Thanksgiving

Posted in Thankfulness by PCraig on November 24, 2010

Every year I have something different to be thankful for, how about you? 

This year, one of the new things I’m thankful for is our staff which has grown by adding a new Children’s Pastor, Jason Smith.  Jason came to us back at the beginning of October and has been a great asset to the church already.  In addition to overseeing the entire children’s ministry of Crossroads, he coordinates a large number of volunteers in each of our two services.  I’m expecting even greater days ahead in our children’s ministry, so Jason is a new reason to be grateful. 

Of course, there are many repeats that I’m grateful for every year (actually, every day):  My amazing wife, our delightful daughter, my incredible church family, church staff, elders and trustees, our lovely home, our fantastic church facilities, our free nation, and most of all a Heavenly Father who loved us all enough to send His Son to die for us, so we can live for Him. 

I’m also grateful for my extended family, but that’s changed over the years.  I no longer have my parents around with which to be thankful.  But, I can still thank God for the powerful influence they had on my life and all they did to make me who I am today. 

Your list may change from year to year, but have you made one?  If not, why not sit down and count your blessings, name them one by one and see what God has done.  Happy Thanksgiving!!

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Ten Stupid Things

Posted in Books, Church Growth, Leadership by PCraig on November 18, 2010

Thought I would share another book report with a clever title: “Ten Stupid Things That Keep Churches From Growing.”  Besides the humorous title, the book makes some very good points concerning what can hinder the advancement of God’s Kingdom through the local church.  So, you ask, “Craig, what are the ten stupid things?”  Here they are:

  1. Trying to Do It All
  2. Establishing the Wrong Role for the Pastor’s Family
  3. Providing a Second-Rate Worship Experience
  4. Settling for Low Quality in Children’s Ministry
  5. Promoting Talent over Integrity
  6. Clinging to a Bad Location
  7. Copying Another Successful Church
  8. Favoring Discipline over Reconciliation
  9. Mixing Ministry and Business
  10. Letting Committees Steer the Ship

 There are several things that God used in this book to get my attention, but the one I’ll share surrounds the leadership question.  Throughout the book, Geoff Surratt, refers to the importance of developing leaders.  The longer I am in ministry, the more convinced I am that this is essential.  You can’t grow past what you cannot sustain and you cannot sustain without leadership.  Our staff is spending hours talking about this topic right now and envisioning new ways to empower leaders in our church. 

 What is your next step in leadership?  Is God calling you to something bigger than yourself, but right now you’re too scared to jump?  What great thing might happen if you did?  Get positioned right now to hear God and obey His voice for what He wants to do through you in 2011.  How do you get positioned?  Shut everything else off and get alone with God, let Him speak, then get up and obey.

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What’s In Your Soup?

Posted in Books, Leadership, Relationships by PCraig on November 11, 2010

One of the things I enjoy most about cooler weather coming is soup!  How about you, do you enjoy hot things when it’s cool outside?  A recent book I read was called SOUP, and no it wasn’t about cooking.  It contained a recipe for success for anyone in any position, delivering a powerful message on how the quality of your career, business and team is determined by the quality of your relationships. 

Relational ties are crucial to success.  The author, Jon Gordon, makes the point that “people follow the leader first and the leader’s vision second.”  In other words, if you are not a person people will follow, the vision will never be realized.  He further says, “It all comes down to relationships.  You need to have great relationships with your team if you want to build a winning team.” 

The book makes many good points that are transferable to the church, business or living a successful life.  It’s a short fast read, but the points are worth mulling over for while.  Here’s a final question: what are you doing to nourish your soul?  Are you putting in the right ingredients into your marriage, career, ministry or life to get the results you desire?

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Book on Finances

Posted in Books, Finances by PCraig on November 4, 2010

I’ve had some people ask from time to time about the books I read, so I thought I would write about a few I’ve read recently. 

Because of the numbers of people suffering from debt in our culture, I am always looking for good resources on the topic of finances.  One that is a newer book is “I Was Broke But Now I’m Not” by fellow Hoosier, Joseph Sangl.  This is probably one of the most concise, yet informative books on debt reduction I’ve ever read.  And, it’s not boring!  In my opinion, the greatest strength of the book is the topic of budgeting.  It’s one of those yuck subjects to many, but Sangl makes it easy to understand and implement. 

In addition to the information contained in the short book, Sangl has several helpful resources on his website that are free!  Here’s the website:  www.josephsangl.com

Do you have budget challenges?  Are you trying to get out of debt?  Check out this resource.  Also, we’re going to be teaching a class on this topic in January in our Crossroads University lineup, so watch for it.

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Living A Life That Counts

Posted in Purpose, Victorious Living by PCraig on November 3, 2010

I’m really excited about this coming weekend’s message!  I’m starting a new series called “LIVING A LIFE THAT COUNTS” and nothing is more near and dear to my heart.

I know I want my life to count.  And, I would like to think that it counts more all the time.  How can I be sure?  What are the ingredients that make for a life that counts? 

Over the next three weekends we’ll look at how to live rich, live smart and live extreme.  God’s Word has been challenging me with all this, and I can’t wait to share it.  Hope you can be with us for all three weekends!

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Just Breathe A Prayer

Posted in Prayer, Victorious Living by PCraig on November 2, 2010

I have been wanting to write some posts about recent books that I’ve read and what I’ve gleaned from them.  So, I’ve decided to give an advance notice that I’ll be doing this soon.  Be sure to read every day and hopefully something I gleaned will be of benefit to you. 

Today, I’m having a difficult time focusing on one thing because of so many things coming my way.  It’s in those times I have to pull back and breathe a prayer to God to help me. 

What do you need to pull back and breathe a prayer about?

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