SOAK-April 18

Hey everyone,

Soak is happening this coming Sunday night at 6pm in the sanctuary. Here is what Soak is all about, “Our focus is the living experience of Christ at the center of prayer. Our best efforts are fruitless outside of Christ. The purpose of Soak is to raise a rally cry for people to hear the cry of the Spirit to pray.” Childcare will be provided from 5:30pm to 8pm.

Come soak!

Ignorance is never an answer to a remaining question

We often have something in our life that we are faced with that poses a personal challenge….and when finding the answer is too difficult, too much work, or means we need to dig deeper within, we tend to settle for ignorance.  It might be with scripture, God, ineffective communication, personal awareness, repeat issues in friendships in the work place…….

Sometimes it’s easier to remain ignorant rather than dig deeper because we are actually afraid of change or what is unknown ……and exposure could mean facing pain…..or admitting the darkness of “self”.  And ultimately, what will happen, is the ignorance transfers into judgment and we begin to live this life of reaping what we sow…. but have no idea that what we are “receiving back”, is what we have given…..because ignorance has a root of evil and causes self deception.

What are you choosing to be ignorant to in order to avoid fear……fear of the known or unknown?

Do you have a judgmental spirit?

Do you find that you blame others more than you look inward when facing issues?

Make a choice today to ask the Lord to reveal to you where you are choosing ignorance….and when He shows you, ask Him to reveal His truth and empower you to walk in that truth and you will learn that ignorance keeps you bound and truth sets you free.

Free to be who you are and the ability to allow others the freedom to be who they are.

Ignorance is never an answer to a remaining question. We often have something in our life that we are faced with that poses a personal challenge….and when finding the answer is too difficult, too much work, or means we need to dig deeper within, we tend to settle for ignorance.  It might be with scripture, God, ineffective communication, personal awareness, repeat issues in friendships in the work place……. Sometimes it’s easier to remain ignorant rather than dig deeper because we are actually afraid of change or what is unknown ……and exposure could mean facing pain…..or admitting the darkness of “self”.  And ultimately, what will happen, is the ignorance transfers into judgment and we begin to live this life of reaping what we sow…. but have no idea that what we are “receiving back”, is what we have given…..because ignorance has a root of evil and causes self deception. What are you choosing to be ignorant to in order to avoid fear……fear of the known or unknown?Do you have a judgmental spirit?Do you find that you blame others more than you look inward when facing issues? Make a choice today to ask the Lord to reveal to you where you are choosing ignorance….and when He shows you, ask Him to reveal His truth and empower you to walk in that truth and you will learn that ignorance keeps you bound and truth sets you free.Free to be who you are and the ability to allow others the freedom to be who they are.

Questions from Sunday Night

These questions were asked on Sunday night but unfortunately, there was not enough time to answer them all. Therefore, we want everyone to feel free to join in and answer the questions. As a biblical, functioning community we must strengthen and encourage each other. All of us can offer diverse, Christ-centered perspectives to help answer these questions. MAKE SURE TO PUT THE NUMBER OF THE QUESTION YOU ARE ANSWERING AT THE BEGINNING OF YOUR COMMENT. If you don’t have the answer, but want to see what others said about these questions then click on comments below this post. So lets get started:

1.) What help does WSF offer to those who need healing from divorce? What about for the children as well? In order to change the perspective of love.

2.) There are times when I feel like my spouse is against me; that they are setting me up or that she does something for herself that unknowingly damages me or the dream I know God has for me. I don’t feel as though I have trust issues but we do have communication issues which cause me to feel even more worried. Also I feel discouraged because I don’t know the plans God has for me anymore. Before marriage I had a clearer picture of what God has for me, but now I just can’t see it. How can both of these things change? What can I do to change the situation or at least change my perspective?

3.) I love my husband but I’m not sure if we are “in love” still. It feels like he doesn’t want me much anymore. We haven’t been married very long so we should still be madly “in love” with each other. We also jumped into marriage pretty fast. Our marriage is a little on the rocks right now. What can I do and how could this be changed?

4.) Do you think that there is only person out there that God has destined for us to marry?

5.) According to Matthew 5:32 if you marry a divorced person you commit adultery, so if you marry a divorced person are you in a continual state of adultery? If the answer is no, then is a person who chooses a homosexual relationship in continual sin?

6.) How do we get people, friends and family to see or understand that we are following God even though they may not believe that we should be together?

7.) What does a biblical marriage look like to you? What are characteristics?

8.) What does it mean if God confirms to you that you are to be married to one partner but not the other?

9.) How do you prepare to have a Godly relationship?

Contrary to Community

Written by: Whitney Rakes

I am a fanatic bird watcher and sometimes it gets so bad that I am called “the bird lady.” Anyways, I have noticed that birds are usually most aggressive towards their own species. This has always puzzled me because a cardinal should not be fighting with another cardinal; they are on the same team and could come together for a greater purpose. Of course, they don’t see it that way and I am not going to try to reason with a couple birds. Animals are fully flesh; they do whatever their instinct is. Humans are flesh and spirit; they can choose to go by fleshly instinct or prayerfully in the spirit. If the church goes on instinct then the church becomes a contrast to community.

Okay. So now I am ready to take the bird story and make it allegorical. Many times I have witnessed and had an active part in competition amongst Christ followers and other churches. I don’t want to go out on a limb here, but I doubt God wants his kids to fight with each other. If you and I are both called to be pastors, instead of competing with each other lets cheer each other on. Whether your doctrine is different than mine or not, we all should be working to advance God’s Kingdom on earth.

So the question is, how do we stop this great contrast to community? I don’t know but I am going to share a couple thoughts that have been true and helpful in my own life.

Thought #1- Patience is really important in these moments of comparison with others. I usually don’t like to call it comparison in the moment because then I have to admit that I am in the wrong for trying to parallel other people’s lives with mine. It is what it is though. We all do it. Many times out of insecurities, but sometimes out of arrogance as well. Waiting on God is not fun, and preferably I would rather take the fast track to my destiny.

Thought # 2- Faith is key when I feel discouraged or frustrated with where God currently has placed me. There is great difficulty when trying to have faith that God has not forgotten the plans for my life. The Bible makes it clear when it states that, “…without faith it is impossible to please (Hebrews 11:6).” I always say I want to please God, but when I read that statement it makes me say “whyyyyy? (insert super whiny and nasally tone here)” I have realized that faith and patience have gone hand-in-hand every time in my life. For me, that very statement is horrible news! Not only did I not want to be patient but now I have to have faith too.

Thought # 3- Praise is super crucial because it is a tool that can be used against the ungodly thoughts and thought processes that overpopulate my mind. Now praise can be quite literal like singing a song to God, but it also can be unique to a certain situation. It can be doing something that directly combats the thoughts of competition. For example, if I was feeling tension with someone else then I would turn it around by serving that person in everyway. I would cheer them on or let them walk in front of me. Separately, those things don’t sound like a big deal, but when they are paired with praise…they become powerful and life changing.

When interacting directly with the church, I have realized how distorted my perspective has been. There are times when I have to tell myself, that I don’t need to be occupying my time thinking about whether God is going to “raise up” that other person before me. I have to be real with myself and realize that God’s Kingdom must advance, and that is far more important then my selfish need to know exactly what is going on. Competition has destroyed community in and with other churches. Instead, we fight for our event to be more successful than theirs. I just feel grieved that churches cannot even have community with one another. I feel even more grieved when I consider all the times I have fed directly into this problem. I pray that God will help me to have patience in the waiting, faith in the pitch-black room, and praise him in the obscurity of my destiny.

Oh one other thing, each moment where the desire to live instinctively is overpowered by the choice to live prayerfully we immensely grow in relationship with Jesus. 

(This was also posted on Project Awaken a little while ago-Go to bottom and click on Project Awaken under our blog roll).

For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself…

“It is a solemn thing, and no small scandal in the Kingdom, to see God’s children starving while actually seated at the Father’s table.

For it is not mere words that nourish the soul, but God Himself, and unless and until the hearers find God in personal experience they are not the better for having heard the truth. The Bible is not an end in itself, but a means to bring men to an intimate and satisfying knowledge of God, that they may enter into Him, that they may delight in His Presence, may taste and know the inner sweetness of the very God himself in the core and center of their hearts.” - AW Tozer

THIS IS THE MESSAGE OF YOUR LIVES!
Rob Sperti.

Encounter Postponed

Encounter has been postponed to a later date this spring! We want everyone to be able to save money, so that all of Crux will be able to spend a weekend together with God. So start saving everybody!

out,

crux.

Dixie Classic Fair

come meet up this Wednesday with “The Table” group and other young people. the band Need to Breathe will be playing at the Dixie Classic Fair and we will all be going together. we are meeting up in room 203 (upstairs) at 7pm and will be leaving promptly at 7:15pm. don’t miss out on a chance to share community time!

NOTE: To get in the Dixie Classic Fair for free they must be bring 5 canned
food items and they MUST be from LOWES FOODS.

out,

whitney

crux.

Blinded by the Truth

This week in Crux we had a great time of worship and got to talk to some of the leaders. Darla talked about Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus beginning in Acts 9 we can see the full story. When we are confronted with God’s truth everything changes. In that moment, God’s light penetrates us and our life takes a wild turn. We go on an adventure for the rest of our lives and our travel guide is Jesus. If you haven’t heard the song “Between the Graveyard and the Garden” by Jason Upton you have to go listen to it! It is on his newest album “Rim of the Visible World.” It is so exciting to be blinded by the truth and scary at the same time. Stay persistent and keep praying!

out,

crux.

Encounter

what up? Encounter (october 16-18) is coming up and we want you all to be a part of it! i know it may be hard to understand the concept of spending 110 dollars to stay the night somewhere that isn’t far from where you live. but, this weekend is about getting away from the distractions that cloud our lives. we all need to go and experience this. God will provide the money for you to go! this weekend is about experiencing God. come expecting to be transformed by the presence of God.

out,

crux.

Small Groups!!!

okay…okay… so small groups happened, for the first time, last week! what did you think? no but really… what did you think?

crux.