First Assembly

You can not drive through Crestview without noticing our town's First Assembly of God.  If I were looking for a Church, First Assembly would definitely be one of the churches that I would consider checking out.

First Assembly has the most impressive church (or of any kind) facilities in Crestview.  Their buildings are extremely cool and seemingly offer a lot of options for families.  

The church also seems to have a wide variety of ministries.  From a motorcycle group, to a skate park, several youth drama teams, and a passionate women's ministry.   

While it does not take a lot to notice that the church has been blessed with finances, something a lot of people may not know is that they spend a lot of money on Missions.  They have personally invested great sums into spreading the Gospel throughout the world.  I also know that during the middle of their building (which is when churches "need" $$ the most) they gave another church in Crestview $10,000 to help with their building.  That is definitely something that is rare in churches.

I don't know Pastor Mark English personally, but he has been extremely successful in getting many people to sacrifice great amounts of their time and money to help accomplish the vision that God has given him.  He has also inspired passion for spreading the love of Christ to many people. These are signs of a great leader.

So, if you are looking for a place to go to church in Crestview.  Check out First Assembly, I would.

www.crestviewag.org

Emmanuel Baptist Church

One of the churches that I would consider being a part of if I were not at mosaic, would be Emmanuel Baptist or EBC as their "members" call it.   Here is why:

Pastor Mark Seagle is a great guy.  He has a huge heart to develop leaders and a passion to help the helpless.  He is in tune with culture, which is unique for a pastor in Crestview.  

(No offense to the other guys doing their thing.  Keep following Jesus and lead how you think you should.)

Their music is modern (but a lot less loud than mosaic's.)

Their children's ministry is the largest in Crestview.  They have amazing crowds of little kids on Sunday and Wednesday nights.  There seems to be a great opportunity for your child to have fun while learning about Christ. 

Their student ministry is so solid.  Led by Ian (an unbelievably passionate dude) and several strong student leaders.  Ian thinks they can change the world and I believe they are working to do so.  

Sure, EBC has weaknesses and so does Mosaic and every other church.  If I were "church shopping" I would realize that the perfect church I dream of only exists in Heaven. 

So if Mosaic isn't your thing, check out EBC.

http://www.ebccrestview.com

where to go to church?

I ask myself all the time where I would go to church if I just moved to Crestview.  Just recently, I started believing the answer would be...... Mosaic.  

But, for some people Mosaic is too "edgy", too "laid back", too "loud", or too "young".  

This week I will blog about a few other churches in Crestview (in no particular order) that would be on my short list of churches to attend.

Maybe this will be helpful to those of you that are still searching for a place to plug in.

and then there were four!!

That is right; Christie and I are having another baby!

We are so blessed to have an amazing first and oldest child, Cameron.  He is truly incredible and I am confident that he will be a terrific big brother.   

The next addition to the Ross clan is due to arrive at the beginning of February.  

Cameron and _____ will be 15 months apart!  Pray for Christie as she is at home with a baby (which is crawling and close to walking) and is pregnant. 

The level of excitement in our already crazy life is definitely about to increase drastically, but we are trusting in God's provision and His grace to cover our lives!

God bless America

I do thank God for America and I do ask God to bless America........

and Canada

and Mexico

and China

and Mali

and Brazil

and England

and Iraq

I try to pray that God's grace is felt all over the world and that those who love Him and are trying to spread His good news would be blessed in their efforts.

God thank you for any favor that our country has had and please continue to bless us, not so that we can be rich and powerful but so that Your Love can be spread......all over the world.

are you in love with God or His stuff?

This quote from Crazy Love (by Francis Chan) has been messing with me for a couple of months now.  

Am I more excited about what God can offer me; a good marriage, great children, financial success, great friends, etc

or 

am I just in love with God.

The creator of the Universe who is perfect in every way and could and should do anything He wants only asks one thing of us.....to pursue Him.  

God, I pray that I would join with others from my church and churches across the world in continuing to fall more in love with You every day.  

God help the outcast

We are all in need of relationships.  Even those who consider themselves to be loners.  Those who are content with just blending in with the crowd and going home after work, school, etc and being by themselves.  

We have seen that most of the people who just go home to be by themselves, actually aren't by themselves.  They watch their favorite television shows which they have become attached to or 

they play World of Warcraft (or another similar game) where they are able to connect with others in a safe environment.  They do not worry about being judged or being a disappointment to others.  They don't have to work extremely hard to fit in, they are just accepted by the common bond that they have with their fellow players.  They have been looking for relationships of acceptance and they have found them.  

as a church leader one word comes to mind......OUCH.  

If there is any environment where people should be able to feel accepted unconditionally it should be the gatherings that we call "church".  I know that we don't accept sins that people delve into or allow people to just fill whatever position they want to without any qualifications, but come on!

Why are there emotionally hurting adults AND TEENAGERS that we just push to the side?  Why do we look exactly like the rest of the world in the people that we accept?  

You might be saying, oh our church accepts all people, we are not judgemental like that.  Maybe, you are telling the truth....but in most cases that is BS.   Look who you spend the most of your time with.  Look who you are concerned with getting plugged in.  Look who you show the most grace to.  How equal are you?

I am going to go out on a limb and guess that Jesus did not show any favoritism nor does God show any favoritism.  So lets start giving everyone the same change to be used by God, 

HE DOES!