“It’s About The Cross”

It’s not just about the manger
where the Baby lay.
It’s not all about the angels
who sang for Him that day.

It’s not just about the shepherds
or the bright and shining star.
It’s not about the wise men
who traveled from afar.

chorus

It’s about the cross;
it’s about my sin.
It’s about how Jesus came
to be born once
so that we could be born again.

It’s about the stone
that was rolled away,
so that you and I
could have real life someday.

–Go Fish
“Christmas With A Capital C” CD

 

I’m often asked why I walk the cross throughout the winter months and especially during December, the month our Lord and Savior’s traditional blessed nativity and birthday are celebrated.

Don’t get me wrong. My family and I celebrate the traditional birthday of Jesus Christ. We put up the outside Christmas lights, telling all who see them that Jesus is the light of the world. We buy and decorate a Christmas tree, which is a symbol showing Jesus as the eternal, everlasting tree of life.  We sing Christmas carols and hymns. And we attend Christmas musicals all month long.

OUR FRONT YARD DISPLAY INCLUDES THE CROSS

My wife and I also put up a five foot cross adorned with red lights in our front yard for all to see. There is a reason for this, as well as to why I carry a 60-pound, 10-foot cross throughout the streets of the city we live in, as well as traveling to other California cities and cross-walking their residential streets and downtowns, too.

SIN, DEATH AND TRAGEDY DON’T TAKE HOLIDAYS

Christmas is the most wonderful time of the year. It’s a time of great joy and happiness; a time of family gatherings and making new and pleasant memories; a time of smiling faces and warm hearts; and a time of cheerful greetings and expressions of awe and wonder on the faces of little children.

But for many individuals, this blessed Christmas season will be a time of mixed emotions. There will be renewed faith in God. But there will also be doubt. There will be gladness, but there will also be sadness. There will be laughter, but there will also be tears.

For many families, death will have visited months, weeks or even just days before the magic of Christmas arrives, unexpectantly and tragically snatching loved ones from our grip, from our sight, and from our lives.

WHERE IS THE PROMISE OF GOD’S PEACE?

For many individuals, this Christmas will be a time of seasonal sadness and holiday hurt. Families will continue to experience emotional, physical and spiritual rifts in relationships between husbands and wives and parents and children. Employers and employees will be at odds, to the point of jeopardizing family security and welfare in the coming new year.

For many, the promise of Christmas peace will seem empty because of families at war, husbands and wives at war and neighborhoods at war. Add to this loved ones fighting wars in foreign lands and Christmas can appear to be as unstable, shallow and empty as the other days of the year.

THE PRINTS OF PEACE

In 1945 the head of the team of physicists that supervised the creation of the first atomic bomb appeared before a congressional committee and was asked by the chairman if there was any type of defense against this weapon of mass destruction.

“Certainly,” the esteemed physicist replied. “And that is…?” the congressman asked with a note of impatience in his voice. The nuclear scientist looked across the hushed, expectant audience and answered, “Peace.”

According to historians, only eight percent of the time since the beginning of recorded history has the world been entirely at peace. The war in Iraq has taught us that we can win a war, but winning the peace is extremely difficult if not impossible.

Inner peace is hard to win as well. Especially during Christmas, seasonal sadness and holiday hurt can take their toll on families and individuals.

God’s answer to this very real sorrow, pain, doubt and search for lasting peace is His Son, Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace. This Prince of Peace, this Wonderful One, this Counselor, this Mighty God, and this Everlasting Father (Isaiah 9:6-7) is the One who can give lasting peace, as well as restoration and recovery of that which has been lost.

The Lord’s remedy for and answer to seasonal sadness and holiday hurt is illustrated in the story of doubting Thomas and Jesus’ beckoning words to the skeptical believer:

“Look at the nail prints in My hands and feet!
(John 20:24-29)

Even though the pain is so real, the sorrow is so heavy, and the hurt is so deep, we, like doubting Thomas, can gaze intensely at the nail prints in Jesus’ hands and also declare: “My Lord and my God!”

During hushed, lingering moments of seasonal sadness and holiday hurt, where loved ones have died, families have split up, jobs have been lost, and incurable diseases have been diagnosed, humanity’s collective question to God is: “Is there any type of defense against sin’s impartial weapon of mass destruction which also hits hard at Christmas?” And God’s gentle and reassuring answer will always be: “Certainly! MY PEACE!”

THIS IS WHY I CARRY THE CROSS AT CHRISTMAS

The Christmas cross is a spiritual magnet. It represents God’s peace with mankind because of the Savior’s atoning death on the cross for our sins and in our stead (our place). As  I walk the cross throughout the residential streets and downtowns of  our cities, people coming running out from their homes, their businesses, their moments of sorrow and their season of sorrow. They reach out and tenderly touch the cross. They take off their hats as a sign of respect. They bow down before the cross. They kiss the cross. They weep and cry.

And, more than any other spoken words, both old and young alike approach the cross with tears in their eyes and heavy weights on their hearts and utter the most common words of need and desperation that can be spoken in times of great sorrow, hopelessness and desperation:

“I needed to see the cross today.”

This is why I also walk the cross during the winter months and especially on Christmas day.

 

After reading the following exciting and life-changing stories, you may feel led by the Holy Spirit to help underwrite Street Evangelist Tom Alexander and his Walk The Cross ministries. Every year there is a need for 300 believers to each give a once-this-year gift of $100. Donating a single gift of $100 once a year is an effective and affordable way to help Tom continue walking the cross uninterrupted throughout California cities and towns. The Three Hundred Club is based on the biblical account of Gideon and God’s hand chosen army of 300 faith-filled and spiritually-alert soldiers who defeated a hostile force of thousands (Judges 6-8) . Your $100 contribution is easy to make. Just click the orange PayPal donation button located at the top of the side bar or you can use this link.

 

 

If you are not a PayPal member, you can send your tax-deductible gift to:

Walk The Cross Ministries
c/o Teen Scene, Inc.
Box 10551
Bakersfield, CA 93389
*Make your check payable to Teen Scene, Inc.*

Thank you for supporting Teen Scene’s Walk The Cross ministries. God bless you richly because of your caring and sharing.

 

 

 

Why I Carry The Cross To Bakersfield Schools

My wife and I live in Bakersfield. That’s one of the reasons I am able to carry the large 10-foot cross to every school in the greater Bakersfield area, hoist it upright at each elementary, junior high or senior high school and pray long and hard for the students, their parents, and all the school staff personnel (from the principal and assistant principal, to the teachers and aides and the custodians and volunteers).

There are some 130 K-12th grade schools in greater Bakersfield. Some are labeled as Title I ”troubled schools” and low achievement campuses, while others proudly display the “California Distinguished School” banner. But each has what is to me the biggest and greatest reason why I bring the cross to each school. They have our children and grandchildren for at least six hours each weekday.

Two Other Reasons Why I Carry The Cross To Every School In Bakersfield

There are two other reasons why I walk the cross to every Bakersfield school, hoist it upright and pray loud and long in front of each and every school office (usually beside the flag pole). As I approach a particular school, I have two clear and distinct reasons for walking the entire perimeter of that school and then hoisting the large flag upright and praying in front of the school’s main office:

Number One. I’m praying for the safety of all students and all educators as they are on that particular campus and as they return home after school.

Number Two. I’m praying for the salvation of every student, parent, teacher and school employee at that school.

I carry the cross to every school in Bakersfield and pray for the safety and salvation of every student, parent and educator because prayer changes things because it changes individuals.

What I’m Praying About When I Pray At A School

When I hoist the large cross upright at a school, I’m praying that:

1. Every student says no to drugs, gangs, weapons, violence, bullying and all other types of violence.

2. Every student remains civilized and never becomes chemicalized, criminalized, victimized or institutionalized, and that each boy and girl remains a juvenile decent rather than becoming a juvenile delinquent.

3. Every parent says no to drugs, gangs, weapons and all other types of violence as well.

4. Every teacher, principal, secretary, and other school employee says no to drugs and violence as well.

5. Every child, parent and school employee eventually accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Savior.

Wanna-be, Gonna-be, May-be And Never-be Drug Users And Gangbangers

In other words, I hoist that large cross upright at each school and pray that our kids never become drug users, gang members, juvenile delinquents or other types of troubled and troubling youth. When it comes to drugs, gangs, weapons, violence and crime, I’m praying that these kids become and remain NEVER-BE’S, and that they give their hearts, souls and lives to the One who died on the cross so that they can live drug-free, gang-free, crime-free and violence-free lives.

A Very Good Reason For Kids To Stay In School

I get to talk to a lot of kids before and after school. That’s why I designed a small card-tract to hand out to these kids. It’s entitled  “STAY IN SCHOOL. Don’t Be Anybody’s Fool.”  The tract encourages kids to say no to drugs, gang, weapons and violence. But it also gives these youth an incentive to stay in school and at the very least graduate from high school.

Very reliable studies report that high school graduates earn at least $10,000 more each year than dropouts. So it’s like giving themselves $10,000 extra or even more each year once they graduate and go to work full-time. These studies also show that if they acquire a two-year college degree, it’s like giving themselves $16,000 more each year than those who quit high school. It gets even better for those kids who earn a four year college degree. College and university graduates earn over $28,000 more each year than dropouts.

It’s All About Planting Good News Seed For Future Revival

Praying for students, their parents and their educators is the reason I bring the cross to each school throughout greater Bakersfield. This is how God prepares young hearts. This is how revival takes place in the lives of  these kids. Because when I bring the cross to Bakersfield’s elementary, junior high and senior high schools, hoist it upright for all to see, and pray long and hard for these boys’ and girls’ souls, the Spirit of the living God has opportunity to plant the seeds of revival and salvation in their hearts.

And this is one way future generations for Jesus are both prepared and reached. Amen and amen.

From The Long Board To
The Long Cross

Surfing hit the Texas Gulf Coast in 1961, when I was fourteen. My sister’s boyfriend knew some California surfers, who visited Galveston Island that summer and brought the long board to the Lone Star state.  From what I can recall, I was the fifth or sixth Texan to take up the long board and ride the two to three foot swells of Galveston Bay.

When I caught my first wave, I was hooked.

That summer I gave up the girls for the surf board. Riding waves was  both exhilarating and unbelievable. Every morning my friend Louie and I would hitchhike the nine miles from my home in Texas City to the island city. Sometimes we’d actually spend the night on Galveston Beach just to wake up to and ride the “glass,” the pristine and gently-breaking waves.

Nothing smelled better than the sun tan oil, the wax, and the surf. Read the rest of this entry »

WARMTH OF THE SON

(new life version)

The Lord of all life

He saved me one day.

I cried when He said,

I forgive you today.

Now I have the Warmth

of the Son;

It won’t ever die.

Since it seems that everybody who lives in Bakersfield goes to Pismo Beach instead of the southern California surf spots, it was bound to happen. Pismo Beach, here we come, bringing the long cross instead of the long board to this central California beach and walking the streets instead of walking the nose. Surf’s up in Pismo…and so is the long cross! Read the rest of this entry »

GOOD VIBRATIONS

(new life in Christ version)

I’m thinking of good vibrations,

Cross walking’s giving me excitations.

I’m thinking of  unsaved creations,

God’s giving me expectations.

Good, good, good, good vibrations.

Good, good, good, good vibrations.

What started out as an early morning fog turned into a beautiful sunshiny day, the kind of awesome day I remembered when we lived and ministered in the San Francisco Bay area for fourteen years. Jeanette and I loaded up the “go-ye-mobile” and headed to Fisherman’s Wharf,  just a few blocks from where we had stayed the night. As we slowly drove down the hilly street, the view of the pristine and wonderfully blue Pacific Ocean getting closer and closer by the moment filled my senses with both good and not so good memories of this beautiful northern California coastal town.

If Anyone Is In Christ, They Are Brand New Creations

The first time I had visited this city was way back in 1971 during a time that most certainly wasn’t as pleasant as now. On the F.B.I’s fugitive list for robbing a bank in Texas and escaping to California, I was a man on the run from justice and prison time. Read the rest of this entry »

Since 1973 (when I became a believer) I have always wanted to go to Compton and share the Gospel. Now, after a successful cross walk in East L.A. and downtown Los Angeles, here I was. Walking the large cross on the sidewalk running parallel with Compton Avenue, I immediately was taken back by the friendliness of all the people passing by in vehicles, as well as the large number of believers.

So where was the rampant crime and the dirty streets and the jailhouse mentality of all the people who live here that I had heard about so often when this city’s name came up in a discussion?  For all I could tell, Compton was a great city to live in. One that seemed to have had a major transformation of sorts. Read the rest of this entry »

After such a wonderful cross walk in Compton, the Spirit of the Lord impressed on me to travel southeast to the affluent communities of Lake Forest, El Toro and Mission Viejo in Orange County. Most definitely … perhaps even more … the upper-class citizens need to be saved as well. So off I went, excited about the amazing results of Cross Walk Compton and anticipating a special time in Lake Forest as well. Boy, was I in for a surprise. Read the rest of this entry »

After a special walk in downtown Los Angeles, I headed west on 6th Street that eventually turns into Whittier Boulevard and headed for the heart of East L.A. It was late, so I decided to get a motel room for the night and walk the cross in East Los Angeles the next morning.

After a nice and long talk with my wife through the free Skype’s computer program, which is quite a miracle in itself, I got a great night’s sleep. Early the next morning I ate my normal McDonald’s breakfast (which has become my on-the-road office of sorts) then headed east on Whittier and found a great parking spot. Unloading the large cross, I lowered it to my shoulder and headed west down this large and very busy boulevard. Read the rest of this entry »