For January, we have two recommended reading plans. You can download them below or find them at the info counter in the church lobby.

The Matthew Reading Plan begins on January 4 and goes through January 31, covering one chapter a day.

The Psalms Reading Plan begins on January 12 and continues through June 10 (150 days). It was created by The Gospel Coalition and leads up to their TGC Women's Conference in June.

Your phone is a thief!

All day long, whether it’s buzzing in your pocket or glowing on the table beside you, it has one goal: to steal your most valuable assets, your time and attention.

The thief sneaks in when you sit down to read your Bible, during family meals, or when you’re catching up with a friend at a coffee shop. While other things you own can be replaced or repaired, you never get to relive or recapture these moments in time. Because our attention is constantly under attack, we must become intentional in how we protect our attention and point it to things that we truly value. This is why the psalmist asks God in Psalm 90:12 to help His people,
“to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.”

He knows that if we remember the shortness of not only our lives but our days, we will use our days, hours, and minutes wisely and protect them from things that seek to rob us.

But it is not just their fleetingness that makes your time and attention valuable; it’s the power of what you give your time and attention to. When you allow your phone to steal your time and attention you are also giving it the power to shape your thoughts, emotions, and actions. In other words, your identity. This is why Paul writes in Philippians, “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8)

As followers of Jesus, we are to be shaped and molded into the image of Christ by the Spirit and through God’s Word, not by the device that seeks to shape us into its image. The question is then what do we do? How do we protect our time and attention from this thief? Here are three things I invite you to try:

1. Turn Off Your Notifications
We have all been there. You’re in a meeting at work or catching up with a friend over coffee and then it happens- your phone or watch vibrates. You know it is probably nothing, but you have lost all focus on what was happening in the meeting or conversation. None of that matters anymore. All that matters is what the notification on the phone says. So, what do you do? You fight the desire for a minute. But you can’t help it you pick up the phone to check the notification. In that moment you are allowing the thief to steal your time and attention from yourself but also the image bearer sitting across from you.

Why does this happen? Why can’t we fight the urge to check our notification? One reason is that we have been trained by our phones and apps to expect a reward when our phones ding or buzz and our brains can’t help but want to see what unknown surprise hides behind that notification.

One of the best ways you can fight against this distraction is by turning off all unnecessary notifications. You do not need to know every time you receive an email, someone makes a post on social media, or so-called breaking news happens. Go through your notification and remove any unnecessary ones.

2. Delete Attention Stealing Apps (social media, news, games, etc.)
What apps do you spend the most time on? My guess is that for most of us the answer would be social media, games, or news apps. This is not by accident. While these apps market themselves as if they were selling you connection, important information, or entertainment, what they’re really selling is your attention. It is not just out of generosity that many of these apps are free; rather, it is because the way that Facebook, TikTok, Fox News, and Candy Crush make money is by keeping you locked in on their app. The more time you spend on their apps, the more ads you see, and the more info they collect. How does this work? Let’s look at two quick examples:

• Infinite Scroll: One of the breakthrough web design techniques for social media companies is the infinite scroll, the ability to scroll through social media without ever getting to the end of a page or clicking on a link to keep going. By doing this the app keeps your brain guessing what is next and keeps you scrolling, scrolling, and scrolling.  
• Algorithm: These platforms track what you click, watch, and linger on, then give you more of it. Not necessarily what’s true, helpful, or good—but what’s most likely to keep you on the app.

One way to fight against this attempt to steal your time and attention is to delete these apps from your phone. This does not remove your access from these platforms, but it does add a speed bump. This little speed bump can help you protect your time and attention.

3. Having a Home for Your Phone
If I were to ask you what you want to prioritize in your life, I am sure that one of the things you would say is time with your family. So why not make that a priority when you are at home? One way to do that is to have a ‘phone home’ in your house. A ‘phone home’ is a location where everyone puts their phone when they enter the house and keeps them until they leave. This way if someone needs to use their phone for something they must get up, go to the phone, and stay at the location of the phone until they are done using it. Just adding these extra steps keeps you from being distracted by your phone while you go about your evening.

Maybe this sounds like a little too much for you. Start with setting some “no phone zones”. For example:

• at the table during meals
• bedrooms, bathrooms, or behind closed doors
• while watching television or movies as family

Parents, if you want to see the fruit of setting up practices and boundaries like these in your home, then you must set the example. The most valuable thing you can give your kids is your time and attention. Don’t let your phone steal that from them.

The digital age that we are living in is a unique time in God’s story and if we are going to walk through it faithfully and help others, we need wisdom. Join us for Wisdom in the Digital Age, a new two-week class at Stones on Sunday August 31 and September 7 at 10:45 am.
You can register now here: Registration

Our men's and women's Bible studies will be doing some of the parables together this July. You can download the 2-week guide here.

Author’s note: This story may not be appropriate for young children or those who have experienced sexual or physical abuse. Reader discretion is advised.
 
One night, when she was young, Barb McDannell threw a temper tantrum because she didn’t want to go to bed. What followed was a sickening punishment that lasted for several years.

That was the night the rapes began. At five years old, her consequence for throwing that tantrum was to be raped by her brother’s best friend (age 16).

“Dad told me to stop crying,” said Barb. “Soon after, I heard footsteps on the stairs. Dad told my brother’s friend to do something about the crying, and that’s when the boy began to rape me—with my dad standing by, watching.”

For the next two years, unbeknownst to anyone else and while Barb’s mom worked nights, the young man raped her, the younger boy getting payment from her dad—who also began to rape Barb. Within that time, the duo also began to rape Barb’s older sister (whom we’ll call Mary), who was four years older.

The evil intensifies
 
By age seven, Barb’s dad had become an alcoholic and a member of a local organization. He met with fellow men within this nationally-known organization—a teacher, businessman, doctor, county official, and a pastor, just to name a few.

Barb and her sister were taken to the local meetings regularly, where men were paid to rape them both. Her dad was running a prostitution ring, selling his own two young daughters for sex.

As if those weekly rapes weren’t enough, her dad continued to rape the two girls at home. Mary became pregnant and was sent away to have an abortion. While the girls’ mom and everyone were told that Mary was visiting a nursing school, she was actually recovering from the abortion. Soon after, Mary left home, never to return. (She committed suicide years later.) Even after Mary left, Barb continued to be raped by her father and the men at the local organization.

She always knew when the rapes at home would come.

“I always knew when my dad was coming to rape me—I could hear his feet on the stairs,” said Barb. “I was a fighter all my life. Even if I’d try to hide in the hall closet, he would find me. One night I decided to fight him. I bit him, kicked him, and hit him, and it didn’t end well. He still raped me and beat me. I remember him saying, ‘I am your father, and you need to do whatever I tell you to do.’”

Almost dead

When she was 8 years old, Barb told her best friend what was happening to her at the regular meetings of the organization. Her dad overheard and beat her, also forcing her to tell the men there. The men encircled her and gave her a choice of three consequences, deciding to punish her with all. She was beaten. They “bid” on her and the man with the highest bid raped her. And they locked her in a box for 24 hours.

When her mom asked where she was, her dad said she was at a sleepover. Instead, she was being cared for overnight at a local doctor’s office—the same doctor from the local organization who had raped her. Mercifully, he did not rape her while she was kept at his office overnight; that’s because, after 24 hours in the locked box, she was near death.

Extreme pain and loss

The raping continued and five years later, Barb became pregnant.

“At age 14, I was around seven months pregnant,” said Barb. “My mom was told that I was going to spend a long weekend with some of my dad’s family. Instead, I was taken to the same doctor (who raped me). My dad, the doctor, and some other men were present at the doctor office. They restrained me and gave me an IV to induce labor.”

Barb gave birth to a premature baby girl who was “tiny and perfect.” Soon after the birth, Barb’s dad forcibly took his grandchild from her arms and into another room.

“They killed my daughter,” said Barb, who remembers the coroner taking her baby away in a garbage bag. “My dad said to me, ‘Take a good hard look and remember what you’ve done.’” He then told the doctor to “make sure this never happens again.”

The physical pain was excruciating after the forced delivery and destruction of Barb’s reproductive system. But the pain from Barb’s broken and confused heart was even greater.

For two days, she recovered at the doctor’s house. Then, when she was taken home, “Mom was told I was sick and she could only bring me food [and not see me otherwise]. My dad threatened me not tell anyone what really happened.”

A promising change comes

Barb’s life went back to “normal.” She went back to school—and she was still raped on a regular basis. Then one day, everything changed.

“One day, my brother went to school and his friend saw his bruises,” said Barb. “My brother told the friend that he’d been beaten, and a teacher overheard it.” Child welfare authorities removed Barb and her three younger siblings from their home.

A couple from a local church—the man served as the pastor—began to foster Barb when she was 14. She arrived with a garbage bag that held two outfits. She found it difficult at first to trust the pastor who welcomed her into his home. Would he rape her just like so many other “respected” men had?

“Soon after I went to live with them, I accidentally broke a glass, shattering it,” said Barb. “I heard footsteps coming up the stairs, and I dropped to the floor, covering my head.” But her foster dad didn’t hit her or rape her, and it took Barb some time to get used to her new, safe reality.

Life improved drastically for Barb, who found herself doing well academically in school for the first time in her life. She attended a Christian college, although she was not a believer, earning a degree in communications.

Tragedy strikes

Fast forward a few years. Barb was 22 and a college graduate. Her mom was killed in a head-on collision on her way home from work. She found herself back at her parents’ house, seeing her dad for the first time in eight years. Barb would continue to see her dad every now and then in her small town, and he went around acting as though nothing ever happened in how he treated his family.

Throughout the following few years, Barb and her then-fiancé found themselves continuing to postpone their wedding. They both lost a parent and Barb fell ill several times—most everything the result of the forced trauma that her body endured for years.

In a span of time, Barb was diagnosed with uterine and cervical cancer, which led to needing a hysterectomy. After the surgery, the surgeon asked if she’d ever had a child.

“I broke down and told him everything,” said Barb. What followed were days of extreme physical and emotional pain. She remembered how she would never, ever have a child again. Within those 16 days spent in the hospital, her dad visited, still condemning Barb and calling her worthless. And her wedding was also canceled when her fiancé told her that he was gay.

Barb felt like she had nothing to live for.

Introduction to a false religion

When a near-death experience (while she was in a coma) produced a vision that led her to believe that Jesus was talking to her, she wasn’t sure who to talk to about it. So she talked to a fellow co-worker, who happened to be a Mormon. When that co-worker couldn’t answer her questions, she invited Barb to meet with a bishop from the Mormon Church.

What began as a conversation about her near-death experience led to Barb’s involvement and membership in the Mormon Church.

“I had no intention of joining the Mormon Church,” said Barb. “I just needed a religious person to answer my questions. The bishop was kind, and I was so beaten down that I was open to any words of encouragement.” Barb knew a little about the Mormon Church. After all, she’d taken a class on college that centered on cults, and her brother’s foster family was Mormon. She began to attend the Mormon Church, also known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Her days consisted of morning and evening prayers, reading scriptures, reading the book of Mormon, and teaching young women in Sunday school at the local ward (or church).

“Because I wasn’t a Christ follower, I was hungry to keep learning,” said Barb. “I became a member soon after [my first conversation about the church] and was baptized 18 days later (in 1990). I was convinced that the Mormons had all the truth and others were wrong.”

The church doctrine that won Barb over was this: “I was told I would be a mother in heaven one day,” said Barb, who knew the pain of losing a child. “That’s all it took.” (“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that all human beings, male and female, are beloved spirit children of heavenly parents, a Heavenly Father and a Heavenly Mother,” according to the Jesus Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website.)

Another draw to the Mormon Church was the promise of cleansing and washing through rituals and good works. The desire for the hope that the cleansing would provide drew Barb in.

By all accounts, Mormons appear to be Christians. According to World Religions & Cults 101 by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz, “Mormons consider themselves Christians, and they will tell you that they believe in the Bible, God, and Jesus Christ. By outward appearances, Mormons do appear to be Christians … but their beliefs tell a much different story.”

Mormon beliefs on the nature of God, the person of Jesus, sin and salvation, and the afterlife all differ from biblical Christianity. (We have a list of reputable resources at the end of this story that we suggest reading for more information on how Mormonism differs from Christianity.)

Introduction to the real, biblical Jesus

In 2023, after 33 years in the Mormon Church, Barb’s life began to change. A co-worker and friend invited her to attend a Bible study at Stones Crossing Church. She turned down the invitation because of her commitments at the local Mormon ward. That same month, her nephew began to express his doubts over Mormonism and considered leaving the Mormon Church. His doubts became Barb’s as they conversed on the topic.

Barb’s doubts increased and so did her faith-related conversations with her friend. Her attitude about the Mormon Church started to change and her local bishop noticed. She was reprimanded and disciplined.

“I was asked to give back my ‘temple recommend,’” said Barb. (Not all Mormons are allowed to go to the temple, which is a step above the local ward. This privilege must be earned with good works.) “He said he’d meet with me every three months and that I needed to repent. Before I left, I asked what would happen if I died during this year of ‘probation.’ He told me I’d not go to celestial kingdom and that I’d be going to the lowest of the lowest kingdom.”

Naturally, Barb was extremely sad and emotional over it. But this spurred her on to watch the first sermon in Pastor Dustin Crowe’s series The Wilderness is Not a Waste—a sermon series at Stones Crossing in June 2023.

Soon after, Barb’s friend connected her with Pastor Dustin. The two began conversing regularly on theology, Pastor Dustin patiently answering Barb’s questions on both Mormonism and Christianity, giving her a Bible and encouraging her to read the Gospel of John. She also began attending Stones on Sunday mornings.

A new freedom in Christ

Two months after Barb was introduced to the gospel, she placed her faith in Jesus on September 30, 2023. She had recognized that the real/true Jesus from the Bible gave himself as the sufficient sacrifice to cleanse her from sin and that she didn’t need to keep performing good works to be righteous before him. Soon, Barb began attending Sunday services and Bible study regularly, as well as being discipled by a woman at Stones.

While Barb has experienced the joys of knowing Christ and meeting other believers, she has still experienced some suffering—she lost a lot of Mormon friends who shunned her after leaving the church. And her twin brother stopped talking to her for a while after her conversion. (They are now on good terms.) She even had to legally get her name taken off the Mormon Church roll, and she cannot attend the wedding of a family friend because that union is taking place in a Mormon temple.

As difficult as those losses are for Barb, she knows what she’s gained is so much greater—salvation in Christ through faith. She walks in full knowledge and freedom, knowing that no man holds the power to take away her salvation and that she is secure in Christ!

Below are some resources that will give more information about the Mormon Church and the differences between this religion and biblical Christianity.

• World Religions & Cults 101 by Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz
• Engaging with Mormons by Corey Miller
• Mormonism: What You Need to Know by Ed Decker
• Sharing the Gospel with a Mormon by Tony Brown
• Out of Mormonism: A Woman’s True Story by Judy Robertson

For two weeks, our Men's and Women's Bible studies will study the book of 1 John. You can download the study guide here.

Stones: How and when did you place your faith in Jesus?

Bonnie: I used to be a person who lived for what everyone else thought of me. My self-worth was completely tied to whether people liked and accepted me. When I did something immoral or unacceptable, I would lie, make excuses, or blame others to regain acceptance. I didn't feel loveable or valuable without people's approval, and it was exhausting. I had gone to church my whole life, but I didn't think I "needed Jesus" because I had my own plan to make people like me.

Jesus had been pursuing me for years, first at age 12 through confirmation classes at my local church. It seemed shallow to sign a piece of paper saying Jesus was my Savior. The second time I almost said yes to following Jesus was the Sunday morning in church after I was date raped at age 15. I felt too embarrassed and defiled to admit my need for healing and cleansing, and it was a very formal Methodist church. There was no altar call, so the moment of conviction passed as I sat in silent shame and confusion.

But one day, when I was 20 years old and in college, my world fell apart. My dad died the year before, and my first husband wanted to leave me after one year of marriage. (We stayed married another seven years, and he left when our daughter was a toddler.) In my despair, I called my twin sister. She told me about the unconditional love of Christ, as someone had led her to Christ months earlier through a campus ministry. It was clear that Jesus kept pursuing me with His grace and love and I accepted His free gift of salvation.

Stones: How has your relationship with Jesus looked since your salvation?

Bonnie: For several years, I had one foot in the world and one foot in my commitment to Jesus. I went to church and read my Bible intermittently, alternating between being a "good girl" Christian who said and did all the Christian things and being sinful and unfaithful. I saw my relationship with God as transactional, performance-based, and legalistic. If I was not sinning, God loved me; if I was sinning, God was angry and distant, expecting me to do penance. It felt like my relationship with my earthly father, and I experienced lots of inner turmoil.

Then one day, while listening to a sermon at my Baptist church, the Holy Spirit mercifully revealed how faithful and loving God had been to me. I remember quietly promising God that I would forsake some specific sins He was convicting me of and commit my life to Him. The Lord did, indeed, free me from those sins. The process was not easy, but He did it!

It took a while for me to truly understand that Christ lived a perfect life (that I couldn't live), died, and rose again in my place to forgive all my sins. I slowly realized that He loved and accepted me unconditionally. At one point, the Lord gave me an intense love for Scripture. One morning, I was convicted of Matthew 6:33—that I was to seek the Lord first each morning and He would take care of all my needs. I began to pour over Scripture every morning, a practice I have enjoyed for over 28 years. Through studying God's Word, Jesus convinced me that I can never gain enough love and acceptance from imperfect people. I had to give up my idols. For the first time, I truly felt free of anxiety. The Lord loved me! He was sovereign and good and defined my worth by giving His only Son for me. I slept well for the first time in years, at age 42. I stopped trying to control everything and everyone. I gave up co-dependent relationships as I started really walking in His amazing grace. I was discipled by spiritually-solid women. I couldn't get enough of His Word. It all transformed my life.

Even now, many years later, I am even more assured that I don't have to earn anyone's affirmation to be loved. I'm not chasing perfection or locked in shame, condemnation, self-hate, and guilt anymore. He forgave me and loves me forever in a way no person can. I have such peace and freedom from the anxiety and depression of not being loved or accepted by others. The Lord has opened a wide door in my heart to show grace and mercy to others as well. My family needed this breath of fresh air as I became more Christlike and gracious in our relationships. All glory to God!

Stones: When were you diagnosed with cancer and what was the diagnosis?
 
Bonnie: In June 2024, I was diagnosed with breast cancer (ductal carcinoma, Stage 0) after a routine mammogram and subsequent biopsy. (Ironically, I saw the diagnosis online while in the parking lot of a health food store.) I felt real anxiety for the first time in many years. Then I immediately prayed throughout the rest of the day, thinking about Philippians 4:6-7: “do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

The Lord guarded my heart and mind with His mysterious, magnificent peace, and the anxiety evaporated. I wasn't anxious again after that first day. An unexplainable peace flooded my heart and mind, like a permanent resident. Since He is absolutely sovereign and good, I will bless His name, as Job did. I spent every morning doing the hard heart work with the Lord and His Word, filling my journal with prayers, promises, and insights from Him. I specifically remember Him reminding me of Psalm 23:1—that He is my Shepherd, so I shall not want, meaning I don't need a fully intact body to be happy in Christ. I grieved for a few minutes, then I simply accepted what God had for me in this season.

In July, I had a simple mastectomy, with no complications and a quick, uneventful recovery. The cancer was completely removed, with no need for further chemo, radiation, or drugs. The Lord had completely prepared me for the loss, and my recovery was quick and uneventful. Between the time of learning about my cancer to many weeks after my surgery, people in the Stones Crossing Church family prayed for me, checked on me, and blessed me with gifts and encouragement. Jesus literally loved me through His Body, the local church. I was joyfully astounded and greatly humbled. Part of knowing Jesus through trials is allowing fellow Christians to minister, support, and love you along the way. I became so aware of how important the local church is as God loved me so well through people at Stones.

Stones: How has cancer impacted your relationship with Jesus? How are you different since the diagnosis?

Bonnie: The Lord has taught me how He uses suffering for good and showed me many precious saints who didn't forsake Him in their significant, chronic pain and suffering. It re-informed my understanding of how to suffer well. Christ drew me into deeper intimacy during the short-lived cancer situation. He taught me that I wasn't the one who guarded my faith. He promised to guard my faith and keep me. (See 1 Peter 1:3-7 and Psalm 121.) I did not have the spiritual leverage to cause Him to leave or forsake me. His love steadied me, refining my faith even more. I had prayed consistently for Him to draw me closer in greater intimacy with Him. I wanted more of Him.

One day during that period of time, He quietly told me He would grant my heart's desire through suffering. He has been faithful to draw me into deeper fellowship with Him, even giving me a boldness to share His love with others more freely and confidently. His faithfulness, sovereign goodness, grace, and mercy are more real to me than ever. I'm much less fearful of suffering, While I don't welcome it, I understand that He will be faithful to use it to draw me closer still and transform me into greater Christlikeness.

Stones: If you were given the topic of suffering and knowing Jesus through trials, what would your key points and conclusions be?
 
Bonnie: God is faithful to guard us in our faith with His jealous love and keep us in His protective gaze at all times so that we will always be with Him. The entire meta-narrative of Scripture from Genesis to Revelation is the story of God rescuing His people so He can dwell with us forever through Christ.

Don't fear or resist suffering. God has a purpose for it. He doesn't waste it but gives you more of Himself in return. Therefore, Jesus is worth the cost of suffering, and God will stop at nothing to bring His people safely into His kingdom by any means necessary. As my friend Debbie says, "God often allows what He hates in order to accomplish what He loves." I might add "for who He loves."

Jesus knows what you are going through because He suffered supremely in our place to rescue us from sin. He is a sympathetic high priest who goes before us and pours out His compassion, love, and care on us.

Suffer well, meaning completely surrender yourself to Him, trusting Him and seeking Him first and most in prayer, in His Word, and in fellowship with His people. Forsake anxiety, as it unnecessarily adds to suffering. Make Him your absolute and exclusive treasure. Do whatever it takes to draw close to Jesus because you will need Him, His Word, and His people when suffering comes your way. Praise God that He chooses to refine our faith and form us more fully into the image of Christ through suffering. (See Psalm 23 and Psalm 121, James 1:2-4, and 1 Peter 1:6-7, 23-24.)

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal" (2 Corinthians 4:16-18 ESV).

Resources on suffering:
 
"Walking With God Through Pain and Suffering" by Tim Keller
"Suffering" by Paul D. Tripp
"Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy" by Mark Vroegop

Each year, many Christians use the season of Lent (including the week of Easter) as a time to focus their mind and heart on the person and work of Jesus. This prepares our heart for Good Friday and Easter Sunday. It can also be a great time for families to talk about our sin and the reasons for Jesus' death, resurrection, and ascension. There are a lot of great family discipleship resources for the season of Lent or just for Easter.

We've put together a list of Recommended Resources to help you see and savor Jesus in this season. We also have an Ash Wednesday service on March 5.

Colossians is all about Jesus and how we are alive Christ. You can download the nine-week study guide here.
If you'd like an additional resource, you can purchase a copy of Pastor Dustin's devotional-commentary on Colossians, Finding Satisfaction in Christ, online or at our Resources Wall.

If you haven't joined one yet, you can sign up for a Men's or Women's Bible Study on Colossians through our events page.

“It’s the most wonderful time of the year,” according to the iconic song sung by Andy Williams that made its debut in 1963.

Or is it?

This is the time of year when we acknowledge what we’re thankful for on the fourth Thursday in November. And then one month later, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. To the Christ follower, especially, these days are vital as we remember ultimately what we are thankful for: the gift of a Savior and His sacrifice made for sinners as we do life in a fallen, broken world.

After all, we DO have reason to celebrate with joy and gratitude. Jesus is the giver of life (see John 10:10 and 14:6). He truly is our source of joy (Romans 15:13). He gives our hearts hope when we are fresh out of it on our own accord (Romans 42:11).

But sometimes the brokenness around us can dampen the holidays, making the days feel so heavy. This is especially true when the traditional family gatherings include splintered or broken family relationships.

What is brokenness? It can have multiple meanings:

• Damage: the state of not being able to function properly
• Emotional pain: a state of pain that is a barrier to living a normal, healthy life
• Messiness: a state of imperfection
• Physical weakness: the state of one’s body when it’s not functioning properly
• Financial: a state of debt and financial ruin

For the sake of this blog post, we’ll discuss the emotional pain and strain that comes with broken relationships with family and friends. It goes without saying that when the holidays involve these types of relationships, the holidays can be filled with dread and hopelessness.

As we examine our hearts this holiday season, knowing that conflict may be present at our gatherings (OR when we don’t have a gathering because brokenness keeps loved ones away), it’s vital to remember that God still wants to use this source of pain in our lives. He wastes nothing.

What does He desire for us when it pertains to conflict?

To win your brother or sister to Christ

If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. (Matthew 18:15)

To be an ambassador of Christ

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:17-21)

To be an aroma of Christ

But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? (2 Corinthians 2:14-16)

As believers, we have the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling us. He is the peacemaker, which gives us the ability to preserve peace. But how do we do that?

It’s clear in Scripture that it’s important for Christ followers to be peace seekers.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. (Romans 12:18)

Scripture was written in an environment of conflict, so we should expect to find instructions on how to handle conflicts in our present days. God’s Word promises Spirit-given unity, when we’re in the midst of conflict, if we respond obediently.

Why do you see the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye. (Matthew 7:3-5)

Scripture makes it clear that our sovereign God accomplishes great purposes for His children in conflict as they respond in humble obedience.

Here is what God is doing in our hearts as we experience brokenness:

• glorifying Himself manifesting Christ: And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28-29)
• changing you: purify your heart and hands and your humility of mind toward others (see James 4:1-10)
• influencing change in others: And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will. (2 Timothy 2:24-26)

As we gather with family and friends this holiday season, may we do our best to live in the power of the Holy Spirit and exhibit the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), even when it's hard.

It’s no surprise that this is a vital time in our nation. As we exercise the right to vote for our local, state, and federal government officials, we wanted to offer up some encouragement for the days ahead.

Pray
 
The most important thing we can do with any election is pray. Pray that whomever is elected (whether at the local, state, or federal level) leads with humility and is led by God, seeking His wisdom and guidance in all they do.
 
“Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving” (Colossians 4:2).
 
Be the light of Jesus
 
As we interact with people, remember that what we say matters. Ask yourself if your words would attract someone to the gospel of Christ. Are you displaying the love of Jesus, no matter if your interactions are in person or online? Do others know you are a Christ follower by the fruit you exhibit in your words?
 
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34-35).

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).
 
Trust that God is in control
 
No matter election outcomes in the days ahead, remember that God, in His sovereignty, places government officials in their positions of leadership. He is still God and He can be trusted. Whomever is elected still answers to our all-powerful and all-knowing God, whether or not those leaders acknowledge Him.

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulder, and his name shall be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6).”

What an honor and privilege it is to trust Christ and find our identity in Him, no matter what happens on election day in our country. May we remember His truths in the coming days as He guides and directs our paths!

For specific ways to pray for national, state, and local leaders, visit this resource:
https://www.cru.org/us/en/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/prayer/pray-for-government-leadership.html

This past summer, a team of 15 from Stones Crossing Church traveled to Medfield, Massachusetts to serve alongside First Baptist Church. The church dates back to 1776, the year our country became independent of Great Britain, and was in need of some TLC and construction updates.
 
So, the team traveled east and got to work. They tore down walls, ripped up floors, cleaned out rooms, and painted. They created a new women's bathroom at the church and remodeled a bathroom at the pastor's parsonage. The crew also did landscaping on the church grounds.
 
Jennifer Wilson, a children’s book author and member of Stones, went on the trip with her daughter Sadie, age 15. Jennifer is telling her story as to what God did in her life as a result of serving.
 
Stones: How long have you all attended Stones and where have you served?

Jennifer Wilson (JW): I have attended Stones for four years. I’ve served in Transit (middle school ministry) and currently serve in the kids’ ministry in the 4-year-old class.

Stones: Why did you go on this trip?

JW: I’ve not been on a mission trip since college but have wanted to serve again in missions since then. When I heard about the Boston trip and how they would be serving a church established in 1776, I just thought, “Wow, what an opportunity to serve in an area where our country began for religious freedom.”
Learning that the area had lost so many Christians and Christ-centered churches broke my heart, especially because I’m related to Governor William Bradford who came over on the Mayflower for religious freedom. As I prayed about going on the trip and talked with my family, my excitement to go grew as well as my heart for the people there. When my daughter told me she wanted to join me, I was thrilled. What a blessing to serve together.

Stones: What did you do while on the mission trip?

JW: Together, Sadie and I sanded, made small drywall repairs, painted, caulked, cleaned, and fellowshipped with members of the church. In my free time, I ran through the neighborhood and prayed for each household.

Stones: How has this experience changed you in regards to how you view missions? How you view the local church?

JW: This experience opened my eyes to the scary truth that an entire community in the U.S. could stray away from Christ and the gospel message. However, I also saw how God saved this church for the community. How he brought a new pastor and people to the church. He will always save a remnant of his people like we see in the Bible.

Stones: What would you say to encourage others to get involved in serving, whether in the U.S. or overseas?

JW: Definitely pray when you hear of opportunities to serve God here, in another state, or overseas. We are called to be a light wherever we are, but sometimes God calls us out of our comfort zones to reach others, to share the gospel, to share how He has worked in our lives. When you go serve, not only are you helping others (even Jesus in disguise) but God will also grow you closer to Him and in new exciting ways in your life. He has taken me out of my comfort zone in so many ways and I’m so grateful for all the ways He’s grown me as a result. Also, I loved getting to know more church members better during this trip and serving alongside them. I loved being encouraged by the older women, doing life together, and seeing how God used us in different ways.

Stones: Where have you served before in the area of missions?  

JW: My first mission trip was with my now husband, John, when we were in college. Our senior year we served in an orphanage in Oaxaca, Mexico. That was an amazing trip! You see God at work so much more when you leave your comfort zone.

Stones: How have you grown spiritually as a result of this trip?

JW: This sounds silly, especially because I’m a triathlete, but I was a bit nervous to go on a trip like this because I’ve had back problems that can act up to where I can’t move, knee pain, and a foot injury that randomly causes me to not be able to walk. These all could have been excuses not to go. The last thing I wanted was to be a burden. I really wanted to serve and help with repairs at the church. I believed God wanted me to go, so I trusted that He would work out the details and just take it one day at a time.

I was very exhausted by the end of the trip! However, God gave me all the strength and energy I needed to serve while I was there. He also surprised me by getting to work in the children’s area—where I’ve been called to serve Him since college. I did more than I thought I could. Seeing the pastor’s wife so excited for the whole children’s area to be completed was the best blessing. God just really blew me away that week when I trusted Him.

Stones: Anything else you’d like to add?

JW: Serving alongside my daughter was an extra special blessing. I had a front row seat to see her play with the kids and love on them, learn new skills, and be encouraged and taught by the older women. It felt like a Titus 2 week for sure! The best part though, was seeing Sadie develop a love for missions. She wants to go overseas now and serve as well.

If you’re interested in “going beyond” and serving in a local context, our next Stones Serve Day is Saturday, September 28. This is a wonderful opportunity for families and small groups to serve in the community together, showing the love of Christ to those with whom you interact. If you’re interested in registering, click here.

I love to see Christians testify to Christ’s work in their lives through the waters of baptism. Baptism is one of the most exciting events in the life of a church and an individual. We cheer and celebrate what a person declares about God’s precious grace and powerful work toward the person getting baptized.

Baptism pictures and proclaims the saving work of Christ that takes place when someone repents of their sin and trusts in Christ. God pours out His mercy and grace on sinners at conversion, forgiving them of their sins, making them new, uniting them with God’s people, and giving them the Holy Spirit. These things all happen at salvation, but they are beautifully announced, displayed, and celebrated among God’s people when a person goes public about their new life in Christ at baptism.

Salvation is God’s rescue work, redeeming people by His free and amazing grace through Christ’s saving work. We receive this gift by faith alone. And when we believe and trust in Jesus, we are united with Christ, and in Christ we receive all spiritual blessings (Eph. 1:3; 1 Cor. 1:30).

In Christ, we are justified or declared righteous (1 Cor. 1:30; Phil. 3:9), made alive and a new creation (Eph. 2:5; 2 Cor. 5:17), given and indwelt by the Holy Spirit (Eph. 1:13; Rom. 8:9) adopted as God’s children (Eph. 1:5; Gal. 4:4-6), forgiven (Eph. 1:7), washed and cleansed of sin (Titus 3:5; 1 Cor. 6:11), sealed by the Spirit so we are kept forever (Eph. 1:13-14; Rom. 8:28-29) and the list could go on and on. All these things happen at conversion, or when we receive Christ by faith and are made one with him. We are changed, forever. In Christ, we have every spiritual blessing and everything we will ever need.

Because all these gifts are given in Christ and received at the moment we’re united to him by faith, baptism isn’t necessary or required for salvation or to receive any of these gifts we have directly from and in Christ. But baptism is where we take a step of obedience to Christ’s command and declare publicly the saving work of Christ in redeeming and rescuing us (Matt. 28:18-20).

Baptism is a sign or symbol, meaning it conveys, proclaims, and pictures many of these realities of what we have already received when we were united to Jesus, including that we are part of God’s one people (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4-6), that the old me died with Christ and a new me was raised up with Christ (Rom. 6; Col. 2:11-14), that our sins are washed away by Christ (1 Peter 3:18-21; Heb. 10:22), and even that we have passed through God’s judgment and been safely delivered (1 Peter 3:18-21).

Because these are all things that happen for someone when they become a Christian, or are united to Christ, it only makes sense for that person to then get baptized. Not because anything is missing or lacking in Christ’s work for them, but because it is the way God’s people take on the sign of the New Covenant (Heb. 8:8-12) and identify with Christ (and Christ’s people). Similar to how married couples put on a wedding ring as a symbol of their oneness and covenant commitment, baptism symbolizes that we belong to Christ. Because baptism symbolizes a believer’s new life in Christ, it’s for all believers, and it’s only for believers. The New Testament pattern is faith, followed by baptism (Acts 8:12). Faith that unites us to Christ and baptism that symbolizes our union with Christ.

Since baptism identifies and pictures our union with Christ and Christ’s Church (1 Cor. 12:13; Eph. 4:4-6), baptism is a corporate event done with Christ’s Body and closely connected to joining or identifying with Christ’s Body through church membership. At Stones Crossing, we practice believer’s baptism by immersion because it’s what we see in the New Testament, the word for baptism is best translated as dip or immerse, and because it best pictures the reality of an individual being plunged into death and being resurrected in Christ. We pass from death to new life in Jesus, and we cheer when someone is immersed and physically raise out of the water up because in that moment it points to the spiritual resurrection they’ve experienced in Christ.

Every time baptism takes place, it’s a chance for believers to celebrate God’s saving, redeeming work that took place in that person’s life when they trusted in Jesus. But it’s also a chance for us to be reminded of what we also have been given in Christ by God’s grace. We cheer and clap, hoot and holler, because our hearts are full of gratitude and worship to God for how He rescues sinners through Christ’s work, and then gives us symbols to remind us of these gifts in Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

You can read the Stones Crossing statement on belief on baptism at the bottom of our Theological Distinctives page. You can also register for our next baptism class here.

RESOURCES
If you’d like to learn more about baptism, register for our next membership class where we will talk more about it. Below are additional resources for those wanting to read more.

• Believer’s Baptism: Sign of the New Covenant in Christ, edited by Thomas Schreiner and Shawn Wright
• Understanding Baptism by Bobby Jamison
• “Water Baptism” by Stephen Wellum
• “What’s in the Water?” by Trent Hunter Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 at 9marks.org
• “Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation” by Greg Koukl at str.org (Stand to Reason)
• “Why is Baptism Important?” and “Is Baptism Necessary for Salvation” Ask Pastor John episodes at desiringgod.org
• “What a Jar of Pickles Teaches Us About Baptism” by Anand Mahadevan at thegospelcoalition.org
• “What is baptism?” and “Is baptism with water the washing away of sin itself?” videos from the New City Catechism at Youtube

In this series, we ask staff and lay leaders about recommended resources. Our hope is one or two might relate to something you want to learn more about.

Here are some book recommendations from Pastor Lee Harper.

What is one Christian book you’re reading right now and enjoying?
The Overcomers: God’s Vision for You to Thrive in an Age of Anxiety by Matt Chandler (My new recommendation for people who are interested in learning more about Revelation and how it informs our lives today.)

What are 1-2 of your top recommended books on missions?
Let the Nations be Glad by Glad by John Piper (This is the most influential book on missions in the last 30 years. In it Piper lays out the biblical and theological grounding for missions.)

What are a couple of your favorite missionary biographies?
To the Golden Shore: The Life of Adoniram Judson; Give Me This Mountain by Helen Roseveare; John G. Paton by John G. Paton
For Kids: Christian Heroes Then & Now series

What is a book on evangelism you recommend?
Telling a Better Story: How to Talk About God in a Skeptical Age by Joshua Chatraw
 
What is the best theology book you’ve read in the last couple years?
The Trinity: An Introduction by Scott Swain

What is the best discipleship or general growth book you’ve read in the last few years?
Forgive: Why Should I and How Can I? by Tim Keller

Do you have any podcasts you regularly listen to or websites you regularly visit for good Christian content?
•Gospelbound with Collin Hansen
•Knowing Faith podcast

What recent books on social media or technology would you most recommend?
12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke
Irresistible: The Rise of Addictive Technology and the Business of Keeping us Hooked by Adam Alter

What’s a “non-Christian” book in the last year you’ve found very insightful or helpful?
The Anxious Generation: How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness by Jonathan Haidt

What’s a book you recommend families read together?
The Wingfeather Series by Andrew Peterson

Whether for Bible study, a small group, discipleship relationship, or for family or personal study, you can download our 10-week Philippians study guide.

Everyone loves stories. Our earliest records of mankind indicate he has always told, recorded, and even drawn stories. Some of those stories from thousands of years ago still exist today in ancient documents, on cave walls, or on the sides of historic buildings and monuments.

What Stories Do
Stories place us in a community of people and provide a sense of belonging. That community then understands their identity, purpose, and mission in light of their community’s story. Just think of how “the story of America” has shaped its citizens over almost 250 years.

Stories also give us perspective and make sense of the otherwise random details of life. When you open the box of a puzzle and dump all the little pieces out it feels like an overwhelming pile of randomness. However, as you put it together you begin to see how one seemingly inconsequential piece connects to the rest. Stories—like finished puzzles—make sense out of life as they cohesively unite otherwise unrelated events.

If you ever open your Bible and feel a bit lost or are unsure how this fits with the rest of Scripture, it might help to learn the ovearching story and how the individual books, themes, and and testaments of the Bible fit together.

The Story of the World
The Bible is in fact a story, a story about God rescuing a people to himself so he can live with them forever. It has a beginning, middle, and end. There are antagonists (Satan and evil), twists (the fall), supporting characters (men and women), environments (the visible and invisible realms), themes (kingdom, rescue), and a plot (redemption). It takes places in real geographic locations in the lives of actual people in historical situations. The fact that it is historical and true doesn’t make it less of a story, but it makes it the story of stories that’s life-changing and response-demanding.

As we grow in our understanding of the Bible as a story we’ll see how it does all of the things we’ve already mentioned that good stories do: place us in a community, form an identity, pass down values, build a system of beliefs, root us in the past, direct our steps, make sense of life’s details, and wrap us up in something much bigger than ourselves.

We need to not only know that “the biblical story is a compelling unity on which we may depend” but we also must come to see we have “a place within that story.”  Christians are both readers of God’s story and participants in the story. This not only draws us into the biblical narrative in greater, more personal ways as a reader but it provides the script for us as actors in God’s redemptive story. When the Bible is seen in this light it moves away from merely extracting truths from a religious textbook and it becomes God’s unified, redemptive story that shapes our identity, our community, our way of living, and our mission.


The Story of the Bible Class
For eight Wednesday nights (starting on September 11), we’ll dive into learning The Story of the Bible and living in light of it. We will cover six major acts or chapters within the story.

• Act 1: God’s Creation (Creation)
• Act 2: God’s Curse (Fall)
• Act 3: God’s Covenants (Israel)
• Act 4: God’s Coming (Jesus)
• Act 5: God’s Church (the Spirit-filled Church)
• Act 6: God’s New Creation (Restoration)

Studying the Bible is easier and more enjoyable when we know the whole story. As we put together the whole of the story we’ll better understand its individual parts. Through this we’ll also learn about some of the Bible’s primary themes and key doctrines.

But, in addition to the class being informative and educational we hope that it is transformative and equipping. Our hope is that learning the story draws us into the story and even rewrites our own stories. As we grow in our understanding of creation, fall, and redemption we will know how to live in God’s world, how to recognize and repent of our sin, and how to live our lives in light of the redemption we have in Jesus. God’s story also moves us into mission as we get the chance to then participate in the story and proclaim to others the story.

You can register for the class here. If you have any questions you can email Dustin Crowe.

If you feel like you're in a spiritual desert, are going through the motions, or feel apathetic, you are not alone. All Christians experience days and seasons like this, but our desire isn't to stay there. As you pray for refreshment by God and deeper longings for God, here are a few recommended resources.

BOOKS

• Overcoming Apathy: Gospel Hope for those Who Struggle to Care by Uche Anizor
• When I Don't Desire God by John Piper.

ARTICLES

• "When Going through the Motions is Not Enough" by Mike Leake 
• "Why Don't I Care: Steps to Overcoming Spiritual Apathy" by Uche Anizor 
• "Going through the Motions" by Anitha Abraham 

POCASTS & MESSAGES

• "Are You Going through the Motions with God?" by John Piper
• "Persevering in the Pursuit of Joy" by Matt Chandler

Each month at Stones Crossing we highlight a featured book of the month. It often connects to the sermon series, a class or study, or something in the life of the church.

For August, our featured book is Gospel Deeps: Reveling in the Excellencies of Jesus by Jared Wilson. This book connects to our August class, Gospel Foundations. It not only helps the reader better understand what the gospel message is, but each chapters walks through how the gospel applies to some aspect of our life. How does the gospel relate to suffering? How does the gospel affect our view of God? How does the gospel give us joy in the ordinary? How does the gospel help us deal with temptation or guilt? These kinds of questions are covered by Jared Wilson in this book.

The cover of the book has a diamond because the gospel has many facets to it. The more we hold it up, examine it, and see it from different angles, the more it's beauty shines. "There is one gospel, as there is one Jesus, but there are many facets to this gospel, as there are infinite excellencies in Jesus. The further into the gospel we go, then, the bigger it gets. There is no way for us to wear it out."

You can order a copy of this book online or we will have a few copies for sale at the Resources Wall at Stones Crossing during August.

QUOTES

Here are just a few quotes from the book to give you a taste of both Wilson's writing style and the content.

“If the gospel is not the ABC’s of the Christian life but the A to Z, we can expect that the gospel is for all of life, not just the moment of conversion. The gospel’s saving work is deep work. It is deep tissue massage, spiritual reparative therapy, and radical reconstructive surgery.”

“Our look into the depths of the gospel cannot be merely to know information, as if deciphering some secret code, but instead to seek more and more to be awed by what God has done for us in Christ, what God is doing for us in Christ, and what God will do for us in Christ. Plumbing the depths of the gospel is exultational pursuit, or it is a pointless one.”

“From his fullness, John 1:16 tells us, we receive grace upon grace. In the gospel there is grace for every need, because it comes through an all-sufficient Savior who is the God of steadfast love.”

"When we are bored, it can be only because we have stopped looking at Jesus. He can't be boring. If we find him boring, it's because we are boring. The deficiency is ours, not his."


Runner-up
While the book of the month was chosen based on votes from Facebook and Instagram on the Stones Institute Account, the runner-up was a book related to our August sermon series on the armor of God in Ephesians 6. If you're wanting a book for that series, I recommend The Whole Armor of God: How Christ's Victory Strengthens Us for Spiritual Warfare by Iain Duguid. 

In this new series, we ask staff and lay leaders about recommended resources. Our hope is one or two might relate to something you want to learn more about.

Here are some book recommendations from Pastor Scott Luck.

What is the theology book you’ve enjoyed the most in recent years? Simply Trinity by Matthew Barrett

What discipleship or Christian growth book have you found the most helpful? One With God by Pierce Taylor Hibbs

What’s a recommendation for a book on trials or suffering? Trusting God by Jerry Bridges or Finding Hope in Hard Things by Pierce Taylor Hibbs

What’s a recommended book on fighting sin and temptation? Die Hard Sins by Rush Witt

What’s your favorite commentary series when sermon prepping? The Bible Speaks Today Commentary Set, John Stott, editor

Is there a book on the local church you would recommend? The Gospel Driven Church by Jared Wilson

What’s one Christian book you’re reading right now and enjoying? Live Your Truth and Other Lies by Alisa Childers

What is the gospel? How, as a Christian, is the gospel changing your life?

There might not be any more important questions than these two questions. Too often, we speak about “the gospel” in generalities or make assumptions about its meaning but fail to clearly explain its meaning and power. And sometimes Christians talk about the gospel as if it was something they once believed but then they left it on the shelf and moved on. But this isn’t the way the New Testament talks about the gospel.

God’s grace isn’t just the gateway into the Christian life but it’s also the pathway of the Christian life. The gospel is not just for salvation, but it also empowers Christians to live in obedience and be conformed to the holy character of God (Eph. 3:17-19). Our life is centered on the gospel because our life is centered on Jesus. This is why one of Stones Crossing’s theological distinctives is “we passionately hold to gospel centrality.”

In his book Gospel Deeps, Jared Wilson writes: “If the gospel is not the ABC’s of the Christian life but the A to Z, we can expect that the gospel is for all of life, not just the moment of conversion. The gospel’s saving work is deep work. It is deep tissue massage, spiritual reparative therapy, and radical reconstructive surgery.”

In our upcoming Stones Institute class, Gospel Foundations, we’ll spend four weeks in August explaining what the gospel message is but also how it changes everything about our life. Here’s a summary of some of what we’ll cover each week.

• The gospel is God’s good news of salvation through Christ for the whole world and for individuals (week 1).
• The gospel gives us a new standing, a new relationship with God, and a new heart and power for living (week 2).
• The gospel propels transformation because it gives us a new identity in Christ and power by the Spirit so we can then grow, mature, and change (week 3).
• The gospel ultimately is how we can better enjoy and walk with God, so as we practice spiritual disciplines it’s done as an overflow of the gospel (week 4).

If you want to grow in your faith, find joy in Jesus and his work for you, be equipped to share the gospel, and meet other Christians at Stones Crossing seeking the same things, join us during the 9:00 a.m. service the four Sundays in August.

You can learn more or register here, or contact Pastor Dustin Crowe with any questions.

When you think of prayer, what comes to mind? If you’re like me, you might think of a couple of long, passionate prayer sessions communing with God, followed by and stuck in between many days of short, unfocused, hurried prayers on each end of a Bible reading or scattered throughout the day as I encountered a particular problem. If you have ever in your life struggled to pray, this book is for you.

Praying the Bible by Donald S. Whitney is a super short read, less than a hundred pages, but it’s chock-full of practical wisdom for Christians at any stage of their life and walk with Christ. Whitney’s main insight is that we as Christians (and I’m the first to raise my hand here) often pray “the same old things about the same old things.” Prayer becomes more of a ritual, an entry on a to-do list, or a list of requests rather than an intimate conversation with our Creator, the One who loves us beyond our wildest dreams and gave His very life so that we could know Him and be able to communicate with Him through prayer.

With a clear, practical, and authentic writing style, Whitney walks the reader through a method of prayer that has transformed not only his own walk with Christ, but also those of other well-known preachers like John Piper, George Mueller, and Charles Spurgeon. He advocates that instead of trying to grow our prayer life all on our own, we take our cues from God’s Word. In short, we pray the Bible.

Essentially, the method is the following: pick a passage of Scripture, start reading, pray about whatever comes to mind as you read, and then keep reading. Whitney highlights the Psalms as the easiest passages to pray, but he also teaches praying through other types of Scripture. For example, this morning I read Mary’s song in Luke 1:46-55. Verse 50 reads, “And His mercy is for those who fear Him from generation to generation.” As I read through that verse, I prayed for God to have mercy on me, a sinner; I thanked God for the God-fearing generations before me; and I prayed for my and my sisters’ future children, that they would fear the Lord.

This method takes the pressure off of ourselves and allows the Holy Spirit to speak to us and guide us through His Words, Scripture. Whitney reminds us that the goal of prayer is communing with God, not hitting a holier length of prayer time or checking “prayer” off of a list of Christian duties. Using God’s language to talk to Him enriches our prayer time and gives us focus to pray, whether that’s for a minute or an hour.

We can even pray through memorized Scripture as we go throughout our days. When Whitney teaches this method, he has his students practice immediately praying through a psalm. As they reflect on that prayer the day after, they realized things like “my mind didn’t wander,” “it seemed like a real conversation with a real person,” and even “the time was too short.” This method doesn’t guarantee perfect prayers by any stretch, but it does offer a way to engage more deeply with God through reading His Word and speaking it back to Him even as we offer up our own requests, needs, and praises.

“I have been accustomed to call this book (Psalms), I think not inappropriately, ‘An Anatomy of all the Parts of the Soul;’ for there is not an emotion of which any one can be conscious that is not here represented as in a mirror.”  John Calvin

“We read and sing and pray the psalms, trusting that they will open up a space in our hearts to give and receive the steadfast love of God, from whom no secrets are hidden… What the psalms offer us is a powerful aid to un-hide: to stand honestly before God without fear, to face one another… The psalms invite us, thus, to stand in the light, to see ourselves truly and to receive the reformative work of God through the formative words of the psalmist, so that we might be rehumanized in Christ.” David O. Taylor

For June and July, we will preach through some of the Psalms. The Psalms are the Church's prayer book and song book, revealing our glorious God to us but also teaching us how to follow and pray to Him. As we preach through the Psalms in our corporate gathering, we encourage you to spend this summer reading the Psalms as individuals, families, and among friends.

To help you read through the Psalms, we have two potential reading plans as well as some recommended resources. You can download the plan and resources here. You can also listen to past sermons on the Psalms at our sermons page.

May's book of the month is The Wisdom Pyramid: Feeding Your Soul in a Post-Truth World by Brett McCracken.

I’m guessing you’re probably familiar with the iconic food pyramid, an illustration by the USDA that gives guidelines for recommended food amounts in the daily life of Americans. Follow those recommendations and you’ll likely live a healthier life. Don’t follow them? Best of luck on living longer!

Inspired by the food pyramid, author Brett McCracken wrote The Wisdom Pyramid, challenging readers to increase the intake of trustworthy sources such as the Bible and church (which make up the pyramid’s base) and decreasing our consumption of sources such as the internet and social media (which make up the top tier). Also included in the pyramid are nature, books, and beauty.

This valuable book is broken up into two parts: sources of our sickness and sources of our wisdom. Information gluttony (McCracken’s words), the novelty of nearly everything we see online being the latest info or breaking news, and the idea that we “needn’t be accountable to anything beyond ourselves” (think: “you do you” or “live your truth”) are killing us and our ability to filter truth, wisdom, and knowledge.

But there is hope as we seek the Lord and the Bible as the basis of wisdom and truth.

The book’s introduction, entitled “An Unwise Age,” had me hooked from the beginning: “Our world has more and more information, but less and less wisdom … there is more, but we are less. And we all feel it.”

I’ve been there.

Make dinner. Check Facebook between recipe steps. Dinner is ready but check Instagram before sitting down to eat. Finish eating but check email before the kitchen is clean. Fill the dishwasher but, oh wait. I just got a text from a friend that needs answered.”

Life can feel like a continues hamster wheel and it’s hard to jump off without falling on your face. And there is no indication that this speed of life is going to slow down.

If you feel any of this, I urge you to pick up this book. The reminders of where our source and hope lie as believers is so beautifully conveyed in the pages of this book’s vital messaging. We are reminded that “if we are to become wise, our information diet must begin with the Bible.” Not the internet. And certainly not social media. After all, McCracken says “If the voice of God in Scripture is the voice of eternal wisdom, then knowing Scripture is knowing wisdom. That’s why Scripture is the absolute foundation of any wisdom diet.”

McCracken also notes that theologian “John Owen rightly observed that one’s spiritual vitality is manifest in a healthy appetite for Scripture: ‘If you have no appetite for God’s word then your spiritual life is in a bad state.’”

Before we completely throw the internet and social media under the bus, it’s important to note that McCracken believes there is a time and place for such things. Hotel and restaurant reviews, celebratory personal news, the need to communicate prayer requests, maps to get from point A to point B, etc. We can learn a lot from resources on the internet, from the beauty surrounding us, the books we read, and the people we meet. But “We cannot be wise apart from God … He’s happy to give it to us if only we ask” (James 1:5).

This book will be one of my top reads for 2024, and I cannot recommend it enough. Pick up your copy at the church resource wall in the month to come!


You can pick up a copy of this book at our Resources area or buy one online. The Gospel Coalition is temporarily offering a free e-book of The Wisdom Pyramid. You can also learn more about April's book of the month here.

"Even though most Christians will never move overseas, the Bible enlists every Christian and every local church in the grand project of global missions. The church is the engine of world missions.” Andy Johnson

If you have been in church for a while, you probably heard sermons about the vast lostness around the world and how followers of Jesus are called to make disciples of all nations. If you are like me, these sermons leave you brokenhearted and wondering what in the world you or your church can do to reach people who are so different and far away. It’s one thing to know of the need for missions and another to know what your role is in God’s mission.  With this in mind the staff of Stones would like to invite you to join them this month as we are reading Missions: How the Local Church Goes Global by Andy Johnson.

In Missions, Johnson explains from scripture that God’s mission to make disciples was not given to lone ranger Christians who go to exotic places but to the local church. He then shows how the local church, God’s engine for global missions, can be faithful to our calling by sending qualified, faithful missionaries and supporting them well as they serve among some of the least reached people on earth. But he does not stop there.  

One of the highlights of the book is the chapter on how God is moving unreached people to our doorsteps and how we can creatively share the gospel with them in our neighborhoods. One of my prayers for Stones is that we would be a church that is faithful to our call to make disciples of all nations. If this is your heart too I want to invite you to pick up a copy of Missions for $10 at the resource center to see what it will look like for us to be faithful to our calling.  

As you join us in reading Missions, please feel free to email me (lee@stonescrossing.com) any highlights or questions you have.

I’ve gone on a few mission trips with Stones Crossing Church through the years.

I traveled to Haiti and Las Vegas while in high school and most recently to El Salvador. In 2018, when I went to Haiti, I fell in love with the medical field. I saw the way that a returning doctor on that trip was able to connect with locals in the village. That’s when I realized that nursing was exactly what I wanted to do, both as a ministry and a career, simply because I can spend my days caring for patients in need.

I’ve always looked at missions as a future dream I wanted to chase. The giants of my faith at Stones Crossing consistently serve in cultures and places that I wanted to know and love too.

I wanted that, not just for myself, but for the joy of serving with them in El Salvador.

Pursuing the opportunity to serve

As I started to pursue nursing school, going on the Stones Crossing El Salvador trip was a milestone goal. I am getting my Bachelor of Science in Nursing and minors in Spanish and Bible from Cedarville University. I knew that one day I wanted to utilize the degrees I am pursuing to serve with the people of Stones who feel like my family and whom I’ve looked up to throughout my life. I wanted to learn from them and the way they are leveraging their vocations.

With graduation ahead of me this May, this seemed like the right year to consider the trip. Praying through the decision with my parents only brought more confirmation, and I started talking with my professors about what it would look like to miss a week of spring semester of my senior year. They were supportive of me going on the trip, but I had a lot of work to do to prepare. I only made it through the preparations by the grace of God and with the prayers of others.

Partnership with El Slavador
 
Stones’ annual trip to El Salvador is a medical outreach and so much more. Members of Stones Crossing have been connected to Iglesia La Familia de la Fe in Santa Ana, El Salvador since before I was born. The church leverages its relationship with Stones’ medical team of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, dentists, and non-medical volunteers to serve pastors of rural El Salvadoran churches. Every member of the teams from Stones Crossing and Familia de la Fe portrays Jesus so well in their use of their vocation, knowledge, and skills.

Most of El Salvador is Catholic, but with variations of traditionalism and ancient Mayan influences. Many El Salvadorians believe that only other Catholics can pray with or for them. But because we bring medications and medical advice, the people allow us to pray with them and to form connections for them with their local (evangelical) church. I cannot express the level of confirmation this was for me in choosing nursing and looking towards this career.

Serving at the clinics

As a nursing student with some background in Spanish, I had many opportunities to learn and to serve throughout the week. I got to observe patients interact with other nurses, provide consultations, translate, help in the pharmacy, and pray with patients and families, all while building friendships with members of Iglesia La Familia de la Fe.

Our clinics provided medical and dental care, children’s programming, and a pharmacy. We saw between 200 and 250 patients every day, providing what care we could, but also getting to have conversations with patients. At Cedarville, we learn about health and faith and the ways nurses can show Jesus in such a unique way, but in El Salvador, I saw it in action. The nurses on our team make a point of health education that glorifies Christ—health and stress are universal, but so is our Maker. The hardest part of communicating with the families we met stemmed from the language barrier. There was so much on my heart that I wanted to say to patients, but everything was in English. The church in Santa Ana wrapped around our team and this outreach so well; every time I ran out of ways to tell a patient just how much Jesus loved him or her, they made themselves available to meet the people of El Salvador where they were at and tell them the gospel and pray with them with compassion and joy.

Encouragement and support are important

I was so encouraged by the people around me who supported me. My friends, family, chuch, and professors prayed and celebrated with me and gave financial support. I think every Christian has the ability to have a similar influence on the people in their sphere. More than that, I think we all can have that influence on people outside of our sphere.

I believe that any vocation or setting can be leveraged to show others who Jesus is, but I understand that serving overseas isn’t attainable or realistic for everyone. I would strongly encourage everyone at Stones to seek to serve people outside your daily routines. And if you can’t go, support others who can in prayer, encouragement, and with finances.

There is something shocking and comforting about seeing the gospel transcend culture and location. The church in El Salvador prays to the same God as I do, and even when I run out of vocabulary or grammar (in English or Spanish), God hears and understands my prayers, my heart, and the people around me. Pain and hurt are universal, but so is our God!

What a wonderful opportunity it was to travel on this mission trip, to grow in my faith in telling others about Jesus, and connect with others in their most evident and vulnerable needs. As I prepare to begin my nursing career, I count it a privilege to have been a part of this El Salvador experience.

Addie Weinberg grew up attending Stones Crossing Church and worked on staff for two years as a student ministry intern. She is a senior nursing student at Cedarville University.
 
To learn more about missions at Stones Crossing Church, visit stonescrossing.com/missions.

During the season of Lent, from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday, we recommend a resource to set our minds and hearts on Christ. Since we are currently preaching through Ephesians, the reading plan and recommended book in this season both focus on Ephesians.

Download the Ephesians Reading Plan for Lent

The Lenten reading plan  goes through the book of Ephesians, focusign on a very small reading each day. The goal is to meditate on, pray over, and respond to what we see in Ephesians rather than just reading it. The daily recommended reading does not match up with what will be preached on Sundays but with the focused passage from our recommended devotional, Ephesians: His Glorious Riches by Paul Mallard. You can find more recommended resources on Ephesians here.

The daily reading plan takes Sundays off so you can use that day to review or to read and meditate on the passage from Ephesians preached on that day. The final week of the reading plan follows Luke's gospel and the events from that day in the life of Jesus.