URGENT PRAYER REQUEST

Be sure to join us for the Annual Crossfire Youth Rally on Friday January 8th, 2011 in the Crossfire Youth Auditorium.

It will begin at 6pm CST. GET THE WORD OUT, by facebook, twitter or by whatever means are at your disposal. Invite your friends! Invite your neighbors! Invite the girl behind the counter at McDonalds! We want to fill the auditorium to capacity. See you there!

Hey Everyone,.

As many of you know, Jill and I just returned from South Africa where we had an opportunity to minister there for the very first time, and what a trip we had! The Lord moved tremendously during our times there and how we thank Him for that. It was our very first trip to minister overseas and it could not have gone any better. South Africa has a very special place in the heart of our family. My grandparents have been there ministering several times, my dad preaching there in that great country over 25 times, and now me and my wife having the opportunity to go there and preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. It was such a blessing to be there and to see how God moved in each and every service, from Friday night to Sunday night

Just the other day, someone sent me an email that I believe serves as a wake up call to all Youth Ministers in this Nation. The heading on this letter that was sent to me was labeled, “Forget Pizza Parties.” Immediately, that headline captured my attention. I began to read this article and I feel that I need to relate some of what was said here today.

It began by saying this:

“Bye-bye church. We’re busy.” That’s the message teens are giving churches today. Only about one in four teen now participate in church youth group, considered the hallmark of involvement; numbers have been flat since 1999. Other measures of religiosity -- prayer, Bible reading and going to church -- lag as well, according to Barna Group, a Ventura, Calif., evangelical research company. This all has churches canceling their summer teen camps and youth pastors looking worriedly toward the fall, when school-year youth group kicks in.
“Sweet 16 is not a sweet spot for churches. It’s the age teens typically drop out,” says Thom Rainer, president of Lifeway Christian Resources, Nashville, Tenn., which found the turning point in a study of church drop outs. “A decade ago teens were coming to church youth group to play, coming for the entertainment, coming for the pizza. They’re not even coming for the pizza anymore.”

Let me stop right there for just a moment. I cannot believe that it has taken a decade to figure out that games, entertainment, and pizza cannot satisfy the longing in the heart of a young person. Games, entertainment and pizza cannot break the bondage of sin in their lives. Games, entertainment and pizza cannot deliver them from the stranglehold of sin. There is only One Way that can break the bondage of sin and satisfy the longing of a young person, and that One Way is Jesus Christ and Him Crucified. As our young people are facing the powers of darkness in a greater way than ever before, most Youth Pastors in this Nation are presenting games, entertainment and pizza! What good are those things going to do? Not one good thing will ever come from that. Only the Gospel of Jesus Christ preached under the Anointing of the Holy Spirit can meet the need of the Youth today.

What a awesome service we had Wednesday Night at Crossfire! Not only do we have a record crowd, but the Moving and the Operation of the Holy Spirit that was evident during the Service was just outstanding! As soon as the Praise and Worship started, I was told that we already had more than we had in the last 2 weeks prior. Then, much to my amazement, we had to start bring out more chairs, because the Young People kept coming in! Thank the Lord!

There was an anticipation there on Wednesday Night that I have never felt before, an anticipation of what the Lord was getting ready to do. The Lord Anointed us to Preach, and the Alters were full after service with Young People seeking the Face of God. The only word that I can come up with for the Service on Wednesday Night is AWESOME! As I mentioned, we had a record crowd Wednesday Night, and all I can do is thank the Lord for what He’s doing in Crossfire, for He’s doing great things amongst us!

I would like to take this opportunity to share something with all of you that I believe the Lord has laid upon my heart, and what I’m about to say most would blanche at this, but I believe it to be true. I believe that we are apart of the last great push before the Rapture of the Church takes place. I believe that the time in which we are living in right is the beginning of the the Latter Day Outpouring of the Holy Spirit to come upon this world, and the Message of the Hour is the Message of the Cross. The Message of the Cross is what the Spirit is saying to the Churches right now. As well, I believe that God is using Crossfire Youth Ministries to spearhead this movement to bring the Youth of this Nation and the world, and the Youth Pastors, back to the Cross of Christ.

How can I say that? What makes Crossfire so special?

Wow! What a service we had on Wednesday Night at Crossfire! I do not recall ever having a service quite like that. All I can say is that if you were not there, you missed an Old Fashioned, Holy Ghost filled service!

I believe that the Lord gave me a Word for Crossfire,and for those that follow Crossfire. It came from the Eighteenth Chapter of First Kings verse Forty-One, “And Elijah told Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for I hear the sound of abundance of rain.” That word that the Lord gave me was to let us know that “Rain is Coming!” And when I speak of Rain, I’m not speaking of a physical down pour of the rain that comes from the sky, but rather I’m speaking of an outpouring of the Holy Spirit the likes that we have never seen before. I’m speaking of the same thing that Peter said on the Day of Pentecost where he said, “But this is that, which was spoken by the Prophet Joel; And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh...” (Acts 2:16-17).