Q and A with Sam Crosby (2)

3 Synoptics, and then you've got John, which is just a different, it's just kind of a very different picture of Christ, Jesus coming as the Word incarnate, the Son of God. So I've always appreciated the Gospel of John, just kind of the way that it walks through. Yeah, just the way that John presents the life of Christ, kind of a little bit more background than some of the other Gospels do, and just the theological commentary that John provides. Maybe it's just because it's easier to kind of see very obviously the things he's saying about Jesus. The Catholic epistles, so like 1 and 2 Peter, James, I don't know if I've just spent more time in those books or what, but I tend to have spent more time and know those a little bit better than Paul's epistles. So, Romans has been a great help to me. For me personally, for discipleship, I love to read through Romans when people walk through. What is the Gospel? What are the implications of the Gospel? What does it mean for us in the life of the Church? So, yeah, that's... Genesis, Foundational, Psalms are very helpful. The whole thing is useful. You don't really have a favor is what you're saying. That's right. All right What is your musical preference traditional or praise or a little bit of both? I Would say this what I prefer in the context of a church is whatever the church can sing well and So I just have grown so much to appreciate the congregational voice. So like Keith was asking me when I was talking about tonight, if there were any hymns that I wanted to hear, and I said, choose songs that the church can sing. Well, that's what I want to hear is the church, us together singing whatever it is. So I don't necessarily have a hard preference. I like hymns because I like the the robustness, the content of hymns. Some hymns I think I enjoy singing the traditional way. Some hymns I have a lot of difficulty singing the traditional way, so the more modern versions can be helpful. So I don't have a hard preference one or the other. So I guess both is the answer to that. Well, there's a whole music category, so we'll get more on your music. Do you and your family think you will like the Charlottesville aria? For me, in the limited conversation Lindsay and I have had, yeah, we really enjoy the Charlottesville area. So I am an outdoorsman, so when I can drive and see mountains calling to me in the distance, that's always a great thing. So yeah, we really enjoy Charlottesville. Is this our fifth trip to Charlottesville? So when the goats left, we just wouldn't leave them alone. We kept coming back to spend weekends with them. So yeah, I have enjoyed Charlottesville and enjoy it more every time I'm here. A good question to go after Charlottesville. What attracts you most to work at Jefferson Park Baptist Church in Charlottesville? A lot of, I think what I said tonight, is just a common vision for church. So there's a lot, all of the essentials are exactly where we would be, where Third Avenue would be. So there's a lot of of familiarity there. I've never had the desire to kind of come in as a pioneer and come into a church that's unhealthy, that's sick, and just needs a lot of help and reformation and kind of lead the charge of doing that myself. I admire guys who have that vision. That just has never been my desire. So being able to come in and work with a church that's already like-minded, with a pastor whom I know well, who's like-minded, who I know we can work together, that's what's exciting to me about Jefferson Park. Can you describe the last time you had to seek repentance, forgiveness from someone other than your wife? That's a great question. Yeah, I'm searching for a specific. I think if there was a in the context of home, It has to be someone other than your wife. Well, I'm thinking, yeah, sorry, we were home visiting family. Yeah, I would think maybe, I guess it would be in the context of maybe an errant word spoken, something uncritical about somebody or something like that, having to apologize that conversation was unhelpful. Yeah. Back to music. What do you think about singing in Sunday school? about singing in Sunday school? I don't know that I've ever experienced singing in Sunday school, but I don't have a conviction that singing is only congregational. I can see how singing could be helpful. You don't have to answer this, but it is a question, so I'm just reading the question. How much do you weigh? And that's from Anonymous. They were very explicit that this was Anonymous. That would be interesting. I don't know if it's someone trying to size you up. I don't know. Because there's a lot of questions about how tall you are as well. I don't have a scale here. So my weight generally fluctuates around 220, 225. How tall are you? 6'4". That doesn't fluctuate. Alright, back to the ministry category. What do you think discipleship should look like within the church? What is a pastor's role in this? The first question, I mean, I think discipleship is such a broad category. You know, a lot of people have different, when you talk about discipleship, you can be talking about different things. I mean, I think generally we just want to see people growing in their relationship with Christ and their devotion to Him, their intimacy with Him, and their connection within the life of the Church. So it takes, I think there's not sort of a single approach to discipleship. I would want to see starting from Sunday mornings where we're preaching the Word faithfully. We have a Sunday school program that's robust, that's helping people to grow in their knowledge of the Word. And then building out from there other services the church has. I know you all have a Wednesday night service that's fruitful. Our church has a Sunday night service that's fruitful, just where we're praying, we're investing in each other's lives. And then a lot of that takes place on our own in terms of members coming alongside one another, whether it's small groups of men and women, whether it's home groups. one-on-one relationships. There's not a single approach. I've just experienced in my own life how each relationship is different. There's no sort of one-size-fits-all to discipleship. It takes a lot of different different looks in terms of people's lives. Now, as a pastor, you know, my goal is to be hands on. You know, I don't just do discipleship sort of from 30,000 feet and just make sure that it looks like it's taking place in the life of the church. I want to be involved in people's lives, having conversations, counseling, encouraging, you know, having those kind of conversations, but then also want to be making sure that as a culture that that is taking place in the life of the church. Our church at one time had a discipleship tree where we had a list of every member's name and what their relationships were within the church. If there was somebody that they were meeting with primarily for discipleship, we've moved away from a model like that that flows Ours now flows out of the home groups. But yeah, I think as a pastor, my concern is just to make sure, you know, our goal is to present every man mature in Christ. So it's thinking through how we can best do that, how we can facilitate that taking place, creating a culture of that in the church and just laboring to that end. It's an important question. Any follow-up questions? We'll allow it here because I think that's an important area. Alright. A lot of people want to ask it after you say alright, so I'm going to wait one extra awkward second. Okay. Just, yeah, show them. And the Agnew always wants two extra pauses, so very good. Sure. How do you plan or hope to equip others in the ministry? Yeah, so I think I think modeling that is important just that As I'm meeting with people now, I try to ask them, you know, who else are you meeting with? We're doing this, this is discipleship, whether you know it or not, this is what we're doing. How are you reproducing this in your life? Who else are you meeting with? And that sort of thing. But also, I think training is helpful. Our church did, a month or two ago, a home group leaders training where we just sort of walked through some basic concepts of pastoral care. There was another one of the elders. that led that, but just kind of some general stuff like that, that I think is really helpful. We don't want to assume that everybody's talking about the same thing when you're saying discipleship, so we want to make sure that that's in the place. I mean, there's some resources that are helpful, a book, Paul Tripp's Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands, really helpful just thinking through how do we live life together in the context of a church, how do we care for one another. So yeah, there's a lot of that kind of stuff that I would hope that whether it's sort of less formally in the context of relationships or more formally in terms of a Sunday school class or a group that meets apart from the regular services of the church, something like that to implement training. Describe your relationship with Jesus and explain why a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is so important Yeah, you know that is something that I've just have been more aware of in the last few months, how a relationship with Jesus really is personal. We can go through seasons in Christian life when Jesus is a literary figure. And even if we know the true theology about him, it's still very distant. The trials that I was describing during the last hour just have pressed afresh into my heart just how necessary and how real Jesus is still at work. I mean, teaching in Sunday school this morning, that Jesus isn't in retirement in heaven. He's still active among the churches. He's still working. And I mean, we see that in our own lives. You know, I think just in my daily times of being in the Word, reading, whether it's Old Testament or New Testament, connecting that to the person and work of Jesus. Both of those things. Both Jesus as a real person and Jesus as the God-man who came into the world to save sinners. So, really trying to tie those things together. thinking about that, working that through, I mean, it's very real that just as I could go about my day and think, oh, there's a situation where, oh, this is what Lindsay would do here, or here's what so-and-so, you know, reminds me of, in personal ways, what other people have done, just also a real sense of Jesus being one of those people that's in my mind, that's a real person saying, you know, here's, this is a situation like X gospel situation or whatever, where Jesus's reality is really pressed into my life and Yeah, active, so. Does that answer the question? I don't know who wrote it. I don't remember if there were two parts or not. I think you answered the question. Okay. What is your favorite hymn? And you're not allowed to say praise song, your favorite hymn. My favorite hymn probably is A Mighty Fortress Is Our God. Just a very robust hymn that I think has been very real to us. I can remember sobbing through singing that congregationally one of the weeks when we just knew Rebecca was going back to her biological parents. pressing into that truth and fighting in the depth of my soul to believe that God is a mighty fortress and that no matter what we're going through, He's a bulwark never failing and a shelter. So yeah, that's my favorite hymn. Follow-up, what is one of your wife's favorite hymns, maybe one that has meant a lot to you during the difficult times? So you mentioned the second half. What is one of your wife's favorite hymns? Am I supposed to know my wife's favorite hymn? Or is that a question for her to answer? I'll tell you what, you tell me, and then she'll tell Chris, and we'll see if it matches. Compare answers. Alright, alright. What is her favorite hymn? I would say A Mighty Fortress is Our God. We've talked about that a lot, so I don't know. Is that correct, Lindsey? Very good, Chris. Way to be a peacemaker. What is your favorite version of the Bible? That's a good question. So I spent a lot of time in college reading through the New American Standard. Now I've just grown to use the ESV. That's what our church uses. That's what's just most familiar to me at this point in life. So I would say the ESV at this point. There's a lot of personal questions. I'm just going to crank through some of these. OK. College football or NFL? College. Favorite team? Georgia. Oh, sorry. This is a three-parter. Favorite Georgia Bulldogs? Favorite meal? Yeah, can we do more? I don't interpret these. I just read them. Your favorite thing to eat? Last meal. Wow. Yeah, maybe fried fish. Fried fish? Yeah, maybe so. Fried fish. If you could visit any country, which one? New Zealand. Chicken or steak or seafood? Seafood. Khakis or jeans? Jeans. Are bow ties okay with you? Do we, is the person asking do I wear bow ties or do I morally object to bow ties? I do not wear bow ties, I'll answer it that way. Do you like musicals? Do I like musicals? I don't object to musicals. It's not what I would necessarily sit down to write. Nasmas on musicals? Alright. Not in category. This question, it's written this way. Should you wear jeans to church? Should you? Should you? I would say you're free to. Okay. Which would you rather have, a million dollars right now or one cent doubled each day for a month? That's a lot of math. I'll take the penny. Okay, okay. Lord of the Rings or Star Wars? You said New Zealand. Yeah, Lord of the Rings. Okay. Did you ever take piano? Yes. Mac or PC? I have a MacBook. I don't have a sticker on my car though, so I don't know what that means. Do you like baseball? It's okay, yeah. What is your favorite sport to watch? College football. What is your favorite shade of blue? It's your question. Stonewashed. Can you fill the fashion void created by the departure of Asher Griffin? No. No way. How well do you know Asher? That's a question. Not well. I mean, we've got some history together. Asher hadn't been at 3rd Avenue a long time before he came here, so we don't know each other super well, but we're friends. Were you baptized at 9? Yes. Were you immersed at 9? Yes. It wanted to make sure that was... Would you rather be in a watermelon eating contest or a hot dog eating contest? Watermelon. What were the three television, movie, or book characters that shaped your personality? Wow. I have no idea how to answer that question. All right, we'll get to more serious questions. I wanted to crank through some of those and, well, they were fun. What is your interaction with senior adults? Our church has seen, whether it's because of people passing away, because of people becoming too unhealthy to come to church. Yeah, a few of that. Our senior adult crowd has whittled down to pretty much one couple at the church. You saw them this evening on the video. We love Jerry and Lorene dearly. We come early every Sunday to have donuts with them and for them to talk to Rebecca and we go drop by their house periodically just to visit with them. So they kind of serve as our grandparents away from home. Yeah, and it's sad. It's one of the things that really is disappointing is that we don't have those relationships with a lot of the people that are there. And a lot of the The culture at Third Avenue has been, most of the senior adults who aren't able to come anymore, they don't feel super connected to the church, so they don't want to be contacted, they don't want to be visited, and it makes it hard, because we would love to do that, to serve them, to come by to help them, and a lot of them have family in Louisville that kind of fills that void, and they don't want that kind of interaction with the church. I'm going to qualify this question in that In no way are we hiring Lindsay Crosby. No way is she being called. But I think it's an important question. What are your wise gifts and talents? What ministries does she participate in at Third Avenue now? As I said, Lindsay is a ferocious discipler. She's better at discipling than I am. She meets with various women. She's a bulldog. She doesn't let go. let them get away with simple answers. She presses into their hearts. She loves to meet with women. She meets with women individually. She meets with women's groups and has led women's groups. She's had a lot of helpful conversations, some hard conversations with different women in the church over certain issues. She's tremendously gifted. I'm grateful for her. I'm trying to think of what else. Any ministries? You said you have organized children's Sunday school. Does she participate in that? She has. She's not currently, but she has participated in children's Sunday school. She's organized the women's retreat for the church. I've been really involved in that. What is your favorite Sunday school curriculum for children? Our church has come up with a hybrid, kind of a combination of different curricula. We use a curriculum called, I think it's now called the Gospel Stories Change Names. It's produced by Covenant Fellowship Church. And it's a really helpful curriculum. So that's the one we use for the middle classes, three and fours. The older kids use Generations of Grace, which is produced by, what is it, MacArthur's Church, Grace Community Church. And that curriculum is really helpful. I really like that because they use the same lesson for different age groups. So you've got four-year-olds and you've got 12-year-olds studying the same passage at different levels. So as a family, you're kind of wanting to work through Sunday school curriculum with your kids. They're all talking about the same story, but just at a different level, at a different depth. And then for the preschool, we've used Children's Desiring God. So our church is kind of settled with that. It's worked for us. Yeah, so that's what I have experience with. What would you envision your first six months to look like? What would you do? I think a lot of it would be pretty much changing everything I had authority to change. No, I mean none. Honestly, the first six months, I would picture a lot of time just spending time with you, getting to know the Church, getting to know... individuals of the church, getting to know the culture, and kind of wrapping my mind around what's happening at the church. And I would hope by the six-month mark, I'm kind of in a place where I'm ready to kind of start to talk with the leadership, talk with you all about kind of what, not necessarily what needs to be changed, but just how I can get in and help whatever additional stuff needs to be done, whatever I'm coming in to kind of help take off of Keith's plate to really be able to be full steam at the six-month mark, I would hope. What is your strongest asset that you offer to the ministry at Jefferson Park Baptist Church? I'm not sure this is the strongest asset that I offer. I think one of the things that I bring to the table is that I complement Keith really well. I think our personalities are very different, and I think I have a very stabilizing effect on Keith, so I think we would work very well together. So, I think in terms of asset, in terms of thinking about ministry and a long-term ministry and what that would look like, I think that's probably one of the things that I would bring to the table. I don't question that. A related question. If you were called to be a pastor to Jefferson Park Baptist Church, you would be alongside Keith. Will it be hard for the both of you to work outside of your friendship to include others in the ministry? Do you have any concerns about working with a friend? The second question I'll answer, yeah. I mean, I think there is a part of it that Keith and I are good friends and that we have been for eight years and it's You go into a working relationship together and you don't always know what's going to happen. I think we have had a history at Third Avenue of being able to work together and to be able to at times disagree and still be friends and still work through a lot of that. So I think, I'm not going into it blind, that we've only been friends and now we're going to be working together. I feel like we have some rapport of working with each other. What was the first part of the question? Will it be hard for the both of you to work outside of your friendship to include others in the ministry? Yeah, I don't think it will be hard in terms of that. I mean, I think we've done that a lot. We've developed enough of a friendship to where we don't have to spend all of our time together to be current. So we're kind of free to invest broadly and widely and still maintain a friendship. Go back to some favorites here. What is your favorite Bible verse? One of them I read this morning, Rise, Kill and Eat. That's pretty good. Yeah, I would say there's different verses that have ministered to us throughout different phases of our life. Psalm 34, God being near the broken hearted, just one phrase that has has really comforted us over the past few months, just to know God is not distant, He's not unconcerned with our trials and our problems, but He's close. So that's one that's been encouraging in recent times. Since you do so well with the favorite questions, what is your favorite passage to teach? I don't know. The easiest thing for me to jump in and teach maybe is 1 Peter 1. Why didn't you do that this morning? It's been a while since I've taught that. Acts 9 is fresh, and I think Acts 9 is just kind of a unique passage I just really like. I've been thinking about it a lot and really grown just the way that you see the kingdom, the whole issue of heaven, and seeing heaven on earth through the conversion of Cornelius and the table fellowship that we have at the end of that passage. I just really enjoyed that. Seems like a lot on your plate, your job description. Tell us what you're really most passionate to do. With what I will be doing? Yeah, so the priorities of your ministry, of all the things you'll be asked to do is called, what are you most passionate about doing? Well, I think in terms of passion, I feel like right now, working a full-time job, I'm constrained with how much time I have to give to meeting with people. So I think that the idea of taking 40 hours a week off of my plate of auditing health insurance claims and being able to invest that into meeting with people, I think that's what's most encouraging is hands-on discipleship of really just getting to know you all, being encouraged by you, sharing life together, that kind of thing. What would you, if we asked you now, we'll ask you, Lord willing, if you were called, later, what was the biggest challenge for you being in the ministry? You can answer it specifically here in the job description. Yeah, I think one of the challenges that a lot of ministers face trying to be faithful is balancing their heart and their soul being poured out into the church and still maintaining a healthy family relationship. You know, not being so exhausted from a day of meeting with people, of caring for them, of praying for them and all that, the weight of spiritual care for a congregation, being able to re-energize for an evening of spiritual care for a family and that sort of thing. So I think that's simply one thing that I would want to be very aware of in going into a pastoral ministry, just making sure that that primary ministry of care for family is healthy and continues. If you could spend ten minutes alone with Jesus in person, what question would you ask Him? There's so many why's of what does Jesus not know. So there's all kinds of questions about the way the world works and stuff like that. I think the question that just grips my heart is why would you do what you've done? We know it's out of love, but what kind of love compels God to leave heavenly glory to come and die for sinners. I mean, what? I mean, we'll spend eternity praising Him for that, but I think I'd start the conversation there. Yeah, help me. Help me to learn love. What is the role of holiness in the life of a believer? Without holiness, no one will see the Lord. Holiness is essential. I mean, God demands that we approach Him in holiness. So, we are required to be holy. Now, the way that that plays itself out, as I understand it, is Christ has made us holy. He's torn the veil. He's brought us into the presence of God. But because of that, we're to approach, you know, we're to approach the throne in fear and grace, but also in confidence that, yeah, so we're to make every effort to be holy because we have been made holy. Do you see yourself getting involved with the youth ministry here at Jefferson Park Baptist Church? Yeah. Follow up question. What is the youth ministry at Jefferson Park Baptist Church? Well, I assume it's ministry to people who are under a certain age. Practically, what does that look like? I don't know, but I expect I'll be involved in some level as a pastor of the church. It's not my understanding that I'm coming to be a youth pastor. So if we're having that conversation, that's a little bit different. But yeah, I expect I'll be involved in ministering to youth and children and senior adults and everybody in between. Do you minister to youth now at 3rd Avenue? Well, youth at 3rd Avenue is singular in terms of how we have a youth. We probably have a couple that are getting to be, we're aging into it. We're trying to catch up with Jefferson Park in terms of the makeup of our age. I'm going to have to interpret and translate this one, and I think it's saying, do you like to preach more than spend time reading? Do you like to read and hear the Bible in public more than you like spending time reading it alone? So there's the corporate kind of Bible study time and then the private Bible study time. I think this is what the question is getting at. Which do you prefer? I mean, obviously, I think both have a place in the Christian's life. Honestly, I really enjoy group Bible study. I love our Sunday mornings. From the time of coming to Third Avenue and really getting involved in the senior men's class, I mean, that's the most time I've ever spent with a group of people just walking through Scripture. And I love the sharpening that comes from somebody asking a question I wouldn't have thought to ask and bringing out an application that I wouldn't have come to. I mean, I just think there's a richness that comes from the people of God coming together around the Word of God and opening it up and hearing what He has to say to us. What do you think about playing soccer after church? Am I playing soccer after church or are people playing soccer after church? What do you think about playing soccer after church? Great. Great, okay. Do you own a tie? Yes. Is there a follow-up question for that? Why am I not wearing it this week? I don't know. I don't know. Do you wear ties? On occasion? On occasion. All right. But I own several. You own several ties? Many. I have two tie racks. Do any of them light up? No. No. What is your favorite cookie? Cookie. My mom and dad both are really, really gifted bakers, so I'm gonna offend one of them by answering this question. Probably oatmeal. My dad makes some killer oatmeal cookies that are excellent. The follow-up question is very important. How much would you pay for a dozen oatmeal cookies? Well, I have the family hookup, so I don't pay for them. We'll have to talk about that later. What do you like to do for fun? Right now, I like to spend time with my family. So when we have downtime, sometimes it's taking Rebecca to the park to swing, it's playing in the water, doing things like that. At a personal level, if I get time that my family is cared for, and I have extra time on top of that to do something fun, I'm going outside. Whether it's playing football with guys from church, or if I have the things that I do for fun that are scheduled, this is what I have to do for fun. is like the annual, when we go home, hunting trip with dad and stuff like that. I love to be outside, so hiking, anything outside, I'm generally going to say yes, even work. I enjoy chopping wood and stuff like that. I like to be outside. I like to work with my hands. Do you believe the Genesis flood of Noah was worldwide and why does it matter? Yeah, I'm going to side that it was worldwide. A question like that is introducing a concept of what realms does the Bible speak to and what realms does science speak to and where is there overlap? I think we can fall into a danger of of taking science, taking faith out of science. And there's a lot of faith to science. There's a lot of assumptions that are made in science. And I think we can at times run a danger of sort of assuming that there's no faith. It's science. Everything about science is completely proven. It's factual. So we have to fit the Bible into science. And I don't buy that. I think there's a lot of assumptions in science. And so I don't read the Bible with the fear that I have to make it conform to modern-day theories of science. So, it's important because it introduces a concept of what do we do with the Bible when it seems to conflict with science. Now, there are Christians, people who are followers of Christ, who will be in heaven with me, who don't believe that the flood was worldwide, and I'm fine with that, as long as they're willing to affirm the sufficiency and the authority of Scripture. How do you hope to be different than the man you are today in a year's time? A year's time seems like a short horizon. But I hope that I'm more devoted in my love and affection for Christ. I hope I'm more faithful as a husband and a father. Yeah, I mean, I would strive to continue to grow and to continue to be conformed to the image of Christ. Those are all the written questions that I have, unless I... Oh, I left one. There's one that was beyond interpretation. So, if your question wasn't asked... You can come up and interpret. Other questions from you all? That actually went a lot faster than I thought it would. Any further questions for Sam Walton Crosby? It's the first time Keith has ever said my middle name correctly. The first time I ever introduced him was to preach and I said Sam Waldron. I don't know why, but I really thought his middle name should be Waldron. No more. All right. Well, I think between tonight and Friday night, both of which have been recorded. Friday night was much more about him. We heard a lot of it tonight and maybe a bit more detail. Thank you for your time. You and Lindsay for coming.