3Crosses Church — Attraction in Castro Valley

This Sunday (May 17, 2015)...Pastor Danny Strange (Young Adult Pastor) topic was about FASTING.

I learned how essential it is for us to make fasting, along with prayer a part of our lives. When we fast it is all about GOD! We grow closer to God... we must be careful not to FAST with wrong motives/intentions. The reward of fasting leads to an Intimacy with God that is liken to none other. It is very personal.

To fast & pray should be like "breathing" to us... after all, Jesus our Lord & Savior fasted & prayed diligently...fervently!

Pastor Danny also discussed the reasons "why" Christians may not fast... some of the reasons were: Too busy, feel like fasting is ineffective, do not like to go without food or drink, think that it's just for clergy or disciples of the biblical times, too ashamed of "what" others will think, do not really "understand" the truth of fasting, don't want to be bothered...think it's trivial, etc.

When we go without food & drink... we become HUNGRY. The physical body feels depleted, malnourished. That is what God want us to do when "fasting"...HE wants us to "hunger... thirst" after HIM. Food & drink is essential for our physical bodies. Being in fellowship with GOD via fasting is essential for our "spiritual" growth.

We depend on food & drink to survive! God realizes the great importance placed on nourishment, after all, He created us. He also realizes that it is essential for man to have a healthy strong spiritual body, as well.

One chief way for man to realize that GOD want us to "depend" on Him (just like when we eat food & drink for substance, nourishment, strength, etc.) is through FASTING... it would please Him greatly if we would HUNGER for Him. And realize that the HE should be our FIRST LOVE...Our FIRST THOUGHT.

How often do we make FOOD our first love? Perhaps, our first thought of the day is what we are going to eat. Our thoughts are occupied by what we will consume from the start of the day to the setting of the sun AND all in between. Imagine, how great it would be if GOD occupied that space (thought). Oh, how PRECIOUS that would be! Imagine, how CLOSE we would grow in the Lord.

Willingly desiring that GOD be our first love... our first & last thought! To be in His presence, praising Him for WHO HE IS (The Great I AM). Purely Loving HIM with all our affection... truly seeing GOD (Our Heavenly Father) as the apple of our eye. WHEW!

We should admonish & reverence GOD every day... we should surrender time for reading the Word (Holy Bible), worship, fellowship, prayer/meditation AND fasting.😇

OH, "TASTE" & SEE THAT THE...

What a great church to visit during the Christmas Season, they put a lot of effort and energy in creating a positive atmosphere for people of all ages. Their Foyer area where the coffee shop Cafe 4 is, is decorated nicely with a tall tree filled with positive fun words and other kinds of fun ornaments.

They have a HUGE skating rink in part of their parking lot available to any one who rents skates, of course open to all ages. Not exclusive to any one in particular.

What's interesting is the skates are blue, just something I have never seen before. It's kind of cool and different.

This year they had fire pits for s'mores they were selling, of course a variety of vendor booths and train rides for the kids.

It's festive and fun parking is not an issue, the parking attendants do a great job of directing people and managing the parking. On some days, the cafe is open so a different variety of hot drinks is available for purchase, and the seating area is open too, in case it is too cold or wet outside. There are also food trucks available of different variety on different nights.

It's really a nice festive atmosphere to be in and pretty safe. Of course there are the occasional disrespectful people who don't seem to understand where they are, or lack the maturity to understand that that atmosphere is to be family friendly, with kids, not appropriate for gross swearing and cursing or pot. Yes, the night I went someone didn't have the decency to make sure they didn't reek of pot, on a church property surrounded by all those kids pr remember to watch their language around all those kids. And the ironic thing, is that they came with someone who had a child. Go Figure! - obviously not someone who is clued in to it's surroundings or who they're with. But the second time I went, it was much more of a healthier family/kid friendly place to enjoy.

3 Crosses and its staff do a really good job of having that area available for several weekends. Which helps make the Christmas Season...

Last night ( August 4 ) I attended one of the performances at this church called Singin' in the Rain. During the intermission I went to get a cup of coffee at the Cafe 4 inside the building. They had just closed so I asked if there was another place to get some coffee (meaning another place within the church area). A young girl with long brown hair working behind the counter shouted at me in an angry manner "STARBUCKS DOWN THE ROAD!" as she stomped past me into the kitchen area. I was shocked at her behavior. I told a young man wearing dark rimmed glasses who was behind the counter about her disrespectable behaviour. He clearly had the same attitude as the girl and said "well, we have to deal with a lot! ". I said "can you please tell that young girl that whatever is bothering her to not let her anger rule her behavior towards people". He said (in a disrespectful manner) "I'm NOT going to tell her that". First of all Jesus had to deal with a lot too and He was never mean to people. Second, if someone is serving coffee in a church then they are a representative of the church and should conduct themselves accordingly. I explained what happened to two gentlemen at the door to the theatre, they were appalled and very apologetic which is why I gave my review 3 stars. The performance was great and I will only go to this church for future performances of the theatre but...