Setting Your Roots

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

I think we all have a verse we often "go to" and find encouraging. Which do you find most encouraging? Mine is not the usual: Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. James 1:2-3 (NLT) I am drawn to this verse because it doesn't sugar-coat things. We are going to face trials in life. We are going to have struggles. We can't be sheltered, shelter our faith, or shelter our loved ones from trials in life. But there is good news, God gives us strength from our struggles.

You may have already heard the story of the trees in the Arizona Bio-dome. The Bio-dome was a project where scientists tried to produce an isolated and yet self-sustainable environment fully enclosed in a dome. There was a pond, fish, plants, and some trees. What they found however, was that after a few years some of the trees would mysteriously fall down. It turns out that inside the controlled bio-dome environment there was no wind, and without the wind to shake the trees, their roots did not dig in as deep or develop as well to help support the trees. The trees needed to be tested for their endurance to develop. The trees needed the wind to test them and push them to become stronger. The same is true of seeds planted indoors. Gardeners recommend that seeds planted in places where they are sheltered indoors be "hardened" before they are planted outside. Hardening involved placing the sprouting plants outside for an hour or two a day. As the plant is exposed to direct sunlight and wind, it grows stronger. Each day it is left outside for a longer period of time and after a week it will be strong enough to be planted outside.

When I think about some of the things I have gone through in my past I see how God formed me as well: my first job out of college was as a supervisor for a trucking company. I was a scared, shy, kid with little self confidence. Suddenly I was in a situation where I was in charge of 20 angry teamsters who wanted to argue and intimidate me because I was the one giving out job duties. It really challenged me and there were times when I didn't want to be there or dreaded going into work because I knew there was going to be complaining and arguing. But after time, I realized how God used it to make me stronger mentally and able to diffuse angry people.

According to James, this happens with our faith as well. He breaks it down in verses 9-15. Being poor is a blessing because it makes you stronger. Being rich is a blessing because it is an opportunity to test your humility. If you can come through temptation, you will be stronger. Not saying to throw yourself into the path of temptation or trials; James makes it clear that although it is an opportunity to be stronger, that does not mean it is from God. But think of it this way, if we shelter ourselves from trials, will our faith have the opportunity to truly grow? Sometimes holding yourself away may be victory, but sometimes you need to have the confidence to address trials and temptations. When you do, consider it a blessing knowing you will come away stronger.

Listen to Me for a Minute

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

Raising two small children and observing them has really helped me to differentiate some things that are human nature and others which are taught. Now that my kids are four and two, I feel qualified to say that listening is a learned skill because it certainly does not seem to be something which comes naturally. Or at least being a good listener. Which leads to the question, what is a good listener? It is not just someone who can sit there quietly and nod their head. It is not simply processing information. Good listening also involves knowing how to respond appropriately.

Listening is such a simple thing, yet why is it so tough to do? Let me give an example: Asking kids to wash their hands before dinner seems reasonable right? When I ask my kids to do that I expect them to listen to me and as a response, wash their hands. But how would you feel if you asked your kids to wash their hands and as a response they came back to you saying that they memorized what you said? That they did a word study and learned about the historical context of hand washing. That they can now say "go wash your hands" in Greek and Hebrew. Hey, those things are fantastic but I could care less if there was still dirt on their hands. What if they completely ignored you and pretended you weren't there? Or ran away to the other room? Or turned the TV up so they couldn't hear you? Or even said "yes I'll wash my hands" and then got distracted by toys on the way to the sink? Get where I am going with this? Unfortunately, these are all responses my kids sometimes give me when I ask them to do something simple like wash their hands. And for many people, this is their response when it comes to listening to God.

But there is good news, we can learn to be different. We can learn to be good listeners. My personal prayer life was revolutionized as I learned to listen to God instead of throwing everything I wanted at Him. There was nothing wrong with the things I wanted, it just wasn't what God wanted. Being a good listener, as easy as it sounds, isn't something which happens right away, I had to learn how to shut off my own junk. I had to learn how to listen when I prayed, listen when I read Scripture, and listen to counsel from brothers and sisters in Christ. And then, if it went along with the teachings of Jesus, I had to learn how to respond appropriately. Not to respond by saying "wow, that was powerful" or "I really feel convicted" and then do nothing. I responded by taking action. By following where God led me. My life is completely different than I would have predicted ten years ago because I let go of my own dreams and listened to what God desired for me. Listening in prayer frees us, it frees us from our own hopes and desires. It lets us get past the things that we want and get a perspective on the bigger picture of what God wants. Go and practice listening in your prayer, not asking God for something you want, asking God what HE wants.

It's that simple: listen, and if it is reflected in the teachings of Jesus, go do it.

Pastor Mark

Productive or Fruitful?

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

Do you have a garden in your backyard? My family started one this past year and we have had a great time with it. It has forced me to be more patient since no matter how hard I work I can't make the fruit grow any faster. I can see why so often in Scripture, the analogy is about farming, gardening, or growing. But for many of us, our lives are just the opposite. American life, especially in Silicon Valley, lends itself to a lifestyle of "production." The problem of course is that when we have a lifestyle geared towards production, we tend to view our spiritual life along those same terms: if I try harder and work harder i can be more successful spiritually. At my old job in the transportation industry, my success was measured in how productive I was. Even on the weekends when I wasn't working, it felt like the same mindset penetrated my day: a good Saturday was about how many of my tasks or chores I was able to check off my list. Spiritually, I wanted to get closer to God so I threw myself into everything I could: school, reading books, volunteering for everything I could. But in the end, it didn't really work out so well. I wasn't really fruitful because I was focused on what I needed to do.

In my experience, Spiritually works very differently. The goal, like in gardening, is to be fruitful, and there is only so much we can do to get that to happen. No matter how hard we try, we can't control the process. We can't force the Holy Spirit to work in us or through us. What we can do is cultivate an environment where we can listen to what God is saying. We can prepare ourselves by recognizing that God has control, not us. What God has in store for us is a mystery, we need to learn how to partner with that mystery. When I garden, I don't know when it will rain, or how the frost will hit my plants. What I need to do is to learn how to recognize and be in a situation where I can respond appropriately. How different is that from our Spiritual lives? We don't have control of what God is going to do or send our way. What we can do is put ourselves in a position where, when given the opportunity, we know how to respond and our response is automatic. A few months ago, Pastor John showed this video of a bus driver who noticed a woman on an overpass and stopped her from jumping. Noticing the situation and reacting appropriately are not traits which the bus driver "just has." It is a compassion that has been cultivated in him for a long time so that when opportunity arose his response was automatic and natural.

Cultivating such an environment means we are not waiting for the Holy Spirit to do it all for us. It does not mean that we take it all on ourselves. It means that we have an ongoing relationship with God so that we can listen to what He is saying and partner with Him. Such a partnership makes us stronger than we could ever be on our own. Our relationship with God, as with any relationship, grows and changes over time. We have to be intentional about cultivating an environment for the relationship to be healthy, we have set aside time to spend together in the relationship. We don't look for short term results but rather an overall healthy partnership for the long haul. That is what I want to encourage you to do today; to approach your relationship with God as you would in planting a garden: cultivate a healthy environment, realize that you have limited control, and remember that the goal is fruitfulness, not production.

Service With A Smile

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

As you may know, I lived in Southern California for about seven years and one very important lesson i learned was that if you are going to eat fast food, Chick-Fil-A is the best alternative to a beef hamburger. But what makes them successful is not just the taste of their food; I was reminded of this the other night while ordering. Before I even had a chance to taste their chicken i was greeted with a "how may I serve you today?" and after I received my food they let me know that "it was my pleasure to serve you today." Now granted, I'm not naive enough to think that some teenager was that excited to see me specifically. But it does not come across as fake either, I have no doubt most people really do enjoy working there; and as a response they enjoy serving customers. Compare that to some other service jobs, how often is the first thing you hear from the cashier "$6.87 please"?

I had a similar experience last night. Sunnyvale Community Services is non-profit organization which helps out local families in need. One of the ways they help is through the "Christmas Store" which is an opportunity for people to pick out food and gifts for their families. Last night a team of about 20 Crosswalkers served the clients in various capacities. My job was to help people carry the gifts and food to their cars and I have to say, I loved every minute of it. Part of it was seeing the joy and relief of the people as they received a cart full of groceries and gifts that their kids would enjoy. One woman was trying not to cry as I loaded up her car and told her "Merry Christmas" and how much God blessed her. It wasn't just receiving gifts and food that made a difference, people respecting and caring for her made a difference.

I was recently reading a study of John 21:15-19 - that's the one where Jesus asks Peter three times if he loves Him and tells him how to respond. There are a lot of fascinating things to note in this passage but don't get carried away with the details. There is no denying that Jesus is making a simple point to Peter - if you love me, you will take care of those I love. Notice that Jesus takes the time to tell us why we should serve - He is not giving out a military command to serve blindly. He could have told Peter "go take care of my people" and Peter would have done it. But something else is involved in caring for others. Jesus makes it a point that motivation is important: caring for others is a response to our love for Him. When our motivation is a response to God's love, how can it not be done with a good attitude? If we go into serving others with a bad attitude and do it because we feel "we have to," is it really a response of love and gratitude? Are we really caring for people if we do it with the wrong attitude? Or just going through the motions?

At the end of our time at Sunnyvale Community Services last night I thanked the man who coordinated for Crosswalk: Leigh Ochinero. He responded humbly by mentioning that he really didn't do much: made a couple of phone calls, sent a few e-mails. But I don't see anything in the Bible that tells us that quantity is what matters. What matters is heart and motivation. I can't know the intentions of someone's heart, but I think Leigh did everything he did because he cares about people in the community. He wasn't doing it to get attention or for pats on the back. He can see what a difference it makes helping people in the community. I can tell you that Sunnyvale Community Services is a solid organization which is doing something wonderful to help people in Sunnyvale. They aren't just blindly giving things away, they know each one of the clients, know their stories and why they need help. They are an organization we can partner with and invest in, knowing they are diligent in caring for the community and i hope that we can get more interest to partner with them more often throughout the year.

Last Friday I was also able to serve at another ministry we do: KidsClub at San Miguel School. Let me give you a little background for this one. Our Life Group had just finished of a study of the book Crazy Love and felt compelled to serve the community. We dedicated an evening to pray together for what we should do. The very next day another local church called me and told me about a ministry they needed help with called KidsClub. KidsClub is an after school Bible study for elementary kids at a local public school. They were in desperate need for volunteers. Since it was something we had just prayed about the night before how could I say no? One of the Life Group members volunteered to take the lead in coordinating our people. Crosswalk now has a team of seven regular volunteers who teach the Bible after hours at a public school. It is not an easy ministry and takes a lot of work, but there is no way I could see any of the volunteers there for any reason other than caring for the kids; joyfully teaching the Bible in a response to God's love. When I went for the first time last week, Vera Masters and I led a small group of kids. We spoke with the kids about how Typhoon Haiyan affected the Philippines and Vera shared a little about her experience in the Philippines on last summer's mission trip there. Later, at snack time, one of the kids was supposed to pray for the snack and instead prayed for the people affected by the typhoon. If teachers just "go through the motions" with the class, personal stories like that would not be shared. Caring for each other in response to Jesus' love is infectious. Our motivations matter. They make a difference.

Remember that as you serve: it is not an obligation, no one is forcing you to do it. It is a response to God's love.

trying to follow,
Pastor Mark

Putting it All Together

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

One of the most important reasons to be a part of a church is the connections we build with each other. We become brothers and sisters in Christ - but what good is that if we don't share, learn, grow, and transform from those bonds? Hebrews 10:24-25 (ESV) says "And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." The word "encouraging" there is parakaleo - it is not just saying we should go around patting each other on the back every Sunday. Parakaleo means "to come along side" and to "comfort, console, encourage, urge, appeal, exhort" which sounds a lot more like the way you treat a brother or sister than a Sunday acquaintance. And that is a problem right? If the church is not a building but all of us who are brothers and sisters in Christ; and if we are to be brothers and sisters by coming along side each other, how can we do so if we only interact one day a week for about 90 minutes? How can we comfort, console, encourage, urge, appeal, and exhort with each other if we don't really know each other? Facebook is not the answer, I'll tell you that much.

But before we go there, let's take a step back. Last week I wrote about sharing the Good News through relationship and by being a witness. But that is just the first step. The goal of evangelizing through relationship should not be to simply get people to come to church. It should be to show them love, develop a bond with them, to bring them to the place where being a part of a church together is a natural piece of the relationship. If they choose a different church, it doesn't matter, continue to build on it. Building on those relationships is just the first piece of the brotherhood and sisterhood, and it is not confined to new followers either. Being a part of a church gives us several outlets to "come along side" our brothers and sisters. There are three that the leadership here at Crosswalk wants to encourage and I want to touch on each of those and how they relate to each other: Equipping Small Groups, Life Transformation Groups, and Discipleship.

Equipping Small Groups

We consider all of the small groups here at Crosswalk to be "equipping" because what you receive from groups is not meant to be held in, but then turned and shared back out. But small groups are where the sharing and relationships go from the five minute conversation you have on a Sunday to something deeper. You go from "acquaintance" to "friend." You pray for each other, you learn together, you share your experiences together, you serve together. Small groups are where you can learn from people's perspectives, opinions, and experience. When you are a part of the small group, it doesn't matter if you know people or not, you get to know them better through it. As you get to know people, you find out who can be in an LTG with you and who could benefit from your discipleship - or if you could benefit from theirs. If you aren't part of a small group, I highly encourage it. It is not a place of judgement but rather a place of learning and connection. I have never attended a church and truly felt like I was a part of the community without being a part of a small group. I got to know my wife in a small group, I proposed on a group camping trip, and half our wedding party was from the group. Our current group includes a doctor, a teacher, someone who helped fight sex-trafficking in India, and even people who have traveled to Tibet. I would have had no idea if I did not spend more time with them than Sunday. The point is, you get to know people and build some deep, long-lasting connections in small groups. Studying the Word is an essential part of group, but being connected with people and sharing life is important too.

Life Transformation Groups (LTGs)

Out of my current small group, I was invited to join an LTG with two other guys and it has been great so far. There is no leader in an LTG - everyone is considered an equal. That opens things up for the group to discuss what is going on in their lives in intimate detail and for mutual accountability. To me, the most important part of an LTG, the part where transformation comes from, is that accountability is not just about staying away from sin. It is about where you are going, what you are actively doing to improve your life, what you are actively doing to further God's Kingdom, and what you are actively doing to passionately demonstrate the love of Jesus. When someone asks you those questions each week, and you know they are, you make sure you have something to share with them. The guys in my LTG have encouraged me in my leadership, held me accountable to what I say I want to work on, and given me confidence to take the next step.

Discipleship

In this context, it is also known as mentorship. There are different types of discipleship but I am going to focus on mentorship since that is what I have had experience in. What is a disciple? It is a follower. Literally. A couple of weeks ago Pastor John preached on discipleship and spoke about disciples following a Rabbi into the bathroom so they did not miss anything. When you are in a discipleship/mentor relationship with someone you study Scripture together but you also discuss how it affects your life, how to live out Christian principles, and it is a sharing of experience and Scripture. My inner geek relates it to Yoda and Luke. Ideally, you should be learning from one individual while teaching another. In his book Multiply, Francis Chan says making disciples is not just gathering pupils to listen to your teaching. "...it's all about being faithful to God's call to love the people around you. It's about loving those people enough to help them see their need to love and obey God. It's about bringing them to the Savior and allowing Him to set them free from the power of sin and death and transform them into loving followers of Jesus Christ. It's about glorifying God by obediently making disciples who will teach others to love and obey God." The young man I had the privilege of teaching had a profound effect on my life. I have no doubt that he will go on to other greater mentors than myself and far exceed anything I have accomplished, and it has been a joy to see him grow and transformed by God into someone who does not just seek God, but seeks to honestly follow Jesus. It all started with going out to lunch together and discussing Scripture - and now he will be a lifelong friend. Making disciples has many forms, this is the one I have experience in and I feel is a powerful way to pass on and share the love of Jesus.

For all of these, I would suggest starting with a small group. Get to know people, build relationships, be encouraged and walk alongside each other. As you get to know people better, find a few peers with whom you can be mutually accountable with. Find someone else whom you can disciple and take them out to lunch - and see where it goes. God has given each of us amazing experiences in life, share them with your brothers and sisters. Many of you are probably thinking that all sounds nice but you don't have time for it. Others are probably thinking you don't have enough experience for it. Start with a small group, pray about the rest. Don't hesitate when God gives you the opportunity.

What's a Witness?

originally posted on www.crosswalkchurch.com

When I first started working at Crosswalk, I wrote a post about how God changed me through Crosswalk. Now it is over a year later and I am still excited about what is happening at Crosswalk, especially Stepping Forward. I'm talking about Stepping Forward as what our church is focused on, our redefined mission. I'm talking about being a community who passionately demonstrates the love of Jesus by pursuing truth, choosing sacrifice, serving all people, and making disciples. This is not just a sermon series, this is an ongoing conviction about who we are and what we do. When I read that mission, when I pray about it, there is one obvious thing I keep coming back to: it is about our relationships, as followers of Jesus, with others. Sharing the Good News with people is not just something we say, it is the way we live, it is who we are.

There are many ways to share the Good News with people and none of them are wrong; except the one where no one knows about your faith. In today's postmodern society, people want to know that you care about them, as an individual. Several wise people have told me that. Asking a stranger if they know about Jesus doesn't have the same impact that it used to because there are very few people in America who don't know who Jesus is.  TV, movies, the internet, etc. have changed all that. People know who Jesus is, but they really don't care. Or they think that Christians don't really act at all like Jesus did, so why bother following Him? Are they wrong to think that way? No, because I have known a lot of Christians who were filled with hate and anger, and that is what defined and drove them. But that is also very few Christians. Most of them are good, kind, loving, and compassionate. How do we get society to change and embrace Christianity? By being the type of person they want to be around, by letting them know who we are. By developing caring relationships with people, and talking about what Jesus has done for us - and when it is done in the context of an ongoing relationship, people know that you are coming from a place of genuine caring.

I used to be afraid to talk to people about my faith, not wanting to admit I was a Christian thinking that it would push them away.  But the verse that kept coming back to me was Acts 1:8 - "and you will have power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  First of all, this was the last thing Jesus said to the disciples before ascending to Heaven. Seems to me that whenever I go out of town for a while I want to make sure that the last thing I say is what I don't want people to forget. Those last minute instructions which are the most important. A lot of people focus on the power of the Holy Spirit in that text, but I look at what Jesus is telling them to do. Be witnesses - which means sharing what we have experienced in our own lives. What God has done for us in our lives. How the Bible has changed us. As God continues to work in our lives, it is reflected in the way we live.

At my last job, my boss was an Atheist and during one of our first conversations he found out I was a Christian. Immediately he started to tell me about a previous coworker of his who would constantly "share the Good News" with him. He couldn't stand her because she didn't want to have a conversation about it, she would only tell her side, and it was patronizing to him. The easy thing to do would be to wipe the dust off my feet, say he doesn't want to hear what I have to say and then move on. But I listened to what he had to say. In our conversations I was very open with him about what God had done and was continuing to do in my life, but in the context of personal conversation. After a year, he had begun initiating conversations with me: when I told him the story of how I found the job at Crosswalk, he even admitted that while he didn't believe in God, it sure seemed that God gave me the job. A few months later, he told me that his wife and kids had decided to go to church, and while he didn't go himself, he encouraged them to see what it was all about. I'm not saying he is accepting Christ or anything, but I am saying that there are other ways to look at evangelism. Listen to people, value who they are and their views.  Share with them about how you are experiencing God. In other words, build an ongoing, caring relationship with them which is not just about sharing the Word. It is about being a friend and caring about them, and wanting to share with them what is happening in your life.

I look back at my life and see how God working through a family who cared about me. Like many people, during college I stopped paying attention to God. But I had a good friend whose family lived close to school and they constantly invited us over to dinner, bbq's and just to hang out and spend time together. They were such an amazing, caring family that I wanted to know more about what made them that way. They talked to me about their relationship with Christ. About what they experienced on missions trips. About how God acted in their lives. They were confident in what was going on in the world. They invited me to church but when I declined they were ok with it. They wanted to be my friend, to be in relationship with me. I can honestly say they were the first family I ever met who lived out the Gospel to others and it had a huge effect on me. Not right away. Years after I graduated college and did not see them anymore I still thought about them. And when God drew me back they were the first ones I thought of and who I called with questions.

I'm just saying that living the Christian life is more than just taking in what God reveals to us. It is about living out the Gospel to others. Not as a monologue but as a conversation. Let people know that you genuinely care for and about them, that you respect them. But don't hesitate to share what God has done in your life.