Even though He knew the risk  Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light…26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish...  Read More

A Plan Before the Foundations of the World  Ephesians 1: 3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringin...  Read More

It’s that time of year again, a time of gathering together as families and friends and communities to celebrate Christmas.  To us, in our Crosswalk communities of faith, that means taking time to reflect on the incredible story of a God who loved us so much that He didn’t abandon us to suffer the consequences of our own choices; rather, He came down to rescue us and offer a better end to our story...  Read More

After the resurrection, who are some of the people you can’t wait to be reunited with?...  Read More

2 Samuel 18:24-33 24 While David was sitting between the inner and outer gates of the town, the watchman climbed to the roof of the gateway by the wall. As he looked, he saw a lone man running toward them. 25 He shouted the news down to David, and the king replied, “If he is alone, he has news.” As the messenger came closer, 26 the watchman saw another man running toward them. He shouted down, “Here comes another one” The king replied, “He also will have news.” 27 “The first man runs like Ahimaaz son of Zadok,” the watchman said. “He is a good man and comes with good news,” the king replied. 28 Then Ahimaaz cried out to the king, “Everything is all right” He bowed before the king with his face to the ground and said, “Praise to the Lord your God, who has handed over the rebels who dared to stand against my lord the king.” 29 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?” Ahimaaz replied, “When Joab told me to come, there was a lot of commotion. But I didn’t know what was happening.” 30 “Wait here,” the king told him. So Ahimaaz stepped aside. 31 Then the man from Ethiopia arrived and said, “I have good news for my lord the king. Today the Lord has rescued you from all those who rebelled against you.” 32 “What about young Absalom?” the king demanded. “Is he all right?” And the Ethiopian replied, “May all of your enemies, my lord the king, both now and in the future, share the fate of that young man” 33 The king was overcome with emotion. He went up to the room over the gateway and burst into tears. And as he went, he cried, “O my son Absalom My son, my son Absalom If only I had died instead of you O Absalom, my son, my son.” Isn’t it interesting that as Ahimaaz yells the “good news” he is carrying to the king, the only thing the king wants to know is how Absalom is doing? He doesn’t mention the civil war. He doesn’t ask about the other soldiers or if the Israelites who had followed Absalom are ready to swear their allegiance once again to David. With all the craziness that has happened between David and Absalom, at the end of the day what you have is a father who wants to know if his son is ok...  Read More

2 Samuel 18:19-23 19 Then Zadok’s son Ahimaaz said, “Let me run to the king with the good news that the Lord has rescued him from his enemies.” 20 “No,” Joab told him, “it wouldn’t be good news to the king that his son is dead. You can be my messenger another time, but not today.” 21 Then Joab said to a man from Ethiopia, “Go tell the king what you have seen.” The man bowed and ran off. 22 But Ahimaaz continued to plead with Joab, “Whatever happens, please let me go, too.” “Why should you go, my son?” Joab replied. “There will be no reward for your news.” 23 “Yes, but let me go anyway,” he begged. Joab finally said, “All right, go ahead.” So Ahimaaz took the less demanding route by way of the plain and ran to Mahanaim ahead of the Ethiopian. Have you ever had news to tell someone else that you thought was good, but it wasn’t received that way? I remember telling a coworker that the project they were worried about being given to them, was actually given to someone else. I thought my coworker would be relieved and even high-five me for lightening his load. But in reality, though he was nervous about the project he was excited about the opportunity to prove to his boss what he could really do...  Read More