Who was Jesus?

I agree with Piper that being neutral on who Jesus is would be cruel at best. Yes i am Christ follower....yes i believe the death, burial, & resurrection or Jesus to be true.....yes i know that requires great faith.......yes i know that there are many evidences that suggest that Jesus was who he said he was.

Yes, i really believe that embracing and enjoying God is the most important thing that i will ever do.....in fact eternity hangs on it.....(yes i really believe that when people die they spend an eternity somewhere). So yes.....i hope that you would embrace Jesus as Truth as well and long for him with great joy. I hope you would embrace Jesus both intellectually and with all of your heart. But i know that you cannot enjoy something until you fully embrace it! Only then does bring joy and fulfillment.

Now I know that some of you see this as complete foolishness, others see it as myth, or even worse a crutch to explain the hard to explain things.

Jesus is......the Christ, the son of God, he is the channel of mercy & grace to a broken and hurting world. Ephesians 2:4-5 "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ."

My encouragement to you.....in your loneliness, in your hurt, in your quest for truth, in your search for meaning & purpose in this life: try Jesus....i know that sounds trite to some of you....but investigate HIM, his claims, the bible......could it be true? Could he really satisfy?

Indeed.....yes! i (by his grace alone) have embraced it....and millions of others have too. What about you? Who is Jesus to you?

Finding Our Place in His Story

So i read a quote today that struck me.....

"We are lonesome animals. We spend all our life trying to be less lonesome. One of our ancient methods is to tell a story begging the listener to say - and to feel - Yes, that's the way it is, or at least that's the way I feel it. You are not as alone as you thought."
- John Steinbeck

I am not sure of Steinbeck's theology....but his thoughts resonate with what I find true of most of us. People are very lonely, even in our 'connected' generation (facebook anyone?). It's nice to feel normal, it's nice to know I am not alone!

How about you? are you connected? or are you surrounded but on your own little island of isolation?

One of those light bulbs moments was when I realized that my story is part of an even bigger story! No more meaningless....no more loneliness. What about you.....what role has God played in your story up until now?

So Why Bother?

That is the question that most people are asking when it comes to being apart of the local church: Why Bother? As we have spent the last nine months investing relationally in North Austin - we have asked hundreds of people about God, church, Jesus, & Christians.....the responses have been candid and revealing!

Each week at Crossroads we are taking a look at the top 6 perceptions that "outsiders" (men & women outside of the church who would say they are not followers of Christ)have of Christians and the local church. Check out Gabe Lyons & David Kinnaman's book UNchristian (releases 10/01/07).

These past two weeks we have looked at the perceptions that Christians are Hypocritical & Only care about getting people "Saved"......We would love your feedback and to hear your stories! Do you aggree or disagree.....you can listen to past messages on our website www.crossroadschurchaustin.com.

We survived lift off!

what a day! we finally went public as a church.....what a great day to do life with so many new people. I am extremely grateful to be apart of what God is doing in Austin, TX. Thanks to many of you for doing life with us! I am excited about the journey ahead and look forward to growing with you.

Who Knows You?

Who really knows you? That question came to mind after reading a quote recently, people today are "acquainted with many people, but they are known by none". Who really knows you? Your dreams, your passions, your failures, your thoughts, your skeletons, your fears, your good & bad habits, your junk? Who knows what you are thinking about right now? Does anyone care? Would you share if someone would listen? Do you have at least one person you dialogue with on more than just a surface level: how are you today? how about the Longhorns? Did you see American Idol? What's up with all this rain?

I sure hope so.....ironically enough i find this topic of community interesting! According to a recent Gallup poll - "Americans are among the most lonely people in the world"...how could that be with all of our stuff and access to people? Yet, most of us come home and hide within the four walls of our dwelling place and turn on the tube and get lost for hours on end. Or better yet we text, im, and email our closest friends w/o ever seeing them face to face.

Without a doubt we were created for community, Matthew 22 and Genesis 2 affirm this. I wonder, are you truly living in community? Does someone know your story (your parents or your bride don't count....they have to know it!) Better yet - do you know someone else's story, their hurts, dreams, fears, successes?

What keeps you from living in community with others? Do you think living in community reflects the image of God? Who are you intentionally getting to know?

I Need Your Advice!!

So I have talked to hundreds of people in recent weeks about the start of this new church.....and for the most part, find that people are open to the idea - even if they don't believe what i believe....only a few have been rude about it.

I need your help!!! So what advice would you give me as we start a new church in North Austin? I am a pastor....here's your chance to tell me what you think!! Why do people stay away from church? What factors would cause you to investigate church....the principles of the Bible, Jesus? What turns you off about church? How would you reach out to those who are not Christ followers or church goers? I look forward to reading your post.

Blogging....a necessary evil!

so...it's been a while. when i started on this journey - my gut said i would struggle providing up to date post. I mean - who really has time to write about their life & if they do.....are they really living life.....and to be even more frank - who really reads this anyway. if you are one of those sick individuals who have nothing better else to do with your life.....then here is my dribble for you today or this month is more like it. church planting.....creating environments where people who could give a rip about God would want to show up and do life with other people...trying to answer the real, meaningful questions of life.....loving people where they are and realizing we are all on a journey. trying to undo the mess of people's life often created in the first place by well-meaning christians in the first place. By God's grace.....and only His Grace can we love people rightly & lead them to Him......that He does love perfectly and that life in Him and with Him satisfies. Just maybe......i will not get in the way of that. More dribble later.