Crossroads Bible Fellowship

As we are wrestling with who we are as a body, we will be trying to put some of our thoughts in writing. Periodically I will post some thoughts here, giving you the opportunity to interact with them. Here is the first opportunity.

WHO WE ARE
We are a group of people who recognize that we are all needy.  Our common need stems from the belief that we are sinful and disobedient to God.  This means we don’t deserve anything good from God.  In fact, we deserve only punishment.  However, we believe that God has been so good and loving that He was willing to receive our punishment for us in Jesus’ death.  Because Jesus is God he overpowered death.  Through these beliefs, God changes us for the better, but does not take away our neediness.  We remain a people who are happily needy.

So, what do you think?

I posted this on the Discerning Mind site, but not all of you check that site so I thought I would post it here too.

Are you thinking about what you can do differently this next year? I know I am. It almost seems hard wired in me to evaluate my last year and to make plans to do better this next year. That can be both good and bad.

I have to constantly remind myself that according to the gospel, I am accepted even with the failures of this last year. Jesus covers it all! How comforting and yet humbling that is. I can start over knowing that it is not my performance that will get me closer to God. Jesus keeps me close. This makes me want to start over.

Having said that, it is a good time to evaluate and plan. If you are also in that mindset and want to systematically read through the Bible this next year, let me recommend a few plans by pointing to Justin Taylor’s blog Between Two Worlds. He has listed many different plans that might suit you. In fact, I would recommend his blog for regular reading. I check there often.

Another plan I have heard about that seems really helpful is this flexible one from Tim Chester on his blog. Check it out.

In the next few days I will lay out the plan I am going to try this year. Please pray for me to follow through and if you let me know what your plan is for this next year, I will pray for you.

Thanks and have a great New Year’s day! I know I will.

Hello everyone!

I have not been posting here very often lately, but I am trying to get back on track slowly. I just posted a reflection on some music that is gospel related at my other site. I would encourage you to check it out.

More later. Michael

As I stated yesterday, I have been having a hard time in Scripture lately. It is not that I lack a desire to be in Scripture, but rather that my time has been rather random. I have jumped around and landed at different places for a short time, but I have not stuck anywhere. This must stop! I have decided that one of the better ways to challenge what I have been doing is to think through meditation, specifically meditation on the word. There is good precedence that we should be meditating on God Himself and even His works in creation, but I think I need to focus on the word for a time. I hope you will join me in this pursuit.

To help me in my study, I have enlisted Dr. Tim Keller. He has written some pdf files that are available here called Gospel Christianity 1, 2 and 3. They are worth the price you must pay (if you are part of Crossroads, contact me before you buy a copy) and I am going to slowly walk through chapter 2 of course 2 called “How do I meet Jesus myself?” This chapter walks through meditation, so it will directly apply to my battle mentioned above.

As we get started, I would love to hear about how you “meditate” or “reflect” on Scripture in your own lives.

Well, if you choose to join me on this journey, I look forward to your helpful comments. Please pray with me that God will work in us so that we treasure Him as we should.
Until tomorrow…
Michael