10-29-25

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
October 29, 2025
I might be naive or overconfident or totally off my rocker, but I believe Cypress Creek Christian Church has been forming itself for a moment like this. Let me be clear—when I speak of “forming itself,” I am wanting us to acknowledge and celebrate the many accomplishments of those who came before us, including Rev. Dr. Glenn Wilkerson, the founding minister of Cypress Creek Christian Church. For in doing so, we are recognizing that much of the foundational structure we stand on today was built by his vision. However, it’s common for ministers, including myself, to become so focused on starting something “new” that we forget that we are always building on the work that others have done. I am so excited about where we are, and I believe the lives currently being touched, healed, transformed, and empowered by the ministry we are doing will continue to grow in ways we cannot even begin to imagine. Though let’s be clear, such growth will occur only if when we use the pronoun “we” that we understand the “we” as generations of incredibly faithful and self-giving Jesus followers who have helped to form the road we currently travel. 

In Deuteronomy 32:7-8, we read:

Think about past generations.
Ask your parents
  or any of your elders.
They will tell you
  that God Most High…

And then it continues with a history lesson, including the good, the very good, the bad, and the embarrassingly bad. It is both important and essential for us to know our history, never dismissing the embarrassingly bad for what might appear to be a rosy yet inaccurate depiction of the good alone. At no point in Christian history has the church ever been able to say, “Nailed it,” except when it was crucifying Jesus all over again. That might be a crude way of saying it, but there is no perfect past, only progress that is built on the past… built on the good, the very good, the bad, and embarrassingly bad. There is a great deal that inspires, some that requires a little contrition, and a fair amount that should leave us asking, “What can we learn so we never make that mistake again?” 

As I said at the beginning of this Etching, I believe Cypress Creek Christian Church has been forming itself for a moment like this. Some might say I’m naive or overconfident or totally off my rocker, but I can feel some holy optimism because we continue to acknowledge and celebrate everything that has brought us to this moment. 

For all the saints who have gone before us, we give you thanks, Holy God. You are the One who has and continues to inspire the faithful, maybe not to perfection, but for the purpose of doing extraordinary things in the name of Jesus. Amen.