The Crossroads Story

By Randy Cook

It seems a little hard to believe that it has taken 27 years to get this church off the ground. In 1977, I was involved in a local church, serving and loving it, little did I know that God was about to come calling. During the spring of '77 we had one of those big youth retreats. During this retreat I realized that God had a different plan for my life--a plan for serving Him... this is when the call came. Several weeks later I walked the aisle and surrendered my life to full-time ministry. Within a few weeks I graduated high school and went to college to begin the journey God had called me into.

The Wilderness

While I was in college I became disillusioned with the state of the local church. I just turned my back on what God had called me to do. I gave up the ministry calling and went on about my way. As a matter of fact, for the next 17 years I never even attended church. I was completely done with church.

Living in the Hamster wheel

Well not to go through all of the details, but during the stretch of life from being 17 to 40 I married a great local girl, had three great kids and even with God on the back burner, life seemed to be good. I had become the typical entrepreneur, buying and selling and still trying to live in the 80's greed-cycle: you know the one where more was always better and never enough. It was in '96 that God really got my attention, and it happened in the most unusual way.

Televangelist Preacher

Yeah, I know its hard to believe but this is where my wake up call came from. I was watching television on Sunday afternoon when I flipped across this television preacher and for some reason he caught my attention, and I watched the whole program. Later that night I was lying in bed flipping through the channels again and there he was, same sermon, same thing. I watched the whole thing again. This was how God got my attention again. I felt His tug on my heart about the calling that I had turned my back on. He let me know that He had never "uncalled" me. I was knee deep in several businesses and there was no way I could just walk away, so I prayed and said, "God what do I do?" and he very plainly impressed on my heart to "continue to do what you're doing."

The ReCall

In '99 I plugged in to a great local church, thinking I would be there for life. I loved that ministry: great people, great music, great Pastor. It was in late '99 and early 2000 that I began to feel God changing some things, it seemed like something was about to happen. Late in 2000 I had the opportunity to sell my business, this was a door that I felt God would have opened years ago but sometimes we just have to realize that it's His timing not ours. With most of my business now having been sold, I really had a lot more time on my hands. During this time I sensed that God was calling me to start a new church. "You've got to be kidding me" was my reaction.

Well as time went by the vision became clearer, and the clearer it became the more uncomfortable I became.

I have discovered that God really wants us in a place where we have little control. In early 2003, as I began to seek God's direction about starting this new church, He brought key people into my life without my having to make any overture to them. As God often does, he began to draw together a team of people without my influence.

During 2003 our leadership team began to assemble and we were looking for the right launch date and the right location. We began to meet on a weekly basis for planning and prayer and it was during this time that we came up with our name, "Crossroads Community Church."

I had remembered telling someone during my journey that I was at a crossroads in my life, and this was supposed to be a church for people who are at their own crossroads as well. We had found the right name!

The Birth of a Vision

There is a lot of work to be done, a lot of people to talk to, and a lot of questions to answer. During the coming weeks, we would like to hear from you.