their work fostered hot bed of creativity inspiring several other hymn re-tuning projects from musicians in the area. Hymn Collective, The Corner Room, Community Presbyterian, Thy Love Inspires, Grace and Peace Music, all have some connection through Red Mountain.

So what is it about re-tuned hymns? What’s the point? Why sing them?

Fundamentally, the hymn texts used in these hymns are rich poetry, full of deep theological themes that can stir, not just our hearts, but our imaginations, our intellects, and our wills. These texts are works of art, thoughtfully constructed by masters of their craft and reflecting the creativity of our creator God. Through artful depictions and narrative structures, we sing about God’s Word and His promises while encountering a full range of emotions; from joy to sorrow, guilt to relief. We sing the beautiful, complete story of the Gospel: the glory of God, the helplessness of man, the sacrifice of the Son, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the redemption of the Church.

These texts also connect us to the larger, historic Church. They remind us that we are not alone in our struggles as Christians, our experience is not unique. For centuries, these hymns have laid bare the issues and themes of the Christian life and remind us of the faithfulness of God and his steadfast love to all generations.

By using new, modern music we connect the ancient with the authentic; historic Christianity in our own musical language. Re-tuned hymns serve as a middle path between “traditional” hymns and “contemporary” praise and worship; bridging the gap between generations and style preference. Old text, new music; richness and depth, modern musical sensibility. A heritage of beautiful poetry, demonstrating a robust theology, set in our own musical language.

My Grammy and Mamaw

My mamaw

[Written by Shawndee Lovoy]

I have been so blessed to have my two grandmothers into my adult life.  Both of my grandmothers met and had a sweet relationship with my husband Jason, and our 4 children, Isaac, Juliette, James and Mary Rose.  My Grammy (left of me in red) was a precious woman who was married to my Papaw over 65 years, raised 7 children- 5 of which are still living, and taught school most of her life.  She went to be with Jesus about 3 years ago.   My Mamaw (right of me in blue) just went to live with Jesus at the end of December.  She was married to my Papaw over 60 years, raised 4 children, and taught school most of her life also.  We had just spent an amazing week together at my parents house in Nashville, where we shared Christmas morning, games, meals, stories, and lots of love.  Christmas was always our holiday with Mamaw and I thank Jesus that He gave us the honor of spending Mamaw’s last Christmas on earth with her.  It was a hard loss, very sudden, us having had lunch with her just a few hours before.  It was my children’s first real experience with loss of someone they truly knew and loved.  I am only 1 of 10 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren that my Mamaw had.  I decided I would regret it forever if I didn’t speak at her funeral.  I was very scared and didn’t want to cry but I wanted to honor Mamaw in that way and let everyone know what she meant to me.  So, I wrote it all down, got up and read it.  I choked up a few times but I made it through.  I want to share with you about my Mamaw.  Even these few words don’t give this precious woman justice but it’s enough to give you an idea.  Meet Mamaw.

My Mamaw-

When I think of Mamaw I think…

1) sourdough bread- she would let me dig out the entire middle if I wanted too

2) biscuits and gravy- which I loved until I watched her make it once, then I could never eat it again!

3) cows and lightening bugs

4) sleepovers in the living room with all my cousins

5) playing in the basement and the hot tub

6) parafin wax

7) Christmas

8) shopping

9) letters

I think I wrote every paper in school about who I admired most on Mamaw.  The amazing thing about Mamaw is that I think all of her 10 grandchildren each thinks they were her favorite in some way or another.  That’s what her love did.  It made me feel SPECIAL, WANTED, AND IMPORTANT.

Even though I never lived even in the same state as Mamaw I could always feel her love all those miles away.  It was bigger and longer than all the miles between us.

I’m forever grateful that Mamaw was there for the birth of all 4 of my children.  She came to Birmingham after each of their births, stayed with us about a week,  and did what Mamaw does…she rocked, she sang, she read, she played, she cooked, she loved.  She too made each of my 4 children, just a few of her 21 great- grandchildren feel SPECIAL, WANTED, AND IMPORTANT.

Mamaw loved us all so well.  She has taught me so much about how I want to love.  We were so blessed to have her in our lives for so long.  She is and will always be greatly missed.

Now I have new thoughts to think of when I think of Mamaw.  “Absent in the body, present with the Lord.”  Mamaw is HOME.  She has had her glorious reunion with Papaw and all her loved ones gone before her.  She’s with JESUS.  I imagine she and Jesus are becoming best friends as we speak.  I’ve been singing this old hymn since Mamaw went to heaven. “When we all get to heaven, what a day of rejoicing that will be.  When we all see Jesus, we’ll sing and shout the victory.”

 

Love,

Shawndee Lovoy

 

 

 

hands, raised hands, questions

“I Have a Question…”

[Written by Ben Halbrooks]

“I have a question…”

“Yes?”

“We talk about the Bible a lot, but why do we trust the Bible? …What I mean is, how do we know the Bible is true?”

I love teaching students, because you never quite know what they’ll say next. They keep me on my toes. They sharpen me, they challenge me. They keep me grounded. And when it comes right down to it, they aren’t afraid to ask tough questions.

The exchange above was one of those moments – and it became the inspiration for a multi-month series on the reliability of scripture. It was a question that many in the room shared. It required more than a sound-byte answer. It was a great question. And it’s a question that all of us need to ask. If we take our faith seriously, if we make our faith our own – not our parents’, not our pastor’s, not our youth leaders’ – we need to know why we believe what we believe.

Sometimes we fatigue of asking questions. We grow up and get set in our ways. We become complacent. We think: Is this a dumb question? Or we just distract ourselves with the radio, with a game, with a phone, with a million diversions that push our deeper questions about life and purpose and meaning and love and truth and God to the backs of our minds. (Ever wonder why it’s often late at night that we have those nagging thoughts? Maybe it’s because we’ve finally switched off all the noise.)

There’s something I tell my students – and myself – all the time: Never stop asking questions. Authentic spiritual questions (not the disingenuous trick questions of the Pharisees) should be asked. Our God invites it. In Matthew 7:7-8, Jesus himself encourages this of his followers: “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.” Deuteronomy 4:29 says the same: “Seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” In his famous address on the Areopagus (Acts 17), Paul urges the Athenians who worshipped “the unknown god” that they “should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us.” God is knowable, and He delights to reveal Himself to us: “Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.” (Jeremiah 33:3) What an invitation!

Not once in scripture did Jesus turn away someone who called out and genuinely sought to follow him. There were many who turned away of their own accord, out of idolatry or fear or something else. But think! How many people did Jesus pass by who never called to him? Don’t let that be you. Ask. Seek. Knock. Don’t lose your appetite for seeking the truth – because that road will ultimately lead you to Him.

Our Lord doesn’t always give easy answers or fax a crystal clear vision of our future down to us. But He hears us, and He promises to answer His people. He gives us glimpses and asks us to follow. “A glimpse is not a vision,” C.S. Lewis admits, “But to a man on a mountain road by night, a glimpse of the next three feet of road may matter more than a vision of the horizon.”

Would a Person Die for a Lie?

We have stepped a little out of the box this season at Cross Creek Church. In order to finish up our sermon series through the book of 1 Corinthians, which began in August, we have been looking at chapter 15, about the resurrection, in the middle of advent season. In one sense advent is decidedly about the incarnation, not the resurrection, or the crucifixion, for that matter. But as we lay hold of even the most fundamental Christian teaching, we know that all three form the central links in the chain of our salvation.

As we know, the incarnation, Jesus fully-God, and fully-man, is essential to the good news (Gospel) message of Christianity. In order to reconstitute humanity, enable us to resist sin and provide redemption, Jesus had to be fully God. In order to highlight how personal God’s love is, serve as a substitute for all of us who deserve the wrath of God, and function as the “pioneer” of the resurrection, Jesus had to be fully man. But whether we consider the incarnation or the resurrection or the crucifixion, Christians believe, with very good reason, not blindly, that these monumental realities are also historical events. In fact they must be or they are ultimately meaningless.

Christianity is distinctive from belief systems which are merely life philosophies or spiritual ideas, because it is grounded in the historicity of the redemptive events recorded in the Bible, performed in space and time by Jesus Christ. This is why in 1 Corinthians 15, the early church leader, Paul, says that if the resurrection is not true, then we who profess the Christian faith should not only all go home, but also should be pitied for believing something which offers no actual hope or salvation.

It reminds me of a poignant series of questions a seminary professor of mine, shared with our class. The first is this, “Would a person die for a lie?” Yes, sometimes people do. But not that many. People might profess a lie or proclaim lies, but when it comes to giving their life for it, the field is narrowed. The second is, “Would a person die for a lie, which he knows is a lie?” The field just got very slender. I suppose if someone wanted to pass along a life insurance inheritance to her struggling family she might give up her life, knowing that the cause for which death comes is false. Likewise with a mercenary soldier perhaps. Islamic terrorists don’t fit this category, though, because they believe they will go to heaven. Which leads to the third question, “Would a person die for a lie, which he knows is a lie, but that would not profit him anything?” It is tough to imagine anyone who would do this.

What does this have to do with the incarnation, crucifixion and resurrection? As Paul says at the beginning of 1 Corinthians 15, many people witnessed Jesus as resurrected. And we know from historical accounts that almost every one of the 12 disciples, plus Paul, died horrific deaths. So, if the Christian teaching on these central acts of Jesus Christ was contrived by the early apostles, they would have known that it was untrue. Even if none would have blown the whistle on the scam, certainly not all of them would have maintained their belief to the point of death, particularly in light of the fact that if the Christian belief is not true, it does not profit Christians after they die?

“Proving” Christianity true is not like a mathematical or scientific formula, but it is a lot like a courtroom trial. When we see the evidence for its veracity, we have to take a look at its life transforming message, and ask ourselves, “What does this truth mean for me?” “What am I doing to understand it and live in it?”

If you found this discussion engaging you may also enjoy reading the following from Timothy George of Beeson Divinity, which ties in and also relates to the current crisis in the Middle East.

http://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2015/11/after-dinner-a-beheading

 

Reflection, then Press On

seagullsW2During this busy time of year, it is hard to take time out to reflect on the year. We are too overwhelmed, rushing to purchase stuffings for the stockings and gifts to place under the Christmas tree, lists to check twice; then, before we know it, the New Year rolls in, with those resolutions already broken.

So, it has been helpful for me, and perhaps will be for you as well, to take a moment to reflect about several developments this past year in our church community, from the perspective of office manager and ministry admin assistant.

1) Land Closing and Events – In March we closed on land which we trust God will use to bless and serve our community. Then in May, we held our first Worship Service Celebration on the land, concluding with an outdoor picnic lunch. This fall we had our first fundraiser, “Horticulture Heaven,” with all proceeds supporting our land fund. Now, at year’s end, we are making good progress to paying off the land! We thank the Lord for all He had done to accomplish this, and how He worked through the generosity of so many of you.

2) Missionary Send-off – This year we sent off our first home-grown missionary family, Derek and Laura Dougherty, MTW/Peru. Through our prayers, support and co-sponsoring “Music for Missions Benefit Concert & Auction”, we are thankful that we could be part of their “‘key moments” that God orchestrated in their lives calling them into the mission field.
(http://afewkeymoments.blogspot.com/p/about-us_7.html)

3) New and Improved Website – This year we introduced to you our new brighter, more navigable, mobile-friendly website, http://www.crosscreekchurch.net. The website was designed for both the new visitor and the Cross Creek member/participant. Directly from the homepage you can quickly link to pages to learn who we are; what it means to “Grow in truth, Live in community, Serve in the kingdom;” when things are happening at Cross Creek Church; where and how to become connected. The homepage also highlights current events and photos of activities in our church community.

4) New Pathways for Financial Giving – We also researched and implemented systems for additional pathways of financial giving besides traditional check and cash. Now you can donate online directly from our website under the Contribute link on the homepage. By setting up an account you can contribute just one time or create recurring giving schedule, view your history for online giving, edit your profile. We also offer mobile app giving, by searching for and downloading “Shelby Next | Giving” from your app store. All these are done securely through Shelby Systems, Inc. cloud based program, “ShelbyNext Giving.”

5) Welcoming New Members – We host membership classes as needed throughout the year. It is a time to learn about the vision of Cross Creek and how to Grow, Live, Serve. This year we welcomed two classes. It is exciting to see how God is working in and through you, using your gifts and talents to grow His church.

We had several ‘firsts’ this year and expect more ‘firsts’ in the coming years. We continue with those tasks that make our church ‘run’, pressing on to the calling God has for each one of us.

Wearing many hats in our office, I am so thankful to be of help to our church family, always with the thought of how best to use our resources, in helping and serving our members and our community – all to God’s Glory!

“I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” (Philippians 3:12-14, The Message)