Continue reading »]]> I am a Christian. This means that I follow Jesus Christ. I follow His teaching, His commandments, His leading, and His example. At least that’s the general idea.

Follow. Here’s the interesting thing about that word, when you follow someone you end up going where they go.

So, what should I expect my life to be like if I follow Jesus?

As I read the Gospels carefully, I see a man who was faithful, loyal, loving, passionate, compassionate, humorous, serious, and wise. People loved Him, they listened to Him, they believed Him, and they followed Him. I also see a man who suffered, wept, was betrayed by close friends, let down by followers, bled and died. Jesus was a homeless man who was misunderstood, said “crazy” things, and was publicly executed by the state as a criminal. The remarkable thing about Jesus was not that He did not get into trouble, it’s that He remained faithful through it.

This morning I woke up to some disturbing text messages. Two of my close friends were blindsided by some really bad news. One of them was told by their spouse that they wanted a divorce. Their life as they knew it was over. Another was told by their doctor that they needed emergency surgery to repair a previous surgery. The next several weeks were going to be spent in misery. Where is God in this? They are both followers of Jesus, so why is this happening? What’s the point in following Jesus if bad things are going to happen to us anyway?

Following Jesus is not a detour around suffering. It is a path straight through it. We need to learn how to follow Jesus and continue walking faithfully through the path that will lead us to the moment of our death. If we follow Jesus into death, then we will be able to follow Him in life. It is by dying to ourselves daily that we learn how to actually live our lives. Eventually, we will come to the day of our death. Our life of faith needs to be in preparation for that moment. If we die with Christ, then we will also be raised to life with Him.

So when trouble happens, we don’t need to lose hope. We need to learn how to walk in faithfulness. Remember who we are following.

Psalm 34:15, 17-19
15 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous,
And His ears are open to their cry.
17 The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears,
And delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
But the Lord delivers him out of them all.

Continue reading »]]> Frank Hart & Living Creatures Record the Music of CrossPoint

So, I’ve been the worship leader at CrossPoint Church for almost eight years. During that time I have written a bunch of songs for Sunday morning. Songs for the congregation to sing together as part of our worship. Some of the songs were tied to specific teaching series that we were doing, and some were tied to our overall mission as a church trying to do its thing in the greater Houston area. Most of the people at my church don’t know the difference between a song that I write and a song that we play by other worship leaders (like Tomlin, Redman, etc.) Most of my congregation doesn’t spend much time listening to Christian radio.

People ask on a regular basis where they can find recordings of the songs we sing together. For years I have simply said that we haven’t recorded many of my songs yet. I always feel a little silly giving this answer. I have wanted to do a serious recording project for a long time, but it just never seemed like the right time.

Until now.

With the help of some very talented people on the CrossPoint staff, Pastor Matt and I put together a Kickstarter project. The purpose of the Kickstarter project is to raise money to fund the production and promotion of the album. We want to have enough money to record, mix and master the album, and do it right. Then we want to be able to let people know that we made the album so that they can hear it.

I am currently talking with friends and colleagues to set up times to work on pre-production, artwork, publicity, etc. There is a lot to do if we are going to do this right.

If you want to help, please go to our Kickstarter page. You can pre-order the album (and thus help us pay for it), but you can do a lot more than that. There are other fun rewards for backing the project. There are T-shirts, posters, music books and other standard fare. There are also some more unusual incentives, like honorary titles, personalized song videos, and singing telegrams. Some very meaningful incentives are house concerts. Think about it, I really couldn’t call you up and ask if we could play a concert in your living room and then ask you to invite your friends, but it is totally cool if it is your idea to throw a party and have us come and play.

The Kickstarter Link

I’m very excited about these songs and I can’t wait to record them so you can hear them and share them with the people in your life.

Continue reading »]]> Believe in God?
Most people believe in God (even the ones who say they don’t.)  Everything that exists implies that there is a designer and a maker.  No matter how far you zoom out (the entire universe) or how far you zoom in (the inexhaustible detail of the micro-universes inside every atom) there is amazing design and purpose in how it all fits together.  It is very difficult to sustain belief for even a moment that all of this happened by chance.  None of us believe that given enough time a million monkeys at typewriters could eventually compose a single coherent sentence, let alone the Book of Genesis. Time, plus chance, plus monkeys …  just equals a bunch of dead monkeys.

I have tried to be an agnostic, but I can’t lie to myself long enough to allow time, chance and random chaos to make an iPhone. -Bad Buddha

God in Nature
There is evidence surrounding us for the existence of God . Things like the universe having a consistent and purposeful design, it seems as though a creative mind put it all together.   Mankind has had a basic moral code that transcends cultures and history, as if we have come from a common creative imagination.  History appears to have a progressive and purposeful direction, it seems as though an author has been behind the larger story. It would even seem that we are all inclined to spiritual beliefs and motivated to worship something higher than ourselves.  Although all of these arguments can be rationally smashed upon the rocks of philosophy, there is still some nagging truth at the center of these ideas that will not go away, and points us to God.

 ”For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities — His eternal power and divine nature — have been clearly seen being understood what has been made, so that men are without excuse”.
- Romans 1:20

God Speaks
Of course the general revelation of God through creation is not the end of it.  God has revealed Himself through many messengers and prophets.  God spoke to Moses through a burning bush, he spoke to many others through angels, He spoke to others in visions and dreams, and through these people He gave us His Word.  The Law.  The Bible.  He gave us specific revelation that tells us who He is, who we are, and how He wants us to live our lives.  This is good, because without His specific revelation to us, we humans tend to think that throwing virgins into volcanoes is the best way to worship.

Too Many Gods
Some people will despair  at the thought of who the true God is because there are so many different ideas, and who can know which one is right?  Let me propose that there are really only two answers to this question, and everything else is a matter of emphasis.  Either God is a knowable person, or He is an unknowable abstraction.  Either God is the God of Genesis through Revelation (The Jewish God who is fully revealed to us in Jesus Christ), or God is the impersonal pantheon of Hindu manifestations of Brahman.  These are the only two choices.  Every religion goes back to one of these two, Islam is a Christian heresy and Buddhism is a Hindu atheism, etc.  So, don’t fool yourself into pretending that there is no point in seeking God because of all the disorganization of organized religions.

(I love when people say, “I’m spiritual, but I’m not into organized religion.”  As if they prefer unorganized religion.)

Jesus Is God
The most specific revelation of God’s Word to us is also the most important.  The most specific revelation of God to mankind is found in the incarnation.  The Word made flesh.  Christmas day and Easter morning.  Jesus Christ is the living Word of God.  He is the ultimate revelation of God to man.  If you want to know who God is, find out who Jesus is.  That is the answer.  John 1

Why Do We Believe?
But, why do we believe?  Do we really believe in God because we stood on top of a mountain and looked at the stars in the sky and were amazed?   Do we believe in Jesus because our parents and culture told us to?  Were we brainwashed?  Is it all some kind of religulous group hypnosis like Bill Maher would lead us to believe? Is Christianity good for the world, or does it keep mankind in a pre-modern state of superstition?

You Bet Your Life
Have you ever heard of Pascal’s wager?   Pascal said if it turns out that there is no God, then the person who lives their life believing in Jesus doesn’t lose anything, but the person who lived their life not believing … loses everything.  I stood in front of my high school speech class and dropped this bomb.  There were lots of blank expressions on faces, but my future wife was there, and she heard me.  God can even use arrogant teenagers to deliver His Word.

It would be better for an agnostic live as though there is a God until they have proof that there is not. Play it safe. If you think there might be a fire in the next room, feel the door and open it slowly. Don’t walk in with your eyes closed talking about the absence of fire. -Bad Buddha

It’s Good To Believe
This brings us to the pragmatic, the practical.  The Christian life is a life that makes sense.  It has purpose, direction, meaning, community, beauty and comfort.  The Godless life is a bleak and meaningless existence.  Whoever does not love God, loves death.  From a practical standpoint alone, a person should believe, because it makes for a better life.  I’m not saying that’s good enough, nor am I saying that it is better to believe in something … anything.  However, there are blessings to being in a Christian community and living a Christian life … even if you struggle with actually believing in the reality of Jesus.  This brings me to my final point.

It’s Not Up To You
Why do we believe?  Those of us who believe in Jesus and have faith only have this faith because God gave it to us.  Faith comes by hearing the word of God.  His word.  No one can be argued into faith.  No one can be tricked into faith.  No one can muster up faith by trying really hard, saying a magic phrase, or doing God some big favor.  A person will only have faith if God gives them faith.  God uses His word, and speaks through His people to plant faith into people’s hearts.

When in Doubt:
When I find myself doubting (and everyone will find themselves doubting from time to time), I pray these words:
“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”  AMEN

Continue reading »]]>

‘And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: ‘Behold I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people, Unto you is born this day a Savior which is Christ the Lord.’ Luke 2:11

In this letter you will find some other interesting things that Angel said concerning Christmas.

2011, This is the Hart family – Angel, Von, Frank, and Kim… AngelVonFranKim.

(We sat around the dinner table and recorded this conversation, and then typed it word for word to make this letter. Merry Christmas.)

Las Vegas and Roller-coasters

Frank: We’re talking about the last year, this is our Christmas Letter. So, what did we do this year?

Angel: Well… This year we went to Las Vegas, it was a lot of fun…

Frank: What was cool about Las Vegas?

Angel: We got to go to a VERY big hotel (Excalibur), I think it’s the second biggest hotel in, pretty much, the earth. (nope) and it was really fun because they had three pools and they were about seven feet deep, and it was pretty cool… Von?

Von: My favorite part of the trip to Las Vegas was I got to ride my first BIG rollercoaster, and I also really liked the big water slide at our hotel.

Frank: What was the name of the big rollercoaster you rode?

Kim: New York, New York.

Angel: New York Giant.

Von: New York, New York.

Frank: And it went around the casino outside…

Von: Yep.

Frank: And you were a little shook up by it.

Von: Yes, I was, but what was really funny about that was that I didn’t know when we actually went through the loop-de-loop.

Frank: Because you had your eyes closed?

Von: Yeah. And I also liked that we went to that other place…

Frank: On the way back home? We went to Six Flags in Dallas.

Angel: And at Six Flags I went on this big rollercoaster called Texas Giant, and it was the second biggest rollercoaster, the first is called The Titan, but I couldn’t go on that one. But, the Texas Giant was awesome, it had, like, it was, it went on a really high thing then it went down super fast, and it was awesome! Then we went on this rock… you know the boat that swings like a swing, it goes like that, then we went on a rocket that goes all the way around. But, dad and Von Behr didn’t want to do it.

Frank: Did you want to ride the Texas Giant when you first saw it?

Angel: No!

Frank: Did you have to be talked into it?

Angel: Yes.

Von: And then you wanted to go again, and again…

Angel: I went once with Mom and once with Dad.

Frank: What else did we do?

Grand Canyon and Favorite Drinks

Angel: We went to the Grand Canyon, right before we went to Dallas. It was about a twelve thousand mile ride.

Kim: (Laughing) Twelve hundred miles.

Angel: Twelve HUNDRED miles to Las Vegas and it was sixteen hundred hours , because we went to the Grand Canyon, then we rode about… two more days… what?

Frank: What did we do at the Grand Canyon?

Von: The Grand Canyon was soooo beautiful, it seemed like every time we looked at it, it changed completely, even though we had barely walked very far at all.

Angel: We walked about two miles?

Frank: Did we take some photos?

Angel: A lot.

Von: Tons.

Angel: We had a contest.

Von: And so many times I was worried about Angel falling off the edge.

Frank: That’s true.

Von: Cause Angel is a daredevil and he would get up on the rocks and I would be like, “No! Don’t get up there!”

Kim: He could have fallen and it would have been bad, but he didn’t, so it was all good.

Angel: At one point I slipped on the…

Frank: I think everyone should hike the rim of the Grand Canyon with an 8 year old boy at least once in their life. It’s good for you. This trip wasn’t like the other trip that we took with our other kids, though…

Von: Dad! Stop it!

Angel: You didn’t have any other kids!

Frank: Fine. So, if we were to paint our house a new color, Angel, what color would you want it to be?

Angel: Black!

Von: Me too. Black.

Kim: I would want our house to be (kids start giggling) a bluer grey than it is now.

Frank: What’s your favorite drink this year?

Von: Root Beer.

Angel: The vanilla… kind of like root beer…

Frank: Cream Soda?

Angel: Yes. Cream Soda! I drank so much of it one night that I… every time I smelled…

Kim: Cream Soda? Vanilla?

Angel: No… every time I smelled…

Frank: Boogers?

Angel: NO!!!

Von: DAD!!

Angel: It was the… a certain kind of meat… shaush-age, Shaush… SAUCE… Oh, my gosh….

Kim: Sausage.

Angel: Yes. I couldn’t smell that smell or I was going to get… barf.

Frank: That’s very interesting, Angel. What about you, Kim, what’s your favorite drink this year?

Kim: Um, my favorite drink is Mountain Dew, right now.

Von: What about you, Daddy?

Frank: Ranger IPA. That’s my new favorite.

Little Zack Black and Bikes

Kim: So, what did you get for your birthday, Von?

Von: Well, I sort of got a puppy! I saved up my own money. (Little Zack Black, the miniature poodle)

Frank: You certainly got puppy accessories.

Von: And I tried to have my first sleep-over party. But, Holly was the only one who ended up staying all night.

Kim: But, it was still fun?

Von: Oh, it was still fun. My friends came over for the first part of the party and stayed late.

Kim: What about you Angel?

Angel: Well, my big birthday gift was the Lego Alien Car set. But, it’s not the Alien, it’s the good guy that fights the Alien. And I had a sleep-over, too. But at my party EVERYONE stayed over!

Frank: So, what else has been cool this year?

Angel: I got this football game for the PS3, Madden NFL. And I got some other Lego sets, a log house and a castle… OH! And one day after school, a nice calm day, I got home, I saw inside, I looked around, like usual I put my backpack down, then I looked beside me, and I saw a bike! A brand new black bike! And that was pretty exciting

Kim: That’s pretty nice. We’ve been going on bike rides.

Von: What I got for this year, technically, is my Grandma and Grandpa, I got last Spring.

Frank: They moved-in in March.

Grandma and Grandpa and Books

Angel: It’s been fun! They have two dogs, Willow and Misty, one’s grey and one’s black and white. One is a schnauzer and one’s a snit-shoe…

Von: Shih tzu. Grandma and Grandpa have been great! They babysit us when mom and dad have to go somewhere, or when mom and dad and Angel have to go somewhere.

Frank: Worked out great for you during Flag Football Saturdays, huh?

Kim: Von got to sleep-in and not have to get up and go to the games.

Von: Yep. And Grandpa takes care of my dog while I’m at school, because Dad’s at work, Mom’s at work and Angel is at school with me.

Frank: And Grandma fell and broke her hip, but she’s getting much better now. My Dad is working part time at the church, and they have made friends. They will become members of the church in a couple of weeks.

Angel: Oh, this is pretty exciting, this is the first year we put Christmas decorations up outside, it was pretty hard, I mean, I didn’t do any of it, but, my Grandpa and my Dad did it.

Frank: This will be the first year for all of us to not be in Illinois at Christmas Time. With Mom and Dad here, we will stay at home.

Von: I really like talking to my Grandma, she is a good conversationalist. Did I say that right?

Kim: Uh huh.

Von: We talk about interesting things when I go over there and visit with her. And sometimes the dog will sneak over there and the cat will get the doggie treats down off the shelf, and Grandma and Grandpa don’t really get too upset about that.

Angel: What did you do for your birthday, Mom?

Kim: Well, for my birthday I went with my husband to a bed and breakfast and spent the next day just going to places that we hadn’t been for a while. Places around Houston, different shops and places.

Angel: Did you go to our old house?

Kim: Did we go to our old house? No, we didn’t go there that time, but we have been by it a few times.

Angel: Well, Dad what did you get for your birthday?

Frank: The Annual FrankMas Party, of course! Mom got a Kindle for Christmas last year and she’s been reading a lot since then.

Angel: Like at least over twenty books…

Von: Over… About a hundred!

Angel: No way! Mom, is that impossible?

Kim: Well, it’s not impossible, but I haven’t read a hundred.

Frank: But, I have read “The Tale of Despereaux” to both of you, and I have been reading “The Dragon Rider” to Von for the last year.

Von: More like the last two years. It’s nothing like the movie “DragonRider.” Which none of you can remember.

Frank: That’s because it doesn’t exist.

Angel: Dad, you got like five shirts for Christmas. That’s pretty much all you got.

Kim: I don’t remember what it was, but we got your present before Christmas.

Frank: Impossible. That would be breaking the rules!

Kim: You went on the leadership retreat in California. Have you guys heard him talk about his leadership retreat?

Frank: Yeah, that was a pretty great experience. A week in Southern California learning about how I can be a better leader.

Kim: Did it help?

Frank: You tell me.

(Both laugh. No good reason.)

Kim: We spent a lot of time preparing for Grandma and Grandpa to move in. We had a lot of help converting our garage and part of our house into an apartment for them.

Frank: It’s true. We’ll never be able to pay all those people back.

Kim: We had a lot of help. In a lot of different ways.

Frank: Mom likes to call it a “suite” not an “apartment.”

Von: I call it their “apartment” and then Grandma says, “No, it’s a suite!”

Frank: Either way, it doesn’t look like a garage anymore.

Kim: There’s a bedroom, a living room, a little breakfast area, a walk-in closet…

Frank: A couple of open areas, we added a couple doors, they have their own private entrance, front and back, as well as an interior entrance to the rest of the house. It’s pretty cool.

Von: I don’t remember life without it, or without them living with us anymore.

Kim: And since you gave up your studio office to build their apartment…

Frank: Yeah, I got a new studio office! It’s not quite done yet, but it’s pretty awesome. We closed-in the back porch and made a two room recording studio office.

Angel: I like the posters you made for your Christmas song program (Fantastical Amazingly Jesus Christmas Concert) and I hope lots of people come to that. I’m pretty excited about it.

Kim: On December 16^th. Which is also your brother’s birthday. (Jeff)

Frank: Speaking of my brother…

Kim: Yes! Speaking of your brother…

Babies and School

Von: Oooh! He has twins now, and his daughter, Cherish, had one baby, too.

Frank: What are the names of all those babies?

(Blank stares from the kids)

Frank: Cherish’s daughter is named Lakynn, and the twins are Silas and Petra.

Von: Which is a boy and a girl!

Frank: This was the year that you both took 1^st Communion.

Angel: Yeah!

Von: That was sooo good!

Angel: It was pretty cool that we finally got to have communion again, and it was great that Dad got to give it to us.

Von: Now we get to have it every time.

Kim: What did you have to memorize for the class?

Angel: “Our Lord, Jesus Christ, on the night that He was betrayed, took bread and after He had given thanks He broke it and gave it to His disciples saying, Take, Eat, This is My Body which was given for you. Do this in remembrance of Me.” That’s all I remember right now, I think it’s about a quarter of it.

Von: It’s actually more like half.

Angel: Yes, a half and a quarter.

Frank: What are some things about school? You guys are still going to Westlake Prep Lutheran Academy.

Von: Yes, and I’ve been going there for four years. And my class has only two other kids that have been here all the years. How about your class, Angel?

Angel: I think there are four in my class from the first. One of my memory verses is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength.”

Von: And my class memorized the names of all the books in the Bible.

Angel: I’m excited that we don’t really have homework, only if we don’t finish one of our assignments.

Von: I’m excited that I have the same teacher as last year, Mrs. Gerber, and my best friends in my class.

Angel: My teacher is Mrs. Hauser.

Hart Petting Zoo

Frank: Tell me about all your pets.

Angel: Well, when we got the new dog, he didn’t get along with the cat at all. But, now they are friends.

Frank: I like to watch them wrestle.

Von: The cat used to take the dog down, but now that the dog is a little bit bigger he’s getting a little bit stronger.

Frank: I think the cat’s in trouble.

Angel: We also have a lizard named Rupert. He was a surprise waiting for us at home one day. We got home and ran upstairs and Von Behr put him on her chest but I was a little scared of him…

Von: That’s explainable, he’s a big lizard.

Angel: I finally picked him up and put him on my chest and started to like him. He’s a really good pet because he doesn’t make any noise at all.

Kim: What’s he eat?

Angel: He eats crickets. It’s really fun to watch him.

Von: He eats crickets and lettuce…

Angel: and strawberries.

Von: The only bad thing about Rupert is that his claws are really sharp and sometimes he scratches me when he starts running. Did we say that our cat’s name is Number Nine?

Frank: No, but we explained that last year, if not the year before.

Requests for Prayer

Angel: Is that everything?

Kim: The principal at my school has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and that’s really sad.

Von: She’s really pretty.

Angel: Whoever reads our letter, please pray for her.

Kim: My sister’s hubby, Randy also needs our prayers. He had a heart attack and my nephew, Jason called the medics and they arrived in time to bring him back to life.

Christmas, Elephants and Endings

Frank: What are you hoping for Christmas this year?

Angel: (with silly fake energy) Oh… Video games, Legos and crappy toys! There’s this one game that I hope to get… I think it’s expensive, but it’s all I really want… You put this guy in and there’s a circle on the desk…

Kim: Do you know the name of it?

Angel: No. (Laughs)

Von: I am hoping for three things… I would like a tree house, I would like to ride an elephant and I want some more Beanie Boos. The elephant thing is the one that is most likely not gonna happen… Or the tree house.

Kim: Or the Beanie Boos… other than that.

Von: Mom!

Angel: Dad, what’s your favorite dinosaur?

Frank: Maynard. Is that all you can remember from the last year?

Angel: No, but it would probably take me another hour to remember the rest.

Frank: What do you want to say to people as we end our letter?

Angel: Have a happy Christmas!

Von: Have a happy holiday!

Angel: See you later, next year!

Von: Bye.

Frank – Husband, Father, Musician, Worship Leader & Minister (CrossPoint Community Church).
Kim – Wife, Mother, Teacher (Aldine High School), Homemaker, Movie lover, Friend.
Von Behr – Daughter, Sister, 4th Grade Student (Westlake Prep Lutheran Academy), Animal lover, Artist. (11)
Angel – Son, Brother, 3rd Grade Student (Westlake Prep Lutheran Academy), Video Game lover, Gymnast, Artist. (9)

Continue reading »]]> Do you want good things in your life?
Do you want to have good friends? Do you want your children to love you? Do you desire peace and love in your marriage? Do you want to have a relationship with your family (mom, dad, grandparent, uncle, etc.) It has been said many times by far more intelligent people than me that the true “good things” in life can not be bought with money. That may be true, but they can be bought. Or, at least pursued.

“I thought, ‘Surely I will die surrounded by my family after a long, good life.
Job 29:17-19

Want Good Friends?
If you want a friend, be a friend. Pursue your friends. Don’t wait for them to call you, you call them. Don’t wait for someone to invite you to lunch, you invite them to lunch. Drop by their office, chat for a minute, say something kind, and let them get back to work (Don’t ever waste their time, that’s not friendly). Did they hurt you? Forgive them. Forgive them before they apologize. Do they need something? Don’t wait for them to ask, just give them what they need.

The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life; a wise person wins friends.
Proverbs 11:29-31

Want Good Kids?
If you want your children to love you, if you want your children to love what you love (whether that is Jesus, Baseball, playing guitar or getting good grades), then you have to pursue your children. When they are little you have to get down on the floor with them and play with their toys. You have to watch the TV shows and movies that they are interested in – with them. You have to read books to them that fire up THEIR imagination. As they get older YOU have to be the one to pursue them to play catch, throw the frisbee, play PS3, go with them to the animal shelter to look at the puppies, go on a date with your daughter, talk about school, their friends and what’s going on in their life. It has to be your idea to pursue them IN THEIR WORLD. Text with you daughter. Be playful. Don’t constantly scold them about how “when I was young we had actual conversations with our friends, not all this texting nonsense.” (BTW, men, pursuing your own children is one of the most attractive/sexy/awesome things you can do to make your wife thrilled with you. I’m just saying.)

You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deuteronomy 6:6-8

Want a Good Marriage?
Pursue your wife. Pursue your husband. There is nothing more encouraging and affirming in this world than to have the person who knows you better than anyone else in the world (warts, rolls and all) take hold of your hand and smile at you. Ask them how they are feeling. Tell them how you are feeling. Snuggle up next to them on the couch, scoot over next to them. Leave them a note by their keys just to let them know you were thinking of them. Send them an Email. Make a Google Calendar appointment for ice cream and a walk. Use the new Cards app to send them a silly or thoughtful card, a real card, in the mail! Men, the best way to ruin your marriage is to work all day, come home tired and distant, and sit on the couch “relaxing.” Women, the best way to ruin your marriage is to hold a bunch of expectations in your heart and build a silent wall of resentment. Pursue each other instead with kindness, compassion, mercy, grace, forgiveness and hope.

Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Ephesians 5:20-22

Want a Good Family?
Pursue your family. I’ve already mentioned that we need to pursue our kids and our spouse, but we need to pursue the original members of our family, too. We must honor our mother and our father. We must be our brother’s keeper (and sister). There are probably no deeper wounds than the wounds that are inflicted by mom, dad, brother, sister, aunt and uncle. The worst damage ever done to you was probably by one or more of them, and the worst damage that you will ever do to someone is probably something you say or do to your child, your niece, your nephew, your grand-child or your brother or sister. It is sobering and depressing to think about, but the heaviest baggage we carry was probably handed to us by close family.
So, we need to do two things. First, we need to pursue our close family with kindness and grace. We must be careful to not inflict damage on those who are closest to us. Second, we need to pursue forgiveness (and possibly reconciliation) with family members that we have hurt and who have hurt us.
We should call our mom and our dad on the phone. Visit them in person as much as possible. Make them feel loved and appreciated. There is very little that is more depressing than the feeling of being abandoned by your children, or unloved by them. Just keep them in the loop for what’s happening in your life. Ask them what’s happening in their life and how they feel about it. Don’t try to fix them, you are not their psychologist or their pastor. Give them what they need without asking. When the time is right bring them into your home and provide and care for them.

If you honor your father and mother, “things will go well for you, and you will have a long life on the earth.”
Ephesians 6:2-4

Because We Were Pursued First
In all of these things we are imitating Christ. God pursues us. He is the Seeker. He did not require that we get things together and come up to His level, instead He incarnated into our world, became one of us and gave His life for us. He reached out to us, forgave us and continually pursues us. God wants us to pursue the people in our lives in the same way that He has pursued us.

We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:18-20

So, pursue the good life. Pursue your friends, your children, your spouse, and your family. Don’t sit there waiting for them to pursue you. It doesn’t matter if they ever pursue you or not. Everything good is a gift from God. He gives to us and in response we give to the people in our lives. You love God by loving others. You go first. Your life depends on it!

Continue reading »]]> For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
Psalm 47:6-8

Our Church Band Rules!
Here is some basic info about what it means
to be in the Band at CrossPoint.

The Idea
The purpose of the band is to help the congregation participate in worship. It is also to provide a high quality attractional feature that bridges the gap between church and culture. The music is to speak the cultural language of the people that God brings into our church on a Sunday morning. We are doing two big things, facilitating sacred worship and incarnating into the world that we live in.

Not The Idea
We are not trying to have a “churchy” praise band. We are not trying to be “worshipy” Christian hipsters. We are also not trying to be a super-cool band of rock stars.

Band Leadership
The leader of the band is the Director of Music.  Their job is to be in the band, communicate specific musical direction, and answer any musical questions.  They will choose songs, schedule and audition musicians, prepare charts and MP3s and run a punctual and timely rehearsal.

The band is encouraged to not only play music together, but to get to know each other and become part of each other’s lives. This is a community.

Band on Stage
The band members should employ a level of professionalism when on stage and leading the worship experience. Attitudes should be proper to the event and music being played. No one should look bored, scared, apathetic, angry, etc. Worship demands that we are joyful, engaged, earnest, authentic and honest.

Authentic vs. Relevant
We play the instruments and the style of music because it is who we are. It is who we are as musicians and it is who we are as a congregation. It is also who we are as a people, a culture, a community. We are not trying to be something that we are not. We play the music this way because we like it this way, it is an authentic expressin of who we are. We are not trying to be relevant. We believe that Jesus is more than relevant enough without our help. We believe that if we are authentic then that will come across as honest and relevant to the people that God wants us to speak to.

Commitments
The band is required to be at the scheduled rehearsal (usually 7pm Thursday) and the call time on Sunday morning (usually 8am .)  This gives us the chance to play through the set and become confident with the music.  It is expected that all band members show up to Thursday’s rehearsal prepared to play the song as recorded, but with the flexibility to change the arrangement as deemed necessary. Many times the recording is only a starting point.

This means the band members should make sure they have listened to the MP3s of the songs at least three or four times, playing along on their instrument, finding parts, programming sounds, and making their personal notes.  Before you show up on Thursday.

Music is typically online by Friday a week in advance.

Schedule
The band plays each week, the band members are scheduled according to a monthly rotation.  Requests to play more often or less often can be made, as well as blocking out certain dates for personal time off or travel.

Dress
The band does not coordinate what we will wear, but certain standards are expected. Please, no sleeveless shirts, polo shirts, T-Shirts with teams, brands and logos.  Please do not wear any perfume or strong body wash products when playing in the band. Please do not wear shorts, or hats.  Also, please make sure that your deodorant is working.  (I know it seems like this should go without saying … But, you’d be surprised.)

The big idea is that we want to look appropriate for what we are doing. We are not golfing or working at a bank. We are playing in a rock band in church. Walk the line of tension between wearing something you would usually wear and feel comfortable in and something your favorite middle-aged rock star would wear. (When in doubt asked Jason Koch, he’s our fashionista)

Requirements
The band is made up of both men and women.  Senior High students are encouraged to participate, but everyone is expected to be prepared, on time, and act like an adult.
Band members will be required to have an audition.
Band members will need to register on Planning Center Online and respond within 24 hours to any and all requests. (Accept or Decline)
Everyone is expected to treat each other with kindness and respect.
One of the most important ways to respect each other is to show up on time. Prepared.

In all of these ways, we believe we have set the bar high.  We consider it an extreme honor to be able to lead God’s people and worship through music.  Thank you for joining us on this important mission.

Play skillfully and with a loud noise.
Psalm 33:3

So, these are our basic guidelines for band members. What are yours?

Continue reading »]]> Demons, Ghosts, Vampires, and monsters of every kind will be walking in small packs around our neighborhoods on Halloween night.  How are we as Christians supposed to feel about this?  If we think it is “just good fun” are we being unfaithful?  If we forbid our children from joining in the fun, handing out healthy snacks and Gospel pamphlets instead (or refuse to answer the door – because that’s how holy we are!) is that really the right thing to do? Doesn’t seem right to me, something about knock and the door shall be…

Growing up in smalltown Illinois I loved Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the tricks and the treats. For years the youth group I was part of even did a fund raiser at our church by turning the whole church in a macabre haunted house complete with demons, ghosts, monsters and a live execution. Were we out of our mind? Should we have dressed up in Bible costumes instead? (I think that might be much more scary in some ways!)

The following is a article by James Jordan that I have found to be helpful concerning Halloween.

Enjoy.

Concerning Halloween

by James B. Jordan
August, 1996

It has become routine in October for some Christian schools to send out letters warning parents about the evils of Halloween, and it has become equally routine for me to be asked questions about this matter.

“Halloween” is simply a contraction for All Hallows’ Eve. The word “hallow” means “saint,” in that “hallow” is just an alternative form of the word “holy” (“hallowed be Thy name”). All Saints’ Day is November 1. It is the celebration of the victory of the saints in union with Christ. The observance of various celebrations of All Saints arose in the late 300s, and these were united and fixed on November 1 in the late 700s. The origin of All Saints Day and of All Saints Eve in Mediterranean Christianity had nothing to do with Celtic Druidism or the Church’s fight against Druidism (assuming there ever even was any such thing as Druidism, which is actually a myth concocted in the 19th century by neo-pagans.)

In the First Covenant, the war between God’s people and God’s enemies was fought on the human level against Egyptians, Assyrians, etc. With the coming of the New Covenant, however, we are told that our primary battle is against principalities and powers, against fallen angels who bind the hearts and minds of men in ignorance and fear. We are assured that through faith, prayer, and obedience, the saints will be victorious in our battle against these demonic forces. The Spirit assures us: “The God of peace will crush Satan under your feet shortly” (Romans 16:20).

The Festival of All Saints reminds us that though Jesus has finished His work, we have not finished ours. He has struck the decisive blow, but we have the privilege of working in the mopping up operation. Thus, century by century the Christian faith has rolled back the demonic realm of ignorance, fear, and superstition. Though things look bad in the Western world today, this work continues to make progress in Asia and Africa and Latin America.

The Biblical day begins in the preceding evening, and thus in the Church calendar, the eve of a day is the actual beginning of the festive day. Christmas Eve is most familiar to us, but there is also the Vigil of Holy Saturday that precedes Easter Morn. Similarly, All Saints’ Eve precedes All Saints’ Day.

The concept, as dramatized in Christian custom, is quite simple: On October 31, the demonic realm tries one last time to achieve victory, but is banished by the joy of the Kingdom.

What is the means by which the demonic realm is vanquished? In a word: mockery. Satan’s great sin (and our great sin) is pride. Thus, to drive Satan from us we ridicule him. This is why the custom arose of portraying Satan in a ridiculous red suit with horns and a tail. Nobody thinks the devil really looks like this; the Bible teaches that he is the fallen Arch-Cherub. Rather, the idea is to ridicule him because he has lost the battle with Jesus and he no longer has power over us.

(The tradition of mocking Satan and defeating him through joy and laughter plays a large role in Ray Bradbury’s classic novel, Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is a Halloween novel.)

The gargoyles that were placed on the churches of old had the same meaning. They symbolized the Church ridiculing the enemy. They stick out their tongues and make faces at those who would assault the Church. Gargoyles are not demonic; they are believers ridiculing the defeated demonic army.

Thus, the defeat of evil and of demonic powers is associated with Halloween. For this reason, Martin Luther posted his 95 challenges to the wicked practices of the Church to the bulletin board on the door of the Wittenberg chapel on Halloween. He picked his day with care, and ever since Halloween has also been Reformation Day.

Similarly, on All Hallows’ Eve (Hallow-Even – Hallow-E’en – Halloween), the custom arose of mocking the demonic realm by dressing children in costumes. Because the power of Satan has been broken once and for all, our children can mock him by dressing up like ghosts, goblins, and witches. The fact that we can dress our children this way shows our supreme confidence in the utter defeat of Satan by Jesus Christ – we have NO FEAR!

Nowadays, children often dress up as superheroes, and the original Christian meaning of Halloween has been absorbed into popular culture. Also, with the present fad of “designer paganism” in the so-called New Age movement, some Christians are uneasy with dressing their children as spooks. So be it. But we should not forget that originally Halloween was a Christian custom, and there is no solid reason why Christians cannot enjoy it as such even today.

“He who sits in the heavens laughs; Yahweh ridicules them” says Psalm 2. Let us join in His holy laughter, and mock the enemies of Christ on October 31.

OPEN BOOK, Views & Reviews, No. 28
Copyright (c) 1996 Biblical Horizons
August, 1996

And here is another great article on Halloween and Christianity. 

Continue reading »]]> Water Flowed From the Temple

Ezekiel saw a vision of water flowing from the temple into the surrounding area. It poured off the the altar and at first it barely wet the ground, but as it continued to flow it became waist deep and then flooded the whole culture. It brought life and healing to everything around.

This vision speaks to the church’s mission, our mission. It is Worship that is to overflow from our church and pour into the lives of the people all around us. Picture your Sunday morning worship overflowing with love and power into the communities where you live, everywhere within reach. Picture it like water carrying the life-changing grace of Christ. Then realize that the church is you and me. Worship changes everything, and worship is everything.

Ezekiel 47

The River of Healing

¹ In my vision, the man brought me back to the entrance of the Temple. There I saw a stream flowing east from beneath the door of the Temple and passing to the right of the altar on its south side. ² The man brought me outside the wall through the north gateway and led me around to the eastern entrance. There I could see the water flowing out through the south side of the east gateway.

³ Measuring as he went, he took me along the stream for 1,750 feet^[a] and then led me across. The water was up to my ankles. ⁴ He measured off another 1,750 feet and led me across again. This time the water was up to my knees. After another 1,750 feet, it was up to my waist. ⁵ Then he measured another 1,750 feet, and the river was too deep to walk across. It was deep enough to swim in, but too deep to walk through.

⁶ He asked me, “Have you been watching, son of man?” Then he led me back along the riverbank. ⁷ When I returned, I was surprised by the sight of many trees growing on both sides of the river. ⁸ Then he said to me, “This river flows east through the desert into the valley of the Dead Sea.^[b] The waters of this stream will make the salty waters of the Dead Sea fresh and pure. ⁹ There will be swarms of living things wherever the water of this river flows. Fish will abound in the Dead Sea, for its waters will become fresh. Life will flourish wherever this water flows. ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shores of the Dead Sea. All the way from En-gedi to En-eglaim, the shores will be covered with nets drying in the sun. Fish of every kind will fill the Dead Sea, just as they fill the Mediterranean.^[c]11 But the marshes and swamps will not be purified; they will still be salty. ¹² Fruit trees of all kinds will grow along both sides of the river. The leaves of these trees will never turn brown and fall, and there will always be fruit on their branches. There will be a new crop every month, for they are watered by the river flowing from the Temple. The fruit will be for food and the leaves for healing.”

I heard about a church in Germany during the Nazi uprising. It was a little country church by a railroad track. It was a hot Sunday in mid-Summer and the people were gathered for worship. A train slowed to a stop while they were singing and between songs they heard the sound of Jewish prisoners screaming for help. The train was transporting them to be executed. The people in the church didn’t know what to do. The same thing happened the next week. And the next. One Sunday a man stood up and said, “We have to do something about this!”

So they closed the windows and sang louder.

Sometimes it seems to me that our Churches do the same thing. We don’t seem to realize that our worship is supposed to flow from the altar and flood the community with healing and salvation. What happens in our churches is supposed to pour out into the surrounding land and bring life.

May we never be tempted to close the windows and sing louder to drown out the needs that are just outside our walls.

AMEN

Continue reading »]]> And What Wives want from their Husbands

In the heat of the argument she reaches for something on the shelf to throw at him. The “D-Word?” (No, I’ll save that for later, that’s the trump card.) Instead she finds a nice smooth stone that fits in the palm of her hand. “This will do the trick,” she thinks, then she hurls something at him that basically says “I do not respect you, you are not honorable, and you are not successful.” Ouch!

“What we were talking about again?” He thinks to himself as he feels the sting of her words and reaches deep into his pockets to find just the right thing to throw back, “Well, it doesn’t really matter what we were talking about … it’s ON now!”

He finds the old faithful comeback which more or less means “You don’t know what you’re talking about, you annoy me, I don’t find you attractive, I don’t love you, and you are just like your crazy mother.”

Tears, and CUT. Perfect, it’s a wrap! Let’s do it again next week.

What’s all the fighting about?
This scene is played over and over in so many homes. Sometimes it starts over money (if it’s a two income family the wife is probably mad at the husband for spending money on something, and if it’s a one income family the husband is probably mad at the wife for spending money on something.) Sometimes there is just not enough money (for vacation, saving, remodeling, paying bills, etc.) so they blame each other. Money equals security and control.

Other times it’s not about money at all, but about time and workload. The husband probably has a hobby that he cares a lot about (too much?), and the wife is probably annoyed by how much time and money is spent on the hobby. Sports, TV, hunting, fishing, golf, motorcycle, playing drums, guitar, video games, music, reading, working in his shop, or just hanging with the guys playing cards, anything that he wants to do for fun and relaxation is a potential problem.

From her perspective it is rejection. She thinks it means that he would rather do that thing (whatever it is) than be with her. She feels like “he doesn’t love me.” But, that’s only part of it, she also feels used. After all, she works all day, too (whether in the home with the kids, or outside the home at her job) and then in the evening there is dinner, housework, laundry, kids, pets, etc. She can grow very resentful if she starts to see herself as a servant to her husband while he gets to come home and enjoy some relaxation. On the other hand, he can grow resentful if he starts to see himself as a disappointment in her eyes and it seems like all she ever does is complain.

It plays out like this; while he is doing whatever it is that he likes to do, she interrupts and reminds him of what he really ought to be doing.

I’m not going to try and cover all of the reasons why husbands and wives fight with each other. Bottom line is that people are selfish and sinful, so there will be reasons to have problems and arguments. Having problems does not mean that life has to be miserable, though. There are some basic concepts that will keep marriages happy and healthy.

Give Them What They Want
Husbands want respect, and wives want love. It’s almost that easy.

Husbands want their wives to love them, too, but the way they will recognize love is when their wives show them respect and honor. When they believe that their wife sees them as a good man, a good husband, a good father, a man of wisdom, someone who is strong, someone who does what they do well, someone who can be trusted, then they will believe that they are loved by their wife.

Wives want their husbands to love them. They want their husbands to show them affection and kindness. They want to feel safe and secure, and they want to know that no matter what happens their husband will be there to make it right. She wants to believe that their husband is willing to give his life for hers. She wants to believe that her life is worth his devotion.

(let me admit here that I know more about the husband’s perspective than the wife’s. Duh.)

ALWAYS Give Them What They Want
The Bible calls it mutual submission. Always put the other person’s desires before your own. Think of their opinions and ideas as better than yours. If they want something, then you are more than happy to give it to them. If I want to do something, and they do not, then I am more than happy to not do it. Yep … every time.

But, how does that work? Either one person will dominate the other, or they will both just sit there and never do anything, “Whatever you want … no, honey, whatever you want …” How can mutual submission work? Shouldn’t the man be in charge? Someone needs to be in charge! If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!

Mutual submission only works when the submission is mutual. (Duh!) And, you go first. You can’t wait for them to do the right thing before you are willing to do the right thing. I submit to you first.

The way it works in our home is pretty simple. Kim and I want each other to get what the other wants. If one of us say “I want Indian food for dinner,” the other is happy to have Indian food for dinner. That’s the end of it. But, what if the other says, “I thought we would eat the roast that I put in the crock-pot this morning.” or, “I’m not feeling very well and I don’t think I can eat Indian food tonight.” What would we do then? In the first case we would have the roast. It’s already cooking, so no one is going to be so selfish that they don’t appreciate what has already been done. And, in the second instance, we would compromise. Either we would pick up some Indian food and also something else, or we would save Indian food for another time.

That’s the long way of saying you have to learn to trust each other. Say what you want, but always be willing to let the other person have what they want instead. The person who speaks first should get what they request most of the time. The goal is to give the other person what they desire, it’s not a race to speak first so that you get what you want. The goal is to love my spouse, not to get what I want.

Christ and the Church
We can learn a lot about the true nature of marriage if we turn the metaphor of “The Bride of Christ” around. One of the ways to understand the nature of the Church is to see it as His bride. The wife is to be like the church and the husband is to be like Christ. There are many things to be learned from thinking about this, and I want to touch on a couple of them.

Husbands, this part is for you
Husbands are to love their wives like Christ loves the Church. This means he has to die for her. His life will be a life of sacrifice and provision for his wife. He will give his life as a ransom for her, so that they can build a new life together. Think of the cross. That’s pretty heavy.

Wives, this part is for you
Wives are to submit to their husbands like the church submits to the LORD. Wives are to honor their husbands, respect their husbands, follow them, trust them, and give themselves completely and without reservation. They are to love their husband more than their own parents and more than their own life. Wow. That’s a little overwhelming.

With Ephesians chapter 5 (That’s where the whole “submit” and “love” thing comes from) someone is always trying to make sure that someone else hears the part that applies to them. The temptation is for the husband to read the wife’s part OUT LOUD to her, making sure that she sees and underlines the word submit. And, the wife wants to print the husband’s part, stapling the word LOVE to his forehead. No. Read the part that applies to you. You go first, remember.

It’s All Worship
If you ever start to feel like you are being taken advantage of, that you are being treated like their servant, like you work all day to provide for your family and when you come home it’s never enough. Nothing is ever good enough, and you are nothing more than someone’s sugar daddy, or the 1st Community Bank of Give Me a Break!

If you feel like you’re a maid, a nanny and Cinderella the servant girl, managing the house so that Mr Selfish Pants can come home and look for creative ways to disappoint and ignore you. If you ever feel like you are selflessly giving while they are selfishly taking, then remember this, it’s all worship.

Everything you do in your life is part of your worship of God. Men, when you sacrifice your desires for the desires of your wife it is a sacrifice unto the LORD. Ladies, all the work that you do as wife and mother, when done in love with a grateful heart, is a very pleasing offering unto the LORD. Seriously, this is no small matter, our vocation as husbands and wives is some of our most sacred worship.

Love and Respect
I might not have been at your wedding, but I’ll bet you promised to love each other. I’m going to end this by giving you a simple self-help test. Open the Bible to 1st Corinthians chapter 13, read verses 4-8 but replace the word “love” with your name.

“____is patient, ___is kind. ___does not envy, ___does not boast, ___ is not proud. ___ is not rude, ___ is not self-seeking, ___ is not easily angered, ___ keeps no record of wrongs. ___does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ___ always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ___never fails. ”

Let me know how you’re doing. Remember, you go first.

Continue reading »]]> Ever have to take one of those personality assessment tests for work? I have had to take a bunch of them. I have learned that I am a “Hawk/Owl,” a “Strategic Thinker,” and a “huggable bear who might eat you.” Some people don’t like labels, and others like them too much. I’ve come to the realization that it is best to have some idea of what is inside the can before you open it.

I was recently asked to take another personality profile test. It is based on the Biblical leadership gifts found in Ephesians 4. It is called the APEST Test.

Here is what they say about it on their website:

APEST is a ministry assessment emerging from the most comprehensive statement of ministry structure, that of Ephesians 4:7,11-12. Within this passage we find the fivefold ministry of APEST: apostolic, prophetic, evangelist, shepherd and teacher; But to each one of us grace has been given as Christ apportioned It is he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be shepherd and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.

All five ministries are needed to engender, call forth, and sustain a full ministry in the Jesus movement. In fact, all five ministries in dynamic relation to one another are absolutely essential to vigorous discipleship, healthy churches and growing movements. Ephesians 4:7,11-12 assigns APEST ministries to the entire church, not just leadership. All are to be found somewhere in APEST a leadership model characterized by a servant-inspired dynamic. (theforgottenways.org)

I’ve taken a lot of these tests, and for the most part I think they are fun. It is interesting to think about my strengths and tendencies. This one is different because you not only take it yourself, but you invite people who know you to also take it on your behalf. People who are in your life and have experienced how you lead in your ministry.

When I took the test for myself, these were my results:

Prophetic + Evangelistic
The Prophet Evangelist is a person who is committed to God and his mission to redeem all people. Sometimes quite confrontational and direct, they can find it hard to lead others. Compromise is not an option; the PE relies on persuasive skills to get people to respond. The Prophet Evangelist’s motivation is that all people become active agents of change and mission.