Quiet Strength

Last night we were talking about Colossians' description of what person looks like who is glorifying (amplifying, lifting up) God's name in the world. In midst of some straightforward practical ideas: compassion, forgiveness, love; we came across and flew by one aspect that I think is a totally misunderstood word today.

Meekness

When I think of meekness, which is hard considering we don't ever used that word anymore, I tend to think of a mild-mannered servant, a weak little child content to play in the sand, or some other picture of weakness and inability to fend for oneself. Perhaps it's because "meek" sounds a lot like weak but that couldn't be further away from what meekness means at all!
Meekness (in it's Greek origin) was a word earliest used by farmers. It referred to a colt or young horse who was obedient and controlled-itself. Not that it was a weak horse, actually it could very well be the strongest horse the owner had. It didn't refer to the horses strength but actually, it's ABILITY TO CONTROL IT'S STRENGTH.
Meekness is simply this:

Power Under Control.

Being angry just because you can be is one thing. Staying out all night, shirking off homework to go to a concert is easy. Just because you can do something doesn't mean it's the right or even strong thing to do. As we get older we get more and more freedom, power, and influence in our world, especially from the ages of 12-21. Abusing that power is easy. Not being meek with your freedom is like a toddler who, having just learned to walk, runs around as fast as it can smashing into stuff, breaking lamps, and hitting it's head on everything. Is that strong? No. Powerful? No. Just a little bit of freedom, being completely missused.
I like how the "Message" Bible (if you don't have one, get one) by Eugene Peterson, translates meekness. It instead refers to it as quiet strength. Quiet strength reminds me of Clark Kent. (I know, here's the nerdy part) Think about it. Superman is the power, and ability. But his alter ego Clark is the strength. Day after day he holds back showing off, getting back at co-workers and so much more not because he is weak, but to protect his parents and the people he cares about, at the same time he does use his strength when it's needed most, to help others.
Its almost impossible to imagine how this particular trait could be essential in glorifying Gods name, doesn't it? I mean, to live life with that kind of control seems like it wouldn't bring attention to anything, much less Gods work in your life. I don't think it has as much to do with whether it bring Gods name attention as much as THE KIND OF ATTENTION IT BRINGS. Think back to the farmers colt from the beginning of this post. A young horse acting crazy, bucking around making a mess isnt actually all that extraordinary is it? The horse may be thinking everyone is noticing him, that he is being "original" and "out of the box" but actually he is just doing what most other colts do. Nothing really different or special. If he brings any attention to himself or his owner at all, it's negative. But the young horse who displays quiet strength, who stands at attention awaiting orders, then moving with precision executes them; THAT gets noticed. That is different, original, and out of the box. And both the colt and it's owner gets noticed in the end.


PS- As we get closer to the Amplify launch. Make it your objective to be meek, be STRONG, and above all else...

Amplify.

Tonight at rodeo

Hey guys,
Tonight there is a freeze warning and in case you haven't noticed their are flurries outside! In Alabama!
The bonfire is cancelled.
Instead, we shall seek warmth at Rodeo restaurant.
Please bring money for food, if you would like to eat, and remember to bring your thinking caps and opinions as the message will have small group element.
Also, if you need a ride, meet up at the annex at 6:30.
Otherwise, we will at rodeo.
Later everyone!

Expecto Patronum: a post for Potter fans!

It's funny how no matter what an authors personal beliefs are, God has a way of sneaking into almost every fantasy story one could read. It is really amazing, actually. Everything from the obvious Chronicles of Narnia, and Lord of the Rings; to even stories like the Golden Compass (Yes, I'm aware that it was written by an overt atheist, stay with me please), and Harry Potter.
I came across one such glimpse of God, this past week. As nerdy as it sounds, some friends and I were looking up the etymology of various phrases and saw the Latin derivative for Harry potters famous patronus charm. "expecto patronum". For those of you not into Harry Potter, that is the name of a spell Harry learned, which uses a powerful memory from the caster to protect them from evil, mostly dark deadly creatures known as dementors.
The words themselves are so cool because they come from Latin literally meaning "I await a protector!" even cooler to note it's not just a phrase of wishful thinking, but also carries within the first word the derivative for "expectation" To imagine that when Harry was facing his darkest demons and has no where else to turn, he lifts his wand to heavens and shouts with all his might "I await a protector. Not only that, I EXPECT it!". If you ask me it sounds a lot like the story of a man in psalms who was experiencing a dark time, and when it had become the darkest He raised up a prayer. "Hosanna!" he shouted. In his language, it meant "save me" but to his people it become more, because with it there was a air of hope and expectation. "I await salvation. It Expect it!" this was the hope that carried the Jewish people through their darkest centuries, await the coming of the "Patronus" the Protector. The savior. Speaking of which here is an interested part that second word.

Who is the Protector?
When Harry shouts expect patronum (I await a protector), his protector or "patronus" takes the form of his Dads animagus form. A stag.
Interestingly, the very word "patronus" in Latin has a DOUBLE meaning. Not just protector, but also (from the root "patros") it means "FATHER". Think "patriarch" or even "lord".
Sound familiar?
In Hebrew we would say "jehovah nissi" which mean "the Lord, our Protector" or even the Father, our protector. Amazing! Not to hard to come to the conclusion that God is our Patronus. Our Father, Lord, Protector.
Did JK Rowling know writing the book, the etymology of the words? Probably. Did she know the connection between those words our Lord? Probably not. Does that make the truth in these words less true. Absolutely not. Grab truth where you find it. And expel lies in the same manner.
I hope you fellow Harry potter nerds enjoyed this, have a great day"

Fruit = More Fruit

This past month we have spent a lot of time talking about fruit. Both on Wednesday night, in small group, and on Sunday morning one could hear talk of Galatians 5:22 and it's implications for our life.
One thought that has been brewing with me relates to a question I asked you guys on wednesday night. It was "What is the point of fruit at all?" the answers were such as "to be eaten", and "to make trees pretty" honestly pretty good answers considering none of us think like farmers. But if you ever by chance wanted to have a longterm, thriving apple tree grove, then you would know and even count on the purpose of fruit: to make MORE fruit.
When it comes to God's relentless passion to produce the fruit of the spirit in our lives, it can get tedious, arduous, and just annoying as God puts us in situations requiring us to give our patience, self-control, or kindness a work out. It is easy to sometimes throw up our hands and yell out "What's the freaking point!?". "Why can't I just live this life as a perfectly nice treat, die, and go to heaven; without all this painful work making my life full of fruit." it can be be so tough that we even go in some ironic directions. God could produce self-control in our lives but we become less kind. We get more faithful but lose our patience.
The key is in the purpose. Fruit exists to reproduce. That's the whole point. God doesn't put so much work into producing fruit in our live, just make us "nicer to look at" or "sweet and delicious". It is because He is so passionately in love with those neighbors of our who get on our nerves, that he grows fruit in us hoping to drop seeds onto those nearby. Does it ever cross our minds that our patience could be another's salvation. That the goodness in our lives could be the closest thing our neighbors getting to meeting God. Our joy could intersect with the fertile ground in others to cause them to start asking questions.
The scary thing is it goes both ways proverbs says in chapter 11, verse 30, in The Message.

"A good life is a fruit-bearing tree;
a violent life destroys souls."

That implies to me that not only does a life void of fruit NOT reach others, it is actually DANGEROUSLY HARMFUL to Gods purpose of salvation in the lives of our neighbors. A life of claiming to follow Christ and not having any fruit to prove it. Just shows others that Christians are full of crap. Not doing what they say they do. Why would anyone want to be apart of something that pointless looking. Think about would you rather take a big bite out of a fresh apple, or a dry, rotting tree branch?
Remember Everything is Spiritual, everything is effectual, everything is more connected with the world around us than we realize.
Like so many things about Christianity, it is rarely just about us. There is a much bigger plan. God isn't just growing a apple tree, but an entire orchard.

So let's grow. Shall we?

Moving out!

This was the last week of the underground. For me personally, it was a very bittersweet experience. Looking around, there have been conversations I can still recall had in almost every corner of the room. Questions that were asked and answered, fears talked about, then squashed under the light of christs love, and just a lot of goodhearted joking around too that happened were all recalled in every couch, and inch of wall real estate. But looking forward I am really both excited and optimistic that we will have even more people, more conversations, and more life-change in the new youth ministry as we submerse ourselves in doing all things with excellence! That if we make quality our primary concern, the quantity we take care of itself, (that has been proven for me the past 2 months, as we had over and over the best service yet, immediately followed by the best attended service yet, again and again)
Instead of ending this how I normally would with a list of my favorite things from last night, I'd like to share my favorite things about the underground as a whole.

1. Delerious and hilarious games of quelf at 3 in the morning in the lock-in!

2. Learning that the limbo is more fun when your barefoot standing on slippery soap suds!

3. Hearing that someone has decided to no be fearful of what God has planned for their future

4. Hearing someone decide to save themselves for their future spouse; that they are worth the wait

5. When the person I meet one week, becomes a best friend the next week.

6. Hearing a new song, executed well!

7. Seeing musicians grow from shy beginners to confident players!

8. Seeing Teens go from confused doubt-filled unbelievers to confident faith-filled followers of Christ!

9. Seeing people go from first-time attender to committed member. Putting themselves into making this a better experience.

10. Getting to share what I learn every week, and seeing it change your lives as much as it's changing mine.

Love you guys, have a great week.

Great entries in the game last night!!

Extinct update #4

Man, have I been lovin this series! Kinda sad to be winding it up. we have the last one next week!!
So, here are some of the super cool things we did yesterday that you may have or not have seen.

1. One chaotic, massive game of musical chairs!!! if you didn't know, it is spelled A-W-E-S-O-M-E!!
2. Highway 68 had a great time! I heard something about them using Goldfish and peanut butter, I have to go see it myself one-a-these days!
3. Jessie did announcements!! and did great even with having TONS of dates and events to talk about (no one forget about May23 youthsunday, May 29 Rummage Sale and pizza party after, and June 5 Doing papers at Bama Jam )
4. Message was tough stuff for me, personally, because I see it (or lack of it) soo much! And getting a strong grasp on using exercising discipline would completely change our lives so drastically that EVERYONE would notice. When it comes to discipline, don't just dream about, don't just try it.. Go Overboard!! Run at it, and don't look back!

NEXT week we end Extinct with one final trait... and we are going to get a first hand look at it... You don't want to miss it!!

Extinct part 3

Another one for the books! the Underground rocked here are my faves:

1. Another great job band, Sam frontin the vocals?! without a guitar in hand?! pretty great stuff. also great job, John, although you appear way more at home behind the kit! LOL!

2. Highway 68 had a GREAT kick-off!! It was awesome! I can't wait to see it in action again next week,

3. Lazy Fooseball=awesome! one of my favorite games now, next we use a beachball though.. and better instuction

4. One of the most understated topics on the planet! How to be visionary!! Not just getting caught up in the problem, but actually become a problem-solver! do you remember the 5 steps to solving a problem?

Well guys, be sure to come back next Wednesday as we start to wind up this series, We are going to hit up one of the most near extinct of all traits next week!! Same time. Same place.
Chris

BIG things next week!!

Hey everyone!
I hope you are all thoroughly enjoying your much needed and deserved week off. I just want to let you know about some things that have got me really excited about the Underground next week.

1. As we continue through this series, we are going to talk about my favorite topic of the series! Having Vision, what it means to be a visionary, how to become solution-oriented instead of problem-oriented, and we will unveil some very practical tools we can use to solve our problems from the everyday mundane situations all the way to major life-altering decisions! I'm pumped. some genuinely helpful stuff, just for you!

2. Great game planned. human fuse-ball. need I say more?

3. AND THE BIGGEST NEWS!!!!!
We will kick of our first ever wednesday night service for 6-8 grade! called Highway 68. meeting in a specially crafted room just for you guys, Just inside the entrance on the left. so be sure to invite middle schooler as well as High schoolers. it's gonna be awesome!!

Love you guys!!
see you wednesday, if not Sunday

Spriiiiing Breeaaaak!!!!

Hey guys, in honor of the one time of the year, the "powers that be" allow to escape the four walls of education and enjoy the best time to be outside; the Underground will NOT be having service tonight. So, spend this homework and study free night with friends or at home veggin out with the fam. just promise one thing: At some point today you have to go the door and see this awesome day!!!

See you guys next week as we continue...

Extinct (part 3)

Underground update: Extinct 2

Hey guys, man what a week! Honestly, it was a REALLY busy, insane week (and it's only half-way over)
but man, having the underground was such a great time! I absolutely loved it. here are my top faves:

1. It was a blast having the guys from Church at the Bay in Tampa, in on the service. awesome group of people!

2. music sounded LOUD, BLASTING, and AWESOME! just the way we like it, eh?

3. the Throwdown was a blast! the box relay was hilarious to see! good job stephanie with going all out at the end carrying the massive refrigerator box! and mad props to Josh for the fast play bringing home the gold!

4. Hannah fantastic job as always! (again, sorry for putting up there 1 1/2 times, lol!)

5. Possibly my favorite message yet at the underground. this series is great! talking about having the  COURAGE to follow Christ in all we do. awesome

6. the greatest position of courage you'll ever see isn't a fireman who selflessly runs into a burning building or even a courageous soldier fighting for his country, but a position of UTTER SURRENDER to Christ!

7. in order for us to abandon fear, we have to believe God will not abandon us (Joshua 1:1-9)

EXTINCT

Last week, we started a new series called Extinct. Once upon a time, these large incredible creatures roamed the earth, then they were gone; everything changed. the same thing is happening every day. animals go extinct and it changes everything in the area around it. The food chain gets tipped off balance, other animals who were supposed to be kept in check begin to run rampant.

The bottom line. When something goes Extinct it changes everything.

That why we have the Endangered Species list. When the population of a species gets dangerously low. They get on the list. they are watched closely, and we do what we can to prevent that Extinction. 

We have a list too. the Endangered Character trait list.

It's a list of Character trait that are vital to the world we live in; and if they were to dissapear, the world would be drastically different- and not for the better each week, starting this week, we are looking at each of these and asking ourselves, "What can we do to prevent their extinction. the list is

Courage

Vision

Discipline

Endurance

Come check it out tomorrow, as we start with Courage, and why it isn't just for the military, superheroes, and firemen, and learn how important it is that we work out our courage muscle every day, and do everything we can to prevent it's extinction in our life. 

See You There,

  

big changes

This week The youth group from Church at the Bay in Tampa have come into town, to help us at Crossroads and what a great job they have been doing!! also, our own Randy Grimes has been hard at work on building a wall for a great new experience come soon that I can't reveal at this time. It's so exciting to see what's going on!! The group from Church at the Bay will also, be staying in town long enough to come to our Underground service on Wednesday night, so be sure to give them a HUGE Underground welcome!!!

It's see you guys Wednesday!

Update from wednesday. Extinct 1

Another GREEAT night at the Underground, everyone. I am loving this.

Here’s the list:

One of the coolest and most unique things about our youth is obvious when you first walk in the door. Hearing every teen in the room shout “Welcome to the Underground!!” Very reminiscent of the Moe’s vibe when you come in. kinda loud, a little weird, but totally welcomeing, incredibly fun, and I like it a lot!!

2.Band was great!! lot’s of energy. great job guys!

Thanks to Brad Wood for donating our 2nd fooseball table. combining it with the one donated by Justin Eshelman, we now have plenty of foosing to go around

Huge shout out to Billy for making those enormous dinosaur skeletons!! It looked like we had museum pieces in there. it was awesome!!

Love the direction of this new series, Extinct. be ready for more about Dinos and building Godly Character next week!

Love you guys,

Later!

We are the Underground: Night 3

Hey guys,
I LOVED the service last night. We had a great time and shared some great stuff. I'm so blessed that God let's me be apart of all this awesome stuff He is doing! Despite some tech glitches we still had a great service!

-Pic Wall!!!! Introduced Street Team Wall element. took everyone's pic and put on the wall which looked soo cool!

- Thanks John for doing a rad job with announcements!

- Band Rocked!! Caleb did an awesome job leading the band, which all sounded great!

- Loved the new song!!

- Message was one of my favorites about going above and beyond what the world expects from it's teenagers.
- unveiled our teaming up with mocha club to show God's love to far away places!


Here are some comments on the cards:

"I love Crossroads!"

"Band was Beast!!!"

"I <3 you guys!"

"Fun night, good music, good message, great cause!"

and my fave:

"CHAIR SCRAMBLE!!!!!!"

have a great week guys!
see ya next week!

Underground Update 031710

Super awesome night!!! We are having a blast! If you missed it, be sure to be there this week and have a great time with us!

1. Music was great! total concert vibe with no chairs!

2. CHAIR SCRAMBLE!!!! new element to the service. awesome! complete with a great soundtrack featuring Donte on vocals and sam on the "chug, chug, squeeeal!"

3. Great to introduce the First Ten Team! another new element charged with taking care of the hugely important "first ten minutes" of a visitors first time visit to the Underground.

4. Got introduced to 4 new peeps!! WOOT!!!

5. Two people made first time decisions to follow Christ!! SAWWEET!! and 9 folks took it deeper in a small group!

Comments that were made on Cards included

" I <3 Crossroads"

"Fun Night! Lack of chairs in the beginning is a lovely and clever idea"

"Go Toner!! Bahaha"  (LOL!!) (had to be there to understand)

"I liked the band and lighting! Awesome! :)"

"I got hit with a chair. AWESOOMME!!" (from a first timer)

"Enjoyed it! HAD FUN! :D"



Love what's happening! Absolutely can't wait for unveil some more new elements next week!!!

Latta folks!!

Suggestions?

Hey guys.
All month we're talking about the Underground and what it is, and what it could be.
Since all this talk and thought, I'm wondering what you guys think.
What would you like to see at the underground?

Changes?

new stuff?

any ideas at all?

there are no dumb answers, everything is on the table.
watcha think?

Chili Cook-off!!!

Hey everyone,
Just a friendly reminder that we are having our 2nd annual Chili Cook-off tomorrow night at 7:00 at the annex!!!
 It's going to be a chance to really have a great time together so don't miss it!!
Wear whatever attire you wish and bring you appetite!
It's a fundraiser for our youth group "The Underground"
so there is a $5 cover charge.

See you there!!

We are the underground!! hear us roar!!!

Hey guys,
had a great time last night!
let's do it again next week eh?LOL!
It was awsome, sooooo:

1> I looooove silly string. lol! throwdown was great!

2>Band sounded good. keep it up guys!

3> Met a first timer. Nice to meet ya Zach!

4> the biggie: 2 folks made commitments to follow Jesus!!! WOOT!!

See you guys next week. same time. same place.

THROWDOWN NIGHT ROCKED!!

What an awesome night!
For those who missed it we had a blast, got covered in slime, made a lotta noise and watched some great videos! It gets me really pumped for the Cardboard Tube Fighting Tournament coming up actually! (It's been WAY too long!) BTW, the date is over on the right side of this page in the "What's Happening" list.
Thanks for coming everyone and have a grand rest of the week!

Pastor Chris

PS- What was your favorite game or video from Throwdown night?? Comment Plz.

Where's the Love?

I had a great time at the Underground last night.
We ended up parking on this one concept regard hate and intolerance.
That our preferences often be come our prejudices
What a huge take-away!
    And why should we care at all anyway?
I mean, what the big deal if I prefer people who are more like me?
1 John 2:11 says
Whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.

Hate is blinding.

When we hate others we become blind to the whole story. Blind to the extent of God's grace and it's life-changing power.

So, in your world, may you show God's love in powerful and tangible ways, and be on guard against hate, so that no one around will be able to ask. "Where is the love?"

lovehatelovehatelovehatelovehate

Hate paralyzes life; Love released it.

Hate confuses life; Love harmonizes it.

Hate darkens life; Love illuminates it.

                                 -Martin Luther King Jr


Two opposing forces.
Come to the Underground Feb 10 As we start a new series
It's a love/hate relationship

Underground Update #012710

Hey guys n gals.
another grrrrreat night!!  Let's cut to the chase,

• 47 teens in the house! awesome! be sure to keep inviting friends.
• hugely epic (and quick) cardboard tube fight!! That was definitely one for the books. 
• I really enjoyed this message. finally in the book of Proverbs. I got to share one of my fave verses Proverbs 27:11 and talking about the importance of reading the Bible for ourselves. I don't think I have have a bigger soapbox than that one. What is the point of having a book spanning 1,500 years of wisdom and truth, and NOT read it?? 
• This one has to be mentioned. HACKY SAC game outside the annex after church was a BLAST!!

Love you all. See you in two weeks.
Pastor Chris.

Underground Update 012010

Another Awesome Night!!
here you go:

1) Hang time great as always
2) Lynn did great with announcements, despite having a killer headache. awesome!!
3) New guy on stage Lennon, handled the Throwdown with skill! Balloon tag went shorter than I thought but still looked pretty  fun.
4) All Offering is going to Haiti. Thank God that we can leverage this, as an opportunity to show the world Christ!
5) So the message: Continued in 1 kings 3. talk about Solomon's eventful morning after the dream. All of these experiences leading to the writing of Proverbs... It's coming!

Here's the roll-in

Wisdom in 140 Characters or Less from Justin Eshelman on Vimeo.

What we need, When we need it.

So,  last night we started this new series called "Wisdom in 140 Characters or less"

  Have you noticed that has gotten so easy to get the info you want right when you want it lately? We have networks for important information transfer like Wikipedia, HowStuffWorks, youtube, and Google that get us all the info we need on so many topics. Even keeping up with friends. We've got Facebook and Myspace for keeping up on all of our friends that we normally would be able to keep in touch with. and with Twitter it gets faster, as the fluff is taken out and everything is stripped to just "in 140 Character" here is what's up. It's awesome! I love it!
   But what about the questions that are really important. I mean, seriously important. "Should I date him?, Do I need to hang out with them? What should I be like at this new job? What should I do with this new money that comes with this new job? What the way people are treating me, How do I deal with that? My family is moving, How should I react? My parents want me to stop doing this, but I don't know." It would be great if their way straight-to-the-point insight into the questions we all have about life.

A place to find real Wisdom.

What's great is their is a book in the Bible that deals exactly with this stuff. What's even better is it does it in a way that doesn't beat around the bush, or mince words but gets straight to the point. But before we go there I think we should go to the author of this book and find the source of his wisdom that resulted in writing such content.

The author is a man named Solomon.
He was the son of the greatest king Israel had ever known; and. when he was still young he inherited the kingdom himself. Feeling very ill-equipped and unqualified, he spent a restless night wondering how to handle all this power and responsibility.
That night God came to him in a dream and said "Solomon, ask of me anything you want! name it! it's yours!" Solomon then asked for one thing. something I don't think I would have asked for to be honest, But something that changed the course of his life for ever.

He asked for wisdom.

What?!?!

Wisdom in 140 characters update.

Hey everyone,
Without further ado, here are my big takeaways from last night.

• Thanks again to all the volunteers lending their very valuable time to make it a great night you guys rock!!
• Great to get back into it! Gosh I missed the Underground. It really feels like a year since we last met.
• Band sounded great. last song rocked!! "Take,Take,Take it All!!!!!!!!"
• Loved kicking off this new series. What a great way to pursue wisdom. First by asking for it.
• You guys are awesome thanks for coming!!

New Series. January-February

Here's a little snippet of where we're going the next two months.



Wisdom in 140 Characters or Less from Justin Eshelman on Vimeo.



Bring your Bibles and Phones.