Can you believe it is 2009?  I am still trying to wrap my mind around how fast life goes by.  I mean a year ago, 20 of us were sitting in the church office believing God for great things and now we have witnessed an unbelievable move of God.  The great news is, it has not stopped.  They last 2 weeks we have seen 7 people indicate they decided to follow Jesus.  The crazy thing though, I believe 2009 is going to be even more amazing. 

I have to honestly say that 2008 was the best year of my life.  God allowed me to witness miracles after miracles right before my very eyes.   Folks, I have been praying for a long time to see God move like He did here last year.   My family is healthy, my marriage is great, and I am pastoring a church that I love.

What about you?  Did God radically change your life in 2008?  How?

Here are my Top 5 in 2008….

Top 5 Crosspoint Memories

1. Over 50 people giving their life to Jesus in the last 11 months.
2. Thirty Baptisms
3. Jan. 27th we launched Crosspoint Church
4. 100 GSP high school students showed up this summer out of the blue.
5. The Christmas offering reaching almost $11,000.

Top 5 Series

1. Religion Bytes (26 people gave their life to Christ during this series.)
2. Presences
3. One Prayer
4. Moment of Truth
5. Jonah

 Top 5 Sayings During My Messages

1. Canamials (Trying to say camels and animals)
2. Bitterment (Trying to say bitterness and resentment)
3. Angerness (Trying to say anger)
4. Impeccable (I meant to say imperative…you had to be there)
5. I was talking about figuring out God’s plan for your life and said this…”You should ask God who to marry, what career to choose, what car you’re going to live in….”

My favorite Sunday?   Duh…This Sunday coming…You don’t want to miss it!!!

What a day we had yesterday!  Here is a recap…

1. 6 people stood up publicly and indicated they decided to follow Christ. (That put us over 50 people receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior in the last 11 months!  WOW! 
2. We made a challenge for $10,000 on Christmas Sunday and took in almost $11,000!  The neat thing is we are giving half of it away to the International Mission Board!
3. We are having a rowdy crowd at the 10:00am worship experience.  They actually talk back to me during the message and I love it…The more they shout, amen, and clap the more pumped I get.  Maybe the 11:30am crowd will catch on…

God has been so good to Crosspoint Church in 2008.  When people told us that it was impossible to start a church in Morehead, KY, God showed up and did a miracle.  The crazy thing is we are just getting started.  God is going to rock our world in 2009.  We are about to crank it up and take it to a whole-nutha-level!  Trust me…you don’t want to miss what God is about to do.  The best is yet to come!!!

All I have heard lately is how bad retail stores are doing because of consumer’s confidence.  Sales are down 8% from last Christmas because people are worried about the economy.  Now, stores are not waiting to January to put items on sale, in fact, today begins a day of unbelievable sales.  Normally by mid-January sales are 30% off of sale price.  Today they begin at 50% off sale price!  Stores are not worrying about making a profit they just want to move their products for the new ones.  The companies are not worrying about the losses they just want the cash to keep flowing and products to keep moving.  Low confidence in the retails, low confidence in the market, low confidence in the housing, and low confidence in our government.  Is there any confidence at all?

Hearing all about this low confidence led me to ask the question, have people lost confidence in the church?  To be honest, I really do not know.  However, most churches are declining or have plateaued while the country’s population is increasing. 

The reality is, Jesus is the hope of the world and it is our job (the church) to make His Name famous.  The hope is not found in our economy or in our retirement accounts or in our government or in a political party…It is only found in Jesus Christ!  If you believe this to be true, then you should do everything in your power to get people to a Bible believing church this Sunday to hear about the life changing message of Jesus.  Jesus is our hope and it is our job to proclaim it to the whole world.

What about you, have you lost faith in the local church?

Here are some things that I am pumped about…

Church

• I am pumped about this Sunday.
• I am pumped that we are going to give half of our tithes and offerings away this Sunday.
• I am pumped that we challenged the church to take up a $10,000 offering. (Eph. 3:20)
• I am pumped that God has placed us in Morehead to reach thousands of people who are far from Him.
• I am pumped about what God is going to do in 2009!
• I am pumped that you are going to bring someone to church with you this Sunday.

Personally

• I am pumped that we are home from our trip.
• I am pumped that I am getting better (throat still real sore).
• I am pumped that next week is Christmas.
• I am pumped that I finally have the Internet again.
• I am pumped that I’m finally going to get some sleep tonight.

To be honest, there are a lot of things that I am pumped about!  What about you?

Wow…Sunday was awesome!  We had one person that we are aware give their life to Jesus and a couple more who would like some more information about following Christ.  This Sunday we are going to look at the power of the presence of God.  It is going to be awesome.  Make sure that you find someone who is not attending church and do everything you can to get them to Crosspoint at 10:00am or 11:30am.  God’s presence is going to show up and change people’s lives.  You do not want to miss this Sunday. 

On December 21st, we are going to give half of our tithes and offerings away to international missionaries.  That’s right…HALF!  So half of whatever we take in is going to be given away.  However, we do support missions on a regular basis but this offering (on Dec. 21st) is going to be special.  I would love to see Crosspoint take in $10,000 on December 21st!  That would double the largest weekly offering that Crosspoint has ever received.  Why not?  Is not God able to provide?  Maybe He already has and we just need to be obedient and give it!  Perhaps a miracle will happen or Eph. 3:20 will become a reality.  Here is what I am asking you to do.  I am asking you to pray and ask God what He would have you to give and then give it!  Its that simple.

I am so pumped that God would use Crosspoint Church to help make the name of Jesus famous all over the world.  I perceive in you (Crosspointers) that you are a generous church.  (You just had to be at church this past Sunday to get that one!) 

Here are some things that I am grateful for…

• Jesus saving me on Sept. 2nd, 1997
• My wife
• My 2 sons
• My family
• Crosspoint Church
• Crosspoint’s Staff & Volunteers
• The Internet (Thank you Al Gore)
• That we did not get up at 5:00am on Friday morning and go shopping.
• My iPhone
• Christmas
• Diet Ale-8 with splenda
• That we are debt free.
• Christmas Gifts
• That we live in Morehead, KY
• 80’s Music
• The Lord of the Rings movies!
• Craker Barrel’s Chocolate Pecan Pie (This would be a great Christmas gift!)

What are you thankful for?

Can you believe that Crosspoint is just a little over 10 months old?  It seems like yesterday it was January and we just launched the church.  And now we are getting ready to have our first Thanksgiving and Christmas season.  Of course we do not know what to expect as far as who will show up but one thing we know is that Jesus will show up and it is going to off the hook.  How do we know now that Jesus is showing up?  Because every week people’s lives are being changed.  Only Jesus can do that!

On another note, I am getting ready to have a meeting with our production team, where I will rollout the series for December and what I am going to be talking about for the whole month.  And let me tell you, I cannot wait for December.  I really believe that God is going to change our persepctive on how we see things this Christmas.  I am so pumped!