Dear Crosswalkers,

Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine featured a story entitled, “Money for Nothing.”  Here’s what’s happening in today’s world:  Many use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with friends, but there is a growing trend among others who use it to play games that involve virtual pets, [...]]]>

Dear Crosswalkers,

Earlier this year, Newsweek magazine featured a story entitled, “Money for Nothing.”  Here’s what’s happening in today’s world:  Many use Facebook as a way to keep in touch with friends, but there is a growing trend among others who use it to play games that involve virtual pets, virtual wars, virtual farms, etc.  The remarkable thing about these games is that a person can buy virtual goods for these games—pets or guns or fertilizer or tools.  The kicker is this:  They cost real money!  Now of course these items don’t actually exist!  They are just little computer pictures from little pixilated stores.  So the player sends real money through a credit card account to a company like Playfish, whose website says, “You can now get Playfish Cash Cards in retail stores near you!  Cash cards are exchanged for Playfish Cash that can be spent in all our supported games.”

So in the Newsweek article, “Money for Nothing,” writer Daniel Lyons discovered that the total U.S. market for virtual goods was over $1 billion in 2009—twice what it was the year before.  Yes, we are spending, in these tough economic times, over $1 billion for something that doesn’t really exist!!  Here’s a great lesson about 21st century America:  People will spend real money for something that isn’t really there at all!  Now I know it might be argued that this is just one way to spend entertainment dollars.  Fine.  But the larger lesson is this:  What are we getting for our money?  What is our investment yielding?

The Bible tells us the greatest investment we can ever make is in the Kingdom of God.   Jesus told a parable about a master who entrusted money to his servants and how he expected them to invest his money wisely while he was away on a trip.  Here’s part of the story:

After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. – Matthew 25:19

God has invested in you.  He has given you money, abilities, property, cars, clothes, influence, friends, and he has considered you to be a good investment.  Now he expects you to produce a return.  Every human being will one day give an account of himself or herself to God.  We will all have a final exam someday.  God is going to ask: Did you follow my Son, Jesus?  And another question will be this:  What did you DO with what you were GIVEN?

Wise investments will outlast ourselves.  This is why God says to invest in eternity.  Now, like many of you, Leanna and I have seen some of our financial investments take a beating in the past couple of years.  But you know, the thousands of dollars we have invested in eternity by giving to our church, and supporting missionaries; those investments haven’t lost a cent.  In fact, those investments are compounding and growing, creating a treasure in heaven for us.  Praise God!

I share all this because right now, like many other churches and non-profits, our giving is down considerably.  We have some projects that are going undone.  For example, we need to repair and sluice our parking lot.  That is a big ticket item.  We also need to repair and resurface our gym floor.  There are some painting projects that need to be done.  We are prioritizing our funds now for ministry and outreach, but these are becoming great needs that we cannot ignore forever.  If you can bless your church with a special gift at this time it would be most appreciated.  You can give to our general fund, which also needs help, or earmark the gift “PROJECTS” and we will begin making the needed improvements.

Thank you in advance for investing in the church of Jesus!

Here are a couple of quick announcements:

• • MEN’S BREAKFAST  is this Saturday at 8:30 a.m.  Angel Hernandez will be speaking and you know it’s the best darn breakfast in town!  Invite a friend and come and hear an exciting testimony from one of our missionaries!
  • SPORTS CAMP is coming at the end of this month!  It is a great outreach event as we have over 20 kids from our community participating.  Sign up your kids for an awesome week this Sunday!

See you at Worship,

Pastor John Christie

Dear Crosswalkers,

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he [...]]]>

Dear Crosswalkers,

Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.  God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

- Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT)

In his book Invitation to a Journey, author M. Robert Mulholland Jr. tells the story of a woman he knew who was troubled by the fact that her birth was the result of an unwanted pregnancy.  She agonized over the identity of her father.  Who was he?  What was he like?  As a follower of Jesus, she had a hard time believing that God purposed her into being even before He made the world, as the verse above indicates.  He writes:

Her mother was a prostitute, and she was the accidental byproduct of her mother’s occupation. Although her life’s pilgrimage had brought her to faith in Christ, blessed her with a deeply Christian husband and beautiful children, and given her a life of love and stability, she was obsessed with the need to find out who her father was. This obsession was affecting her marriage, her family, and her life. She told how one day she was standing at the kitchen sink, washing the dishes, with tears of anguish and frustration running down her face into the dishwater. In her agony she cried out, “Oh, God, who is my father?” Then, she said, she heard a voice saying to her, “I am your father.” The voice was so real she turned to see who had come into the kitchen, but there was no one there. Again the voice came, “I am your father, and I have always been your father.” In that moment she knew the profound reality of which Paul [speaks in the verse above]. She came to know that deeper than the “accident” of her conception was the eternal purpose of a loving God, who had spoken her forth into being before the foundation of the world.

What a story!  God’s eternal Fatherhood lies behind the circumstances of your conception, birth, and life.  This Sunday we will close out our Mythbusters series by looking at “Myths about God the Father.” Father’s Day is always a big day at Crosswalk!  We will have a gift for all men in attendance, as well as a special gift for all Dads.  Please invite the men in your life to church this Sunday!

Yours in Christ,

Pastor John

P.S.  Men, let’s get Father’s Day started early!  On Saturday we have our monthly Men’s breakfast (Steak and Eggs and more!) at 8:30 a.m., and then a softball game at Ortega Park after breakfast from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.  Then you can go home and watch the U.S. Open, or the World Cup, or just relax!