Sunday, June 29, 2003
Sunday, June 29, 2003
A letter to Crossroads Church from Jonathan Lee, Lead Pastor:
It is natural and healthy for a child to leave its parents after he or she has matured and grown. The child is probably not ever completely ready for the world that lies ahead and yet when we, as parents, work diligently to teach them how to love and how to live we can watch with excitement as this child chases its dreams.
In many ways, I can relate to Crossroads as that proud parent who has watched his child grow and mature, ready to take on the world. I can remember when God gave life to this community and entrusted its care and safety to Stan and I. I remember the transitions that have marked new chapters in our lives – endings and beginnings.
June 1, 1997, God allowed me the opportunity to chase a dream. Moving back to Maryland to start a new church had been my top priority for the two years prior while finishing seminary. Never could I have predicted the challenges that we would face and the joy we would experience seeing how God would build this new kind of church called Crossroads – a church that accepts anyone, walking with them as they embrace their own spiritual journeys, traveling with them through the threshold of faith in Jesus and faithfully serving with them in this community.
This last year, Wendy and I have experienced a vast range of emotions. While everything seemed to be progressing so well, including the establishment of a wonderful partnership with Tim and Tasha, my heart grew all the more restless. While there is still much that God has in store for Crossroads to accomplish, I continued to battle with the idea that my part in this adventure was drawing to a close. In the last several weeks, we have determined that God is indeed calling us to chase after a new dream.
Wendy and I will be leaving to start and parent a new church in Las Vegas, Nevada. We have the opportunity once again to start a new kind of church for the people of Las Vegas as we embrace the mission of engaging and changing a culture for the sake of the Kingdom. There is no question that the challenge before us in the coming year is tremendous. We are seeking to lead a team that will all move to Las Vegas and work as bi-professionals, each having jobs in the secular world and sharing the responsibility of birthing and leading a new church. We are also praying that God will call as many as 70 people from around the country to join us in this new adventure. We are hoping that possibly even a few of you will relocate your lives to join the mission because we know the value of having friends along for the ride.
Though in many ways it is not the child that is leaving, there is no question Crossroads is ready for the next chapter. I could not imagine leaving you in better hands. All you need to provide leadership and care on this next leg of the journey is already in place. That, mixed with a new articulation of our shared mission these past five plus years from a new pastor who has the calling and heart for the people of Maryland, gives me comfort in knowing that Crossroads’ best days are just over the next horizon.
Last week, in the light of God’s leading, I offered my resignation to the Leadership Team effective October 5, 2003, coinciding with our church’s fifth birthday. This fulfills the commitment I made to our God and our community as we began the adventure over six years ago.
Know that I will be praying for you and will always hold Crossroads in my heart. I am proud of you and truly treasure the time we have shared the journey of this community. This is in no way the end, simply the end of the beginning.
May God truly continue to bless His church,
Jonathan Lee
A letter to Crossroads Church from Jonathan Lee, Lead Pastor:
It is natural and healthy for a child to leave its parents after he or she has matured and grown. The child is probably not ever completely ready for the world that lies ahead and yet when we, as parents, work diligently to teach them how to love and how to live we can watch with excitement as this child chases its dreams.
In many ways, I can relate to Crossroads as that proud parent who has watched his child grow and mature, ready to take on the world. I can remember when God gave life to this community and entrusted its care and safety to Stan and I. I remember the transitions that have marked new chapters in our lives – endings and beginnings.
June 1, 1997, God allowed me the opportunity to chase a dream. Moving back to Maryland to start a new church had been my top priority for the two years prior while finishing seminary. Never could I have predicted the challenges that we would face and the joy we would experience seeing how God would build this new kind of church called Crossroads – a church that accepts anyone, walking with them as they embrace their own spiritual journeys, traveling with them through the threshold of faith in Jesus and faithfully serving with them in this community.
This last year, Wendy and I have experienced a vast range of emotions. While everything seemed to be progressing so well, including the establishment of a wonderful partnership with Tim and Tasha, my heart grew all the more restless. While there is still much that God has in store for Crossroads to accomplish, I continued to battle with the idea that my part in this adventure was drawing to a close. In the last several weeks, we have determined that God is indeed calling us to chase after a new dream.
Wendy and I will be leaving to start and parent a new church in Las Vegas, Nevada. We have the opportunity once again to start a new kind of church for the people of Las Vegas as we embrace the mission of engaging and changing a culture for the sake of the Kingdom. There is no question that the challenge before us in the coming year is tremendous. We are seeking to lead a team that will all move to Las Vegas and work as bi-professionals, each having jobs in the secular world and sharing the responsibility of birthing and leading a new church. We are also praying that God will call as many as 70 people from around the country to join us in this new adventure. We are hoping that possibly even a few of you will relocate your lives to join the mission because we know the value of having friends along for the ride.
Though in many ways it is not the child that is leaving, there is no question Crossroads is ready for the next chapter. I could not imagine leaving you in better hands. All you need to provide leadership and care on this next leg of the journey is already in place. That, mixed with a new articulation of our shared mission these past five plus years from a new pastor who has the calling and heart for the people of Maryland, gives me comfort in knowing that Crossroads’ best days are just over the next horizon.
Last week, in the light of God’s leading, I offered my resignation to the Leadership Team effective October 5, 2003, coinciding with our church’s fifth birthday. This fulfills the commitment I made to our God and our community as we began the adventure over six years ago.
Know that I will be praying for you and will always hold Crossroads in my heart. I am proud of you and truly treasure the time we have shared the journey of this community. This is in no way the end, simply the end of the beginning.
May God truly continue to bless His church,
Jonathan Lee
Monday, June 23, 2003
"Not only has the grand vision that inspired recent Western culture been discarded, but we are having difficulty in knowing how to set about constructing a new vision.
"However, there can be no doubt that one of the reasons why we are finding the search so difficult is that metanarratvies assume some kind of shared experience of life, and today the very notion of community has itself become problematic. In a world where people are regarded as cogs in a machine, they are immediately placed in competition with everyone else, and that in itself creates relationships based not on cooperation but on suspicion. In addition, though, the idea of community was questioned by the philisophical ideology which assured us that autnomous rational individuals held within themselves the key to everything, and therefore the pinnacle of human accomplishment would be for us to exercise our reason in a way that would be completely free and unfettered by personal values or faith principles (worldviews or meatanarritives.)" - John Drane, The McDonaldization of the Church
"However, there can be no doubt that one of the reasons why we are finding the search so difficult is that metanarratvies assume some kind of shared experience of life, and today the very notion of community has itself become problematic. In a world where people are regarded as cogs in a machine, they are immediately placed in competition with everyone else, and that in itself creates relationships based not on cooperation but on suspicion. In addition, though, the idea of community was questioned by the philisophical ideology which assured us that autnomous rational individuals held within themselves the key to everything, and therefore the pinnacle of human accomplishment would be for us to exercise our reason in a way that would be completely free and unfettered by personal values or faith principles (worldviews or meatanarritives.)" - John Drane, The McDonaldization of the Church
Thursday, June 05, 2003
“Everything is aimed outside. If you are in the Bellagio, you’re behind the fountains, not looking in on them. Big mistake. But that’s where my head was at back then. . . I still recognize the importance of having a great invitation on the carnival midway, but I’ve turned it around: what’s more provocative than dancing waters or erupting volcanoes? Mystery.” – Steve Wynn
Wednesday, June 04, 2003
"A man's life becomes an adventure, the whole thing takes on a transcendent purpose when he releases control in exchange for the recovery of the dreams in his heart." John Eldredge
Tuesday, June 03, 2003
"Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive." Gil Bailie
