The Blog

It has been a long and amazing trip over the past few years as we have had the privelige and the honor of going and being a part of Christ Centers's chapel services. Not only do we get to come and do ministry, but we have made same amazing friends. Today was the last chapel service that the school is going to have because next year they will be closing down the school. I know, it is extremly sad, but we and praying and know that God is going to do amazing things in all of the lives of the students and the staff.

We have been to a lot of chapel services over the years and it is something we always look foward to going and doing. The best part about going to Christ Center is being able to be a part of the lives of so many amazing kids. They are the reason that we keep coming back to Christ Center and we will miss them greatly. We also want to send a big thank you to all of the staff esspecially Diane Gooth, for helping to get involved with them, and Pastor Jeff Starr who has been a big friend to us th, and of course all of the teachers.

We will miss all of you and want to say a big thank you for let us be a part of this journey with you. We will be praying for you all and can't

So, we are back home and are all settling back into life in Eugene. Things are going rally good at the church and everything is going great. This week is going to be a sad one however, for one reason. The school that we have been partners with for a long time is going to be closing down and we have the honor of ministering at their last chapel service ever. It is going to be a sad day at Christ Center but we do know that God has great things in store for the staff and students of the school and even though it is closing down, it does not mean that we are going to stop being involved with them. The church that has funded Christ Center is still going to be going and we hope that we will be able to stay very involved with things that they are doing. It is going to be a sad day but we all hope and pray that God will have his way at this last Chapel servcie.

So, going down to Roseburg which is only an hour always is kind of like being on the road. I mean we did all pile in the van and rive to another city. It doesn't really matter if it was only an hour away. It still felt like we were on the road. We went down to Roseburg to minister at River Of Life, with a former student of ours, Jason Humphrey, who is now the youth pastor there and is doing an awesome job. We had the privilege to be able to go and minister during the last youth service that they are going to have on a Thursday night. They are moving the service to Wednesday. So, it was really cool to be able to go and be there for that.

Before we got to the church, we had to go to Safeway to pick up some much needed illustrations for Pastor Danny's message about Extreme Living. At first, we were very bummed because we could not find anything that had the word Extreme on it, but then we started finding things all over the place and got a ton of stuff for the message. Service was so good and the message was just what they needed as they are about to go through this change. We were really happy to be there for that.

After the service, we were able to go and spend some time with our old friend Jason and his wife, Rachel, as well as there one year old son Jeffery. We went to Apple bees and just got to fellowship with them and tell stories of things that happened years ago. It is always such a blessing for us to be able to go and see that someone who has gone through our program is actually putting into practice the things that they learned while in the program. We appreciate Jason and all the things that he is doing and will be praying for his youth ministry.

This is everyone on Pirates Of The Caribbean

So, today we got a chance to wrap up our trip. Looking back on everything we've been able to be a part of this trip has been amazing. We got chances to do outreach to people who might not otherwise hear the gospel. We got to witness God move powerfully in the services. Overall we just got the opportunity to be used by God to effect eternity for some people. So with last nights service being the last one,today we got a chance to wind down before we drive back home. We were blessed with the opportunity to be able to go to Disneyland and just have a day together as a team and have some fun. It was a treat to spend a whole day at the happiest place on earth. A lot of the team split into groups and the guys ended up spending most of the day just hanging out and going from ride to ride. It was such a joy to have time just to have fun. Now we're ready to head back tomorrow and see what God has in store for us back in Oregon.

This is everyone on Pirates Of The Caribbean

So, today we got a chance to wrap up our trip. Looking back on everything we've been able to be a part of this trip has been amazing. We got chances to do outreach to people who might not otherwise hear the gospel. To read the rest of the blog, click on the unreserved link on the home page.

There is always that day that comes on a teip that is very sad. That day is always the day that we do our last service. This day was no different. Now, it was a Sunday which ment that we were able to do a lot of services, but it still means that when you get to that last one and it is all done, its over. So, it was a sad day, but, we did have the opprotunity to do some awesome ministry today. First we had the privalage of attending Parampunt Praise Chapel for their Sunday morning service and just enjoy that. Second, we went to Orange and ministered at a church where the Praise Chapel Frontline Warriors meet. The Frontline Warriors is a biker church. Lastly, we were able to go out to Azusa and minister at their service.

Paramount was awesome as always and a great way to start the day. When we got to Orange and met up with the chruch, we knew that it was going to be a good service. Pastor Chris shared a powerfull message and uring the altar call, people came up to recieve salvation, it was awesome.

After that service, we went to Azusa and met up with Pastor Woody who showed us around his church. We were able to do some dramas and skits for them as well as have Pastor Danny come and share his word for them. I think God knew exactly what this church was needing because, the dramas and skits and the word just hit it exactly. It still blows me away that every single time, God knows what needs to be said and when it needs to be said.

So, yes it is a sad day, but God uses sad days just as much as he uses happy days. Speaking of happy days, tomorrow we have been blessed with the opportunity to go to Disneyland and have a day just to have fun before we go home. It is going to be really nice to go and just have a fun day together as a team.

Today was an especially exciting day for us. Tonight we had the opportunity to minister at Paramount, but not just Paramount. It was Paramount' Spanish Service. Earlier in the day, we were able to go help out at an outreach that Praise Chapel Stanton was putting on in Anahiem. It was really cool to be able to go and do dramas for them and go to their houses and invite them out for a free BBQ.

So in Paramount, we went to the building that Fresh Fire used to have church in. It is now used for their spanish church. They were putting on a big event and invited a lot of the spanish churches out. So we got to go their and do the ministry. So it was really cool to be able to go and see them all come together. They had one of the most amazing bilingual worship services. They did some songs in english and some in spanish, they even did some with both. We did our dramas and Pastor Danny shared a powerfull message. It took him some time to get used to having a translator, but he did and God showed up. The service went great and we got to go out with them afterwards and hang out.

It is always fun when you go back to your past and visit old friends.
Yesterday we all went to Long Beach Poly High School and did the church club. I got
to speak about commitment and just allowed God to use me in my old
"stomping grounds" as some would put it. It was just a great opportunity
to see my old friends and teachers that helped me get through my high
school years. I got to share some of my poetry that i thought i left
behind in high school, but it got brought back up. It is amazing how God
works.

Then for our evening service we headed to San Bernardino to have church
with Pastor Victor Dandridge, a Pastor that I grew up with. We were
there and God moved tremendously from pre-service prayer, right into
worship then the word! Worship was amazing, just being being able to
worship God is different types of worship styles. We experienced gospel,
reggae and just amazing time to get ahold of Jesus. We were able to
minister to the church, with a powerful vision. Meeting new people and
having the opportunity to pray with people with broken hearts ready to
be put back together. After church, we hung out with the youth kids, and
i got to talk to Pastor Victor and catch up from years of loosing
communication.

It was such an amazing reunion full day for me. I was practically
glowing by the end of the day, and so thankful for God using me in this
way that i never thought was possible to minister to so many different
people. i am so blessed. Moments like these help remind us that all the
hard work and difficult times are so worth it in the kingdom of God. I
can't wait until the next time God is able to use me like this. =)

Written By Ariel Siufu

Today started off with a lot of excitment, The team splitted up angain. Team A, which was all the guys went to A Worship Facilaties Conference in Long Beach. Team B, the girls, went and hung out with Pastor Angel, from Paramount, and his family. After that was all done we met back up and went to a service in Gardena.

We got to the church and met with their youth leader, David Tijerina. We got to talk to him a little bit about what he has been doing in his community. It is really cool to see him in a little town changing it for Christ. We had the privalage to be able to go and minister to them. Service was so good and Pastor Danny's word hit home with what their pastor had been talking about. It was an amazing time and God did some really cool things. After service we were able to fellowship with them and we played games for like an hour afterwards

Today was a very action packed day. Started out with class then we split up and had Chris, David, and the first years went to Ariel's old high school, Long Beach Poly. Danny, Brittany, and Casey went to Orange to help them distribute food boxes to people that came to get them. After that, everyone met up in San Bernadino to minister at a service there.

Going to Ariel's high school was really cool. We got to see some of her old teachers and talk to some of the people she worked with at the school. She showed us all around and then we were able to go to their bible club meeting during lunch and Ariel was able to share a word with them and we got to just talk and hang out with them. It was really cool to be able to go into a high school during school and minister.

For us at Orange, it was really cool to be able to go and just be there for them, to do whatever they needed. We helped them put food boxes together and then gave them to anyone who came in looking for some help. It was a great way to just be able to share the love of God with people.

When we all met back up in San Bernadino, we were really excited to meet Pastor Victor and to minister at his church. Before service, we had an incredible prayer time with him and some of his church members and without any hesitation we went into an awesome time of worship. God did some cool things during worship. After worship, we did not have a lot of time, we did some dramas that really were to bless them and Pastor Chris shared a quick word with them. We thought that because we were so rushed that we were not as affective as we could be but, God doesn't have a time restraint and doesn't need a lot of time to make an impact. So many people came and just told us how blessed they were. After the service, the church staff came and prayed for us and anointed us with oil. Not only did we get to bless them but they blessed us. It was so cool.

Today was another one of those awesome opportunities that we were able to go and minister at two different places tonight. Team A (Chris and Fam, David, Brittany, and Rel) all went to San Jacinto and Team B(Danny, Audrey, Casey, Mike, and Ranae) went to Stanton. Isn't it cool how God can be in two places at once because he showed up at both services and had his way with them.

Team B, had a great time ministering in Stanton and were able to do a lot of dramas as well as Pastor Danny sharing a word with them. God was able to speak through Danny and use him to just talk to those people.

Team A, also had a great service in San Jacinto. God moved through the dramas and Chris spoke about remaining in him. After the service we were able to pray with the pastor Randy and his wife Nichelle. Chris gave the pastor a word about having the heart of David and it turns out that is the 9th time he has gotten that word since he has been there for a year. Chris also told him about a vision he had of a ship breaking through these barriers of ice. As soon as Chris said that, Pastor Randy asked if Chris had been in his office. Chris was surprised and said no. Pastor Randy said you have to come see my boat. We went to his office and he had a boat on a table that was huge. He told us about someone in his church who wanted to bless him and so he made him a boat out of trash and gave it to him. He keeps the boat in his office as a sign of what they are going through and what they can get through. It was amazing to see how God was working there.

Tomorrow, some poeple will be going to Ariel's old highschool Long Beach Poly High School for a bible study and everyone else is going to Orange to help give out some food boxes and then we will all meet back up and go to our service in San Bernadino. It's going to be awesome.

So lately I have been thinking about our need for God, because whether we think we have things under control or not, we do need Him in our lives. I’m not talking about the kind of need where you didn’t get much sleep the night before because you stayed up cramming for your final and now you ‘need’ a cup of coffee. I’m talking about the kind of need where you are walking through the middle of the desert and you can see no end to it. Your thirst is unbearable, equaled only by the sun beating down on your neck. You look around frantically for some sort of relief from this hell, but see nothing but more desert behind and before you. And as you faint under the scorching sun all you want to do is lay there and die. You desperately need water. Then through your hazed vision you see the figure of a man standing in the distance, and you can make out a canteen slung over his shoulder. Hope. And you need desperately for that water to pass over your lips and flow through you.
I can’t speak for everyone, but I cannot survive without filling myself with God. No matter how much I can accomplish, it amounts to nothing without Him. No matter how hard I work, if I do not work to serve Him, it is vanity. And no matter how good of a person I might be by this world’s standards, I am filth without Christ’s covering.

Without filling ourselves with God’s word, and just spending time with Him, we are neglecting the only chance we are afforded to have any good in us. If we are not being led by God, then who’s doing the leading. We are lead by our own ambitions, our vanity, our insecurities, our neediness, greed: our flesh. There is no good inside of us apart from God. We need His character.

Paul puts it best in saying, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing.” (Romans 7:15-19 NIV).

We can fumble over ourselves time and time again, but without God the result will always be empty. And as much as we may know what’s best, and understand what it is that we should do, and how we should live out our lives knowing is only part of the battle. We need to take hold of God, the only good thing we have, and hinge every part of our lives on Him. When we do that, we recognize our need for God. And that is what it takes.

Written By Brittany Kirkendoll

We are Masters Commission know that ministry is not all about just speaking from a pulpit or doing dramas. Ministry is building the kingdom of God and that is what we like to do. A little while back, Pastor Danny was talking to Pastor Ted Ryeback from Praise Chapel Orange, and told him that we were going to be having an open day today. Pastor Ted told him what was going on out there and said that he had a lot of things to get done before their harvesters starts this weekend. Pastor Danny was more then ready to jump on that opportunity.

So, today we went and helped Pastor Ted get ready for Harvesters. He did have a lot to do but, we are Masters and no job is to big. We helped him to clean the church and organize their attic to clear out a lot of the junk they had. He also needed help fixing the skateboard park that they have outside their youth center. We had to pull off old boards and replace them so no one got hurt. We got a lot more done then Pastor Ted was expecting and where very happy to help them get things done.

After we had done all of that, we wanted to do something as a team and decided to all go to the beach. We got to play in the water, and the crazy thing is that you don't freeze in this ocean like you do in our oceans back home. We also got to throw around the football and build a sand castle with dual walls that were still easily destroyed by the tide. It was a lot of fun and we had a great time as a team.

As you may know, this year in our morning prayer time, someone always shares a devotion that follows a particular theme. The theme is always an element of discipleship. This weeks theme is Eternally Minded. This morning, I shared the devotion. When preparing for this, I was reading my word and I was reading Acts. In the very begging when Jesus is talking about no one knowing the time for the end except for the Father. It stood out to me and I began to go into depth.

It hit me, we don't know when the end will come. The wierd thing is that what hit me is that without that knowledge, all we can do is live for eternity. God knows when it will happen but we don't. So many things that we focus on in this life will soon fade away. If we are not living for eternity then what are we living for.

I really felt this message was for the team in this time that we are on the road because when we go and talk to people so many times we focus on the things that are going on here and now and we forget to look at the whole picture. We have to be pushing people to eternity. Pastor Danny has spoke about it in some of his surmons and we still seem to miss it every once in a while. We have to be the ones pushing towards eternity. If not, then what are we doing?

Written By David Darling

Today was a good day. We started off the day with a time of prayer and devotions. David spoke a message on the new element of discipleship, which is Eternally Minded. He talked about the importance of being focused on eternity and not just the things of this life. Now, we did not have a service today, but, we did take this opportunity to have some class time.

Today was also a day for us as a team to do things to bring us closer together and work on some stuff that needed done. It was a great team building day and we can not wait to go to Orange tomorrow and help them set up for thier upcoming harvesters event. We do not only come to do services but we come to build the kingdom. That is whaqt we are going to do.

It is really cool that on mothers day we get to go to the mother church of the Praise Chapel fellowship. The church that started it all with pastor Mike and Donna Neville. We met pastor Donna when we came to LA last time in Redondo Beach with pastor Mondo Luna. She was a guest speaker during there 3rd year anniversary service and we were doing some dramas. She loved the dramas and told us that we just had to come and minster at her church.

The day that we got to go and minister just happened to be, Mothers day. We were able to do two dramas, one of which really had to do with mothers day. Pastor Donna spoke a wonderful message about mothers and all the things she lurned from her mother. It was a really good message and we were all very blessed to be there for that service. Tomorrow, we will be working on school and taking care of some buisness for our church back home.

So we finished everything up In Hanford this morning and were able to pray with them before they went to do a car wash with the youth. We said our goodbyes and hit the road for LA. It was not to long of a trip and were very excited to pull into Ariel's mom's house again. She was more then happy to welcome us and begin the amazing hospitality that she always gives us.

Today, we had nothing scheduled to do but we found out that they were have a BBQ and rap concert over at Paramount Praise Chapel (Ariel and Ranae's home church.) So most of the group went to the concert and had a really good time hanging out with people and listening to some rap music. The rest of the team went to the mall and did some looking around.

Tomorrow, we will be going to Momma Praise Chapel, or Huntington Park Praise Chapel. It is the momma church because it is the church that started it all. We can not wait to go and minister at there special mothers day service. We are expecting great things from God and can not wait to see what he is going to do.

As Christians most of the time, we often tend to forget where we get our strength from. The mentality of the world is "You have to be the strongest one out there", so our head if filled with these lies from the beginning that we always have to be strong, emotionally, physically and even spiritually. But as Isaiah 40:28-31 is read,

"Have you never heard? Have you never understood? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion. But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength. They will soar high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint."

We see that we do not have to be strong. Because in those times when we are weak, when we cannot go any more, that is where God comes in and takes over. We do not have to put a front on a pretend that we have it all together, that were big and bad and got it going on. God wants us to depend on him for our strength, not to try and be muscle people. The hardest thing that has to happen is admitting that you need strength and asking God for it. Some people are so good at putting up a front, that they can never seem tired and weary. But as it says in 1 Samuel 16:7 the Lord doesn't see as people see things, man looks on the outward appearance. But God looks at the heart. So don't think we can hide it. God sees it all and knows it all. Just remember that God wants to be our strength, but do you trust in Him enough to let him?

Written By Ariel Sufyon Stevens

Well before this trip, none of us knew where Hanford CA was. Well I can tell you that we deffanetly know where it is now. Today we were able to hit the streets of Hanford, passing out flyers and talking to anyone were saw, inviting them to come to the special service that we would be ministering at. We also got to hit up the high schools and pass out a lot of flyers. Also, today pastor Danny, Kori, the kids, and Ariel headed down to L.A. to go to a wedding.

Tonight started off great as we began to see lots of people show up for the service. We really wanted to hit the night hard with a lot of skits and dramas because there church had a heart for it as well as using them to minister to all of the visitors. It went really well, above all of that, God showed up through pastor Chris's message. There was a lot of people that came up for the altar call.

Oh and did I mention that they were having a free bbq after the service. Talk about awesome. It was a great time for us to get poeple just to come over and hang out. We were able to fellowship and just have a good time with all the people here in Hanford.

It has officially started, The 2009 spring So Cal trip is upon us. Today we traveled to Hanford CA, a small little town in the middle who knows where. It is near Fresno, which means that we will get to see some of our peps from Fresno. Despite all the excitement that happened on the road, like tire blowouts, we made here at about 9:00 o'clock. Pastor James Purser was more then happy to great us and show us the building. They were just finishing a Spanish service at the church and after that, they had provided an amazing diner for us. We ate and fellowshiped together, it was a really good time of stories and grub.

Tomorrow, we are going to be going out into the community with one of the youth members here, Jesus, is going to be taking us to pass out flyers in the community and try to get people to come to the service that we will be having tomorrow night. We can't wait to see what God is going to do this trip and are so excited for all the things that are starting to happen here even in the beginning of the trip.

Today is the start of the 2009 spring so cal trip. We are getting started early and are expected to make it down south in the evening. We are planing on this trip to be one that God just completely takes over and does what he wants to do on this trip. It is also very exciting because we are going to be going to a lot of new churches this trip and that is always a big thing for us. So as always be checking the website often for pictures, blogs, and updates on the things going on, and to get a better idea of what we are doing on the trip follow us on twitter at crossfiremc.

Have you ever had something at the back of your mind that you just can’t seem to not think about it? Not like a song stuck in your head, and not necessarily something you don’t want to think about, but something that seems to work its way into almost every thought and situation? That’s where I’ve been for a few months now with thinking about the cross.
I remember a song we used to sing at church, it’s not that old, but the chorus goes, “oh the wonderful cross, oh the wonderful cross” and I just remember that that song used to bug me. Because the cross was horrid, it is the most torturous experience ever invented by man, the pain suffered on the cross was so intense that the word excruciating literally means “from the cross.” Yeah, we invented a word for it. I just didn’t get why we would say something like that was wonderful.
But like I said I’ve been reflecting a lot on the cross lately, and the thing that is hard to get your mind around is that the cross is really wonderful. In John 15:13, Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” The beauty of the cross is that Christ suffered and died cause he loves us, and he loves us with the greatest love anyone can have. It doesn’t make much sense to our natural minds, but God uses the foolish things of this world to shame the wise. (1Corinthians 1:27) Now the crazy thing is that we don’t do more to make it known.
Really, think about it, the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23), and God allowed Himself to be murdered to take that penalty for us. How dare we keep that to ourselves! If we’ve truly experienced such amazing grace as Christ has shown us how can we possibly just sit back and not tell the world about it?! The message of the cross is offensive to our imperfect notions of justice, but we can’t let the fact that our message is going to make some people uncomfortable stop us from spreading it wherever we go.



“When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride

See from his head, his hands, his feet
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did ever such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown

O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
Bids me come and die and find that I may truly live
O the wonderful cross, O the wonderful cross
All who gather here by grace draw near and bless
Your name

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all”

Written By Casey Cragie

It is that time of year again, when Crossfire hosts its annual Fellowship of Outreach Ministries International or FOMI conference. It is a time for all the members of our fellowship to come and be one body for a weekend. Now the members in the Philippians are not able to attend but we do miss them and think about them. This year was no let down, we had several guest speakers including Pastor John Sutton and Aaron Auer of R.O.A.R. ministries spoke on Thursday night, Dean Braxton spoke on Friday as well as for our Sunday morning congregation. Pastor Leon Willis spoke on Saturday night.

R.O.A.R is short for Riving Oregon's Amazing Roots and is a ministry set on telling the story of how Oregon was founded on a Christian faith and bringing that back to the community that so desperately needs that. They travel around and tell people about where Oregon came from and what is was built on. It is a really great ministry and Pastor John and Aaron are doing a really great work.

Leon Willis has always been a figure in our church because of the role he has in the open bible church. He has also been a long time mentor of Pastor Aaron Taylor, our senior pastor. It is always a privilege to hear him come and speak to our church. This years theme was Making A Difference, and he spoke about just that. The spirit of God was there and he moved. It was a great service and we are very thankful for Leon being able to come and minister to us.

Dean Braxton has one of the most interesting stories you will ever here. This man has done something that very very few ever will. He died three years ago and went to heaven, but he came back and is now sharing his storey to everyone he can. When he died Jesus told him that it was not his time and that he was needed more here on this earth then in heaven to tell people about Jesus. So he came back and has been doing that ever since. Friday he was able to share about what happened and on Saturday morning we got to sit down in a more quite back setting and have some Q and A time with Dean which was a very interesting time. Dean was also the guest speaker for our Sunday service and told the people how important family is and what you need to do to make sure that all of your family comes with you to heaven because they are still your family once you get there. It was just incredible to here his storey and see the things that God is doing in his life. We hope that he can come back really soon and pray that he continues to do the amazing work that God has set before him.

Overall, it was another amazing FOMI conference and God was able to move in the hearts of his people. It was a time of lifting up and of encouraging. We want to say a big thank you to all of the speakers and that we can not wait for next years conference.