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“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, Lean not on your own understanding, in all you ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your path.” Those are the words from Proverbs 3:5-6 that were given to Alicia and I by God about a year ago. We started to ask God why there was an unsettling in our soul and we knew He was asking us to step out in faith. I had been preaching through the book of Judges where God asked His people to do things that didn’t make sense from a human perspective but to trust Him. For example, Gideon was told to send men home and 300 that were left faced the mighty, massive Midianite army. It didn’t make sense but he obeyed. Alicia and I were part of a growing, loving church, my family was close by and we are tight! Our kids were in a good school, we loved our life in Belfast, but there was an unsettling in our soul and we were being asked to do three things; to TRUST the Lord, NOT LEAN on my own understanding, and ACKNOWLEDGE God in all our ways. I don’t know about you but that goes against my human nature where I want to trust myself, to lean on and make decisions on what I know and can see and I will acknowledge God in some parts of my life but all my life?

Over the next few hard months early this year we told my family, elders at church and finally the church family that we were leaving what we knew as comfort in Belfast and coming to Tampa to serve our Lord. That was NOT easy. We knew we had to leave but we didn’t know where and what we would be doing. There were tears, there were doubts, there were fears, there were nights we woke up wondering what on earth we were doing but we knew it was time to step out.

On Wednesday 19^th May 2010, after a long day of flying across the Atlantic the day before from Belfast to Newark to Orlando to Tampa, I walked into the building of The Crossing Church. I was invited by Pastor David Oates whom I had never met but had connected in a God ordained way. That morning I saw a staff come before God reading the Bible, journaling and praying together. I saw a church at midday prayer time, praising and interceding and I sensed God’s Spirit in His people. At lunch that day my heart was captivated by what God was doing and I was asked if I would consider praying and coming to serve the new Hispanic ministry the Lord was guiding the leadership here to begin. I was shown the land I was to live and serve in!

A few months later, with a few suitcases, some boxes and three small children we arrived in Tampa. It was HOT!! As we acclimated ourselves to the area and to the church these are a few things we experienced;

Unconditional Love from God and His people. We have been accepted and embraced like long lost family. The kindness of God’s people has been humbling. We didn’t know a few months ago the explosion of love we would receive. We left the love of family and friends in Belfast and now we were experiencing the love of family and friends in Tampa. We now have church families in Europe and Tampa because we stepped out.

Spirit filled servants & Prayerful warriors; We have seen and experienced people who desperately want to walk and live by the Spirit. People who truly rely on and see the need to pray, not just talk about it. Who love the Word of God and want to walk and live by it. That changes individuals, families, communities, cities, nations.

In Ezekiel 34:16 God says “I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.” God is doing it here and He is going to continue to do it but the reason He is searching, binding, bringing back and strengthening is in Ezekiel 36:22 where He says “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name…”

God is building His kingdom around the world and He is doing it here too and allows us to be part of it. My challenge to you is;

If I was able to step out with a young family and many insecurities, fears, doubts and questions…then you can too. I don’t know why you are not stepping out in faith to serve, to give, to sacrifice, to lead, to obey…but I encourage you, I plead with you, beg you to TRUST GOD with your ALL. We don’t get what we want but we get what we need and more! Step out and Trust God, don’t lean on your insight, understanding, your human eye, acknowledge Him every step of the way and then He says HE WILL direct your path, and make your path straight. It won’t happen before hand, we might not see the road straight at first but He is worthy of our TRUST. I humbly testify to you that if I was able to come from across the World, you can go across the street to serve, give, do what God is asking of you. Step out in what God is telling you and you will experience His provision, grace, mercy and love.

As a Care and Discipleship Pastor at the Crossing, I have the privilege of leading the Celebrate Recovery Ministry. Celebrate Recovery is a ministry for people with hurts, hang-ups and habits. Most likely (if you have a navel) you fit into one or all of those categories. Life brings joy and sorrow, and we all process it in our own way.

However, it seems to me that most of us have an incredible capacity for self-deception. We see what we want to see, hear what we want to hear and believe what we want to believe. For those who struggle with secret sins, self-deception becomes a normal way of life. They resist coming to grips with the depth of their sin just as David did when he refused to deal with his sin with Bathsheba. Read how he described his life in when he could no longer go on deceiving himself:

Psalm 32:3-5 (The Message)

³ When I kept it all inside,
my bones turned to powder,
my words became daylong groans.

⁴ The pressure never let up;
all the juices of my life dried up.

⁵ Then I let it all out;
I said, “I’ll make a clean breast of my failures to God.”

Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared

Coming clean with God relieves “the pressure that never lets up” and puts us on the path to victory over our hurts habits and hang-ups.

The recovery process has been compared to peeling an onion. Every revelation of our sin and the corresponding response of sorrow, grief and forgiveness are followed by a time of relative quiet…but soon God’s Spirit speaks to us about another layer of stinking, rotten reality we’ve tried to hide. Often we are shocked when we face the second layer of the onion. We think “Man, I thought I was through with all that! What’s this about?”

Our merciful, loving and gracious Father doesn’t show us the full weight of our sin all at once. If He did we’d be devastated. Quite frankly, it’s hard enough when he reveals His revelations one at a time!

This psalm reveals the faithfulness of God to forgive if we agree with Him about our sin. For every sinful layer represented by the onion, the Holy Spirit shines His light into the dark recesses of our lives, exposing them to us, and giving us a choice to say “NO! I’m not as bad as….and besides everybody does that” Or we can respond “Yes, You are right LORD. That is selfishness and sin, thank you for forgiving me”

Relief from the debilitating spiritual and physical effects of continuing to hide our secret sins is part of the victory. Coming clean with the LORD and ourselves is what David expresses like this:

Suddenly the pressure was gone—
my guilt dissolved,
my sin disappeared

I can promise you that the certainty of forgiveness is my motivation for confession. And I have found that “coming clean” happens in spurts of insight to the reality of my sin and wounds. Layer by layer we experience more of God’s love forgiveness and strength.

Praise God …I’m doing my victory dance!

One of my family’s favorite restaurants is Moe’s. You walk in the door and it reminds of a mix between the old TV show “Cheers” and your favorite neighborhood diner.  Dr. John Maxwell wrote a book a number of years ago entitled, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership”.  Law #16 is “The Law of the Big Mo”.  Momentum is one of the best friends to leaders.  It is one of the things that sports teams, businesses, churches, and even families desire and aspire to. One of the things I have experience lately is with all the momentum happening in my personal life, as well as, the life of The Crossing, I have noticed things that are trying to become distractions from the movement in my life.  Fears, unbelief, hurts, habits, and hang-ups that can easily get me distracted from the “land” the Lord is leading me into.  The place of Sabbath, the place of rest, the place where faith is real and active…not fake and passive.  I was reminded today of a passage the Lord gave me when I first went into ministry:

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you complete with horses?  If you stumble in safe country, how will you manage in the thickets by the Jordan?” Jeremiah 12:5

As the Israelites where moving into the promise land, do you think they hit thickets and briars? Do you think that moving into the place the Lord had for them was like walking across our manicured front lawns? NOT! I can picture them pressing on with each step to take new ground. I can see the men and women moving through the sand spurs and briars, trying to press through, knowing there was a sweet land on the other side of the Jordan. Individuals, families, and tribes moving beyond what they have always known…desert! These people longed for a place of rest. These people longed and believe for a place refreshment. They longed for a land where they see their dreams and aspirations come true! They believe the Lord and His word give to them…KEEP WALKING, KEEP PRESSING!

Pastor Greg has been casting vision, preaching about community, sharing truth, encouraging everyone to “get a bible, get a journal, get in a LifeGroup, and serve”.  This simple tagline or mantra is about movement.  It is about getting positive momentum in your personal life with the Lord.  It is about maintaining momentum in your faith walk.  It is about momentum in your relationships with others.  It about building your faith in the Lord based upon His word.  Guess what?  You are going to run into thickets and briars in the middle of crossing over. The enemy is going to attack. You are going to experience things to try to keep you from moving.  Are you going to stop? You have come SO FAR?  You have the opportunity to move beyond where you have been…to where the Lord is leading you?  Are you going to act in faith or fear? Keep stepping!  Keep connecting!  Keep praying!  Keep believing! The press is normal!  Don’t stay in the safe country of where you have been.  Cross through the briars and thickets to where you want to be!  Get big Mo on your side!  Keep moving with the momentum the Lord has given you! Folks, it’s time to crossing over!

Today in our reading Simon Peter was more than freaked out when Jesus told him where and when to drop down his nets.  The harvest was such that their nets were on the verge of tearing and they called another boat over to help them harvest their catch.  Then Simon Peter, having been amazing (astonished…freaked out) said something strange to Jesus.  He said, “Go away from me Lord, for I am a sinful man!”  Wow, that blew me away.  It’s just like us sometimes.  We beg for the harvest, we ask for Christ’s divine directives and we long for him to be close to us.  THEN He grants what we have requested and it wigs us out so badly that we desire space.  Beloved, it’s a grand thing to stand close to God, resist the temptation to create space or run!  Remember God is Holy but He is also good.  Respect Him, reverence Him, stand in awe of Him…He is the Great I Am; He is the Alpha and the Omega.  But don’t forget to enjoy the strange and sometimes scary feeling of being next to The God who IS!  Who is present, who is the miracle worker, who is our deliverer, who is our great sustainer and unproportioned provider!  He is a lavish giver; sometimes standing in the light of His glory is almost too much for you and me.  His illumination sets forth our faults and cracks and weaknesses, all of a sudden I can see all of my sin and I become afraid.  Take heart do not fear says The Lord…it is I!  Go FISH!   Pastor Greg

I know it’s been forever since I last wrote…just talked about “life happening” in last week’s message and life has happened for those leading at the Crossing.  This format for communication is still somewhat awkward for me so it’s often the first thing to go when things get busy.  Anyway, here are a few thoughts for this morning.

1. I recognize how much God wants to affirm each of you

2. You are mighty and called and equipped (even though we need more of all of it)

3. I love and appreciate you, I know you love and honor God with your life

4.  I see and God sees your efforts for the body and for His call in the Earth

Now for the title:  We were sitting with one of our Elders and his wife and she began describing a series of dreams she had (really they were visions) and she talked about coming before the Lord.  He (Jesus asked her to look Him in the face…to take the courage to look at Him…right into His eyes).  He asked her to why she was there and showed her what she needed to do while she was with Him.  I left with the revelation that Jesus wanted to communicate with me, it was as if He was saying: “Don’t be distracted when you come to me, have the courage to lay your sins before me once again and know that I forgive you.  I am Holy and Other but I am accessible and personable.  Come to me!”…In Revelation this morning the Word declared that the Spirit and the Bride say…Come!  Ezekiel’s commentary showed me again that the priests had to “stand” before the Lord to minister to Him and they had to stand before the Lord (eye to eye) to be empowered to stand before the people!

I am thinking of you and praying for you this morning with the confidence to see Him face to face!

Pastor Greg

Last month my wife and boys went out of town for a few weeks. I wasn’t going to admit this before they left, especially to my wife, but I was a little excited about the time I would get alone. As anyone who has kids knows life can be hectic and I was looking forward to the peace and quite. I had a big list of things that I wanted to get done and things I wanted to check out. The morning I dropped them off at the airport I remember driving back home thinking how productive these next few weeks were going to be.

I got home and something very odd happened. Someone had placed extra sticky fly paper all over my couch because when I sat down I couldn’t move! All of my hopes and dreams for the next few weeks sat on the floor beside all the crumbs that fell from the frozen pizza and take out. The weekend before I was to go and join them on vacation I realized I had not cleaned the kitchen, picked up toys still lying there, or vacuumed. I knocked out as much as I could over the next two days but it was still well short of my intentions.

As Pastor Greg is about to start the series on “Community” I was reminded of something that God said about Adam. In Genesis 2 God creates Adam but realizes something is missing. Check out verses 18-22:

“18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the beasts of the field and all the birds of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds of the air and all the beasts of the field.
But for Adam no suitable helper was found.21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the place with flesh.
22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.”

Before there was sin God realized that it is NOT good for man to be alone. Now this passage of scripture has really good implications for marriage and relationships but at the heart of all of this is the idea that we are better when we share our lives with others. In fact, we can have a perfect relationship with God but still struggle with loneliness because we will be lacking the community of others.

I don’t know about you but I am much better when I have my wife and friends involved in my life. They keep me honest and on the right track. They allow me to vent and get out frustrations of life without using it against me. They help me live out the things that God has called and commanded me to do.

Community isn’t just a fluff word that we toss around at church. Community is the basic belief that we are better together. That we need one another. If we ever expect to live up to the potential God has put in you and me then we have to move outside our comfort zones, our couches and TVs, and begin to involve ourselves in the lives of others.

It is not good for me to be alone! It is not good for you to be alone! It is better, it is Godly for us to be together, doing God’s work together, sharing our lives together. I’ll say it again: Community is the basic belief that we are better together!

Blake Levrets
Children’s Pastor
The Crossing Church
You can follow Blake’s blog by clicking here.

School is back!

The hustle and bustle of life is once again upon us (for some it never stopped). As you get back into the school mode I want to encourage you to continue reading your Bible and using your Life Journal. You may think that now isn’t the time but I would say now you need it more than ever! If you don’t have a Life Journal yet you can stop by the Resource Center table in the foyer to purchase a copy.

This weekend concludes the teaching series entitled, “Epic Journey: Minor Prophets.” We have been on a journey over the last few weeks that has been tough but so needed in this day and age. As I was studying for this last message and asking God what the theme would be it came to me: “It’s not too late.” From the scriptures we see that God is calling His people back to Him…and it’s not too late!

I want to encourage you today with this word: You can still come back to the Father.

We hope to see you this weekend at one of our 4 services: Saturday at 5pm and 7pm or Sunday at 9:30am and 11:30am. And don’t forget that First Wednesday is next week, September 1 at 7pm.

Your Pastor,
Greg Dumas
www.crossingonline.org