Day three of clinic.

(posting delayed due to spotty internet access)

We finished the “little kids” today. About 400 of the little guys. What a wonderful time.

We trust you’ve enjoyed the videos thanks to Audie Osborn, especially watching the kids eat. Special blessing for us. That’s their meal for the day...

We’ve been moved each day as we’ve served them.

Today we fit ‘em with glasses, fixed their hernias, pulled and filled their teeth, cared for their little sores and infections....

And one boy we diagnosed with lymphoma... had a stomach mass, opened him up and then closed him back up... now here’s a good question for ya... is he worth saving? It’ll take the same amount of money to cure him as it takes to feed his 400 siblings for three months, and even then they don’t know if he’ll make it. Dr. Thomas will have to make that decision when the biopsy comes back.

On the preacher front, we have two great announcements. We’ve discovered if Dr. Weeden wants to take a paycut and put a target on his back, he’d be a great preacher. He even filled in for Dr. Thomas this week. The other is Dr. Noyes, who has been leading the seminary in a nightly devotional study.

Teams are wonderfully tired from great work.

Jesus said “Let your light so shine before men that they will see your good works and glorify your father which is in heaven.” As you see the good works the team has done on the videos we hope that you see Jesus... in the children’s eyes and in their smiles.

That’s who we’re serving... Jesus in orphan skin.

-BC

Second Full Day

Second full day of the India clinic.

We are feeling very privileged today and thankful.

The team, some very significantly, have devoted themselves to helping the poor in our own city of Corinth, but all of us admit... this is different. We’ve really seen humanity in a way that has deepened us and expanded out hearts.

A Cambodian friend once told me, “Bobby, America is the only country where poor people are fat”. They are not fat here.... they are malnourished, many starving, and yet Hopegivers continues to rescue them, feed them, care for them.

Of course it’s with our help and many others. But then these kids grow up and are educated and go out into the villages of their own country and begin to rescue the children who were once like them.... and the cycle starts over. What a privilege to help them.

Americans live in lavish wealth. Even as our community of Corinth is planning to open a home for single mothers, sponsored by many on this trip, we fully know that the people we help (who make about $750/mo) are in the upper 15% of the richest people in the world. In America it is the very rich helping the rich. Not so here in India and many other countries around the world. What a privilege to share the riches of America to the poor Christians around the world so they too can fulfill their God-given missions.

We are so thankful for your prayers and your support.
I trust that you are enjoying the last video we sent. My wife said she viewed it four times. Good wife....

You’ll really like these too. Just click on the dates below

- BC

July 21 am
July 21 pm

Lovin the least...

It happened. On of our team was driving and the proverbial "starving children of India" tapped on his window and held out his hand. Just froze, red light, what to do, light changes, drive off... man he really wa starving, I could see it!

We're here... in Kota Rajastan India... and they are here and they really need help.

One of the people who picked us up from the airport yesterday was Ashish. His mother had just died, he was four, no father. He stood where she was buried wondering what to do, no answers so he just stood. Some time later, he can't recall, a pastor pulled up. "Son, where is your mother?" "She died." "Where will you go?" "I do not know." "Come with me then."

The man who pick the little orphan up was an orphan himself. He knew how the little boy felt. He too had been rescued from the streets. Had been loved, cared for, educated, and was now a pastor himself. He would raise him in the orphanage.

We're serving these street children of India, medical professionals from Corinth. Ten churches, 21 people, one purpose. Bring medical relief to the street children of Emmanuel Orphanages.

Click this for a video

India and other profundities

Hey crew, we're headed to India!

We're going to help these guys: www.hopegivers.com

Orphanage of about 500 kids.

Here's what's blowing me away tho...

My brother told me one time that people like him were dying to do something worth dying for. And passing out bulletins, being an usher, or even teaching a Bible study wasn't worth give his best to, much less his life.

This trip has that brought out the best in peopel. From the hard work, creativity, sacrifice, amazing organization, on and on.... simply amazing!

Find something worth doing and people will blow you away.

PS We are gonna be video blogging right here as soon as we get situated. We are experimenting with a live broadcast also. We'll let ya know.

For now please pray, lots of thing left to come together, most importantly free passage through customs.

See ya in India... Wow!

BC

Is social work Christian?

A comment posted on my blog recently got me to thinking...

Is social work 'Christian'?

Is doing good for no reason other than to do good Godly? ...Christlike?

What if a lost person does good, is it still good?

Consider Cornelius. He was a Bible character who was described by God this way: "a devout man who feared God... and gave alms generously to the people". For those of you who know the story Cornelius was not a Christian (he was to be soon however) but he was a man who gave to the poor (that is what alms are, gifts to the poor). Surely this act was either philanthropy or social work. And... importantly, it was born out of his "devout" heart toward God.

Here was God's assessment of his giving, even before he was a Christian: "Your prayers and your alms have ascended as a memorial before God." God said that he was remembering in a special way (memorial) Cornelius as he gave to the poor.

Wow!

A couple things strike me:

1. There are non-Christian devout people, who pray and care for the poor.

2. God hears their prayers and remembers their service to the poor.

My conclusion:

God likes it when we help people, even if we're lost...

even if its social work.

BC

Superstars have bad days too

Had a great group in the neighborhood tonite.

Gal there that defines brokenness and the destructive capacity of sin on someone's life. Some her's, some done to her by others.

She also is a beautiful trophy of grace and a witness to the restoring power of God. She has told her story in ministries in town, has mentored, loved and cared for fellow strugglers...

but tonite our hero was down.

Just struggling. Nothing big, just a setback here and there... and all the fears of the past creep back in. Am I gonna make it? Will I slip even farther? Have I let people down? Shame, regret...

Listen my friend...

The God who began a good work in you is faithful,
He will complete it!

And even though you stumble and fall, and fall, and fall, he will hold you up with His right hand.

Lift up your head, straighten your shoulders, the one who saved you will keep you...

Even if you stumble.

BC

How to get into your husband's head

If you wanted to get in my head (or your husband's), here's how Jackie gets in mine...

If she wants to know what’s going on in my mind she asks me a simple question while I'm going on and on, “Say more?”

I normally start by blurping out something that’s on the fringes of ‘what is really going on’, but I’ll usually 'give it up' when she says “say more”.

BUT when she asks... (and this is important):

- she doesn’t correct me if she doesn’t agree with me
- she doesn't offer condolences when I’m whining,
- or fixes if I’m broken,

she just hears me out and convinces me that she has heard me
and that she really understands me
(not agrees with me, I don’t need that)

and somehow she seems to find out what I’m really thinkin’

and if I’m lucky... I may find out what I was really thinkin’ too.

BC

God's kindness...Don's story

Words... controversy...

I've read a blog this week that had about 100 or so responses to it (that's a lot btw) over the use of the word "missionary".

Here was the gist of it. One side said you're not a real missionary unless you had to learn a different language and go overseas to a different country, etc. The other side said we're all sent (where the word came from) therefore, all missionaries.

Some reactions:

Violent upchuck, uggghhh, and banging head against wall...

Some thoughts:

1. Charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers. 2 Tim 2:14

2. Most people who have these type arguments don't do either overseas or at home missions.

3. Please get the Bible out of your head and into your heart and feet and your foolish controversy lifestyle will truly fade away.

Love ya... grow up.

BC

Squeaky Bearings

I was talking to some partners in the community this week and one of the things we got to talking about was their role in making the city aware of need. Blowing the trumpet..., tootin' the horn..., being the squeaky bearing... you know, the guy everybody gets ticked off at.

Socrates and Thoreau, Gandhi and MLK shared a common belief... it is positive to create tension! MLK said that "we seek to create such a crisis and establish such creative tension that a community... will be forced to confront the issue."

The role of the prophet is similar. He is a whistle blower, an alarm sounder, a guy who calls it like he sees it, like it is...
"When the watchman sees the enemy coming, he sounds the alarm to warn the people. Then if those who hear the alarm refuse to take action, it is their own fault if they die... If they had listened to the warning, they could have saved their lives."

Funny thing about prophets... they get killed. It's rare that people want to get their heads out of the proverbial sand and address their own issues, much less the city's. So the prophet's role is very important, if not necessary... but not too appreciated.

Here's some tips to slow your death if you're causing creative tension:

1. Make sure your walk matches your talk.
You don't get the right to fuss about "them drunks and sleazy women and lazy bums" unless you're trying to make a difference in their lives. If you not are helping, sorry, nobody listens to you, no matter how loud you toot.

2. Make sure you are a problem solver, not just a problem finder.
And old boss told me one time, "If you come to me with a problem and you're not already working on its solution, you're just whining."

3. Be ready to be misunderstood.
It's hard to raise social consciousness of an issue with out somebody think you're out of line. If you say the church needs to 'get off her fanny and quit being a social club and get outside of her walls and make a difference in their community'... somebody's gonna fuss about that. Didn't stop the prophets. Shouldn't stop you. But there is a price to pay.

4. Be right.
Don't say there's a problem if there isn't one. Don't exaggerate. Be right. If you are, even if it creates tension, people will say, "Man, that hurts, but he's right."

5. Love your city and it's people.
Nothing is more offensive than tooting your horn without love. "Faithful are the wounds of a friend." Someone who's not a friend... not so much.

To all the trumpet blowers... keep blowing. Don't let me get comfortable. Don't let me think everything is okay when it's not. I really do want to make a difference. And I don't know what to tackle first without you.

... and watch your back.

BC

Food baskets and gospel tracts

In the church I was raised in the preacher railed against 'them liberals' and their 'social gospel'. He went on to brag how we (the 'right' group) give a cup of cold water like they do, but we do it in "Jesus name".

Here's how it looks:

Never give out a water bottle without a verse on it.
Never give out a food basket without a gospel tract in it.
Never have a block party without preaching.
Never feed anyone who is hungry without making them listen to a sermon first.
And on and on....

I spend a lot of time thinking about what's behind all the flawed thinking we've grown up with. I've concluded that for the most part we meant well. We meant that just giving out stuff is social work not Christian ministry. Okay... the part I have a problem with is how we have decided "in Jesus name" equals the list above.

When Jesus fed the five thousand it was because they were hungry, when he healed the lepers it was because they had leprosy, when he made the blind man see it was because he was blind... He just loved people and helped them. Don't you think if you do something "in Jesus' name" it at least means to do it like he did it, with the same motives, with the same heart?

Having said that, if we relieve all the poverty and suffering in our city and then they go to hell, we would be totally unloving and unChristlike.

For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? So then, "we exist to relieve all suffering, especially eternal suffering" (Piper). Love demands as much, "in Jesus name" demands as much.

It really is okay to help someone without a sermon or a gospel tract. God says, "do good to all..." even Samaritans, even sinners, even the ones who won't thank you, even the ones who follow you only for food, even the ones who don't get saved or even care about God... yep, all of 'em.

That's just love...

BC

Our Week

He gets to raise his son.
We found him not to long ago in a park.



Her daughter is coming back next week.
She's doesn't know how she'll make it.



He fed 75 neighborhood kids last week.



She got a job after McDonalds shut down.
Made the rounds every day till someone said 'Yes'.



He may get a job after trying for a long time.



This was the anniversary of his wife's death.
He made it through.
Last year he didn't.


That's what we do... and we love it.

What does Crosswind actually do?

Be Careful When You Think You're Standing

Powerful Pastor who baptized 100 people in the last three weeks had to resign this Sunday after an affair with one of his staff.

I don't know how many times it has to happen before we are finally convinced that we are vulnerable and susceptible and weak and may be next.

Here's my tips after 26 years of marriage and 20 years of ministry:

1. My wife is a 10 and the rest of you are a 1/2. Sorry!

2. I don't have best friends that are girls. Not fair... tough!

3. I don't get my emotional needs met by women... if I need to be 'stroked', it's gonna be by a man.

4. I am next! If I really believe that... I won't be.

God said, "Be careful when you think you're standing, lest you fall."

He wasn't joking.

BC

Amos, Corinth Style

Message Paraphrase followed by practical loose paraphrase BC style just the general idea, not exegesis, you'll get the point...

1 "Listen to this, you cows of Bashan
grazing on the slopes of Samaria.
You women! Mean to the poor,
cruel to the down-and-out!
Indolent and pampered, you demand of your husbands,
'Bring us a tall, cool drink!'

Listen to this Corinthians, especially you leaders and well off business people who live in the nice homes in town, employers who don’t care for your employees and make it difficult for them to live while you live high off the hog...

2-3"This is serious—I, God, have sworn by my holiness!
Be well warned: Judgment Day is coming!
They're going to rope you up and haul you off,
keep the stragglers in line with cattle prods.
They'll drag you through the ruined city walls,
forcing you out single file,
And kick you to kingdom come."
God's Decree.

This is serious, I am God and I do this my perfect way:
Be warned, there is a consequence for what is happening in your city.
The people you’ve been neglecting have weakened you over all. You’ve become vulnerable and you are easy picking for all manner of destruction.

4-5"Come along to Bethel and sin!
And then to Gilgal and sin some more!
Bring your sacrifices for morning worship.
Every third day bring your tithe.
Burn pure sacrifices—thank offerings.
Speak up—announce freewill offerings!
That's the sort of religious show
you Israelites just love."
God's Decree.

I know what you’ll do, you’ll show up at church and sin some more.
You’ll sing your songs and give your tithes and have all sorts of concerts and religious celebrations, and you really think that all this is impressing me. Unfortunately it’s all talk no action. It was action that could have saved you but this is all you chose to bring.

6"You know, don't you, that I'm the One
who emptied your pantries and cleaned out your cupboards,
Who left you hungry and standing in bread lines?
But you never got hungry for me. You continued to ignore me."
God's Decree.

When people started going hungry in your town, that was Me asking you to respond, but you didn’t.

7-8"Yes, and I'm the One who stopped the rains
three months short of harvest.
I'd make it rain on one village
but not on another.
I'd make it rain on one field
but not on another—and that one would dry up.
People would stagger from village to village
crazed for water and never quenching their thirst.
But you never got thirsty for me.
You ignored me."
God's Decree.

When unemployment went up that was me giving you an opportunity to rally to me and to each other for the sake of your people, but you didn’t.

9"I hit your crops with disease
and withered your orchards and gardens.
Locusts devoured your olive and fig trees,
but you continued to ignore me."
God's Decree.

Even when I gave you plenty and I made the economy great, you invested greedily and misused the money on yourselves and your 401K’s instead of using it for the good of all, and look what happened. And even when I let all this economic disaster happen you still didn’t turn to me but just hunkered down and waited for the worst to be over.

10"I revisited you with the old Egyptian plagues,
killed your choice young men and prize horses.
The stink of rot in your camps was so strong
that you held your noses—
But you didn't notice me.
You continued to ignore me."
God's Decree.

So I let your young men and women go off and do whatever they wanted and they began getting addicted to drugs and diseased from sexual sin, they began getting pregnant and dropping out of school and their brokenness was painfully apparent and a scourge on your city, but you looked the other way hoping “they wouldn’t bother you” and you refused to turn to me and to them, and now look... you’re all affected.

11"I hit you with earthquake and fire,
left you devastated like Sodom and Gomorrah.
You were like a burning stick
snatched from the flames.
But you never looked my way.
You continued to ignore me."
God's Decree.

Even the natural disasters I allowed, hurricanes like Katrina and the others, the fires of the southwest, the floods of the Midwest, tornadoes and draught, you ignored it all, but I allowed it all... all so you would return to me, but you never got it... I let you be attacked on ever front, militarily, economically, morally, socially.... and none of it knocked you off your high horse, you never came back to me... And it was all a loving warning from me a desperate call from me to you, hoping you would return to me the one who loves you and has the perfect plan for your lives.

12"All this I have done to you, Israel,
and this is why I have done it.
Time's up, O Israel!
Prepare to meet your God!"

First you wouldn’t turn and make wrong things right... Now you can’t! You’ve gone too far and all that’s left is the pain and destruction of the choices you’ve made... to ignore me and all my ‘not so subtle’ hints and to go on acting like every thing was okay when it really really wasn’t... I was trying to get you to come to me and now that's all you have left.

13Look who's here: Mountain-Shaper! Wind-Maker!
He laid out the whole plot before Adam.
He brings everything out of nothing,
like dawn out of darkness.
He strides across the alpine ridges.
His name is God, God-of-the-Angel-Armies.

I’m God, I made everything. I designed the world including you. And this IS how it works, no matter what. I’m God.

There really is something we can do...

Got a phone call from a 'field op' the other day, "Hey Bobby, it happened again. A guy went in one of the girl's apartment, left about 30 minutes later, wasn't even ten minutes before she went to the grocery store to get food. What are we gonna do?" It's just a reality out here in the mission field... single moms often sell themselves for food and bills.

We had two initial reactions, anger and panic level concern. To be honest I wanted to hit the guy with a baseball bat, I was so angry. How could he prey on a needy gal who had run out of food?! But then what about her? I wanted to shake her... Where is your self-respect? Don't you know about disease and pregnancy and...

Maslow said there is a heirarcy of human needs. If hunger, thirst, bodily comforts and safety/security needs are not met, we are reduced to a lower level of self, more animalistic. In other words, the survival instinct kicks in... and we do what it takes. And predatory men in our town know that (not from reading Maslow, by the way) and take advantage.

James described it this way... "Suppose you see a brother or sister who has no food or clothing, and you say, "Good-bye and have a good day; stay warm and eat well" — but then you don't give that person any food or clothing. What good does that do?"

PS The answer is: None. Nada, it does no good at all to preach and tell 'em 'what for' or anything else until you meet their practical, primal needs.

Enter the church...

We can do this... we must. I've often heard the church saying that welfare belonged to us... well, where were we that night? What if we knew her, and she trusted us enough to call us instead of him? Thank God for my missionary buddy. He called. We acted. But you know.... there's so much left to do.

PS This has happened three times in a month that we know of, surely much more that we don't. Some of these guys you know. They have places of prominence and one exercised his power over a truly vulnerable situation.

You wanted to see the inside of an outreach ministry... there it is.

Church... please help.

BC

An infection worth having

We're learning a new missions term...

It's been around for a few years and if you Google it you'll find over a million hits. Also, it's a distinctively Christian word and recently made up (your spell checker won't recognize it). We're a little behind learning it, but we're not behind doing it. Stay with me, I'll explain.

Crosswind is a distinctly 'missional' (that's the word) expression of Christian life.

Crosswind began with a few Christians who began to live like missionaries. They began to be affected by the seriousness of the brokenness in our city and they began to do something about it. Suddenly their new affection became an infection that deeply changed the way they saw their world, the church and their relationship with God. Soon they found themselves living a new lifestyle, a missionary lifestyle.

Missions was no longer a project, it was a way of life.

This bunch saw missions as something you do all the time not just in Africa or at home during the holidays. They began to engage the need in their community, getting close enough to smell and feel the poverty and pain, the brokenness and dysfunction. They sought God day after day to find solutions to the problems of their city. And they are still seeking...

Something else happened too...

When they showed back up to church it didn't feel the same. There was something very missing. And it wasn't doctrine or friends, good music or preaching. It was this new infection, this 'missional' lifestyle. These guys loved being missionaries and they deeply believed it was God who changed their lives, their hearts and their lifestyle... and the infection...

well, it's spreading.

BC

what if we're the problem?

In Acts, God tells the story of how he was moving a guy named Cornelius toward Himself. At the same time however, God had to move Peter from his rigid belief system and religious paradigm in order for Peter to be able to engage Cornelius so that God could save Him. You see, at the same God chose Cornelius he also chose Peter. Cornelius chosen to be saved. Peter chosen to bring the good news.

And interestingly enough, Cornelius was more ready than Peter!

You know where I'm going with all this. What if God is out in the neighborhood and he has Cornelius' all over the place, hearts that He is preparing, fruit ripening... And what about you? Is it possible that God has more work to do on you than on them? Are you stuck in the rigidity of religious life... and what does that look like for us? What are our 'Peter issues'?

Peter thought you had to be in the right group (Jewish) to embrace Jesus.

What is it for us? Do we think people have to go to our church? Be baptized into our denomination? Follow our churches practices? Go to church at all? Who are our unclean, impure people? Are they poor? addicts? can't take care of their kids? the "Well, if they'd quit sleepin' around, this wouldn't happen to them" bunch? the "they've been to rehab so many times there's no hope" bunch? I don't what it is for you or for us, but I do know one thing...

we must 'put up with anything rather than to hinder the gospel of Christ'. (1 Cor. 9:12b)

Remember what Jesus told Peter in his dream, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean." Does God have to do more to get us ready for them than to get them ready for Him? I'm just hopin that the church can feel that uncomfortable feeling, have that strange urge and burden, and listen when the Lord moves us from where we are to where we need to be so He can use us to 'save some'.

PS Don't think you're not Peter... just sayin'.

BC

...and some weeks you start a brothel

We started a brothel last week. Unwittingly, of course. Shut it down quickly, of course. We're still learning. It's hard to know the line and where to draw it. What is real help? What is enabling? How do you know between the two?

Here's some thoughts...

We try not to endorse, sponsor, pay for, or assist in destructive behavior. In short, "We ain't buyin' your drugs." But... what about buying food, when we know you used your food money on drugs, isn't that the same as buying your drugs? Answer, "Yes."

"Do not be decieved, God is not mocked, for whatever you sow, that's what you're going to reap."

God has universal laws. Immutable. You can't change 'em. If you don't believe it, jump up. 100 times out of 100 you'll come down. Cause gravity is an immutable law of God. So is sowing and reaping. If you sow destructive behaviors, you reap destructive outcomes. And God intended for those outcomes to disciple you...

No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. Heb 12:11

Many times us "outreachers" prevent this redemptive process from happening. Maybe missing a meal will make someone prioritize food over drugs, or sitting in the dark cause you can't pay your light bill might help you prioritize using light bill money on bingo.

But let me tell you, the burden of mercy to those in need and knowing where the line is ain't easy. Like last week, we put two homeless single moms up for a couple days thinking we were helpin' and the motel manager called and...

...well, some weeks you start brothels.

BC

...and that's why we're a mission

It's hard being a mission director after you've been the pastor of a church for a long time. You just see things so different. You see the church different. You see ministry different. When I was a pastor I used to think the parachurch guys (ministries like ours and others) were kinda bad. I thought that they took away from the church more than they gave back, especially in resources (people who volunteer and the money they donate). I always thought, "Hey, give me the money you're giving them and the hours of volunteerism that you give them and we'll do what they do."

But the truth is, we didn't.

And that's why we need mission houses, ...and that's why we're a mission.

It's hard for the local church to "leave the ninety nine... and go after the one until he finds it". After all, if you don't take care of the ninety nine, whose gonna pay the bills? ... and that's why we're a mission.

It's hard for the local church to honestly, fervently and constantly reach out to those who might take money out of the plate instead of put money in it, who are more of a liability than an asset... and that's why we're a mission.

It's hard for a church (see budget's, including the verry generous churches I pastored) to do missions in their own community. Most of us give to missions (pay someone else to do missions) or do missions projects (go somewhere else to help some other country or town) but it's hard to live a missions lifestyle... and that's why we're a mission.

Someone asked me if we'd ever become a church. I said, "Unless we stay a mission, we won't be on mission." ...and that's why we're a mission.

I've asked many a pastor friend to look at their programs for a given year and see how many volunteer hours they alloted in ministry to the neighborhood and not for their people. Honest guys (and they most are) say, "not many". We didn't at our church. Sunday School... for us. Home groups... for us. Preaching... for us. Good music... for us. Youth group... for our youth. AWANA... for our kids, etc., etc. etc. I know what you're thinkin'... but it's for them too. Be honest, how many of "them" are there? Not pickin', just sayin'... that's why we're a mission.

Maybe someday they can be the same, maybe someday the outsiders won't feel that way at our churches, maybe someday we will spend as much on them as we do on us, maybe someday we will spend as much time in their neighborhoods as we do at our building. But until then...

We're a mission.

BC

Mama, where do babies come from?

It's the iconic scary momma question "...where do babies come from?" And talk about that creative writing class you failed in school. Boy, you sure get creative now huh? And we become dorks and talk about things like storks and come up with stupid nicknames or try to go scientific. Ahhh, good times.

Last night I saw where babies come from.

I was invited to birthing ceremony of a ministry in Booneville MS called "Breaking the Chains" ministry. This ministry is the heart burst of Stevie and Cindy Carter. Three and a half years ago Stevie was rummaging through his son's drawers and found an unsent letter addressed to him from his son. His son told him how much he loved him but how he wished so much that he could fully be his dad, instead of a drunk. That letter changed Stevie's life, and his families'. Since then, Stevie has spoken in over one hundred churches with a recovery ministry called Living Free.

Living Free is a raw, real, love ministry where the one overriding belief is, "Jesus Christ can change your life." And it not just church talk for them. They are alive because Jesus did change their lives. And they bring hope to fellow strugglers because they know Jesus can change them to. So Stevie and their leader, Tommy, have been letting their testimony overcome the evil of addiction in lives all over the region.

Isa 58:12 says "some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities. Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls and a restorer of homes." God's plan is that he will use the restored to be the restorers.

That's one way babies are born...

Ministries like Living Free and Breaking the Chains are birthed from people who are 'living free' and from whom 'the chains have been broken'. God uses the healed to heal, the mended to repair and the free to unshackled the bound. That's just His way. And it works and it's wonderful.

Hab 2:2-3 says, "Write the vision down on tablets, that the one who reads it may run.

God places people together to dream. One of the great Crosswind blessings is truly loving other believers and partnering with them. What happens is that we get to dream together, to pass along ideas, to experiment and pass along the results, to struggle together, to share victories and defeats. Out of that emerges these God-sized strategies... visions, that we can write down together, so we who read them can run. To paraphrase a well-known verse, "Our cities perish without shared vision."

That's the other way babies are born...

Breaking the Chains is a ministry birthed from a family 'living free' from the chains that once held them, and sharing the collective dreams and strategies that God has for his city. I'm curious if all God stuff isn't that way... recieving what God has to offer (healing, salvation, freedom, love)... and inviting others to come and help give it away.

To our new heroes... Stevie and Cindy, breaking free!

I love seeing dreams come true.

BC

Redefining the elephant...if I may

Everybody knows about 'the elephant in the room'. It's that staff person you won't let go when you know you should or that project that got pushed through that nobody really liked 'cept the boss... you know, the thing everybody wants to talk about, but nobody will. Just to be brief, air it out. The longer you let it go the bigger a problem it becomes. Trust me.

But there's another 'elephant in the room'.

This elephant is when something really big is happening and you are missing it. Something's going on right before your eyes, it's God sized, but you are going right on with the meeting or carrying on about whatever is on your schedule, totally missing the big thing, the real thing, the God thing that's happening right before your eyes.

We were helpin' a gal get to a treatment center. It was a classic friday afternoon project, with a whole lot to do and a little time to do it. But one of our volunteers (who has a passion for girls raised in the closets of their homes) offered to help this young woman. So I just gave her the list: find out what she needs to bring with her and go get it, put her up in a motel, get her a bus ticket, feed her, love on her till she leaves and... make sure she gets on the bus.

And oh by the way, here's the bank card.

Couple days later, in a worship enviroment, this volunteer came up to one of our staff with tears in her eyes and said, "You don't know how big of a deal that was last week. You just handed me the ministry's bank card. I've never beeen trusted like that before." We missed it. We had just given her a nuclear amount of love in the form of a simple act of trust. For us... gettin the job done, for her... you love me, you believe in me, you think I matter... I'm alive!

Lee came in yesterday. He's a dear friend of the ministry who has come farther in the last six months than many of us come in a lifetime. He got offered a job to mow a lawn in the neighborhood 'cause... after rent and stuff, he only has 60 bucks a week to live on... food and all. Well, he came in my office and said, "Hey Bobby, would you mind if I give that job to Matt, he doesn't have a job at all. I'd like to invest in him." Huh!? That's investing 25% of your food money. Would I do that?

Case your missin it, that's an elephant. There is so much to learn from these large God things that are happening all around us. My guess is that today, something like that will happen around you... something so cool that if you're just blurring through your routine, you'll miss it.

You can't miss these things... they're just too good to miss.

God... send the elephants.

BC

Why are CEO's ushers?

I have a friend named Jonathan Byrd. He's a great story and a long one but suffice it to say he was a businessman par excellance. He owned Americas's largest cafeteria in Indy and hotels galore in West Phoenix. He also was an astonishing giver to Colleges and Christian Schools and causes he was passionate about. Some say he raised over a billion dollars for Christian ministries in his day.

Imagine being his pastor.

Guys like Jonathan and other businessmen sometimes just don't fit in most churches. Why, his tithe is bigger than the budget of small to medium sized churches. Anything he did in ministry was bigger than the whole missions mind of a city much less a church. You ever heard of a church that raised a billion for missions? A denomination? To me Jonanthan is a metaphor of the potential of some people in the church.

Is it his fault he doesn't fit... or our ours?

Imagine having Jonathan be a usher in your church? Hand out bulletins? Park cars? Or would he be a deacon going to meetings to fuss about whether or not to repaint the bathroom this year? Helloow... he raised a billion dollars!

I believe the town would be set on fire if we let the Jonathan's loose.

Imagine if people of his capacity to fund raise and problem solve and organize resources and network and market were released by their pastors to solve big problems, to take their leadership giftedness which is much greater than their pastors and go for it!

Ezra (pastor) had Nehemiah (civic man). Together they changed the fabric of the communinity. But make no doubt about it. Ezra was no Nehemiah. And I'm no Jonathan Byrd. He's got more leadership gifting in his pinky than I'll ever have. What's my job? Let him go. Let him dream, let him be creative, let him solve problems, do things bigger than our organization, or any church, let him lead and I'll follow.

The job of the spiritual leader is to release people, not stifle them, let them live up to their astonishing potential, not give them self-serving jobs to make us look good. News flash... my organization is never gonna be bigger than me... I am the bottleneck.

The Jonathan's of the world have to be able to relate to me and be loved and cared for by me without me stifling them. Just cheer 'em on. Jonathan was gonna change the world with me or without me. Why not go along for the ride? You probably can't figure out what they should do. But they can. Let 'em go.

And whatever you do... don't give 'em the bulletins.

BC

Kill Somethin'

Since I've moved to Mississippi I've realized something... People take hunting serious here. Out west we had shooting ranges and paintball and laser tag and stuff, but here... ya'll kill stuff!

Couple weeks ago we met a guy with the most powerful vision. His family has a dream of rescuing one million children from the streets of India and training them for ministry (school teachers and preachers) and sending them back into the towns and villages to save their country's soul. They have a verse that the vision came from...

Children are a gift from the Lord, like sharp arrows in the hands of a warrior. How happy is a man whose quiver is full of them! Ps 127:3-5

I was thinkin about that verse as it relates to my kids, to our ministry, to outreach, and especially to the church at large. Do we raise arrows for The Warriors hand?

Or do we raise arrows for hay bales...

My brothers are archery buffs. Man, they buy these fancy arrows... "this one'll go right through them... this one explodes in their chest rippin and tearing flesh and..." you know, all that warrior talk. And they get ready for the season in hay bales. Just set up some hay bales and put round circle on it and fire away.

But what if they never got to hunt?

You see Sam raises street kids to put in the Master's hands for his use. He collects them, sharpens them, and fires them into the heart of India for the King's sake.

I remember when we had our fifth kid, my wife looked over and with a tired smile she said, "Your quiver is full." A couple months later that had somethin to do with a vasectomy but for that day, I was just happy. "Happy is a man whose quiver is full of them."

Remember the purpose of it all? ..."like sharp arrows in the hand of a warrior." What if we approached parenting or community service or our own life like that? Am I preparing myself or my kid or that single mom or her child to be used by a mighty warrior? Isn't that why we meet and grow in grace and knowledge and why we are taught and trained and taught and trained...

Don't miss the battle. Don't stay in the quiver. Arrows are meant for something and I know one thing for sure...

It ain't lookin pretty in a quiver.

BC

Livin' the dream...Crosswind style

Just had a friend Facebook me about going to hit a round of golf and then off to a baseball game w/the family. Tagged it, "Livin' the dream." Not pickin on my boy...just wondering how mine would sound...

"Spent a glorious day in the neighborhood with my friends. Catfish, fun and games, Jesus' love and story, complete with drama, hugs and smiles. Then eggs for the kiddos and a ham for every neighbor, makin' sure they have a Easter lunch like mine... livin the dream."

I hate it, but dude... I just one up'd ya!

There's nothing more thrilling than to see people happy. For a day...even just a few hours, the load of life lifted... chillin', smilin', enjoyin'. And maybe, just maybe, setting the table for a dinner with the King.

"The kindness of God leads to life change." (Rom 2:4)

The kindness of an apartment owner, the kindness of the Junior Leadership Auxiliary, the kindness of many Crosswind volunteers, the kindness of the Farmington/East Lawn/Hickory Terrace tenants and guess what... changed hearts all. Filled with love, with Jesus, with Hope and friendship.... heads and hearts lifted.

But You, O Lord, are a shield about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head. Ps 3:3

Thank you Lord for looking on the ones whose heads many times hang low and for a day, for your sake, for their sake... lifting their heads.

...livin the dream.

BC

A great day...

Had a great Easter Outreach today...good music, cake walk, fish fry and egg hunt for over 200 @ Farmington Arms Apartments (low income apartment complex here in Corinth). We also gave a ham to each unit in the complex. Around 30 volunteers spent their Saturday loving on their neighbors. A very good day.

Want to take a trip?

Have you ever considered going on a mission trip to another country? A group of Corinth physicians, nurses, dentists and support personnel will be traveling to Kota, India in partnership with Dr Sam Thomas and HopeGivers International...and we want you to go. We will be servicing and treating 700 orphans at the Emmanuel Missions Hospital and we need help from anyone with a servants heart. The trip will be from July 18th - July 26th and the estimated cost will be around $2,500 per person. For more information, please contact me asap.

-BC

If you play with fire...

My momma used to tell me, "Son, if you play with fire you're gonna get burned." Bet yours did too. I know it was a part of the "don't drink or smoke or chew or run around with those that do" campaign that my mom and yours tried to drill into our heads. But there's an outreach peril that we risk if we take that too far.

Campfires have a sweet spot.

You know how it is, you back up too close, too hot... but one step the other direction and, on a cold night, that's just too far away... there's that perfect spot. Not burned, not cold, just right.

Jesus always seemed to find the sweet spot. Close enough to the hapless crowd to be "moved with compassion", close enough to a tax collector to know that he must go to his house, close enough to a maniac to leave him clothed and in his right mind. Not so close that he became one of them, but close enough for them to become one of Him.

Is it possible we've gotten so far away from the fire that we've grown cold?

I'm pretty sure I need to get closer. Close enough to see and hear and touch and smell someone's pain. Close enough to be moved. The Bible says of Jesus over and over that he was moved. Moved with compassion. That means he got close enough that love took over. He couldn't sit there any longer. He had to do something. So he moved.

Are you close enough to move?

BC

Imagine This Project...

The plan:
Go rescue abandoned children from the streets, adopt them, feed them, raise them, educate them, send them to College, then send them to a community with no schools or churches and tell them to gather street children and start the process all over again. You believe that by doing this you can save your country's soul. Sound impossible?

50 years later:
You have raised up 20,000 pastors, have seen 500,000+ people find Jesus, you have 80 schools and colleges and have been recognized by your country's president with the highest honors. Pretty amazing don’t you think?

Well, Sam Thomas (President of HopeGivers International) has seen this become a reality in India. He will be in Corinth on Sunday, April 5th @ 6pm to share his experiences with Crosswind. Please don't miss this opportunity to hear the trials and triumphs of this monumental ministry.

The life and example of Jesus Christ call us to be participants in this world, not merely spectators. In this world of hunger, pain, and sickness, many people prefer a balcony view of life. It's easy to forget the needs of the destitute when our own basic needs are met without a struggle. Let's get off the sidelines and into the game!

All things Jackie

Jackie is my wife of twenty six years.

Some people you just can't oversell, you can't exaggerate their greatness, their personality, their love. That's Jackie.

If I had a sentence to describe my wife, without any question and without much thought it would be this, "Love believes all things." Let me repharase it for her, "Jackie gives everyone, even Jeffrey Dohmer, the benefit of the doubt." She believes the best about all.

As a mom, she always believes the best about her kids. "Hey hon, Jeff is out with these boys and they are going to the riverbed with some girls and I heard they had beer." "Now Honey, You know Jeffrey would never..., and besides those kids need love too. They're all good kids." ...Whatever!

As a pastor's wife, she's seen and heard and experienced some of the cruelest things, and been so wounded as a mom of five, raising kids by grace in a glass house, but she always had this disbelief that the intentions were bad... "It must have been a misunderstanding, if they only knew they would never..."

And don't get me started on my favorite group to pick on... anyone Hollywood. "Oh look Honey, you said all Hollywood marriages fall apart, look at so and so they've been married for twenty some years." If there is any virtue and if there is any praise and I mean any... my wife chooses to thinks on these things.

As for me... she believes in me. She believed in me when I would go to church with a hangover. Never judged, never said a word. She just knew that in there somewhere was a good husband and dad. The Bible says that your husband can be won over to God without words when they see your Godly life. I've told many a woman that in counseling as they have come to fix their husbands. Rarely will they recieve that by faith. My wife did. I am who I am and where I am in large part because I had a wife who believed that her God could make her a husband and father for her kids.

It's a tough life for a gal like Jack. People may be talking behind her back. She doesn't think they are. They may give her the cold shoulder, she thinks they are havin' a bad day. And even if people treat her mean right to her face, she just chooses to believe it wasn't about her... even though it hurts.

I want to be a cynic. I've seen enough crap to know that people are mean and Hollywood is messed up and the church is filled with hypocrites and Pharisees. Don't waste your breath... she just won't believe it. And she will always say, "I wonder if Jesus thinks that about them." Ugggh, hate it when she says that!

In our ministry to the hurting, to those who have fallen and haven't gotten up yet, to those who've been told they were a failure from the time they were little... we need the spirit of Jackie. Someone who believes in you. Someone who just stands beside you and shares your life, deeply believing that your okay, you're just going through a phase, the best is coming, you don't even know how great you are yet.

For twenty six years today (Happy Anniversay Sweetie) I have had that kind of love poured over me. It has kept me when I was afraid of tomorrow, when I was in my deepest pain, when I felt like I was in way over my head... again. No matter what she is always there, believing in me.

For that, my best friend, the love of my life, and for so much more... I love you.

PS Hollywood is messed up... ask anybody.

BC