Author Archives: jimperdue

Trust

Posted on by

Someone in our church sent me an email of encouragement and support a few days ago. Included in this email was this quote by Brennan Manning about trust. I think it’s absolutely powerful!

“The way of trust is a movement into obscurity, into the undefined, into ambiguity, not into some predetermined, clearly delineated plan for the future. The next step discloses itself only out of a discernment of God acting in the desert of the present moment. The reality of naked trust is the life of a pilgrim who leaves what is nailed down, obvious, and secure, and walks into the unknown without any rational explanation to justify the decision or guarantee the future. Why? Because God has signaled the movement and offered it his presence and his promise.” – Brennan Manning, Ruthless Trust

I don’t know about you, but I want to trust God like that! If you are anywhere near Millington, make sure to be here THIS SUNDAY; I’ll be talking about what it means to trust God with everything.

Change

Posted on by

I announced Sunday morning in our worship service that we have some big changes coming to Crosspointe in the fall! We are all excited about what God is going to do and looking forward to seeing this vision He has placed in our hearts become a reality. I spoke Sunday morning on “The Power of Change” and mentioned several facts about change. It’s interesting because naturally, I don’t really like change myself. But I realize in order to be the pastor God has called me to be and for us to be the church that God has called us to be we must continually change. Here’s what I said about change on Sunday morning;

1. Continual growth means constant change
Everyone wants the church to grow, but not everyone wants the church to change. The simple truth is, change is a part of growing businesses, organizations, educational institutions and churches.

2. If you stop changing, you stop growing; if you stop growing, you start dying
It’s true of an organism and an organization; there’s a life cycle that is present. In order to continue to move forward, you must continue to change.

3. We constantly change our methods; we never change our message
I believe one of biggest and most damaging mistakes that many churches make is confusing theology and methodology. Our forms are not sacred, Scripture is sacred; our traditions are not sacred, the cross is sacred! While we will always change the WAY of doing church, we will never change the WHY of doing church.

4. Some people can’t handle change
I have a pastor’s heart and never want to leave anyone behind. But the truth is this; it’s impossible to make everyone happy. To me, this is one of the most challenging facets of leadership. When it comes right down to it, I have to live my life, make my choices and lead the church for an audience of One!

5. God is the author of change
I know what you’re thinking, “God never changes.” You are absolutely right! God never changes, but He certainly changes things! Since the creation of the world, God has been the Agent and Author of continual change.

I thank God for the privilege of pastoring at Crosspointe. It’s an honor and I’m humbled to serve here. I also take my responsibility to listen to the voice of God and lead His people accordingly very seriously! I’m excited about the days ahead. I truly believe they will be the best we’ve ever seen.

Powerful Book

Posted on by

I just finished Jim Cymbala’s book entitled “Breakthrough Prayer.” Man, what an incredible book. There is no other author I have seen that writes like him. I started loving his books with his very first one, “Fresh Wind, Fresh Fire,” and I have loved every book that I’ve picked up by him.

I have read many authors on prayer and this book was absolutely incredible. Cymbala writes about things that almost every other author, pastor and teacher ignores. He’s not afraid to jump into the deep spiritual disciplines that must be a part of our journey as followers of Christ. I’m telling you, Cymbala is quickly becoming my favorite author! His works stand almost like “the voice of one crying in the wilderness.” He’s calling us to passionate prayer, to embrace the work of the Holy Spirit, to live by radical faith each and every day.

If you need a time of refreshing and encouragement…or maybe a time of conviction and motivation…or maybe some inspiration and challenge, this book is for you. I couldn’t recommend it any more highly!

Great Weekend!

Posted on by

Man, this was a really great weekend! It started on Friday afternoon with a 1:00 PM date with my wife. As you might deduce from the earlier post, we went and saw the new Narnia movie, “Prince Caspian.” It was great! I’m not a huge movie fan but I’m also not a critic. This is a trilogy we will definitely own when it’s all said and done. Great movie…and Stephanie and I had a great time together on our date.

Sunday was incredible at Crosspointe! God has been moving in our church in awesome ways and I’m just thankful to be a part of it. We had several people saved in our service yesterday and God really moved in a powerful way. I am excited about what’s coming up for our church. The fall is going to usher in some big changes for us but we will be positioned to really impact our community and reach families like never before.

I think this great weekend was just a preview of things to come. David Ring will be with us this coming Sunday and even though it’s Memorial Day Weekend, this should be a huge day for our church. Our people love David Ring and God always uses him in great ways.

I’m thankful for a great weekend and excited about all that God has in store for us as we continue to move forward.

Movie Time

Posted on by

These days it seems like Stephanie and I get to go see a movie about once a decade. I hear there are some really cool movies out there, but it just seems impossible to make it. Most of the time when we go on a date we go out to eat and hang out for a little while. It’s nice to talk to each other without a three year old asking a million questions, a one year old grunting and screaming or a newborn crying. And here’s the truth, while I enjoy movies, it doesn’t give us much opportunity to talk to each other and…they’re so expensive these days!

There’s an unexpectedly long intro to say something very simple. Stephanie and I are going to a move on Friday! I can’t wait. We love “The Chronicles of Narnia.” and the new one, “Prince Caspian” will be in theaters on Friday. While we got to go on an AWESOME date last Friday, I’m really looking forward to this week’s movie date. We choose our movies very carefully because it’s such an infrequent occurrence.

And, I must say here, mad props to Mema, Stephanie’s mom, who has been with us this week and will help us out with the kids while we venture out of baby-world for a few hours.