Ten at Ten for Ten

The next phase of our move toward the Austin Ranch area is under way! God has seen to fit to answer our request for a meeting with the developer of Austin Ranch. The meeting is scheduled for 10/10 @ 11 a.m. That is the inspiration for my call for 10 minutes of prayer at 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. for the next 10 days.

For many of you, praying for this meeting and now the meeting itself is something that you have been involved in all along. Let me challenge you to consider joining me in a whatever 10 day fast God may lay on your heart. A fast from coffee. A fast from lunch. Maybe even a fast from all food for the next ten days.

Consider sharing your stories of your fast and the results of your times of prayer!

Spiritual Graffiti

Our focus Sunday was on the power of passion. The word passion has its Latin roots in the word passio which means suffering. As someone passionate about Notre Dame football, I can attest to the connection between passion and pain (for those of you who don't follow college football, the once mighty Fighting Irish have begun the 2007 campaign with four consecutive losses for the first time in their storied history).

I'm interested in your reactions to the power of passion and our model of discipleship summed up in the phrase, be one, make one, for one. Do you connect with the phrase and the accompanying concept of personal responsibility in fulfilling Christ's command to make disciples? Did you participate in the graffiti experience at the end of the Gathering? Did it connect with you? What challenges to you foresee in fulfilling the covenant you made on Sunday?

Divine Positioning

As I said Sunday, I believe God is positioning us strategically to fulfill our divine destiny. Full possession of that destiny will require courage. Courage that is both counterintuitive and strategic. Courage like that often wanes in the face of obstacles, time and other challenges. Chief among those challenges is our natural tendency to be pulled gravitationally toward the familiar. Breaking free of the gravitational attraction of the familiar may well be our greatest obstacle.

What makes the gravitational attraction of the familiar so powerful? In what ways have you felt that pull throughout this process? What ways have you discovered to break free of this gravitational field?

20/20 Vision

Researchers at the University of Rochester have shown that people who played action video games for a few hours a day over the course of a month improved by about 20 percent in their ability to identify letters presented in clutter—a visual acuity test similar to ones used in regular ophthalmology clinics. In essence, playing video game improves your bottom line on a standard eye chart. "Action video game play changes the way our brains process visual information," says Daphne Bavelier, professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester. "After just 30 hours, players showed a substantial increase in the spatial resolution of their vision, meaning they could see figures like those on an eye chart more clearly, even when other symbols crowded in."

Wouldn't it be wonderful if each of us could improve our spiritual eyesight as simply as adding a few hours of video gaming to our daily lives? In what areas have you seen improvement in your spiritual eyesight? If you battle a vision problem in your spiritual life, what would it be? Would it be spiritual nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism or tunnel vision? How has your spiritual vision problem been corrected?

Time Travelers

Our lives seem to have a common refrain, "I'm so busy!" Author and Pastor Mark Batterson suggests that we wear it like a badge around our neck with no small degree of pride. As if our exhaustion were a trophy and our ability to withstand stress as a mark of real character.

Our challenge Sunday was about creating some space in our lives for "mindful breaths." We spoke of creating margin by observing the 6:1 rhythm of God's creation -six days of work with one day of rest. We also talked about the importance of putting first things first in our lives and creating some sacred space in which God can do some unexpected things.

What are the greatest challenges you face in godly time management? Do you even struggle with creating space in your life? How can the church assist you in that process or is the church part of the problem?

Costless Generosity

I challenge you to walk through the self-help or business section of your favorite local bookstore and find more than a volume or two on the subject of sacrifice. Books on topics like weight loss, money making and success are a dime a dozen. Why? Very few people are interested in being challenged about sacrifice.

I mentioned Sunday that our culture has mastered the art of costless generosity. We are generous to a fault with things we consider to be "extra" in our lives and donate those items to charity. That is a great thing that demonstrates good stewardship of the resources God has provided for us but it is not to be confused with sacrifice. How are you sacrificing your time, your resources and your life for the cause of Christ? What are the biggest obstacles to sacrifice in our lives?

Mission: Impossible

Life has a tendency to serve up seemingly impossible and insurmountable challenges when we least expect it. Perhaps it's that frightening diagnosis from your doctor, the unexpected call from your boss about company downsizing, or the betrayal of a spouse or a child with whom you are constantly battling. These challenges may not always be life-threatening but they are always life-altering.

How do we deal with these seemingly impossible challenges? We learned Sunday that it begins with admitting that we are in over our head followed by belief that God has a solution to our challenge. We can then catalog our resources before delivering what we have to God. Which of those four steps - admitting, believing, cataloging and delivering - is the most difficult for you and why?

Live to Party

Live to Party! What a concept. Of all the metaphors Jesus uses to describe the kingdom - hidden treasure, a precious pearl, a tiny seed, yeast - my favorite is the kingdom as a party as He taught in Luke 14. When you think of the kingdom, of church, do you immediately think about a party? Do you have a sense of urgency to invite others to the party? Do you ever find yourself at the party only to be constantly complaining about the menu? You know what I mean, the worship menu, the small group menu, the children's menu or even the teaching menu? What can we do to be the purple cow we spoke about? How can we avoid being invisible as a church and instead be remarkable?

Terra Incognita

Ancient mapmakers had a term they used to label geographic areas yet to be explored and charted. They used the Latin phrase Terra Incognita or unknown earth. It was in these Terra Incognita lands that double-headed sea monsters were thought to exist. If you managed to avoid the double-headed sea monsters you might just sail off the edge of the world.

I believe that God has placed CrossPointe in the middle of Terra Incognita as we wait with expectancy for Him to reveal the next step for us. What are the things that scare you the most about being on Terra Incognita? What things excite you the most about it? Are there some things that we should be doing as we traverse this Terra Incognita? I'm interested to know your thoughts.

Choosing BEFORE You Choose

Our Gathering Sunday centered around the importance that pre choices make in our life choices as illustrated by the life of Daniel. In essence we either make pre choices or we make bad choices there are really no other options. The biggest challenge we face in making these pre choices is our desire to please others. What observations do you have about pre choices and their importance in your life? How have good pre choices benefited you? Conversely, how have the lack of pre choices come back to haunt you?