Of all the slogans we’ve come up with over the years, this is the one that fits Crossroads best. It’s also the one I’m most proud of. Crossroads: the perfect place for imperfect people.

I’ve always dreamed of being part of a church that is welcoming to all. A church that is honest enough to say that none of us are good enough to make the Spiritual Honor Roll. A church that’s a haven for people who flunk Confirmation. A church for those who are sick and tired of religious games. A church for those whose halos keep falling off their heads.

Let’s declare this loud and clear—Jesus is perfect—the rest of us are all in process.

I’m OK admitting that. Admitting that truth is freeing. It means I don’t have to pose or pretend I’m someone I’m not (that’s exhausting). It means I can discard my “Everything’s just fine mask” and be real.

Admitting that truth is also transformational. People who try to hide their humanity stay stuck in their sin. Whatever remains hidden cannot be healed. It’s only as we approach God and one another humbly that we receive God’s help to become more and more like Jesus.

Know any messed up, imperfect people?

Bring them with you this weekend to Crossroads. It’s the perfect place for imperfect people.

As most of you know, I entered the world of Smartphones last November and purchased an iPhone 4. I am amazed at what my phone can do. I’m also amazed at how often I’m using it day and night.

Unlimited knowledge and connectivity are right there in my 4” by 2” phone. As Madonna slips and falls while dancing during the Super Bowl halftime, I can ask “Google voice” how old she is. While waiting for a commercial to be over, I can check email. Or see what’s happening with my Facebook friends. Or get caught up with those I’m playing Words with Friends against. Or look over my calendar for the next day. Or…(yea, I could go on a long time).

All this begs the question: When does my Smartphone turn into a Dumbphone?

Answer: when the user (me) can’t put it aside.

The problem with my Smartphone (and yours) is that it has eliminated the protective boundary between our work and home lives…or our professional and private lives. It used to be easy to distinguish work and home. When you walked away from your workplace, you left it behind.

Not anymore. Now, your work goes home with you. Now, your boss and co-workers can find you. The good news is YOU ARE ALWAYS CONNECTED. The bad news is YOU ARE ALWAYS CONNECTED.

To be honest, I’ve been pretty dumb lately. I need to learn to be a lot smarter. Otherwise, I’ll go back to being Amish.

What’s worked for you? How do you manage this tension? I’d love to hear…

Last week in my “small group” (there are 67 of us…maybe I should call it my “small church”), some great questions about God were submitted. One of them has continued to mess with my brain.

I’ll paraphrase it this way: “Why doesn’t God make it crystal clear that there’s a heaven and hell and that salvation is found in Jesus Christ alone?”

My immediate reaction was that God doesn’t want to make it easy on us. He wants us to seek after him. He wants us to engage our brain. And he wants us to live by faith. That means some uncertainty is necessary. Mystery is part of God’s nature.

In retrospect, I realize my answer was insufficient. Why DOESN’T God make it easier for people to see the truth? Why doesn’t God send Jesus back to earth every 3 years for 1 hour (maybe during halftime of the Super Bowl), where he would hold a press conference and let the world know that he’s alive, and that all these people called Christians aren’t crazy?!

That sure would make my job (and yours) of convincing people to put their hope in Jesus much more effortless.

I really don’t have a good answer to the question.

What I do know is that between now and when Jesus does come back, our job is bring Jesus to the people we interact with each day. We represent him. We are his witnesses. We show the world Jesus. We are the evidence they need to see that Jesus truly is alive. We exist to make it easier for people to put their faith in him.

I’d love to hear your responses to the question.

I’d also love it if Jesus came back during halftime at this Sunday’s Super Bowl!

I’ve been writing a talk for our Membership class on the concept of the Trinity. God is one, yet God is three. The Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God…BUT, the Father is not the Son, the Son is not the Father, and the Holy Spirit is not the Father or the Son.

Are you still with me?!

I hope you feel my pain. This concept is above my brain capacity. And using illustrations like the egg (3 parts of an egg but it’s just 1 egg) or water (it can exist in liquid, ice or steam) doesn’t cut it.

Here's where I’ve landed—I don't have to fully understand the Trinity to worship God.

I read this week that deep within the core of the sun, the temperature is 27 million degrees. The pressure is 340 billion times what it is here on Earth. And in the sun's core, that intensely hot temperature and incredible pressure combine to create nuclear reactions. In each reaction, 4 protons fuse together to create 1 alpha particle, which is .7 percent less massive than the 4 protons. The difference in mass is expelled as energy, and after one million years, through a process called convection, this energy from the core of the sun finally reaches the surface, where it's expelled as heat and light.

Fascinating, right? I don’t understand all that sun speak…all I know is if I lay on the beach in Mexico (my vacation is still on my mind) I get a tan. I am affected by the sun’s rays even if I don’t understand protons and alpha particles!

Can I adequately explain the Trinity? Not even close. But that doesn’t stop me from being affected by the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit every day of my life.

Yea, God!

As many of you know, I just got back from a 2 week vacation with my wife and some friends to my “happy place” (Isla Mujeres, Mexico). It’s a place where time stands still…where my pace goes from “break-neck” to “snail-like.”

When people ask me what we do on our winter vacation I answer without hesitation—NOTHING!! Actually, I did read 5 novels, walked/jogged several miles, played games, and ate enough Mexican food to last me another year. But when it comes to writing sermons, preaching, managing staff, or solving problems, I did NOTHING!!

I love vacations. I love them so much that I want to highly recommend that you take one right now.

For those of you who cannot afford the time or money for a winter getaway, I have a different kind of holiday in mind. It’s summed up in this quote by Simon Tugwell on prayer: "God invites us to take a holiday, to stop being God for awhile, and let him be God...We can stop doing all those important things we have to do in our capacity as God, and leave it to him to be God."

I like Tugwell’s point. Prayer is like a holiday. It's me stopping long enough to remind myself that I'm not God. That the weight of the world is not on my shoulders. Prayer is me turning over to God the things that I cannot handle or change.


What are you carrying on your shoulders right now that you cannot handle or change? What burden? What heavy load?

I don’t know what you’re doing right now, but I invite you to pause for a moment right now and take a holiday...pray! Burden God with what’s burdening you. Allow God to do what HE does best (be God).

Enjoy…and send me a postcard.

One of the things I look forward to in December is getting Christmas cards in the mail from friends and family. It’s usually the only time we hear from people from the past—high school and college friends, etc.

As the cards trickled in this year (family picture included in about every envelope) I found myself saying over and over again, “My, _________ sure is looking old these days.”

I know…that’s kind of a cruel thing to say, but I’m just telling the truth (I’m sure my friends would say the same thing about me IF I had taken the time to send out cards this year).

Everyone is in a state of change. Maybe decay is a better word.

And everything in our world is in a state of change. Again, maybe decay is a better word.

As we embark into a NEW YEAR, I have a word I want everyone to hang onto. Here it is: IMMUTABLE. It’s a word that only applies to the God we know, love, and serve. Our God is IMMUTABLE.

He (here’s what it means) never changes. He is stable. Eternal. Unmovable. Ageless. Dependable. Faithful. God never gets wrinkles. He never gets up on the wrong side of the bed. He never “hopes” to get through a Monday. He never needs updated.

The best place to position ourselves as we roll into an uncertain NEW YEAR is in His steady hands. We can count on God. We can bank on His promises.

The Bible puts it this way in Proverbs 3:5-6…
5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
do not depend on your own understanding.
6 Seek his will in all you do,
and he will show you which path to take.

Good words. Great God.

Have a happy New Year.