You and I have been given an order….Instructions from our King. He tells us to go, make, baptize and teach disciples the commands given to us.

It’s gets easy for us to lean onto the missionaries and leaders of the church to carry the weight of this command. Sometimes it’s easier to just donate at a mission fundraiser or pray for those that go. Don’t get me wrong these things are important! But our lives get filled up fast with things and obligations that we leave little or no time to do what we’ve been commanded by our Master. “Go.” I’d like to encourage you to reconsider.

Reconsider the mission and ask yourself how you can play a part in it.

Here’s how we can help:

Foundations has multiple opportunities where you can begin this journey and start living this journey with other young adults.

RADICALIS 8/11 – 8/13: A preparation for mission. Radicalis is a college and young adult festival for 3 days in Auguest. There will be worship, teaching, sports, arts, and camping. It’s kinda like Woodstock, but with a different mission. Foundations and Crux34 are teaming up with Saddleback church to help equip a generation of disciples on mission. The event is at Rancho Capistano just south of Laguna Niguel off the 5 freeway. Go to www.Radicalis.com for more details. I have tickets in hand for $25!(this covers all 3 days), just stop by the booth on Sunday or message me. They are $45 at the door. Worship and Teaching by Phil Wickham and Rick Warren + many more.

MEXICO: 9/30 – 10/2 Join us as we drive to Ensenada and build a home for a family. Eighteen of us made the trip last year and were blessed beyond measure. Passports are required. Now is a good time to get the process going. The trip itself will cost you very little $. Praise report – A men’s bible study came to me and said they’d fund the entire project. They asked if I’d round up the people to go. Ummm, yes please!

Apartment Life: Fall/Winter Statistics show that only about 5% apartment tenants are connected into a church. Apartment Life partners with the local church to help solve this issue and to advance the Gospel. Foundations is inviting two of it’s members(2 singles or 1 couple) to work with Apartment life and begin building community within the apartment complex. The “Cares” team would be responsible creating community by holding events(BBQs, game nights, etc) and personal time with the tenants. This ultimately could lead to strong relationships and an opportunities to live out and share the Gospel. There’s also huge benefits to the Cares team which I have not mentioned(resources, financially, etc). I currently have interest from one single male and am looking for 1 more and/or a married couple. If you are interested in knowing more, let me know and I can fill you in over coffee.

Haiti Men’s trip: TBD(late Nov or early Dec) We are continuing to build strong relationships and share God’s Good news with the people of Haiti. It’s the trip that is creating a ripple effect of passion across the Crossline youth and young adults. Now it’s the men’s turn. More details will come soon.

There’s a lot going on!

Matthew 9:38 says “So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields.”

Reconsider the mission. I’m praying for more workers and that you’d consider engaging into mission with us. The Lord is going to accomplish His will with or without us, but it’s so much better when we join Him in His journey. Yes, even YOU can play a part and make a difference!

Alongside you,

Matt

PS – Interested in a really good read? Try Radical by David Platt – it might change your mind about the way you view mission. It might even change your life. Let me know if you need a copy, I have a couple extra.

Alan Hirsch – Are You Stuck In A Rut? from Verge Network on Vimeo.

Sky High Sports is a unique trampoline fun center. This facility has been designed and created for one purpose: To have FUN! Come and improvise! Whether you flip forward or flip backward, you will definitely flip out for Sky High Sports!

When: Sunday the 17th at 7pm.
Where: Sky High: 2970 Airway Ave, Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Contact us for more information!

The baseball World Series begins tonight as the San Francisco Giants take on the Texas Rangers.  Josh Hamilton will be one of the key players in the spot light.  If you’ve been around the Foundations Young Adult Ministries for awhile, this video is nothing new.  I thought it would be fitting to show it again, however.  Beyond baseball, listen to Josh’s story and the way he describes how he is no longer number one; that spot is reserved.

Francis Chan speaks at the Catalyst conference in Atlanta about what’s weird with the way we approach church. It’s very common for today’s young adult to follow what’s hip in church…listen to what he has to say about it.

What do you think?

Have you ever stopped to think about how we have an unlimited amount of information at our fingertips? The other day I had extra time to kill so I was driving around between appointments and decided to fill up my tank with gas.  I passed up one gas station because they were obviously overpriced.  Normally, I’d keep driving to the next station hoping for a better deal, but this day I decided to pull over and try another approach.  Pulled over on the side of the road in Tustin, I typed “Cheap gas station” into the Iphone search engine.  I must have been stopped for no more than a minute, then “ding.”  Just like a hot pocket, there was a new application ready to go within seconds… it gave me multiple options for cheaper gas in a mile radius.

Do you ever wish you could upload God’s Word into your harddrive that quickly?  Kind of like in the movie The Matrix when Neo was being trained, they downloaded a kung fu program to his mind, and within seconds he became a martial arts expert.  Part of me wants God’s abundant wisdom uploaded to my internal memory in seconds.  Instantly, I’d be able to understand His attributes, His wisdom, His love, and His character, and I’d have all of the knowledge from His word embedded in my heart… Just like a microwave or an Iphone app.

Then there’s another part of me that truly enjoys the slow crock-pot process that He’s currently walking me through.  Everyday when I spend time with Him, He teaches me something new.  Day by day, both the good and tough times bring on new adventures and lessons.  Each day I look forward to spending time with the Creator.  It’s like being able to spend time with my dad week in and week out.  Not sure any instant technology can compete with it.  Yep, it’s pretty much priceless.

So in a time when we can get any type of information instantly within seconds, and even though I’d still like to have ALL of Him right now, I’ll continue to embrace the slow road He’s taking me on.

Everyday I have to remind myself to thank Him that He’s not instant…. because nothing beats this life-long  journey He’s taking me through.

• A car cuts you off on the freeway without a blink of an eye much less a wave sorry. 
• A business man rushes through a door you hold open while cutting everyone off and then jets down the hallway without looking back. 
• A person takes your table and seat at Starbucks even though your items were left there while you get up for a minute.  You come back to grab your things and he doesn’t even acknowledge that you exist.

What’s the big deal?  Just a normal day in Southern California right?  Besides… I hear chivalry is dead.

Well, know this: Chivalry is NOT dead.  Especially, if it’s being chivalrous to yourself that is…

Believe it or not, more and more each day we are taught that the most important thing in life is ourSELF.  ”You can be anything you want to be” is told to our youth. ”Self” help books are some of the hottest items in the bookstores.  TV commercials show us how to be sexier, thinner, and happier if we look better; especially after we use their products.  Attorney offices tell us to call them and get what YOU deserve if YOU’ve been injured.  They all lead us to a happy, successful, more confident, and more wealthy “ME,” right?  The first three situations I mentioned above are not a big deal, but they are realities of a generation focused on “me” and “my” priorities.  All three happened to me this week.  Take a minute this week and watch for ways this world points back to YOUR needs.  It might surprise you a bit.

But here’s the strange part… Listen to what Jesus tells us: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.”  (Matthew 16:24 NIV)  Another version says, ”If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me.”(NLT)

There’s some inconsistency here…

Deny yourSELF? 

Turn from mySELF? 

All of my life I’ve learned to do what’s best for ME and to do whatever makes me the most happy… why would I want to deny mySELF?! 

Jesus also said this:  “You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way.  But the gateway to life is very narrow and the road is difficult, and only a few ever find it.”  Matthew 7:13-15

So on one had we have a world that tells us to do what’s best for ME.  On the other hand, we have Jesus telling us that in order to follow Him, we first need to deny ME. 

Here’s the crazy part of it all… He gives ME the choice!

I can continue to look out for my own best interest and pursue a life about self fulfillment…….. or …….. I can make a decision to follow God’s narrow, challenging road and deny ME.  I have a choice to listen to Him or not listen to Him. 

The final question comes down to whether YOU believe Jesus is who He claims to be.  If you don’t, then you aren’t going to care about what He says, but If you do believe He is God, then you’ll understand the significance of His words. 

C. S. Lewis said it best:  “Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important.”

When we go to Haiti or Mexico to build homes, sometimes people tell me, “You’re a good person and doing great things.”  I have to remind them that it’s not ME that is good… it’s the story I follow that is good.  Amen.

By: Jonathan Dodson

I thought this was interesting….

Religion	Gospel	Post-Religion
Moralistic	Christ-centered	Relativistic
Narrow-minded	Heart-focused	Open-minded
I do	Jesus does	I don’t (care)
Be good	Be yourself in Jesus	Be authentic
Obey therefore accepted	Accepted therefore obey	Disobey find acceptance elsewhere
Identity in works	Identity in Jesus	Identity in self
Moral/Bible Questions	Heart Questions	Intellectual Questions
Concerned with Truth	Concerned with Truth in Love	Concerned with Love
God is hard to please	Jesus pleases God for us	God is obstacle to pleasure
Compares morals	Considers cross	Compares worldviews
Salvation – of course me	Salvation – why me?	Salvation – why not everyone
Motivated by fear	Motivated by Joy	Motivated by freedom
Results in pride	Results in humility	Results in indifference
Church=self-righteous	Church=imperfect saints	Church=backwards
Good	Repentant	Bad

Thoughts?

If you look around you can probably find a faster version for just about anything.  Convenient? Yes.  More beneficial?  Sometimes.  Facebook and Twitter are great tools, and yes I’m a believer of how they can enhance our lives through online community(especially with our long distance friends), and give our friends a “quick” update of our lives.  However, what about when they substitute our one-on-one time with someone?  Do you think that you can get the same type of relational impact through a computer that you can get in person?  Are they making us lazier?  I wonder if one day we’ll get all of our birthday wishes via text messages and on our facebook pages instead of in person or phone calls.  Hey, I’ve done it too!  Or how about the boss who lets you go or gives bad news via email or text?  How would that make you feel?  I’ve felt it, and it made me feel like the person was just trying to either avoid conflict or perhaps our relationship wasn’t enough for them to talk to me in person. 

Don’t get me wrong, I love things that are convenient and quick.  I’d much rather use the remote control rather than getting up everytime I changed the TV station.  I do however think there’s a line that we should draw when it comes to people though.  Call me old fashioned, but I believe our relationships with others require intentional effort, and it sometimes means facing conflict face to face.  When we substitute them for the quick or “Mc”version, it can sometimes sends the wrong message and feelings can get hurt.

So what about you?  Do you think we are using all of our “Mc”versions wisely?  What are some you use?  

Quick or “Mc” answers only please!

• Pray for our country and thank God for the freedom we will celebrate this weekend.
• Pray for President Obama, for his leadership decisions, and that he’d be filled with the wisdom of God. 
• Pray for our troops who are still tirelessly serving our country overseas.
• Pray for the state of California and it’s future leadership.
• Pray for Crossline Church and for many non-believers to hear the Good News.
• Pray for Foundations ministry and for all young adults to stay connected to Jesus who is the true vine.
• Pray for all of Crossline’s and Foundation’s missionaries and that they may always be protected by the full armor of God.

^{1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18}

¹⁶ Always be joyful. ¹⁷ Never stop praying. ¹⁸ Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

~praying with you~