Mondayne

I'm the guy that questions everything. If it exists, if people unanimously agree it's ok, I have asked why. A lot of people do things simply because they're told to, or because they see others do them. What's funny to me is they don't stop and observe the results of what people do, they are content in doing it just because "it's what you do".

So I ask about Monday, what's so bad about Monday?

Hey, bob, how's it going?

Well, it's a Monday.

People blame this day of the week for their bad attitudes, crappy circumstances, and sub par work ethic. As if it's the Sabbath of trying. Trying is what we do the rest of the week, right? It's time for a break from trying! Though sometimes it appears that way I think there's more to it.

I think Monday is just the scapegoat for perceived failures. It's a seven day loop point that reminds us of what we have, but mainly have not, accomplished in the past seven days. I mean God created everything in six days and actually got to rest once a week. What did we do? We can actually accomplish quite a bit in that time and I think when we get up on Monday morning and see that we haven't we become bitter. We're bitter at the dead end job, the financial circumstance, or the strained relationship that didn't get resolved in the past week which leaves us greeting Monday with an "oh, it's you again". But instead of beating ourselves up, or beating up Monday on our behalves, let's try something different.

I think creating a happy occasion brightens everyone's day. Think about if Christmas or your birthday fell on a Monday. We wouldn't be thinking about how bad Monday was! We'd look forward to it even throughout the weekend.

Why not create some sort of Monday tradition? Maybe you could buy a special breakfast you wouldn't normally. Even better maybe you could buy breakfast for all of your coworkers. Buying a free biscuit breakfast for my coworkers costs about $12 and brightens everyone's Monday. It's always worth it.

I present that we make Monday more than mundane and make it a day of blessing. I challenge you to do something nice for someone else, no matter how big or small, today and every Monday and see if it changes how you think about Mondays. I think we'll find that the less we think about ourselves, and the more we think about helping others, the more we'll feel like we've really accomplished something over the week and the better Monday's will be for us and everyone we come in contact with.

Now what shall we call it now that Mondayne doesn't work? Help me find a new name for our weekly day of giving or at least make a name for it in your actions. Happy Monday!

Today's Church Scam Takes The Cake

"My name's Deacon So and So. and uhm, Mike Somebody is the bishop and we're with Church Inc and we're trying to raise some money for a 12 year old boy who is getting a kidney transplant at that hospital right up there."

"Where are you located?"

"Oh, we're everywhere we got a church in Dothan, in Panama, in Pensacola we're everywhere. I've got some cakes in the car and I'm selling them for $20 a piece. The money goes to that 12 year old boy."

1.) He wouldn't give the boys name, not even his first
2.) The hospital mentioned does not do kidney transplants (a doctor's wife confirmed)
3.) What church with four locations can't afford to help without going door to door in four cities? (rhetorical)
4.) The church has no website, exact address, or phone number (or name for that matter)
5.) Church Inc. really?

People often try to scam the church which always leaves me in disgust. I get all sorts of emails from Africa telling how some nun had a secret lover who was a wealthy diplomat. They both found real salvation and he died. Now she has cancer and wants to see her $1.5million invested into a good Christian church. Just send the church's account number and you'll never worry about money again. Because you won't have any! It's like a steamy romance novel with a price tag the size of your current balance.

But, like today's scam, it goes both ways. It never fails to leave me with an awkward, bad feeling when someone trys to scam in the name of the church. Whether by "fundraising", in "God told me to tell you"s, or false promises "churches" are creatively taking people's money and leaving them feeling taken advantage of.

Don't Christians have enough of a bad rap to overcome without their help? The conception is already that condemnation is our sole purpose. To have malicious thievery added to that is a crime dually. "You're not good enough the way you are, you don't dress right, you don't act right, and you don't belong here. So empty your pockets and leave!"

Pastor Gene has mentioned it before, if these televangelists really believed there was a faith machine that when you put in $100 you got back $1000, then they would be sending you a $100 bill, not asking for yours! We furthered that thought last night. There are people who genuinely need help. We can't wait for them to wander up, we have to go to them. NOT to ask for money, or what they could do for us, but what we can do for them. We don't need door to door salespeople at Crossroads because what we're selling is free!

Join me in praying for people who take advantage of people and who smear the name of the church, or worse Jesus (it will make it easier to stop being mad at them). Then join me in setting things right. One example at a time we can show people the relationship the church is supposed to have with people. Love.

Excuse me while I cool off. I'm going to go eat some lemon cake now.

Why Do Chickens Crossroads?

People tend to be afraid of things that are intended to be liberating. Like flying on an airplane. Like riding a roller coaster. Like the big hat buckle wearers who fled religion to practice their brand of faith in the freedom of a New World. No this isn't a late Thanksgiving message. But doesn't it feel strange somewhere inside that people should ever feel they have to be afraid of an oppressing religion? Yet if you think about it in the context of your life you might find a similar story.

The last church we were at...

If you've been a church goer for any length of time then you probably hear this fragment come out of your mouth right before a complaint from time to time. Perhaps it didn't feel oppressive but having left your old way of doing things in the church world you now feel liberated. Or maybe you are one of those former die hard volunteers or full-time staff members that actually did feel oppressed occasionally. In either case a body of people can easily turn a faith in to a religion of rules and rituals that stifle the freedom that faith once held. But instead of being a complainer feel the call to action. Let your holy discontent grow you in to a purpose driven believer.

It's these observations and this discontent that fueled Crossroads. It's not that we were attending somewhere horrible where they were slinging whips and locking shackles. We just had the realization that the church that was in our hearts was not for everyone. It couldn't be superimposed on another churches structure or name. And to do it we had to start something new, somewhere new. The bricks made of 'what would this be like?' the mortar of 'why not?' we began building a church that God had been training our hearts for for years.

It's not easy at all though. I just thought it was hard work on full-time staff elsewhere. Our volunteers work harder than a lot of paid gigs and I'm infinitely grateful. They wake up at the butt crack of dawn to be ready for action by 7am. They turn a cinema into a church and back every week. Why? The same reason we started this thing. No matter how hard it is it's worth it. The freedom is worth fighting for. So we fight anger, disappointment, letdowns, no-shows, worry, stress, financial hardships, fatigue, and more because it's all worth it to do church the way God put it in our hearts. And while it would be worth it to see one life changed we've seen countless lives changed and they're growing in numbers. But it's still hard.

Why do chickens Crossroads? Because they became tired of being afraid to ask questions and take steps. They began the journey as chickens and with every difficult step they grow stronger and more confident. They grow in to something else. The real answer? Chickens don't Crossroads, Roadies do! Yeah boi!

Why do you Crossroads?
(feel free to add a comment no matter how old this post is)

With Empty Hands I Fill Pages

"Hold that thought!"

And there it sits. The hands are anxious and they shake. The thought new and exciting dances in circles waiting to be released. Something must be done! But it isn't. The hands grow tired, the mind distracted, and they both lose grip. The thought leaks through the cracks and evaporates half way to the ground. The thought is gone.

It's for two reasons that I reluctantly begin my first official blog:
1.) I can't lie awake at night thinking thoughts only to have them lost in my dreams. I must put them somewhere where they won't be forgotten (no matter how embarrassing that might be).
2.) if I'm going to put them somewhere shouldn't they be available to the public? If for no other reason than probability some thoughts are bound to be entertaining, insightful, or if I'm lucky, helpful.

But that said, I'm not a whole lot. I'm not a writer, even though I'm writing now. I'm not a teacher, though I often find myself teaching. I'm certainly not proficient with the English language, yet my tongue insists on slaughtering it daily. I'm not perfect, but I have a tendency to be a perfectionist. What I'm not is also what I am. I'm not you, but we're just the same.

My thoughts double as a time machine as they spend more time in the future than here in the present. I have visions and dreams of greatness and accomplishments of mediocrity. But that's all changing as I'm giving my thoughts, visions, and dreams cement and letting them pave the way.

I've found like-minded dreamers and together our thoughts are becoming tangible. Together we are building families, businesses, and communities. As God renews our minds our thoughts are capable of mapping out paths that lead to His perfect plan for us. And down this yellow brick road we find the Wonderful Wizard of Cause, establishing our purpose and inviting others to theirs.

So instead of holding my thoughts and letting them slip away, I pledge to use the very same hands that cradle them to carve them, one peck at a time, into my virtual wall. God tends to take my nothings and make them into somethings, so it's with empty hands I fill pages.