Many of you came up to me on the weekend and asked for these. This is the only place in the world you can find these…so, consider yourself blessed! This is the second Video in the 3 part series of “Cornhole Trash Talk Videos!” It was definitely one of my best series! Let me know your thoughts…even if they’re a little “corny!” (I can just keep those coming all day long!)
This week my 10 yr old daughter Moriah brought me to my
knees in tears. Moriah is a very special girl with one incredible heart!! She inspires me to live fully alive, to share openly, and not be afraid to love. She is only 10, but one day she is going to run for president and win! She is an inspiration to all who know her and she can play the guitar and sing like a bird.
Well, this week, she really melted her daddy’s heart. I was going to a trip in Atlanta, GA with my staff at Cross Point for the Catalyst Conference. The night before I got home she put this letter on my pillow that she had written for me that day. Its not unusual for my girls to do this for me, however, most the time it is something cute that they’ve drawn or colored. This time though, it was the content that penetrated me to the core of my soul.
Here is what the Letter said:
To: Dad
I love you so much. I’m so glad your my dad. I’m sad you have to leave tommorow. When you get back I want to have a family fun night with you and Nana. I can’t believe how hard you work to keep our family going. You work so much and when you come home your still not strested out. For how much you work to serve the Lord you deserve how much people move through God because of you. I bet God is looking down right now and saying I am so proud of you. Even I look at you and say he is so amazing through God. I LOVE YOU DAD!
(Heart) Moriah
Now…you might have heard me say this before…but, after reading a letter like that, I could “run through a wall” and then “fight a pack of demons!” There isn’t any greater praise than to hear your 10 yr old tell you something like that!
Have you ever had a moment like that with your parents or maybe your child…go ahead and brag on your kid!
Cross Point Family! This week we launch a brand new series that I am so excited about called “Faith, Hope & Love”. Please go to the previous link and use the EVITE to invite your friends, family, and/or co-workers!! We have been working diligently behind the scenes on some really exciting things that we are going to share in this series. Here’s a letter from Pete asking you to be sure to join us this weekend!!
Dear Cross Point Family,
I can’t believe that it’s already October, that the leaves are changing, that football season is in full swing and that the holidays are right around the corner. This fall has been a tremendously busy season for us as a church. Just a few weeks ago we celebrated 7 years of ministry as a church and launched our new North campus. I can’t believe in just seven years how far God has taken us and how He has enabled us to continue to reach Nashville, Dickson and most recently the Goodlettsville/North Nashville areas. Every day I hear stories of how lives are being changed because of what God is doing through the people of Cross Point.
I’d like to ask you to make it a priority to attend one of our services at any of our campuses this Sunday October 18th. We’ll be launching our new series “Faith, Hope & Love” and I have some very exciting things to share with you about our next season of ministry as a church. I really believe this series will challenge us and stretch our faith. The next 5 weeks have the potential to revolutionize our church like never before. I’d love to be able to share with you firsthand this Sunday some specific things that God has laid on my heart.
As a reminder, all three of our campuses now receive the message nearly simultaneously so wherever you attend you’ll hear the same message. The service times are:
Cross Point Dickson: 9:00 AM & 11:00 AM
Cross Point Nashville: 8:30 AM, 10:00 AM, 11:30 AM & 6:00 PM
Cross Point North: 9:30 AM & 11:00 AM
I hope to see you Sunday!
Pete
I can’t wait to see how God is going to use this series to powerfully impact our lives and our church. Please don’t miss out on it…come experience it for yourself!
Would you mind adding a prayer as your comment for Pete and our church for this upcoming season??
So, I’ve been talking smack for over a month about beating everyone in our church at Cornhole. Cornhole is a game where you throw a bean bag in a hole and I’m Uhh-Mazing at it. Well…so I thought. The first round I did really good…but it was because the guy I went up against was BLIND! I didn’t care…I smashed him! Before you get mad at me, he is a friend of mine and he was asking for it! 
The second round we did good and actually won. The third round we were DESTROYED! 17-0!!! Embarassing. You can’t run your mouth that much and then get beat that bad. The worst part is that everyone there cheered! It really was a fun day and I was glad to see so many people get involved. In the end, it was a win.
Hi there,
My name is Blake Bergstrom and I am the Nashville Campus Pastor at the church that Jessica and Angie attend. I’ve graciously been asked to help out with Angie and Jessica to do a chapter review in Francis’ book called, “Crazy Love” for the Bloom book club. I can’t speak highly enough about both of you. I have the privilege of being in a Community Group through our church together with them and I love them and their families deeply. So, I am truly honored for the opportunity to be a part of their lives and ministry in this way.
Let me start by saying, Francis Chan is simply brilliant and this chapter is my favorite in the book. The reason why is because he has built you up to this point to understand God’s crazy – endearing Love for His people that does not and will not change. Then he turns the corner in ch. 4 and lets you know that too many Christians are “proud, sensuous, selfish, luxurious, church-going, hollow-hearted prosperity” driven believers. In essence…in chapter 4 Chan “slaps it down.” I love the way that he delivers truth through this chapter with such authority. I share the same heart, in many respects, as Francis does here and I recently preached a message at Cross Point during our series called, “Religion Lies” called, “Cosmic Cop, Vending Machine, and Santa” that was very similar in content to this chapter. So, its kind of funny to me how God works that kind of stuff out.
Lets dive in…Chan starts by making us aware that The gospel is referred to as a treasure and it is the only thing that matters. Then speaks about the church in America and how much we love numbers so that we have a big stage, big buildings, for our own egos to impress others. In essence we cheapen the gospel by our own motivations, but that is the litmus test to prove how incredible you are in America. He then makes a big statement where he says, “Jesus isn’t interested in those who fake it.” Wow! I want to say that I’m not sure that I can swallow that pill completely. I think Jesus is very interested in them and wants to help them to GET IT! He is trying to wake them up and make them aware that He is the only thing that matters. However, I understand what Chan is getting towards. He states, “Do not assume you are good soil.” The paragraph under that statement is the thesis of this chapter. NOTHING can come in between you and God and the scriptures should be the lithmus test to gauge that. We spend way to much time worrying and comparing ourselves to other Christians around us and frankly most Christians don’t give us “reason to strive to know Christ more deeply.” (p.68) Chan is simply calling the church to examine/test themselves. He uses the term lukewarm to show the reader what that would look like and then he has a ton of examples to measure what lukewarm could be and then he measures each of those examples against the scriptures. It is the majority of the chapter from pages 68-80. Here are those examples:
- they attend church because they are expected to
- they give money to church as long as it doesn’t affect their standard of living
- they choose what is popular over what is right
- they want to be saved from the penalty of their sin instead of being saved from their sin
- they are moved by stories of people who do radical things for God, yet they do not act
- they rarely share their faith
- they gauge their morality by comparing themselves to the secular world
- they say they love Jesus, but He is only a part of their lives
- they don’t love God with all of their heart, soul, mind, and strength
- they love others but do not seek to love others as much as they love themselves
- they will serve others, but with many limits
- they think about life on earth much more often than eternity in heaven
- they are thankful for their luxuries and comforts, and rarely consider tying to give as much as possible
- they do whatever is necessary to keep themselves from feeling too guilty
- they are continually concerned with playing it safe
- they feel secure in their faith because they attend church, made a profession of faith when they were young, were baptized, came from a Christian home, and vote Republican
- they drink and swear less than average, but aren’t much different than non-Christians
When all we are trying to do is live up to the expectations of parents/grandparents and those around us, then often times the church is what is getting in the way of us running hard after Jesus alone. Here is the way that I said that in my religion lies sermon. ”Religion has a tendency to be a guilt and shame generator!!” Instead of it being a place where my fire for God is continually stirred, it often chokes that out and simply makes me feel bad for what I’m not doing, instead of inspiring to live the Christian Life.
See, I was raised in a very religious house and –I am grateful for the upbringing that I had where I was taught morals and right from wrong. However, I was also taught some things that created prisons in my heart. I was taught that we were not supposed to go to movies, we shouldn’t dance, women should only wear dresses and not have piercings..and I’m talking about ear lobes…not to even mention piercing any other body parts. We were supposed to hang out with people just like us!! So..that meant, we were not to go to party’s, and obviously – no drinking, smoking, or secular music–MTV/VH1 were from “SAATAAN!”
If I am real honest with you, then I need to tell you that, “I don’t like being around religious (lukewarm) people at all.” See..I used to be a Server at “Don Pablos”. At the time, I had just rededicated my life, I was on fire for God and I was really working hard at being an example for Christ with the other servers. They were starting to ask real questions about their faith and their struggles. However, on Sundays…I would get really embarrassed and ticked off at the way that “Relgious folks” would act when they came into our restaurant. Here’s why – they wouldn’t look at me (too busy and too important) – they had constrained smirks on their face – they reaked of judgement and cheap perfume – they wore cheap suits, had stupid toopea’s, – they always complained about their food and were the worst tippers ever. Then…they’d leave a stinkin’ track to convert my soul! No server ever wanted to work on Sundays! So, as a Christian, was I supposed to say, “If you become a Christian you can become like that?” They were like…”YES-count me in – except No!”
It was more about carrying the Bible than reading the Bible. It was more about the form of worship rather than the person to whom the Worship was directed. It was about being seen, looking slick, and having on the right clothes.
They cared more about the presentation than the transformation.
See, we worship..worship! For so many people, even worship has become a prison. You can’t worship God unless it is your style…your taste..your preference! Please, don’t MOCK God! Don’t laugh at Him and make Him feel uncomfortable in His own house. This is His house…please honor Him, give Him glory, come here to lift His name high and no other reason. Don’t allow this house to become a self centered, self-seeking place, like so many churches that I’ve seen.”
This isn’t Chan’s opinion…its the opinion of Jesus. Jesus is calling us to give up everything to be His disciple. Jesus is counting on us to be the “salt of the earth” and if we aren’t then we are “not even fit for manure.” Its not a “cute little analogy” (p. 81) but a powerful challenge to the church in America today. The fear that I have is that we will have “a form of godliness but deny its power.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 ”There will be terrible times in the last days. 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
I really believe that God is tired of our hollow religion that is cheapened by our poor representation in the church today. If I were to sum the idea of this chapter up with one verse it would be Isaiah 29:13 where the prophet Isaiah is calling the church or Israel back to himself and he says, “you draw near to me with your lips, but your hearts are far from me.”
Would you consider yourselves lukewarm? Are your hearts far from God today? Let me know your thoughts…
I recently heard someone say that, “familiarity breeds contempt!” I often ride the balance of whether or not I should be vulnerable, honest, and real vs. being closed, ambiguous, and distant. It is easier to be the latter, and much more dangerous to be “familiar.” I have also moved to 6 states in 13 years. I understand how easy it is to not be known. I don’t like not being known. I need Godly men around me to keep me accountable! I want friends, I want to have depth and history, I want to be around a long time somewhere, and I’d love to be familiar. In our ever-changing, fast-paced world…there is something that is very appealing to being and becoming familiar. After all, my wife of 13 years is pretty stinkin familiar to me and I love her more today than ever before in my life. So, the question that I have to ask myself tonight is, “why does familiarity breed contempt?” Is this a question that is found in the physical, in the mortals, or in the mystic, and the spiritual? Where does contempt come from? Contempt simply means that you despise something or that you are being disrespectful to authority/court. Could it be that some people allow God to become familiar and so they stop being “lead by the Spirit” and allow themselves to become contempt. There are so many verses that come to mind, like the words of Christ who said “apart from me you can do nothing,” and..
Romans 8:15-17 For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 16 The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. 17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory.
The scriptures show us to love our God so closely that he becomes- the most endearing term-the most familiar term that we can have with a man…our Abba…our Daddy. I want the Father to be familiar! I long to know him more than anything on earth. If the Father God and His Son Jesus longs to make themselves known and understood, then why does leadership require me to be alone, vague, distant, and unfamiliar.
Now, for the record, I understand the debate. I’ll never forget the day that a well-known mega-church pastor said to me, “I really like my ivory tower.” People have hurt me enough that I understand the dilemma to want to remain isolated. If you get close to people, then they have expectations, they want special treatment, and they require WORK. The problem with that is that when you stay that way, then you never really have community or real Godly men that will shape you, reprove you, and challenge you. You end up being completely alone and it is way to easy to allow power, pride, and the love of self to take over your soul.
I am convinced that if you are seeking after the “Abba’s” approval, and longing to be lead by His spirit, then the “Spirit will testify” that we belong to the Father–the very children of God, and that we SHARE IN HIS GLORY!! Maybe, the problem with familiarity is that we are too concerned about our own glory. The Spirit reveals and shines light and calls people to come out into the open. I am convicted tonight to not allow myself to do ministry alone. It is no way to live. If you are a pastor or leader who has been struggling to keep to yourself, enjoy your seclusion, and not allow yourself to be known, I want to challenge you to allow yourself to love. Be open. Be transparent–A piece of glass. You have nothing to hide. Live your life in a way that Jesus is contagious. Stop trying to impress or worry about criticism. IF you are truly following after God…He will keep you fresh…He will keep you funny…He will make you relevant.
Do you have contempt towards Christ or are you becoming more familiar with him?
Nashville Campus County Fair
Sunday, October 11th
Be sure to join us on Sunday, October 11th for the Cross Point County Fair at Owen Farm! We will have games and activities for all ages! There is a corn maze, a pumpkin patch, 60 foot slide, inflatables, and hayrides for children to enjoy! Or just come for the great fall snacks & fellowship with your Cross Point family! Festivities begin at 2:00 PM!!
Owen Farm is located at: 825 Crocker Rd. Chapmansboro, TN 37035.
Stop by the picnic table in the lobby on Sunday and sign up to compete in Cornhole and ladder ball tournament If you would like to help with this event then contact Angie Dishon at angie@crosspoint.tv about volunteer opportunities.
NOW…I do have to tell you that it is time to REDEEM myself from the last church picnic. I fell apart during the last CORNHOLE Tournament. I ran my mouth and talked a ton of smack and then lost REALLY bad. You’ve been making fun of me, laughing, and jeering and so this year…I AM STEPPING IT UP!! I want to share with you my new strategy…I think you’ll be impressed!!!
I know that we are all faced with temptations. I also know that at times those urges are stronger than others. We are all living inside these temples that we call our bodies and the luring for desires can be overwhelming. For some, it leads you to a life of hatred of yourself, for others to jail, however, all of us have cravings that simply seem unfair and unbearable. I like to say that I think God put a “Jet Sex Engine” inside a “Volkswagon Body”. I promise that an angel bumped God’s elbow when he was pouring in the hormones into my body…I’m asking him when I get there. I know that God wants us to have desire in our lives…but come on, I think he went a little overboard. My hypothalamus gland is just too stinkin big!! Do you ever feel that way? I really do believe that God placed those yearnings and cravings there so we would choose God over our flesh. Most of the time though, I want to just take the easy way out…not that I am intentionally rebelling against God, just that I am momentarily choosing to pretend He is not there. I’d rather forget about Him than intentionally hurt him. But…it doesn’t really work that way with my wife…so why would it work that way with God? If you are a believer in Christ, then you are the dwelling place of God…a Holy Habitat or Abode. Do you think he feels comfortable living inside of you? If not, what are you going to do in order to keep your temptations under control? What temptation is eating away at your temple?
I realized something about myself that is pretty strange and quirky.
I hum when I eat cereal! 
My kids will look at me, with those looks that only your daughter can give to their dads, and say, “DAAAD…you’re doing it again.” Then I’ll respond with the look that only fathers can give, and say, “HUH?”, completely oblivious to the sounds I’m producing.
So, lets have some fun today and share our quirkiness together.
