I’d like to share a note written by our pastor Pete Wilson:
Cross Point Family,
As we all prepare for the winter weather this weekend, we wanted to give you a quick update of what to expect from us.
Services at ALL of our campuses will meet regardless of inclement weather.
However, in the event you and your family are iced/snowed in and are unable to attend, we will be broadcasting our services LIVE this Sunday from the Nashville campus.
You can watch the service at this link: www.crosspoint.tv/live
Times: 9:00 AM, 10:30 AM, 12:00 PM and 6:30 PM
Praying you all have a very safe weekend. Pull out the sleds and enjoy some time with your family. And then be sure to worship with us this Sunday at one of our campuses or live online!
Pete
Today, I was asked by Cross Point to write the devotion for our study on the book of Proverbs! You can join in the discussion on our blog that is found here: (http://31days.crosspoint.tv) I wanted to share my thoughts on chapter 7 of Proverbs with you as well, in case you don’t make it over there. So, I recently preached on chapter 4 about “guarding your heart because it is the wellspring of life,” so this idea of DESIRE has been on my heart recently. This post will make more sense to you if you’ll go read Proverbs 7! Here you go:
Today’s passage is one that really hit home with me because I have had a lifetime of being “seduced, enticed, and led astray,” against the battle of my desires. This chapter is written about choosing an adulteress woman, but it can be used for anything that you choose over God. Recently I was asked this question: “What would be the one question that you would ask God?” I said, “There is a ton of questions that I have for him, but the biggest one that I have is, “why did God make us have such strong desires?” Desire is what perplexes me about the way that God made us. SEE… “What we desire…is what we choose!”, including whether or not we would even choose to love God or not! If I were God, I wouldn’t have done it…everyone would love me…it would be built in! Here’s the deal, the word desire is directly connected to our heart.. our passion, our lusts, our cravings!
Proverbs 7 is about protecting your heart from anything that will lead you to destruction. The hardest part for me about living on planet earth is seeing so many people-God’s children- just blindly and flippantly, living for the wrong things! So, again, my question for God would be…“Why are so many people so bent or easily hooked to crack…to porn…to stealing, to cheating,…etc.” Our jails are testimony of that fact…addictions that have destroyed, greed for money, wealth, fame, sexual immorality…just name it! It often seems that our desires are simply TOO STRONG! Its like we have a JET “SEX” ENGINE inside a volkswagon body. 
Now, I know in my knower, that God placed those desires in us, so that we would choose Him over earthly treasures! He built us to LONG for Him and CHOOSE him…but “God, why do they have to be so stinking strong and enticing?”
The beginning of this chapter gives the answer to that question! It says,
2 Keep my commands and you will live;
guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
3 Bind them on your fingers;
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then at the end of this passage, once Solomon explains the power of the seductions of sin, he explains the results of being led astray by her powers.
22 All at once he followed her
like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer stepping into a noose,
23 till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
little knowing it will cost him his life.
LITTLE KNOWING! People are dying. Choices are being made. Hearts are being destroyed…and they/we don’t even know it. My prayer for you today is that you would wake up from your trance of sin…protect your heart…and CHOOSE the path that leads to life!
Blake Bergstrom
Are you protecting your heart or allowing it to be destroyed?
Tell me your thoughts about Chapter 7…I’d love to hear them!
Ally and I just read Proverbs 1 together and prayed over one another for this coming year. It was beautiful! I think that 2009 was the best year of my life and so I can’t wait to see what this new year will bring. New Year’s Eve always bring retrospection, examination, clarity, and dreams for me. I want all of those things to point to God in my life. I hope that this year is one that would make the Maker of all things smile.
Lamentations 3:40 in part says, “Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to God.”
I was convicted this morning as I was studying that I am way to easily satisfied and enticed with temporary complacency of fools. Too often, my ways don’t point towards God, but instead towards the promotions of my own vanity and selfish gain. I want to CHANGE that!!
Proverbs 1:29-33 #cp31days
29 Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the Lord,
30 since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
31 they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
32 For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
33 but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.”
This year, I will commit to the dreams that the Father places inside of me. I will overcome the temptations of this world. I will not waiver in my devotion. I will achieve more than I ever have. I will love without hesitation on God’s people. I want to speak with more conviction and without trepidation than I have in the past. My goals will only increase the fame and notoriety of Christ and his kingdom. AND…I will choose wisdom, adoring her, and placing people around me that are great friends of hers!!
Join me in this quest! Here’s an easy way to get started: Cross Point is offering a “31 day challenge”, where we will all read the book of Proverbs together in the month of January. We even have a blog that was created to study together and spawn some great conversations! Here is the hashtag… #cp31days I dare you to start this new year by becoming enticed by the wisdom of God!
What will you allow yourself to be enticed by in twenty-ten?
Hey! I hope that you had a fantastic Christmas and are looking forward to a Happy New Year. I’m going to break from blogging this coming week to enjoy time with the family. If you need me…I’ll be focused on my beautiful ladies!
Many blessings.
Blake
What did you do over your Christmas break??
So, I am coming upon my one year mark here in Nashville and I am getting excited about making new memories and traditions with my family. One of my favorite things to do during the Christmas season is to go to a Christmas Eve Service. I love to light the candles with my children, sing carols, and then afterwords we go home, read the Christmas story, do some worship, and open one gift per person. We always make a big deal about it…so, it is always one of my favorite nights of the year.
Anyhow, I want to let you know that the program for the evening is going to be one that you won’t want to miss here at Cross Point. These family services are always a special time of celebration and worship. At the Nashville Campus the services will be held on Wednesday, December 23rd at 6:30 PM and Thursday, December 24th at 3:30, 5:00 and 6:30 PM.
HERE’S THE CHALLENGE:
- I’d also like to challenge you to come and serve as a greeter in our First Impressions ministry for one of those services.
- We as a staff are going to take the week after Christmas off, so it would be awesome if you would like to come and help with some administrative stuff here in the office next week.
- Invite your friends to come and be a part an incredible experience…you could even use this online invite..click here!
If you are interested in serving here at CP, then please contact Ashley Warren via email at ashley@crosspoint.tv I’d like to thank you in advance for those of you who can come and serve in any capacity!
What is your favorite memory made during the Christmas season?
I’ve been teaching all my girls how to play the guitar for years. So, when I watch this little guy…it just makes me a little mad at God. This kid is just born with a freak talent, a natural gift, and he is as cute as a bug! As much as I try not to, I still kind of don’t like this little punk. Why him and not me or my girls? I’m just playin! We have a blast playing together and singing as a family! In fact, here’s a link to my little girl Moriah and Ally just singing, playing, and worshipping the other night! Now that is some good stuff…how in the world could I be upset with God at all about that??
Do you ever meet somebody and wish that you were them?
Yesterday we shared our personalities and it really brought out a ton of great conversation and self-examination. I loved seeing you learn about yourselves and learning about you. Today..let’s take it one step further and talk about the importance of listening to those around you as a sounding board. A lot of times it takes those who know you the best in order to help bring some of your strengths, gifts, talents, and weaknesses to light. For me, that person is primarily my wife along with a few men. (This works in any setting, especially in leadership, to know your team better and to help a staff to work together, however, for me, it has been the most beneficial in my marriage.) A lot of marriages and relationships stop taking the time to learn about one another and instead of doing the work, they give up. become a “students of your spouse or significant other!” So, for my wife and I to do the Meyers-Briggs” test together was a HUGE revelation of…“OH…so, you’re not just trying to irritate me…you really are just that way!!”
See, Ally is the exact opposite of me! Again, I am an ENFP and the antithisis of that is an ISTJ, so the slogan, “opposites attract” is literally very true in my marriage! Ally is the “Duty Fulfiller” and I am “The Inspirer”. Let me flesh that out for you…I am the optimistic dreamer and she is the realistic responsible one. At times, it makes it very hard to even have a conversation…we are so polar opposites that it’s not funny. I want to jump off the cliff and spend, she wants to read a book and save. For Ally and I to embrace one anothers differences will be a lifelong pursuit. We are so incredibly different that it’s not even funny. There are still days that we drive one another nuts, but on the same hand, we are best friends! I could not possibly find a better match for me. I married way-way up and I often feel sorry for her having to tolerate me. Like I stated yesterday, there are a lot of things about myself that really gets on my own nerves!! For example, I wish that I had better control of my tongue. Ally is so reserved, and only speak what she means. I, on the other hand, have to process out-loud, and it continually gets me in a ton of trouble! I’m telling you…I would not want to be married to me! Anyhow, I have really enjoyed the process of “embracing the differences!” It has required a lot of self examination, hard conversations, and revealing truths about our character together. In the end, it has been some of the best work that I’ve ever done in my life!
What personality traits do you have that get on your own nerves?
I don’t know if you are into personality profiles, but they really intrigue me. I don’t want to be defined by it, but I do want to maximize my relationships and knowing your personality often helps me in how to develop relationships, lead effectively, and respond appropriately to the people that I work with and love the most. I’ll go ahead and let the cat out of the bag…I am an ENFP…there I said it…now you know! Sometimes, I don’t really like my personality type because of how much I crave attention, try to please others, and always want to play. I have a friend that says that I am an E N F U…but that’s not true!!! Here are some of the traits of my portrait: (More extensive study of an ENFP PORTRAIT )
ENFPs take their relationships very seriously, but also approach them with a childlike enthusiasm and energy. They seek and demand authenticity and depth in their personal relationships, and will put forth a lot of effort into making things work out. They are warm, considerate, affirming, nurturing, and highly invested in the health of the relationship. They have excellent interpersonal skills, and are able to inspire and motivate others to be the best that they can be. Energetic and effervescent, the ENFP is sometimes smothering in their enthusiasm, but are generally highly valued for their genuine warmth and high ideals.
I have found the meyers-briggs to be very comprehensive and pretty dead on…especially along with the book “Type Talk at Work“. You can take the test and find out right… HERE <<click me!
Now…what did you learn about yourself-did you like it or was it depressing??
There is a movement starting in our student ministry called, “Charge.” This past weekend, there was 7 students who were baptized at the Dickson Campus, along with 8 at the Nashville Campus. George Stull asked me to be a part of the fall getaway this year and I got to see God move powerfully in a lot of students lives. We spoke about the importance of protecting your hearts. One of the stories I told was about what it must have been like to interview one of David’s mighty men. Talking about David’s mighty men is one of my favorite things to read, study, and preach about. I had a lot of fun with this story and I wanted to share it with you.
What story from the Bible makes your imagination go wild?
I was a server in several restaurants in my 20’s and I was really good at it! I learned several invaluable lessons while I was there that has served me over and over for years. Here is one of them…“when you slow down…you speed up.” I loved the fast pace of having 5 to 8 tables and I would find myself completely overwhelmed and scurrying as fast as possible to get my orders in, get the food out, make sure drinks were filled, and getting the bill to them without my customers ever waiting. My goal was to try to keep my customers from ever paying any attention to me. I would get to the table and (even though my mind was racing and I was completly stressed out)…I would talk slow, make eye contact, make small talk (get them laughing) and wait patiently on their order. The key to a big tip and/or success was to make them feel as if they were the ONLY THING ON MY MIND and ALL THAT MATTERED!!
Another lesson I learned was that “people buy people!” In the restaurant business…people don’t care about your problems, how your boss is treating you, your relationship with the other servers, how many tables you’ve got…they simply want you to treat them like they are royalty!! My job was to make them have a great time, help them connect with one another, serve them with wild enthusiasm, and get out of the way!! When I did that well…I got great tips…”people invest in people.” Most of the time its not the product…its the people that they want to buy! Its really not much different in the church world. I mean after all…I was called a “server!” This reminds me of another statement that my wife says to me all the time…she says, “a servant doesn’t mind being treated like one!“ I am not trying to sound self-deprecating, however, it is my job to tend to the needs of everyone around me and not be as concerned about my own.
Philippians 2:3-4
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Are you good at serving the people around you?
