C A N T O N J O N E S • K B • K U R T I S B L O WC A N T O N J O N E S • K B • K U R T I S B L O W

Expelled

Street Stories

C.H.O.S.E.N.

Expelled

Street Stories

C.H.O.S.E.N.

Jabo “High School”Reppin’ the word on campus

C A N T O N J O N E S • K B • K U R T I S B L O W

Jabo “High School”Reppin’ the word on campus

ExpelledDid Truth really get kicked out?

Street StoriesReal talk from Crossover

C.H.O.S.E.N.Empowering Women

www.thesoulmag.comIssue #12 // US $3.95 • Can. $4.95

Things are un.certain. Have you read the paper or watched the news lately? Have you gone grocery shopping recently? I know you’ve pumped some of that $4 a gallon gas or drank some of that $5 milk or sipped some of that refreshing $7 Orange juice. Left and right it seems people are getting laid off as compa-nies downsize and cut budgets. I hear again and again that nobody is hiring. People are getting real nervous. If you look at it from a certain worldview – they should be.

Yesterday I talked with a friend of mine that runs his own business. He shared how he just filled up his Diesel work truck at $5 a gallon. He then said, “Guess how many gallons the tank is? 70!” I responded, “How often do you have to fill that thing up?” He shot back, “Everyday!” You do the math. That’s one reason his company is down from 3 employees to just 1.

I recently spoke at one of the largest church conferences in the country with some of the top leaders from America’s most influential churches. It was an amazing event. It was humbling to be a part of it. Each evening the speakers got together and met and had dinner and a time of sharing. This was especially dope for me as I was kicking it with several dudes that I’ve looked up to as I’ve read their books or followed their ministries. God is definitely doing some incredible things across the country. One thing that did come up was the economy. Churches everywhere are feeling the crunch. Several churches have had large staff cuts due to their drop in donations. As I lead a church with multiple staff members this can sound scary… in the natural.

I’m also a national artist that mixes it up with rappers from all over. Several of my artist friends that were full time have had to go and get regular jobs for the first time in years as their traveling has really slowed down. And here I am with this crazy vision of publishing a magazine in a time when magazines and newspapers are in a serious decline. Things are un.certain. As I’m finishing this editorial…the completion of this magazine is un.certain. With the economy being tough, it’s hard to get ads and there are still a few left at this mo-ment. We’re also on a tight deadline to get this thing to print…its un.certain.

If you’re a Christ-follower you really shouldn’t sweat it too much. There is a lot we can be certain about. Christ is our source no matter what the price of a barrel of oil soars to. God is here to provide for us and protect us. Even if life gets harder and we don’t have all the stuff we once had – we can be sure that God is in control and this is all just temporary. You can be certain that the creator still does miracles and if you get to hold this magazine in your hands…trust me – this is certainly one!

Peace and Certainty,

Tommy aka Urban D. *Tommy Kyllonen leads in the un.certain urban world of pastoring, writing, rapping, speaking, publishing, and parenting… but as he looks to his leader it allbecomes certain.>> Check out his video blog at www.urband.org <<

S.O.U.L | Pg06

Hey! Welcome to Crossover!

We’re glad you’re checking out our latest issue of S.O.U.L. magazine.

If you have recently attended one of our services or events, we thank

you for coming to be with us. If we haven’t already personally met you,

we look forward to that opportunity in the near future. You can usually

catch us hanging out on the patio after services. Maybe you are read-

ing this and you haven’t actually been to Crossover yet. We hope you’ll

have the chance to come out and see us real soon. Either way, this

magazine was designed so you could better get to know who we are

and what we are about.

As you are holding this you may be thinking, “Wow, a church that pub-

lishes their own magazine…and it actually looks really professional.” If

you have visited us there were probably a lot of other things around our

campus and in our worship service that smashed some of your typi-

cal stereotypes about church. We love to do that! If you really get to

know Christ you’ll see there was nothing typical about Him either! He’s

real, He’s relevant, and He’s relational! That’s what we’re about here

at Crossover. That’s why we have planned our music, our prayers, and

our messages and basically everything we do to be real, relevant, and

relational as we point you to Christ. Our presentation is definitely differ-

ent than most, but what we’re presenting is real truth. It’s not watered

down as some may assume because of our appearance. Instead, you’ll

find a solid leadership team that teaches the Word of God in context.

We believe that when you come to church you should feel comfortable

so you can be real. We believe that coming to church should be a fun

and exciting experience, not a boring one. We’re here to celebrate what

God as done for us, and learn how we can develop a closer relationship

with Him and make the right choices in our every day lives. There’s

definitely going to be some challenges to stretch us to grow, but we’re

here to push each other and help support each other. More than half of

the people that now attend our church previously did not go to church or

have a personal relationship with Christ. For some, it had been several

years since they walked into a church because they had some bad ex-

S.O.U.L | Pg08

periences or just thought it wasn’t relevant. Others had never been to

church at all. There are also some that already knew Christ, but were

looking for a place they could feel more comfortable and get involved in

ministry reaching this culture.

At Crossover Church we believe we are supposed to be a family…we

are a growing multi-cultural faith community with people from all differ-

ent backgrounds. Our family is on a journey together. Our goal is to

continue to invite others to join us on this journey as we get to know our

creator and fulfill the purposes he has for our lives. God has an incred-

ible vision for our church, and we hope with this magazine you can get

to know us a little bit better, and if it’s God’s plan… even become part of

our family. If you have any questions please feel free to email us or call

the church office. We look forward to seeing you soon.

Peace and God Bless,

Pastor Tommy, Lucy,Deyana, and Sophia

Table of Contents:Pg. 06: Editorial – Un.certainPg. 08: Welcome / Campus MapPg. 12: HistoryPg. 13: What We BelievePg. 14: Meet The StaffPg. 16: You’ve Got MailPg. 18: Sunday VibePg. 19: Sunday Night VibePg. 20: Kidz MinistriesPg. 22: Hip-Hop Legends: Kurtis BlowPg. 24: The Crew: Small GroupsPg. 28: Canton Jones - Kingdom BusinessPg. 30: 3rd Rail TeensPg. 33: KBPg. 34: ExpelledPg. 38: Media Dept.Pg. 39: Hip-Hop Concert EventsPg. 42: Streetball LeaguePg. 44: CrossoverChurch.orgPg. 46: 1st Impressions / FamiliesPg. 47: The Network - ResourcesPg. 48: Some Real DramaPg. 49: They Said What?Pg. 52: Jabo - New SchoolPg. 54: Aspire ServicePg. 56: Crossover’s Noise in TampaPg. 58: Street StoriesPg. 61: Harmony Pg. 62: PrayerPg. 63: OutreachPg. 64: C.H.O.S.E.N.Pg. 66: TV SpotlightPg. 68: Che-Che Pg. 72: Fla.vor FestPg. 76: Music ReviewsPg. 78: Connection Classes Pg. 79: What’s Next? Growth…Pg. 80: Final Thoughts

The S.O.U.L TeamPublisher: Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D.Creative Director: SPE©Contributing Editors: Janine Carrero, Duane CusterContributing Writers: Lily Lorenzo, Derrick Colon, Janine Carrero, Duane Custer, Lucy Kyllonen, Theo Meade and Kathleen MedranoReview Team: Elijah, DJ Dash, Clok, Todd, Brother Greg Contributing Designers: Todd Mitchka and Brandon ‘dash’ BrinkleyContributing Designers: Todd Mitchka and DJ DashDesign Department: Specademik.comPhotographers: Carlos Espinel, James Cole, DJ Dash and SPE©

For information on Advertising visit www.thesoulmag.com and check out the press kit for detailed demographics, ad rates, specs, and deadlines.

Printed in Canada by: Premier Printing - www.premierprinting.ca

S.O.U.LMAG is published three times annually by Fla.vor Alliance Media Group and is a ministry of Crossover Church.

S.O.U.LMAG / Crossover Church7809 N. Orleans Ave. Tampa, Fla. 33604office: (813) 935-8887 fax: (813) 935-0535thesoulmag.com • crossoverchurch.org • flavoralliance.com

Weekly Service Times:Sunday’sSunday Vibe: 10:00am, 11:45amSunday Night Vibe: 7:00pmchildren’s programs available for ages:Infants-11yrs, during all 3 service times.

Thursday’s 3rd Rail Hip.Hop Teen Service7:30pm-9:00pmJunior High & High School students*campus closes @ 10pm // crossoverchurch.org/3rdRail

*WATCH US LIVE @ CROSSOVERCHURCH.org

Small Group Bible Studies* Crew Groups meet in homes at different times throughout the week. check out our website for details!

Crossover Church is a non-profit 501©3. Crossover’s mission is:“To Relevantly introduce the truth of Christ to the hip-hop culture, as we develop worship, purpose, unity, andleadership in their lives.”

S.O.U.LMAG exists to build on this mission as we take itto a national platform through print.

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TO RELEVANTLY INTRODUCE THE TRUTH OF

CHRIST

TO THE HIP-HOP CULTURE, AS WE DEVELOP WORSHIP,

PURPOSE, UNITY, AND LEADERSHIP IN THEIR LI

VES”

”

-mission statement

S.O.U.L | Pg12

Crossover started with a small community of people that wanted something different. They were burned out with “organized religion” – tired of the politics, the tradition, and the masks people hid behind at many churches. They saw the needs of people on the streets that weren’t being met, and they wanted to do something about it. Pastor Joe McCutchen founded Crossover with a few other people in the early 1990’s. They moved into a facility that was basically abandoned and very run down on N. Orleans Avenue. Al Palmquist was a member of the church who met Tommy Kyllonen on some basketball courts in Clearwater. Tommy was running an urban b-ball league while completing his college internship. Joe and Al challenged Tommy to start an urban youth ministry at Crossover from scratch. In December 1995, Tommy graduated from college with a B.A. in Pastoral Theology, with a concentration in Youth Ministry. He married Lucy Laguerra in February of 1996 and together they founded Crossover’s Youth Ministry with only 4 teens. Over the next six years, they developed a first of its kind Hip-Hop Youth Ministry, which grew to close to 200 youth weekly. During this time, the Adult Ministry at Crossover maintained about 40 regular attendees as there were three different pastors (changing every two years), each of which were bi-vocational.

In January of 2002, Tommy Kyllonen became the lead pastor of Crossover; a new vision and structure was birthed for the church. Crossover became “Purpose Driven” as the leadership team developed and implemented the mission state-

ment: “To relevantly introduce the truth of Christ to the Hip-Hop Culture as we develop worship, purpose, unity, and leadership in their lives.” Crossover began to make several changes to better reach the community.

The services quickly grew as several new people visited and built new relationships with Christ. Many soon embraced the vision and began getting discipled and involved and serving others.

God has called Crossover to be a pioneer church to reach those influenced by Hip-Hop Culture. The church has become internationally known through all of the favorable media articles, as well as the numerous CD’s, books and resources produced by Urban D. and other innovators at the church. Millions have visited Crossover’s website and thousands have attended the church ser-vices, looking to Crossover as a model. The once “run down” facility has been completely trans-formed into a unique thriving church campus that is exploding with creativity for the Creator. The church has grown from 40 to over 500 that now attend 3 Sunday Services. In addition, the Thurs-day night Youth services reach hundreds more each week. With all the exciting things God has

allowed Crossover to accomplish, we know that this is still just the beginning of our story.

These are the roots, the history, and the foundation of Crossover. Check out page 79 to catch a glimpse of the exciting days ahead and see “What’s Next…” as the

church builds on this foundation and works to accomplish God’s vision for Crossover’s future.

In the essential beliefs,we have unity.“There is one body and one spirit... there is one Lord, one faith, one bap-tism, and one God and Father of us

all...” // Ephesians 4:4-6

In the non-essential beliefs,we have liberty.“Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disput-able matters. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls... so then each of us will give an account of himself to God... so whatever you believe about these things, keep them between yourself and God.” //

Romans 14:1,4,12,22

In the essential beliefs,we have unity.“...If I hold in my mind not only all human knowledge but also the very secrets of God, and if I have faith that can move mountains - but have no love, I amount to nothing at all.”

// 1 Corinthians 13:2

Many people describe us as a “Hip-Hop Church”, and that’s understandable as we target that audience and use elements of the culture in our worship services. We prefer not to use that

title as it takes off the focus of what we’re really about and it can definitely bring up a lot of ques-tions and even stereotypes. If you are reading this magazine, many of you have probably attended a

service here and had a great time where you saw that church could be relevant, engaging, and real. At the same time, you may still have some questions about the details of what we believe. You may think it’s all too good to be true. You may also be a parent reading this whose child or teenager recently at-tended Crossover and brought this magazine home. You’re probably wondering what this Hip-Hop styled Church is all about. Nothing at Crossover is traditional…that’s quite obvious. However, everything we believe and practice in our services is Biblical. There is a big difference. The “church” [as a whole] has gotten the two a little mixed up. Jesus was not a traditional guy! As a matter of fact, he was constantly in conflict with the religious leaders of His day because He kept challenging them. They tried to look “all good” on the outside, but on the inside they were “rotten”. Jesus is not so concerned with how we look on the outside, or how we dress when we come to His house, (they didn’t have suits and ties in His day), as long as it’s modest. He’s not concerned about the music we play, or the style we choose to worship Him with, as long as the lyrics are clean and glorify Him. Jesus wants our hearts to be pure! At Crossover, we will consistently change our presentation to stay relevant with the culture, but our message and what we believe will never change.

THE ESSENTIALS WE BELIEVE1. About God: God is the creator and ruler of the universe. He has eternally existed in three persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. These three are co-equal and are one God. // Genesis 1:1, 26-27, 3:22 / Psalm 90:2 / Matthew 28:19 / Corinthians 13:14

2. About Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ is the Son of God. He is co-equal with the father. Jesus lived a sin-less human life and offered himself as the perfect sacrifice for all people by dying on the cross. He arose from the dead after three days to demonstrate His power over sin and death. He ascended to heaven’s glory and will return again someday to reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords. // Matthew 1:22-23 / Isaiah 9:6 / John 1:1-5, 14:10-30 / Hebrews 4:14-15 / 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 / Acts 1:9-11 / 1 Timothy 6:14-15 / Titus 2:13 3. About the Holy Spirit: The Holy Spirit is co-equal with the Father and Son. He is present in the world to make men aware of their need for Jesus Christ. He also lives in every Christian from the moment of salvation. He provides the Christian with power for living, understanding of spiritual truth, and guidance in doing what is right. He gives every believer a spiritual gift when they are saved. As Christians, we seek to live under his control daily. // 2 Corinthians 3:17 / John 16:7-13, 14:16-17 / Acts 1:8 / 1 Corinthians 2:12,3:16 / Ephesians 1:13 / Acts 2:4

4. About the Bible: The Bible is God’s Word to us. It was written by human authors, under the supernatural guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the supreme source of all truth for all Christian beliefs and living. Because it is inspired by God, it is the truth without any

mixture of error. // 2 Timothy 1:13, 3:16 / 2 Peter 1:20,21 / Psalm 119:105

5. About Human Beings: People are made in the spiritual image of God, to be like Him in character. People are the supreme objects of God’s creation. Although every person has a great potential for good, all of us are marred by an attitude of disobedience toward God called “sin”. This sin nature (attitude) separates people from God and is the root cause of many of the problems of life. // Genesis 1:27 / Psalm 8:3-6 / Isaiah 53:6 / Romans 3:23 6. About Salvation: “Salvation” is God’s free gift to us, but we must accept it. We can never make up for our sins through self - improvement or good works. Only by trusting in Jesus Christ as God’s offer for forgiveness can any one be saved from sin’s penalty. When we turn from our self-willed lives and turn to Christ in faith, we are saved. Eternal life begins the moment one receives Jesus Christ into their life by faith. //Romans 6:23 / Ephesians 3:8,9 / John 14:6, 1:12 / Titus 3:5 / Galatians 3:26 / Romans 5:1 7. About Eternity: The soul of every human being was created to live forever. We will either exist eternally separated from God by sin, or eternally with God through salvation and forgiveness. Hell is eternal separation from God. Heaven is eternal union with God. Heaven and Hell are real places of eternal existence. // John 3:16, 2:25, 5:11-13 / Romans 6:23 / Revelation 20:15 / Matthew 1:8, 2:44-46

OUR AFFILIATIONS: Crossover Community Church is a non-denominational church. We have people from all different backgrounds, ethnic groups, and races. You can see from our statements of faith on this page that we are a Christian Church that fully believes the Bible and teaches it in context. Our Pastors have degrees from Colleges where they spent many years carefully studying the Scriptures. The Pastors are ordained Ministers under the laws of the State of Florida. Crossover is affiliated with the Purpose Driven Church Movement led by Pastor Rick Warren who is the pastor of Saddleback Church in Orange County, Ca. He is also the author of the Purpose Driven Life book, which has sold over 40 Million copies. The Purpose Driven Church principles (from the New Testament Churches) focus on the five main reasons that the church exists: worship, fellowship, discipleship, serving, and evangelism (Acts 2:42-47). Each one of these purposes is incorporated into Crossover’s mission statement. There are several other pastors of larger churches in this movement that mentor, train, and support our leadership team. Crossover also partners with The American Bible Society, Urban Youth Workers Institute, and Southeastern University as they develop resources, provide training, and equip student interns.

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Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D. - Lead PastorTommy founded the youth ministry at Crossover in 1996 after graduating from Southeastern University with a BA in pastoral studies and a concentration in youth ministry. Starting with just four teens, he and his wife developed a first-of-its-kind Hip-Hop Youth Ministry that over the span of six years grew to 200, far outpacing attendance in Sunday’s service. In January 2002, Tommy became the lead pastor at Crossover and a new vision was birthed to specifically reach those influenced by Hip-Hop Culture. Urban D. has recorded six Hip-Hop albums since 1996 and has traveled across the U.S., Germany, Japan and England performing and speaking at conferences. His latest project “Un.orthdox – church.hip-hop.culture” spans three spectrums of media; music, film, and print. The CD/DVD has major distribution through EMI, while Zondervan published his book. This project is in stores everywhere. In addition to his role as pastor and artist, Tommy’s perspective as a Christian leader and pioneer in reaching the Hip-Hop culture has led him to be a featured speaker at more than 50 church leadership, youth and worship conferences and workshops. Tommy is also a frequent writer, authoring articles for Relevant, Pastors.com, Rapzilla.com, and The American Bible Society. He has contributed to several books including the Relevant Church Book, Relevant Nation, and penning chapter introductions and articles for the popular REAL Biblezine. Check him out at www.urband.org or myspace.com/urband813

Lily Lorenzo – Small Groups DirectorLily has been attending Crossover since she was 19. She moved to Tampa in 2000, after graduating high school and has been at Crossover ever since. Lily has worked in business settings and sales in Tampa. Prior to being on staff Lily worked for an international mortgage company and had a specialty of working with clients in their finances, home loan needs and specialized in foreclosure proceedings. Lily was born in Brooklyn New York and moved to Orlando when she was 8 years old. Growing up around hip-hop she was accustomed to the culture. Growing up was tough in a family of six where income was never enough to catch up with the bills. Her parents always made sure to try and give her the best life; however through alcoholism in the home things were not always easy. Through high school Lily worked two jobs to try and help with the household expenses. After her father accepted Christ and gave up alcohol, Lily was inspired to build her own relationship with Christ in order to battle her own struggles. After accepting Christ, Lily moved to Tampa to go to school and become part of the Crossover family. She went to The University of Phoenix where she recently graduated with Bachelors in Business Management. Lily has been a part of the Flavor Fest planning team since 2000

and is now assisting Flavor Fest through administration; grant writing and conference planning in order to further fulfill the mission. Several years ago Lily hosted her first small group by the pool of her apartment complex with some friends. Her love for seeing people grow in the word and get connected in relationships has led her to become Crossover’s small group director where she oversees all the groups and facilitates a coed singles group. You can normally catch Lily on the patio cooking up some good food for fundraising!

Lucy Kyllonen aka Lucinator – AdministratorLucy came to Florida by way of Queens, NY where she was raised. She attended Southeastern University and graduated with a BA in Psychology and went on to complete her Master’s in Mental Health counseling at USF. Be-fore joining the church staff in 2003, she worked with teens in various professional settings since 1994. Lucy wears several different hats, which she enjoys! There is never a dull moment in her life! She works in the Ad-ministrative Department and has helped organize and structure our current operating ministries and day-to-day office operations. She plays a major role in the planning and coordination of our annual Fla.vor Fest conference and most recently oversees C.H.O.S.E.N. Women’s Ministry. Besides her active role in the church, what she enjoys most is spending time with her husband (she is married to the lead Pastor) and being a mother to her two daughters, Deyana and Sophia.

Derrick Colon - Youth PastorDerrick was born and raised in the South Bronx. After being so heavily influenced by the culture of Hip-Hop, God would save him and send him back into the very culture that had his heart. Derrick graduated from Bible College in 2001 with a degree in Theological and Pastoral studies. Derrick developed a monthly outreach at his inner-city church in Providence, Rhode Island called, “To Hip-Hop with Love”. Later Derrick began teaching at a Christian High School as he headed up their Biblical studies department and taught a class on Hip-Hop History. God opened another opportunity at his home church, and after much prayer, Underground 101 was launched. 101 was an in-house outreach café that targeted Hip-Hop. Many were touched and challenged by the innovative methods used to reach the culture. After a year God began to move again, after much prayer, God called Derrick and his family to be the full time youth pastors at Crossover. The ministry is called, “3rd Rail and the motto is, “One touch…the rest is HIStory.” Derrick’s heart is to raise up a youth ministry that counters the culture, but does it in a way that they can totally understand. myspace.com/3rdrailservice

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Edward Bayonet aka Spec - Media Depar ment DirectorSpec is no stranger to the hip.hop culture. His influences are close to home; uncle’s that were b-boys and cousins that were graffitti artists around NYC. Growing up in a single parent household, Spec was pushed to fend for himself on many occasions through out his life as he always looked out for himself instead of the well being of others. Now, Spec spends his days giving of his time, talent, and more. After obtaining an AA degree in Graphic Design & Advertising in 2000 he has been the Director of Media here @ Crossover. His graphic skills range from flyers, videos, DVD’s, CD’s, music, MAGAZINES, etc.; about 95% of what you see produced out of Crossover is created by Spec. He has stood behind the vision/mission of Crossover since 1998 when he first accepted Christ here at a concert. Along side with Urban D., Spec travels the US and beyond for speaking, teaching and performing opportunities at several venues and conferences. HYPERLINK “http://www.myspace.com/specademic” www.myspace.com/specademic www.specademik.com

Alberto Lopez – Kidz Church Born in Hato Rey, Puerto Rico, Alberto and family soon moved to the U.S. to the city of Philadelphia Pa. At a young age Alberto met a lady named Miss

Virginia who was running a Sidewalk Sunday School during the week in the summer. She had a huge impact on his life as Alberto began going to church. His family didn’t have much of a foundation with God and he soon started get-ting advice from the streets. At the age of 14 he began getting involved in drugs and caused a lot of static with his family. As things got ugly he started seeking help from some addiction programs, but could not find one that would open the doors for him. Eventually he ended up going into a Christian program called Soldiers of the Lord, which also opened the door for him to go to Teen Challenge Training Center in Pennsylvania where he studied the word and did an internship for three years working in the print shop as a binding steward. Alberto soon found a home church called Inner City Missions/Urban Wor-ship Center and as he started to get more committed he took on the position of Outreach coordinator as he was helping the homeless, substance users and also doing a side walk Sunday school. Through a series of events Alberto had a relapse into abusing drugs that broke up his marriage. He moved to Florida with his sister to get refocused with God and begin to heal. In 2004 he started coming to Crossover Church and recommitted his life to Christ and then became a member and a volunteer. In 2005 as he joined the kidz ministry team and in 2006 Alberto made a commitment with God to do full time ministry. Today he is as a full time intern helping in children’s ministry teaching, preparing lesson plans for Sundays, and raising funds and sponsors for the toy program. Alberto lives in the intern house and assists in several ways around the campus.

Brandon ‘dash’ Brinkley – Video Director Dash represents the city of St. Louis, Missouri, to where he was born and raised by a loving Christian family. Dash, 22 years young, recently graduated from Southeastern University of Lakeland, Florida, in spring 2008 gaining his B.S. degree in Radio and Television Broadcasting. He found his talent (or his “eye”) for television 1st through photography through his father. During his time at Southeastern University, dash has produced, director, and edited many productions. His “baby” Raw TV was a show he was worked with during his college career. Since then, dash has served as director, production manager, and graph-ics. Since his time at Raw TV, along with the amazing leadership staff and crew, Raw TV has aired (and still be-ing aired along with new episodes) nationally on the NRB Network and TCT. Since Fall 2006, dash has directed 6 seasons worth of shows before network debut; 20 shows have aired nationally since his roll as director. Dash also serves as a DJ in his spare time. He has been doing so since he was in 7th grade learning from his father. Since then, dash has djed for many concerts and outreaches around the city of St. Louis. Since he has moved to Florida he has djed for yet more concerts and outreaches that have featured national recoding artists.

Dash was introduced to Crossover back in 2004 and became a member in 2007. Since his time of membership, dash has faithfully served as a DJ with Harmony as well as the media team. Dash serves as the video produc-tion director at Crossover as he also assists in several other media areas. www.myspace.com/b-dashbrinkley

Gordon Meetze aka Air Gordon - Treasurer/FinancesGordon has been in Tampa since 1957, and started his relationship with Christ on July 3rd, 1960 right here in the current building that Crossover is in. Gordon and his wife Carolyn have been a vital part of the several different congregations that have met here throughout the years. They just celebrated their 50 wedding anniversary in 2006! In the late 1980’s Gordon and his family were one of the last few people left at the church. Many people told him to let the church go as he was actually filling in as the pastor. Gordon followed God and held on. Although Gordon is one of our older members he is excited to see what God is doing as the church is now fulfilling a prophecy that was given many years ago. Gordon has always been willing to change and support the vision of the church as he provides priceless wisdom for the team. We say he’s the coolest old guy we know! Serving as the church treasurer, he oversees the church finances. Gordon has his own remodeling company and he also oversees the physical maintenance of the church property.

Todd Mitchka – Graphic Design/Skate ParkTodd was born in New Jersey, raised in the Tampa Bay area of Florida. At a young age Todd quickly discovered his talents. Coming from a family tree filled with artists Todd was no exception to that gift. Also, embracing the skateboard-ing and hip hop culture and coming from a Polish/Puerto Rican ethnic back-ground he has developed a universal personality and out look on life. Growing up in church, the foundation was laid. However he strayed around his junior high school years until his late college years. After becoming tired of what the world had to offer he began to rebuild his relationship with Christ. The college lifestyle was not an easy one to shake, but it has made him that much more thankful for Christ’s presence in his life because of the struggles he has been able to over come. After graduating from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelor of Arts he continued his education in New York City studying Graphic Design at the Art Institute of NYC. Transferring to the Tampa chapter of the Art Institute, Todd got plugged in to Crossover and became a member and is now an intern with the Media dept. focusing on Graphic Design. He is also managing the skatepark and is serving as a leader within our 3rd rail youth ministry.

* This is a listing of our staff as of July 2008 – to see any updates see the website.S.O.U.L | Pg15

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Subject: The Concert!Let me start by saying that what you’re doing for the youth today is a true BLESSING. My husband and I were recently married and I have 4 children the youngest girl being 14 and with today’s music we were trying to get her into more positive music. After my husband spoke to a fellow co-worker about this he invited us to Crossover Church in Tampa where we took my daughter and she loved it. My daughter invited some of her friends from school and we headed to Crossover and let me tell you, my daughter and her two 14 year old friends have done nothing but praise the word to each and every other friend they spoke to at school or on the phone. She changed her MySpace song to one of God’s Baby Girls song. I just feel I have to say GOD BLESS YOU IN WHAT you have done and are doing for today’s youth. Showing them that there is a positive in this world with music praising a higher power.

Thank you for what you do…Jennifer Rowland – Florida

Subject: Urban Hope from The PhilippinesIt was the year 2000 when God commissioned me to preach the gospel through rap music. That year God also gave me a vision that someday he will use me to build a church reaching hip-hop in the Philippines. I had no idea about Crossover Church and Soulmag. I read Pastor Tommy’s book “Un.orthodox” – it gives me fire! We have a ministry here called “Urban Hope”. You can type in the name and check us out on youtube.

Peace and God Bless,Beracah – Philippines

Subject: Got your stuff in Germany!Hey, bro! My name is Marco and I’m from Germany! I’m writing because I just finished reading your book and I’d like to tell you that it’s a really, really great book! I’ve been so blessed reading it, because it’s just so honest and real! The album is really great, too! Was a little difficult to get the stuff in Germany, but finally I made it : )

Another reason why I’m writing is because I found in the last section of your book a part where you’re speaking about your trip to Germany. You said you’ve been to the Westerwald area, and I was like “what??!! Cause that’s exactly where I’m living! Really funny! But can you tell me exactly where you’ve been there? Or send me any contact details from this called Ralph you men-tioned in the book? That would be great! Because I’m doing a hip-hop ministry myself and it would be great to make connections with him! Hopefully I can come over to Tampa, to your church and see with my own eyes, what I only read in the book!

God bless you so much!Greetingz and blessingz from Germany!MArco

We’d love to hear your feedback... either visit us online @ www.thesoulmag.com and shoot us an email orsend it the ol’ fashion way to: SOULMAG - 7809 N. Orleans Ave Suite #2. Tampa, FL 33604

We look forward to hearing from you!- The S.O.U.LMAG Team ;)

Our Sunday services give off a refreshing vibe as they reach a multi-cultural urban crowd with people from many different backgrounds. Crossover has experienced incredible growth over the past several years. Although the church is much larger and has multiple services, it has even more of a friend-ly family atmosphere now than ever before. It has become an exciting place where everyone is accepted in Love no matter how they look. Our church services are geared to be different and cutting edge because the crowd we reach is not into “tradition.” Although we attract people of all ages, the major-ity of our crowd is younger than your average congregation, [most people here are in their 20’s, 30’s, and 40’s]. Suits and ties are not required ;)…everyone comes dressed casually, and comes to worship God in a comfort-able atmosphere. Our Hospitality Team greets you on the front patio with smiling faces. Free coffee is available in the video café in the back patio.

Each person also receives a program, which contains all of our up coming events, ministry opportunities, and additional information. Our praise and worship is done with a Hip-Hop/Rn’B style with a live DJ, worship team, and a mix of artists, poets, rappers, and live musicians. God’s presence is always evident as people genuinely seek Him.

The “message” is always brought in a creative, practical way where everyone can learn something that is applicable to their everyday lives. Pastor Tommy and the speaking team use message series that include various visual elements like original short films, drama, testimonies, and music to help illustrate the messages. Printed hand-outs are often times distributed and the audience is encouraged to follow along with the

teaching and “fill-in the blanks”. Power Point presentations and animated images are also displayed on the monitors giving the audience yet another way to easily follow the message. Many services end with a great prayer time or a

strong challenge to make life changes, start a relationship with Christ, or to make a stronger commitment to Him. Our prayer patio is open after each service with leaders available to pray for those who felt

challenged from the message and need to share and get prayed for. After the service the main patio turns into a great place of community where people hangout, build relationships, and eat

together. Food is usually served every week by various ministries after the services.

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Our Sunday night vibe service is the same worship and mes-

sage as the morning with some added extra flavor for those that

can’t make it out to the earlier services. We realize many people

in our culture now have to work Sundays during the day, and we

want to provide a time they can come out to a worship service.

Crossover also desires to reach that tough crowd that just can’t roll

out of bed Sunday mornings, and this service creates that time slot.

This also gives people options if they want to do something during

the day with their family and then catch the night service instead.

The first Sunday Night of each month features an open mic where MC’s spit their verses and their freestyles and Break-dancers hit

the stage with their moves.

The freestyle session changes each month from topics on the screens, to objects picked out of box, even to reverse battles. We always

have some creative MC’s wow the crowd with a fun time of rhyming that represents Christ. The break-dancers have amazing talent.

Each of the other weeks always features a set by a guest artist after the message. This varies from local acts to nationally known groups.

You can check the website each week to see the upcoming artists for that SNV. The urban crowd especially likes to hang out at night so

there is always some engaging prayer happening on the prayer patio and lots of great food on the main patio as the basketball courts and

break dancing floor are buzzing with activity after the service.

*WATCH THIS SERVICE LIVE EVERY SUNDAY NIGHT @ 7PM EST - CROSSOVERCHURCH.ORG

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A whistle blows, puppets rap, the DJ plays some beats, while children are full of laughter and anticipation as they wait to see what this week at Cross-over Kidz Church has in store for them. So what exactly do we do with God’s beloved kids each week? To best sum up our Children’s Ministry program is by stating the purpose. Our purpose is “To develop leaders and train children in God’s love through relevant worship, teaching, and reaching others”. Most people assume that Children’s Minis-try is all about kids, but it also impacts the leaders who make up the team of volunteers. It gives them a sense of fulfillment and pride for what they con-tribute to God’s kingdom. The minis-try is made up of four departments to make sure that the kids have an age appropriate service. These four departments are: Kidz Church, Little Believers, Tiny Tots, and last but not least Nursery.

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Kidz Church (Ages 6-11)What makes Kidz Church so unique is that we use a variety of methods and styles to teach kids a solid foundation in the Bible. This is done in a way that is vibrant and that relates to our culture. Depending on the age group, this can range from incor-porating in house beat boxers and rappers to puppetry and arts and crafts that follow along with the lesson. We do whatever it takes to get the message out and build up God’s children in him. Our main goal is to give each child a strong foundation in God so that they will never go away from.

Little Believers (Ages 3-5)Preschool aged kids learn and discover what this Veggie-Tales themed classroom has to offer them. With help from characters such as Bob and Larry the teachers get the lesson across in an entertaining way. Little Believers also uses songs, group games, and short videos to emphasize the teaching. It is a positive and enriching experience for this age group as they learn, have fun, and work together with one another and our passionate team.

Tiny TotsToddlers from 18 months to three years old roam this spacious fun-filled room full of toys and other adventures. The creative walls make the stories come to life with its colorful cartoon Bible characters. These Crossover kids are built up in God through song, playing, and relevantly themed lessons that range from sharing to learning about Jesus’ love.

NurseryOur tiniest little ones, from birth to 17 months, enjoy this vibrant and welcoming Nursery each Sunday. This age group also has a cur-riculum that teaches them on their level. It uses singing and clapping, as well as movement activites to make babies familiar with the words they hear. These infants get all the comfort that they need as they are cud-dled and cared for while listening to soft lullabies and videos.

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When one thinks about original Hip-Hop, a name that will sure-ly come to mind is Kurtis Blow. A native of the streets of Harlem, he is no stranger the the culture. His long history in the music business has produced some of the most recognized Hip-Hop anthems in the industry. Making such hits as the breaks, bas-ketball, if I ruled the world, and the classic, Christmas Rapping. His life would dramatically change when He had an encounter with Christ.

S.O.U.L: What year did you get influenced by the culture?Kurtis Blow: 1972. When I was about 13, I went into a disco using a fake id. The first D.J I was exposed to was Pete DJ Jones. It was at the 43rd street club called Mcoys. There was this great presence about the place. It was alive with energy, and there were about 1,000 people in the building. As I heard the voice come across the airwaves, looking for a call and response, it captivated me. I was a great dancer, and as a B-Boy I would win all the dance contests.

S.O.U.L: What were some of the earlier parks that you jammed at?Kurtis Blow: Of course coming from Harlem I would frequent most of the parks there. There was Hamilton Park, City College, and The Battlegrounds. In fact Jimmy Castor, the one who made the song “Just Begun” which was a huge hit among B-Boys was from The Battlegrounds. Also another emcee “J.D.L.” that used to go there was a pioneer with the legendary Cold Crush Bros. I was invited to the Bronx as a B-Boy. Someone told me if I really wanted to see some of the best breakers, I should go there. I went to the Bronx between 74’-75’ to see Cool Herc and the Herculoids.

S.O.U.L: Why do you think that Zulu had such a profound influence on teens of the inner city?Kurtis Blow: Because of the many gangs problems, there was a need for reform. Bam was the leader of one of the largest Gangs in the Bronx, the Black Spades. I was in a gang called The Peacemakers with Melle Mel. The Black Spades would later become the Zulu Nation. Bam seemed to have a presence about him, and to me that was the thing that attracted youth to him and his movement. He wanted to help teens use their God given talents for good.

S.O.U.L: Do you think that the church can make an impact on youth like Bam did?Kurtis Blow: Yes. This a fight of good against evil. Hip-Hop was created as a comforter, just like the Holy Spirit is the comforter. Hip-Hop was crying out. God is the creator of all things, and as the creator, He to wants the Church to use its God given talents for the glory of Him. The church has the job and the mission to change this whole thing around.

S.O.U.L: Where did Jesus come in the picture for you?Kurtis Blow: When I was 5 years old I went to church and a tragedy caused me to pray for protection. I made a promise to God to uphold the commandments. One night, while in my apartment in Harlem, right outside my window I heard a voice say to me “I heard you pray for protection and I will protect you.” One day while I was on my way to visit some relatives in Queens, I found a gun and showed it to my aunt. She said it was not real and proceeded to put it to my head and pulled the trigger. She fired twice and they both misfired. When one of my uncles saw what was happening, he snatched the gun and when they opened it up there were two bullets in the chamber. God protected me. I’m serving God because he had his hand on my life. After a time of drug addiction I really started to seek God. While in L.A. I picked up the Bible and God showed me truth. I was on drugs and even while getting high the word of God spoke to me. While reading Revelation I decided to go to church. I got saved under pastor Jack Hayford. Some people might hate, but most are happy for my salvation! •••

Keep up with Kurtis BLow @: myspace.com/kurtisblow3

Interviewed by: Derrick Colon

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This is the place where real relationships,

real fellowship, and real connections hap-

pen. Of course the weekend services are

great, but they are a time of celebration

with hundreds of other people. Plus, you

can’t just interrupt the service if you have

a question on how to apply it to your own

personal situations! Small Groups offer

an intimate time of learning together in a

smaller atmosphere where you can per-

sonally get to know each person in your

group.

CREW GROUPS: Breaking LimitationsAs a way of expanding group availability

to the community (both inside and outside

of the church) we’ve recently launched our

new CREW GROUPS. Crew Groups meet

in various places and homes, on various

days or evenings.

This exciting approach has proven to be

effective in breaking limitations and devel-

oping spiritual growth by building relation-

ships with other group members that are

based on faith, trust, support and account-

ability.

Our women’s crew groups have built a

family of diverse backgrounds, which bond

together for the sole purpose of drawing

closer to God. Our small groups have

been able to apply biblical teachings to ev-

eryday life situations. Through the Word

of God, we have learned to break down

and counteract life’s many barriers on real

issues such as sex, self-esteem, anger,

self-control, as well as many others. At the

same time we have studied subjects like

eternity and understanding our destiny.

Through fellowship, relationship building,

and accountability we will continue to grow

spiritually and build a community.

GET YOUR NUTRIENTS... JOIN A CREW!

S.O.U.L | Pg25

Our Men’s crew groups dig deep into the areas of becoming a real

man of God as well as being the spiritual leaders of our families.

Unfortunately in most urban communities it’s hard to find a lot of

‘real men’. Many of us have felt these effects first hand as our close

friends or we ourselves have grown up in broken homes. With

God’s help we can break this cycle! Our emerging families are now

looking a lot different, because Christ is in the center. Our men

have built strong relationships and are accountable with each other

as they are being discipled in God’s Word.

Our Married crew groups help build solid marriages. With all the

pressures of life it’s seems harder than ever for couples to stay

together. We live in a disposable society where it’s very self-cen-

tered. Even though the stats of divorce are high in the urban com-

munity, our emerging families are breaking that as Christ is in the

center. Our married groups offer real support, practical steps and

tools to help strengthen marriages. Committing to a crew group

and applying the teaching have saved several marriages, as they

got real with God.

And There’s More! The diversity of groups range from a Co-Op

Singles group to an All Women’s group, a MOMs group, multiple

Men’s groups as well as many Couple’s groups (to name a few).

The wide scope of meeting dates includes monthly, bi-weekly, and

some even weekly connections.

Like we said- Breaking Limitations…

So don’t miss out on another Bible Study on account of work,

school, or just plain busy-ness; get plugged in. Check out our list of

groups available. We have a group that’s just right for you. To see

a list current list of groups go to the website and click on the small

groups link on the main page.

Or

To get Connected with a Crew just call our CREW GROUPS HOTLINE at 1-888-602-1153 or email our small groups director: lily@crossoverchurch.org

(Note: Not all groups offer childcare.)

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“Singer, songwriter, producer, and vocal arranger, Canton “CJ” Jones, a Deerfield Beach, Florida native, has entertained over 500,000 people in the past year few years. CJ has sold nearly 100,000 units indepen-dently and has several songs in regular rotation in the U.S. and abroad, including the steppers groove “Love Song,” the cleverly penned “Stay Saved” and the uncompromising street anthem “The Password.” On any given day he can be found sharing the stage with hip hop heavyweights like T.I., David Banner and Ludacris to name a few; established creative geniuses like John Legend, Kirk Franklin and Patti LaBelle; and Gos-pel powerhouses like Smokie Norful, Dr. Bobby Jones and Kiki Clark-Sheard – the youngest member of the Clark dynasty. Canton’s unlimited repertoire, massive crowd appeal, and global fan base have set him on a course destined to shake the very core of hip hop, urban gospel, and R&B. Jones is signed to Arrow Records. His crossover appeal is undeniable. From urban youth with their pants sagging low, to progressive ministries that support Canton’s unique blend of hip hop, urban gospel and R&B, to middle age music lovers who remember how it was “back in the day, ” fans have embraced Canton’s lyrical edginess and warmed up to his heart felt ballads. On Kingdom Business, he gets down to business with his most creative album to date. Impacting radio with the smash hit “My Day”, Kingdom Business is an eclectic mix of undeniable street anthems and melodic story lines that take listeners from the streets to the suites to handle the business of life. The new album, distributed by Arrow Records, boasts Jones’ best work to date. With My Day currently climbing the charts, Canton recently dropped the gritty, urban riders’ anthem Living Clean (Riding Mean) spin-ning in heavy rotation on popular mix tape shows and creating a major buzz on Myspace and YouTube. With three albums (20 Years, 3 Months, 12 Days, Love Jones, and The Password: Access Granted), a Grammy nod, a Stellar Award nomination, and three Gospel Choice Awards to his credit, Canton still maintains the unshakable confidence of someone who knows the tide is turning his way. More than an artist, CJ represents a philosophy, a movement, and a generation relentlessly advancing a positive new sound in the industry. He understands that it is not just about the music, but also about a life-style that offers peace for anyone bold enough to pursue their purpose. Read the complete bio on CantonJones.Net

KAT: How did you build a personal relationship with Christ? CJ: I grew up in church, but went on to college and was really chasin’ money and the wrong things. I was living out of wedlock with my girlfriend for three years. In October of 2001 I rededicated my life, got married be-cause I was tired and wanted to give it all up and get right with God. My wife started taking me to World Changers International, and as I would listen to Pastor Cleflo Dollar’s messages the word just started changing my thinking and my actions. I remember leaving the studios and telling my partners, ya’ll can have this equipment because I’m going to work in the youth ministry of my church. KAT: So many young people are seeking direction. How did you discover your purpose in GOD? CJ: The youth pastor came up to me and asked me to help. I wasn’t even thinking about being on staff there. I just wanted to help; I wanted to do something with my music other than what I was doing. God changed me through that ministry. God changed me through helping others. Ev-erything that I ever wanted when I was trying to do mainstream music, when I was trying to do clubs, when I was trying to do stuff that wasn’t pleasing to God. Everything that I was trying to get I got NOW and then MORE. It’s crazy how God gives you the desires of your heart when it truly lines up with his. KAT: Upon that recognition of purpose, how were you supported /trained in ministry?CJ: Naw, I was just listening to the WORD. I would get those tapes or VCR tapes or whatever I could get my hands on (Preaching messages) from church and I’d watch them over and over again. I didn’t have a spiri-tual mentor or stuff like that. There were some people that would pour into my life now and then. I also had my father; as my parents were who I went to for advise. But for the most part I would just listen to the word and just ask God to speak to me. I did understand that what I had to do was

a little radical and I did not want to be shifted by those with traditional thinking. I didn’t want to think like everybody else, I didn’t want to do what everyone else was doing. I would pray for wisdom because there was like no one who was successful at doing this music and I just want-ed God to give me wisdom. I wanted understanding on how God wanted me to do things. When people around me didn’t understand I stuck to what I felt God wanted me to do and people were being Blessed. To this day a lot of people still don’t understand or are afraid of what we do but there are a lot of people delivered and set free. So when you hold tight to what you believe and you know God has promised you, regardless of the situations or circumstances you go through, you don’t stop until you see the manifestation of what God promised you. I just got Crazy faith. I believe GOD. I ain’t the one that can quote all the scriptures but the scriptures I do know I live by.

KAT: Can you share a challenge you face even in the middle of your success, whether it be, balancing ministry with being a hus-band and father or simply finding time to pray?CJ: I don’t have a regular job, my job is the Kingdom. So if I don’t have guidance from God, if He ain’t talking then I ain’t got nothing to do. My prayer life is my direction all day every day. If God don’t tell me what to do than I’m stuck. I’m one to pray, Lord if you don’t want something to happened shut it down and without fail God gives direction. The bible says pray without ceasing and so I ask God for direction and peace. With regard to my family, my wife is the boss over my calendar, of course we discuss things but she makes sure I take time when I need time. The balance is good because we are always talking about our business or our marriage. At one time the music business was an enemy to our relationship because she had no part in it. I would leave to minister and just come back and forth; ignorance breeds mistrust which means what you don’t know you start to question. Now that she has part in it all, our marriage is great and gets better and better everyday.

|I DID UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT I HAD TO DO WAS A LITTLE RADICAL AND I DID NOT WANT TO BE SHIFTED BY THOSE WITH TRADITIONAL THINKING.”

KAT: What words do you have for the young bucks that will read this interview that may be challenged with discovering purpose in God?CJ: It’s kind of deep but to keep it simple I think whatever desire you have in your heart whether it be drawing, dancing whatever it may be; do that for GOD. The bible says the gifts and callings are given with-out repentance meaning you can use those gifts for whatever. But God would rather you use them for God. You know, you can heat up grits with fire. I like grits and that’s good. But if you use fire to burn someone it’s a bad thing. Same fire but different purposes. If you use your singing to praise God it’s a good thing, but if you use your singing to please the world it’s a bad thing. Your purpose can be whatever you like to do as you do it unto GOD. Once you choose to use it for God, you’ll know what to do with that gift. Everyone is born for purpose; you just have to discover it. Whatever you would do for free is most likely your purpose, do it unto God and He will support you. KAT’S SCAN: Canton Jones is a gift to the Kingdom. Since the day Canton rededicated his life to God his life changed; He became a new creation all because he BELIEVED GOD. The man who is called the “street disciple” allowed God’s word to change him and now Canton is helping to change our generation. I felt uplifted and encouraged in my own walk after this interview. Canton Jones 4th Album entitled “King-dom Business” is a reflection of Canton’s unshakeable faith; he has re-mixed kingdom principles in a relevant language for today’s culture. It’s a different vibe but don’t be Scurred, because like me you’ll find yourself repeating the lyrics throughout your day. This Kat Scan reflects a healthy Spirit and Mind assuring a great future for Canton and all those who are privileged to be inspired by his music and ministry. Cop the album and share it with someone who needs CHANGE. •••

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As the van pulls up to drop off teens, the campus is already starting to get youth from all over the city. 6pm rolls around, the courts are getting packed, the patio is filling up, the skate park is rolling, and Thursday night is under way.

Thursday night at Crossover is the Hip-Hop teen service called 3rd Rail. At 6:30 we start sign in, and there are already 80-90 teens on the campus, and the doors don’t open until 7:30. At 7:25 a line starts to form, as youth anticipate the night. Upon enter-ing the building, youth are greeted by the ushering team, mostly made up of youth, and led to their seats. For the next 15 min, beats are blazing, the room is alive with excitement, and God is about to do His thing.

At 7:45 the worship team comes to the forefront. They go by the name of Harmony, as the live DJ scratches to bring the beat in. Soulful sounds fill the building, as a packed room of teens rock to the beats of Christ centered Hip-Hop instrumentals. As worship continues, a human beat box rocks the crowd as hands go up all over the room. The word of God is shared in a way that every teen can understand.Ariel, a 16-year-old girl says: “The message is always broken down in a way that I can understand it. I finally get it!”

Elisabeth, 17 says: “They teach us about Christ in a way that we will pay attention.”

Kenny, 17 says: “It’s relevant to the culture.”

Justin, 18 says: “A down to earth place where we all look the same, but giving youth something different.”

BUT WHAT IS 3RD RAIL?In the subways of New York, or any major city for that matter, the trains are powered by something called the 3rd rail. It is the power that moves the train, and without it nothing would go forward. Many graffiti writers lost their lives on the 3rd rail because the power of the electricity was too much for them, one touch and the rest was his-tory. In the same way, our lives need to be plugged into a power source that moves us. That power source is God the creator, he is our 3rd rail. One touch…the rest is HIStory!

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Right after the service, a time to respond is given to the teens as many accept Christ for the first time, and many more rededicate their lives back to Him. From 9-10pm the patio is reopened. Teens then have a time to chill with each other, get some food, play basketball on the courts, go skate in the skate park, watch the cypha sessions as many of the rappers freestyle, check out the B-Boys or the crumpers on the dance floor, or get some prayer on the prayer patio.

God is doing some incredible things in this ministry, and the best is yet to come. Our vision is big, as we believe we will see 500 teens from all over the city come and be a part of what God is doing. 3rd rail also holds membership classes for its youth ministry on a regular basis in order to give youth some ownership of the night. We call it my 3rd rail.

TUEDAY NIGHT UNPLUGGEDEvery Tuesday night from 6:30-7:30 we have a bible study for the teens. But this is not your typical bible study. It’s done in a talk show type format, as we encourage open discussions. When we first started in March we had 5 teens show up, but God was doing something. Those 5 teens were part of the new excitement happening on the campus. Three months later we are well over 30 and growing. Now some might say that’s not much, but it’s huge when you think about the reality of urban youth and a bible study. No games, just His word.

We also have talent development classes that run while unplugged is going on. A B-Boy class, basketball clinic, and other classes are regu-larly offered. These classes run in semesters.

3RD RAIL SKATE PARKCrossover has an 8,000 square foot professional skate park covered with skate light. 10-foot walls that serve as a canvas for graffiti artists surround the park. It has become a place for youth from the community to come and skate, paint and hang out in a positive environment as we introduce them to the many activities that 3rd rail and Crossover offers. The park is currently open on Tuesday’s from 3-6pm and Thursdays from 3-6:30pm and also on Saturday’s from 3-6pm. Grab a flyer for more details and check the website for updates.

As we began to believe God, and share the vision for reaching teens in-fluenced by Hip-Hop culture with the team, God began to set in motion what we believe is a movement of youth who are no longer playing with the culture that once grabbed their attention, but now seeks to reach it. We are also now seeing many youth who never steeped foot on the steps of a church even coming to the Sunday services. In closing, I would like to thank the team for all the work that they put into making 3rd rail truly the place to be on a Thursday night. I love you and appreciate you all so much. The best is yet to come.ONE TOUCH…THE REST IS HIStory! -Pastor Dee.

Every Thursday Night!!!*Watch us live @ CrossoverChurch.org

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S.O.U.LMAG sat down with one of Crossover’s very own as-piring MC’s doing big things for God’s kingdom.Reppin’ Christ isn’t something he just does at church or on the weekends, it’s something he’s given his entire life to. Check out KB’s story…

S.O.U.L: Let’s spark it off and let the readers know how old are you.KB: I’m 19 years old. I’m currently a junior in my 2nd Semester at Trinity Bible Colege..

S.O.U.L: How did you come to know Christ?KB: I was 15 years old. I had a suburban upbringing in Illinois. I grew up in a Christian Home with traditional Christian values. My parents were really strict on me... no friends, no girlfriends, no parties, no school dances etc. Then my parents got a divorce and my mother and I moved smack dab in the middle of South side of St. Petersburg Fl., which is a very difficult place as gang and thug life was all around me. I tried to fit in! Being the new kid I got bullied and got into many violent fights and had many sleepless nights. I was making moves to buy a hand-gun so I could be safe, but then God moved in and saved me!

S.O.U.L: How did God save you?KB: It was a Christian rap CD.

S.O.U.L: What? Tell me about that!KB: This kat had a Christian CD lying on the table and I saw this dude on the cover that looked like me. So I listened to it. Then, just a few days later after listening to it I surrendered my life over to Christ and I’ve been living for him ever since.

S.O.U.L: What do you mean to surrender your life to Christ?KB: I saw myself as what I was before God.

S.O.U.L: What was that? KB: A helpless lost soul in dire need of someone to save me and that is when I saw Christ as glorious and the offer that was made for me. I would have been a fool not to throw myself onto Him! That is what He put on my heart. Just like an old preacher once said, “To trust my life in Christ…to the point that if he was wrong… I would rightfully take my place in hell because I refuse to trust in anything else.”

S.O.U.L: What is your Purpose He has created you for?KB: 1 Corinthians 10:31

S.O.U.L: How is God using you to bring Him glory?KB: In a world full of hype and lies and watered down Christianity, He has commis-sioned me to be a vessel of HIS uncompromising Truth…Period!

S.O.U.L: I understand you were recently on a Mission Trip in Brazil?KB: Yessir! S.O.U.L: How did God use you there?KB: He gave me the opportunity to do a bunch of concerts down there. It was amazing how many people showed up! But that paled in comparison to the street evangelism. We were in the middle of Ouro Preto, which is a town in Brazil. I got to stand up on these huge blocks in the middle of the City. Then the church pulled the car around to where I was standing and started playing my music… Then I started spitting. Then in between songs the translator I was with got up and started translating the Gospel that I was spitting, and then the Brazilian pastor I was with gave an alter call in the middle of the street and people started flooding in and started giving their lives to Christ! I hailed His glory! S.O.U.L: What is the most important thing you learned in Brazil?KB: My biggest issue down there was at these concerts I could not get these people to stop worshiping me, because of that I did a lot of crying while I was down there. I cried and prayed for them! I cried on stage… I begged the people to stop! I cried a lot man! On stage and off stage!

The most important thing I learned was after a leader came up and pulled me aside and said, “God brought you here to worship HIM…you focus on that and God will do the rest!”

“That was the biggest thing I learned!” •••

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EVOLUTION OR CREATIONISM - WHICH ONE IS TRUE? / HERE’S WHAT WE’RE GONNA DO / BREAK IT DOWN WITH FACTS AND SCIENCE / AND SEE WHICH ONE FALLS INTO COMPLIANCE / WITH TRUTH / AKA PROOF / I’M ABOUT TO SHOUT THE ANSWER FROM THE ROOF / DROP IT OVER SOME BEATS IN THE RECORD-ING BOOTH / WHY ARE THESE LIES BEING TAUGHT TO OUR YOUTH / CUZ THEIR SCARED -AFRAID OF A DESIGNER THAT’S INTELLEGENT / SO THEY COVER IT UP WITH A THEORY THAT SOUNDS SO ELEGENT / BUT IN THIS ARTICLE WE’LL UNCOVER MISSING ELEMENT AFTER MISSING ELEMENT / IT’S 2008 – WE SEE THIS FASODD IS NO LONGER RELEVANT / AS WE EXAMINE THE RESEARCH - IT’S AN INSULT ON OUR INTELLENCE -

I believe in Evolution! I do! Believe it or not! So you’re wondering why I’m starting an article talking about Evolution vs. Creationism with a crazy statement like that. Well, before you misquote me…here’s what I’m saying so you don’t get it twisted. There are many definitions of the word evolution; most dictionaries have between 5-10 different ones. I believe in some of them. The very first one that pops up in most dictionaries is this: Evolution – “Any process of formation or growth or development – such as the evolution of a language, the evolution of the airplane, the evolution of music.” I personally have put out 6 full solo albums. You don’t want to hear the first one (you can’t – it’s out of print and it’s gone forever) – why? I’ve evolved as an artist – thank God! We all grow and develop and evolve. This type of evolution isn’t always a good thing though. If we look at that same topic of music, most of us can agree that hip-hop music has evolved into something much worse than what it used to be. Growth and development doesn’t always go in the positive direction. I’m saying all that to say that I believe in evolution in that sense of a definition. That’s also called “Microevolution”.

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The definition I don’t believe in is usually about half way down and it’s funny because many times it has the word “Biology” in front of it. As we’re going to find out in this article it’s Biology that technically disproves this definition, but I guess they still have to define this outdated “theory” in the dictionary. This definition says, “A change in the genetic composition of a population during successive generations, as a result of natural selection – resulting in the develop-ment of a new species.” This is known as “Macroevolution” and this one I have a problem with. We’re going to dissect it in this article. You may be surprised to find that a whole lot of people have a problem with this definition – not just Christians, but a lot of scientists, professors, researchers and scholars.

Darwinian Evolution in a nutshell is an evolutionary pro-cess that is random and undirected. This process is also referred to as natural selection. Natural selection leaves God out of the picture. Philip Johnson author of “Darwin on Trial” stated, “The whole point of Darwinism is to show that there is no need for a supernatural creator because nature can do the creating by itself.” This belief system says everything is natural and nothing is divine. So, you can’t be a Christian Evolutionist. That’s an oxymoron. You may know someone that claims to be a Christian, but also believes Darwin’s claims on evolution. Read on and see why this just can’t vibe.

In 2001 PBS did a 7 part series on Evolution basically saying that all scientific evidence supports Darwinian Evo-lution, as does every reputable scientist in the world. Well, in rebuttal over 100 of the world’s top professors, laboratory researchers and scientists got together and met and out of that meeting they published a two-page ad in a national magazine that had the huge title, “A SCIENTIFIC DISSENT FROM DARWINISM”. Their statement was in your face! The ad said they were skeptical and disagreed with the claims of random mutation and natural selection. The mov-ie Expelled has some great parts that deconstructs random mutation and explains it in greater detail. This meeting that produced this ad wasn’t a room full of narrow-minded fun-damentalists, back woods preachers or religious fanatics – they were world-class respected scientists. I opened up the local paper, “The Tampa Tribune” a few weeks ago and the front page of the commentary section said, “Darwinism Simply Can’t Answer These Questions.” We had just start-ed a new series called “Expelled” at Crossover and there this was in the front of the paper. See how God hooks it up. Part of the article by Geoffrey Weihe stated, “Intel-ligent design did not begin in some Baptist Church strategy session. It grew out of the mind-numbing frustration felt by serious scientists concerning the increasing number of questions that Neo Darwinism just can’t answer. The Dar-winian account of evolution is imploding, and no account of sarcasm or misinformation can save it. Those who hang their philosophical hopes on scientific naturalism are in defense mode. Let’s welcome vigorous scientific scrutiny and not treat Darwinian evolution as a god.” This is one of thousands of articles you can find online that are calling the evolution theory out on the carpet.

There are several scientific problems with Darwinism. We don’t have enough space to get into all of them here, but we’re going to break down three major ones. The first one is Stanley Miller’s 1953 Experiment which shot electric-ity through an atmosphere that was supposedly like the one on primitive earth and he created Amino Acids, which are the building blocks of life. The clear implication was that life could be created naturally without the intervention of a creator. This experiment became the proof that Darwin’s theory of how life started was correct. Here the major issue: Nobody absolutely knows for sure what the atmosphere was like back then, but the scientific community agrees today that it was nothing like the one Miller used. Even since the 1960’s there were several scientists questioning it. In 1995 Science Magazine in put it on blast and stated how experts now dismiss Miller’s early experiment because “The atmosphere looked nothing like the Miller Simulation.” Yet textbooks still teach it today, even though it’s really a joke in the scientific community. Some textbooks will fudge by saying, “even if you use a more realistic atmosphere you still get organic molecules”, as if that solves the prob-lem. Organic molecules sounds good right? Well, it’s 55 years later and Science has a much better idea of what the atmosphere was like then. If we use those more accurate conditions, we don’t get Amino Acids (the building blocks of life), instead we get Formaldehyde. Do you know what that is? Embalming Fluid. That’s what they put in dead people to preserve the corpse as it kills all bacteria and life. So, it obviously couldn’t help start life, could it?

The second major issue we’ll dig up is there are no known examples of the formation of new species. Some on the Darwin side of the argument will bring up the Archae-opteryx. This is another building block that is quickly crum-bling in Darwin’s outdated theory. Some of you may have studied about this in high school or college. It supposedly filled the gap between reptiles and modern birds. Darwin announced his new theory in 1859 and conveniently just 2 years later in 1861 this discovery was made and many scientists stood in awe, as this was supposedly the first of many, many fossils to come that would prove Darwinism. Well, in the past 150 years there have been millions and millions of fossils dug up all over the planet and guess how many others have been discovered that supported Darwin’s theory that showed a species truly evolving from one to the next? Many of you have heard there are a lot of holes in Darwin’s theory. In this case we’ll be generous as there are a lot of species out there. So guess how many fos-sils were found to support the theory. Thousands? Nope. Hundreds? Nope. 25? No, again. Maybe like 5? I know the suspense is killing you as this theory is taught as fact everyday. How many? None. There has never been an-other single fossil to prove the formation of a new species. Well, what about the Archaeopteryx? Doesn’t that show something? Well, not as other fossils came up. The Ar-chaeopteryx is a bird; it’s not a half bird and half reptile, as they first believed. Then when they go back into the fossil record they’d assume birds came from reptiles by descent and they look for reptiles that are more bird-like in their skel-etal structure. They do find some like that, but the problem is they are millions of years after the Archaeopteryx, so the missing link is still missing. It doesn’t

line up or match any evolution process in the slightest way. Many scientists concluded the Archaeopteryx was just a different funky version of a bird, not a new species. The reptile fossils that had a more bird-like structure were also concluded to just be a funky version of reptiles, not a new species. There was never any link that it changed into anything else. It was just a weird variation. We see funky versions of all kinds of animals everyday, and you know there is some funky people. Look in the mirror, I know some of ya’ll is funky. I know I am.

The dudes that dig up these bones have been trying to prove Darwinism for over 150 years now. It’s real funny because there has been some fossil findings that were supposed to be big discoveries that even got published in certain science magazines and journals, but later got corrected as they discovered the fossils were fakes. There have actually been people that glued certain bones together to sell them and make money and get noticed, but then when the scientists took these fossils back to the lab they found out they were bootleg fakes when they closer examined them! I hope they got their money back!A third scientific problem with Darwinism is that it can’t explain the complexity of the cell. Our cells are like cities inside. If one piece is not in place, it won’t work correctly, so to say it just evolved or developed doesn’t make scientific sense. As they do research on cells, if they change anything – the whole cell in-stantly dies. 150 years ago they thought the cell was fairly simple, so they assumed it could easily mutate and evolve into new species. But, as we grew in technology and we can actually now see cells and work with them we found the complexity doesn’t make this seem possible at all. When people bring up creationism and intelligent design they are many times heckled saying that it’s just fairy tales and that science proves evolution. As we just saw there are many things in science that disprove Darwin’s view of creation, so what about the Christian’s view? What does Science really say? Does it line up? Many of you will be pleasantly surprised to see the more science advances the more it points to a creator. Here are six scientific things that show this.

1. THE EVIDENCE OF COSMOLOGY (This is the study of the cosmos aka the universe) - Cosmology believes that whatever begins to exist has a cause and that the universe has a beginning. Based on the data we now have - virtually all cosmologists now agree on this. Therefore the universe has a cause. Dar-winism says it all by chance and there’s no purpose or reason. Cosmology disagrees with Darwin’s view.

2. THE EVIDENCE OF PHYSICS Laws and Constants of physics have to line up in an incredibly ex-traordinary way to sustain life. For instance the gravity in the universe is fine tuned to one part in a hundred million billion billion billion billion billion. If anything gets off by a hair – things could crash and implode. A well-known atheist named Patrick Glynn abandoned his atheism and said, “Today the concrete data point strongly in the direction of the God hypothesis.”

3. THE EVIDENCE OF ASTRONOMY Similar to the fine tuning of physics, the earth’s position in the universe and its intricate geological and chemical processes work together in a miraculous way to create a safe environment for humans to live. There is a hot documentary called “The Privileged Planet” that shows how the earth is positioned is just the right spot in our solar system to support life. It then zooms out to our galaxy and then beyond. When you see all the other planets and asteroids flying around – it’s amazing how the earth is in this safe protected zone compared with the rest of space.

4. EVIDENCE OF BIOCHEMISTRY Darwin said this, “If it could be demonstrated that any complex organ existed which could not possibly have been formed by numerous, successive, slight modifications, my theory would absolutely break down!” Well the complicated microscopic contraptions such as bacteria flagella could not have been built piece by piece through Darwinian processes. This is because they all had to be fully present to function or the whole system would crash. All this points to a designer. When you cut your arm and it starts to bleed, there is an incredibly intricate process of clotting blood. I don’t have time to explain that here, but hopefully this will wet your appetite to go and look some of this stuff up in even greater detail and you soon agree that it’s designed by a creator!

5. THE EVIDENCE OF BIOLOGICAL INFORMATION The six feet of DNA coiled inside of our body’s 100 trillion cells contain a four letter chemical alphabet that spells out precise assembly instructions for all the proteins from which our bodies are made…but all that just happened right? Check it… on the contrary, if we read a book or a magazine or a computer program, we know they are designed by intelli-gence right? Someone created them? But, evolutionists look at the complexity of DNA and trillions of cells in our body that all function together and they say it just happened by chance…okay?

6. EVIDENCE OF CONSCIOUSNESS Scientists are concluding that the laws of Chemistry and phys-ics can’t explain our experience of consciousness. This is our sensations, thoughts, emotions, desires, beliefs and free choice. They make us alive and free. The soul contains our consciousness. Darwinists have no answer for this. Believers in Christ do have an answer. This came from our creator, the one true God. He made us and he loves us! We do have a purpose. We’re not just here by random chance. This is the faith and the hope that we have.

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1 Peter 3:15 says, “But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect.” Let’s break that down. Setting apart Christ as Lord means you make him the leader or director of your life. The next part says be prepared to give an answer. In the original language this verse was written in (Greek) that word “answer” was actu-ally “Apologia”, which is where we get the word apology. So, it would translate like “always be prepared to give an apology…” That sounds like we have to be sorry for what we believe, right? Well, back in those days that word didn’t mean to apologize like that, it meant to be able to defend. To give an apology meant to be able to defend it. This is where we also get the term “Apologetics” from. This is an apologetic type article.

Looking at this verse in original context it takes it a big deeper as it’s saying we should always be ready to defend the hope that we have. This doesn’t mean we go looking for a fight, but it means we can defend and give a solid answer to what we believe to everyone who asks us. The last part stresses this as it says we should always do this with gentleness and respect. Crossover recently did a six-week apologetics series where we looked at stuff like this. The third week we had a live debate between an atheist and a seminary graduate that’s involved in an apologetics think tank. Everyone knew the Christian as he was from our church. The whole debate thing sparked up a big buzz as we had it on father’s day and everyone was bringing out their pops to see the live debate. It was like a boxing match was about to go down – check out the picture from that day below...

The atheist was pretty rude and conceited. He said some pretty ill things about Christianity and continually told the crowd to wake up. Tempers were rising in each service as people started getting upset. I sat in the front trying to hold my composure…not for reasons you’d think though. Some great points were made from both sides and the guy from our church really shut him down on every point he brought up. At the very end the atheist came out and revealed that the views he shared really weren’t his. He revealed it was a mock debate and he was actually a Christian that was part of the apologetic think tank. He briefly shared his tes-timony how he came to Christ five years ago. The crowd roared with applause. You might be reading this saying ahhh – how’d you do that to everyone. Well, we knew if we said it was a mock debate it wouldn’t have had everyone so engaged on the edge of their seats. Then at the same time we got to see the real them react, and some of them didn’t react in gentleness and respect like 1 Peter 3:15 said. In context that verse doesn’t say we have to be gentle and respectful only when they are, but it says “always.” Even when people get in your face, make fun of you, hurt your feelings, or even curse you out. This was a real wake up call for some of our church as they so quickly got bent out of shape and fed right into the disrespect.

So, let me challenge you – know what you believe and why. Study, learn and grow in your faith and know how to explain it, define it and defend it. The next time someone asks you, or tells you, or disses you about the faith you have… respond like Christ and always do it with gentleness and respect.

* Suggested Reading:Case For A Creator – Lee Strobel

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The Media Department creates the visual vibe @ Crossover. All around the cam-

pus you will see several productions from the Media Team. Our media director, Ed-

ward Bayonet aka Spec oversees all of the production from the team. This year we’ve

also added our new video director Brandon Brinkley aka DJ Dash. Dash was a member/

volunteer that recently came on board after he graduated from Southeastern University with

his degree in video communications. We also have a full-time intern, Todd Mitchka that helps

out with graphics and the S.O.U.LMAG. Crossover has always been known for it’s media innova-

tions, but with the new additions and new volunteers it’s growing to a whole new level.

We’re Hip-Hop…so we’ve learned to makesomething out of practically nothing – being Christ

followers on top of that, God just multiplies it!

With the technology that is pushed into our culture every year, we are intentional to keep up with the advancements. Crossover began with

the freshest technology of its time back in the late 90’s. We had the astounding “Over Head Projector”, with marker written transparencies. Yes

ladies & gentleman, it is fair to say that we have come a LONG way. Now don’t be fooled, Crossover might look like it has a lot of mula, but that

is just plain WRONG!!! See what we have here is a lot of talent! We’re Hip-Hop…so we’ve learned to make something out of practically nothing

– being Christ followers on top of that, God just multiplies it! The media team @ Crossover goes far beyond the boys in the booth. Many indi-

viduals contribute in several viable areas. Some of these important areas include: writing scripts for the short films, filming/editing, photography,

installing wires and lighting, working the lights and stage props; honestly the list could go on and on.

We do have a growing crew of family members who love to just help us out and volunteer their time and talent in our media department. We

truly appreciate these people and their willingness to help out; we can always use more people! Many of our volunteers have gone above and

beyond working in the sound booth at the church. Several of our media volunteers work in the audio/visual industry full-time. Some individuals

have a new passion for film that has been stirred up by volunteering and they have since taken courses of study and bought their own personal

equipment. All churches have talented people. You may have to dig for a while and be patient, but they are out there. You have to give them a

platform. Crossover is a living example of that.

Crossover is now streaming live on the internet and thousands more are being impacted via our media team. We look forward to the future to

see what God has in store for us. It’s amazing when we take a step back and see that it all began with an overhead projector...

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Crossover has put on close to 50 major concert events at the church over the past decade. God has used Crossover as a catalyst to inspire many churches around the country that now also regularly host these type of events. These events feature a nationally known Christian Hip-Hop group as the headliner. Artists from Crossover, and other local artists are the opening acts. Each event is more like a mini-festival as we have several things happening around our campus during the concert. All the elementz of Hip-Hop are represented as we have a B-Boy/B-Girl (break dancing) expo and competition in the Turnstyle room as a live DJ spins some old skool break beats. We have a graffiti expo outside in the skate park; a DJ expo takes place in the main auditorium with several DJ’s that run the music throughout the night. In addition to all that…the patio is open with food for sale, the basketball courts are open, the skate park and skate shop are open, and the vendors alley on the backside of the building is open with several product and resources available. There’s lots of action at the spot!

These events are an exciting time at Crossover with over seventy-five of our church family members volunteering to help out each time. Hun-dreds attend the concerts and over 1,000 attend the Fla.vor Fest concert nights as we have people attend from across the state and beyond. These events are geared to be evangelistic as we reach out to the community…but they also serve a dual purpose! Christians also need a place to come out and have fun! The results of these events have been incredible as hundreds of people have built a relationship with Christ, and many believers have been encouraged and inspired! The magazine you are holding in your hands was designed by a brother who met Christ at one of these events several years ago!

Our concerts have included nationally known groups such as:Lecrae, 116 Clique, The Crossmovement, Da T.R.U.T.H., Rawsrvnt,Flame, KJ-52, Pettidee, Corey Red and Precise, and many others.

Un.orthodox - church.hip-hop.culture[Book and CD/DVD in stores now]

“5 star rating. In this book, lead pastor Tommy Kyllonen equips church leaders to effectivelyengage hip-hop culture.”- Rick Warren’s Ministry Toolbox

“Anyone reading this book would be enlightened about new ideas and finding encouragement related not only to hip-hop but also to sur-

rounding culture. With it’s three sections giving a broad overview of Kyllonen’s journey to Crossover pastor, the history of hip-hop,

and incorporating the church into its surroundings, Un.orthodox becomes a must have on the bookshelves of any

growing church.” - Publishers Weekly

Now Available - exclusively on itunes and at Urband.org“Home” feat. Bobby Tinsley

+ Exclusive instrumentals, accapellas,and remix albums now on iTunes.

Urban D. is available for concerts, workshops,

preaching, youth groups, retreats, school assemblies,

camps and more. Check out www.urband.org

for booking info., videos, music, news, articles and the

new video blog.

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The Crossover Courts were built a few years ago and have served thousands in our community. Basket-

ball has a huge impact on urban culture, so we’ve put in this professional court to create a safe haven for

neighborhood youth and adults where relationships can be built. We have open court nights on Tuesday and

Thursday’s after school. Wednesday night is Men’s Street Ball Night (ages 18 & up) where we have open

court, pick up games, and seasonal leagues. About 30-40 guys attend each Wednesday night. The evening

starts out with warm up time and several pick up games. There have been some special nights where we’ve

had a DJ spin some Christ-centered hip-hop during this time. Everyone then takes a break and gets into a

short Bible Study where one of the leaders shares from their heart as they tie it in with sports and every day

life. Occasionally some of the MC’s from the church will also come and drop some lyrics on the players and

speak some words of encouragement.

This has been a great outreach ministry, as the majority of the crowd does not attend church. Each week

seeds are planted and as a result there are several guys that originally only came to play ball that now have

come to know Christ and have started attending our services.

In addition to the weekday events, the courts are also open before and after services on Sundays as youth

and adults shoot around and start some pick up games. Three on three tournaments and full court games

are organized during concert events and the annual Fla.vor Fest every November.

The Street Ball league has been an incredible outreach and it’s also created great fellowship and exercise

opportunities. To get involved – just come out on a Wednesday night!

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CrossoverChurch.org – Stay Wired In!Every day the internet continues to expand it’s influence and reach. We know the

net can be a huge outreach and resource tool. Crossover continues to push for-

ward to be on the cutting edge as we connect with people and point them to Christ.

The church website has been a big part of that. The past few years the site has

averaged over 2 Million visits per year. 2008 brought a total redesign to our site,

as we wanted to make it more user friendly and add some important new features.

You can now get to everything on our front page without scrolling down or search-

ing through a bunch of text.

The site is updated each week with the theme of the next Sunday’s message,

the upcoming guest artist at Sunday night, news, videos and more. Practically

anything you may be looking for can be found in the links from staff to ministries to

upcoming events. Our small groups has it’s own link with a detailed list of current

groups available.

New interactive links have been added where people can submit prayer requests

and praise reports and even sign up to volunteer for a ministry. There is an invite

link where people can send a custom full-color invite to a friend’s email. The site

also features a donations link where people can give their offerings.

One of the most exciting things added to the site is the video components. We now

stream our Sunday Night Vibe service live at 7pm. Hundred log in each week to

watch the service live, while hundreds of others watch the achieves. The site also

streams our Thursday night youth service live at 7:45pm. This has been a huge

step forward as people around the world are now able to tune in and see what a

Crossover worship experience looks like and hear the word.

We live in an internet driven age. Crossover has found that nearly half of it’s first

time guests are now coming as they heard about it through the website. We en-

courage you to check it out on a regular basis and look for more new features to be

constantly added and we keep you connected.

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First impressions mean a lot! Statistics show that most people that visit a church will already decide if they are coming back before they ever hear the pastor speak. Nelson Searcy is an expert in this field. In his book Fusion

he said, “In the first seven minutes of contact with your church, your first-time guests will know whether or not they are coming back. That’s before a single worship song is sung and before a single word of the message is uttered!” The

past few years we’ve made great strides in trying to make a better first impression on all of our first time guests. We have a HOSPTIALITY TEAM that sets up free coffee on the patio for our Sunday services. They are also the first ones that greet people with a smile and hand them a program as they walk in. This is the team that also runs our guest information area under the awning where you probably received this magazine. As you probably noticed most of our services are pretty full, so our USHERING TEAM assists people in finding seats as they enter the main auditorium. They also assist in passing out additional material, keeping order, and helping take up the offering in our services. Crossover has a lot of activity around the campus. Our CLEANING TEAM keeps the facility looking fresh. None of us want to go into a dirty bathroom, or walk into a building that smells with trash everywhere. The cleaning team keeps God’s house looking good. We want people to come in and have a good experience and a good first impression so when it comes time for worship and the teaching they can enter in and listen without being distracted. If you want to help us continue to make good first impressions, you can simply mark it on the back of your connection card or see one of the volunteers at the information booth.

Marriage is an institution that was created by God. It’s a commitment that is supposed to last for life. With all the pressure and stress in our culture it seems that commitment is getting harder and harder for people to stick with. We see families breaking up all the time. The effects it has on children and adults can be devastating. We know that God desires for us to build solid families that are healthy as they grow in him. In 2004 Crossover developed its Marriage Ministry. This ministry is designed to help couples strengthen their marriage and their families. We’ve have seen several marriages saved from break up and many others strengthened and become more balanced. Every quarter this ministry sponsors an event, a dinner, or a workshop that features teaching, fellowship, and fun. During the in between time several of the leading couples pour into younger couples by spending time with them and mentoring them through the marriage small groups that are available. If you are married and need to get connected or need prayer you can email the marriage ministry team at: marriage@crossoverchurch.org

“Our mission at Crossover Church is not only to reach our community here in the Tampa Bay area, but to also equip other urban ministries across the planet with some tools that have proven to work here at our spot. We’ve been here in the trenches for over a decade building this unique faith community, so we know ministry that engages the urban/hip-hop audience is not easy. Our prayer

is that the church resources available here will help make your journey a little smoother so you don’t have to try to re-invent the wheel. We’d love to hear your testimonies and stories and if you have any suggestions feel free to hit us up! We’ll continue to add more resources over the upcoming months so stay tuned...

Harmony “Reflections”The new album features a double disc cd package of R&B/Hip-Hop Worship featuring Cross-over’s worship team. Disc 1 features 12 new original tracks. Disc 2 has every instrumental for

your team to use + enhanced content [lyric sheets & powerpoints].

S.O.U.LMAGS.O.U.LMAG is published by Crossover and is nationally distributed in stores. It’s become the voice of the Christian Hip-Hop Community in print. It’s packed with relevant content from articles on faith, ministry and culture to music reviews and artist interviews.12 issues and counting...

Urban D. “Un.orthodox”The CD/DVD multi-media set contains a lot of stuff! The CD disc has 12 new tracks with en-hancement featuring Urban D.’s 4 previous music videos and a tour of Crossover. The DVD disc is a full length documentary about the church along with his new music video. [see page

86 for a review on “Un.orthodox” the book]

Press Play Volumes 1 & 2Both of these DVD’s are a collection of short films from original message series from Crossover.

This DVD also includes a Crossover worship experience, commercials, intros, and music videos. These films can be used for your personal enjoyment or to be used in small group settings or in large

gatherings at worship services. If you are a pastor, youth pastor, or leader and you’ve been look-ing for a way to visually engage people as you speak to them - this is an excellent tool.

Fla.vor Fest Volumes 1-3These DVD’s contain some of the highlight concert footage and interviews including artists: Corey Red, Pettidee, 4th ave. Jones, New Breed, and more... over 20 artists in

each set. This is a great tool for those who are unable to get Christian hip-hop videos (over 7 hours of live concert footage).

Crossover Service DVD’sNow you can check out a Crossover worship experience at home and show it to your people! These DVD’s include the worship and the teaching along with all the unique elements that many of the ser-vices contain. You can choose from the latest series: “The Hustle... Is it worth the grind?”, “A Letter from Lockdown”, “Let’s Get up”, “Battlin’ off the mic”, and many more.

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Crossover’s drama department has developed and performed several origi-

nal productions here at Crossover. These productions included acting, video,

dance, song, rap and poetry.

This creates a platform for people to discover, develop and display their talents

and passions. Some of the events had a cast of over 40 people including a stage

crew and set designers. Recent productions included “To Hip-Hop with Love”,

“The Grinch” and “Heaven’s Court of Last Appeal.” Some of our cast members

have went on to take acting classes and even pursue it as a career. The great-

est impact is watching many people build new relationships with Christ and

other believers get seriously challenged.

Short skits are also frequently used during our services. They are some-

times live, and sometimes filmed and edited on video. These skits are

sometimes funny and sometimes serious as they deal with real issues that

vividly paint the picture to illustrate the message that Pastor Tommy and the

speaking team are sharing.

The Drama team is made up of a group that is very diverse in background and

ages. Drama is not just entertainment, but a form of communication. Through

drama we communicate how God’s word relates to our everyday lives.

Newspaper:The Tampa Tribune“Break With Tradition”Story by: Wendy Withers and Jennifer TeuberDec. 20, 2007

“Renee Bunts’ (47) first reaction to Crossover Church wasn’t positive as she glanced at a flyer for services. But that changed when she went inside and saw that her sons actually took something away from Sunday sermons, which they didn’t do at their old, more traditional church. She soon found herself engaged as well. Like a growing num-ber of residents around the country, Bunts embraced the down-to-earth message by the hip-hop flavored ministry of Crossover, a leader in what has now become a national movement.

Magazine:Outreach Magazine“America’s 25 Most Innovative Churches in 2008”Story by: Lindy LowryJanuary/February 2008

“Crossover Church (No. 21) led by Tommy Kyllonen, is using music – Christian lyrics set to hip-hop beats – to engage the hip-hop culture in Tampa, Fla., as well as worship music, records, DVDs and magazines. The church runs a hip hop label and publishes Soulmag, a national consumer-driven magazine that combines urban design elements with devotional texts and editorials on up-and-coming Christian hip-hop artists.”

Internet:Rick Warren’s Ministry Podcast“A Conversation about Church andHip-Hop Culture”With David Chazan and Mark CarverPosted December 2007

“Pastor Tommy Kyllonen from Crossover Church in Tampa, Florida joins the conversation as we consider how does the church reach those influ-enced by hip-hop culture…”To hear this podcast log onto:www.blog.pastors.com

Crossover has also been featured in:

* To check out past press and news videos check out www.crossoverchurch.org

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Interview by SWING

Leto High School, Friday night, last day of school. The “Jesus Bash” is in full swing right about now with the next artist pre-paring to take the stage. Jarvis Jackson sits back like a fan watching the Holy Spirit move through out the crowd. He’s already been on stage once this evening with a krumpin’ showcase. Next up will be him giv-ing a taste of his new album “High School” to the people. It’s sticky hot outside but as Jabo steps up to the mic he seems relaxed and cool. Class is now in session.

Jabo’s personality doesn’t fit what you’d expect for a young cat with his own CD. He’s a relatively quiet dude that seems like he’s studying his surroundings more than trying to find the next per-son to talk to about his music. His debut release “High School” is just the beginning of what looks to be a very special ministry for young Jarvis.

SWING: I know you just recently graduated from high school. Let me know how that feels?JABO: It’s wonderful. It’s a great feeling and also a little scary though because I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m just pressing on.

SWING: Had to ask you that since your first solo joint is called “High School”. Let me ask you this, how were you introduced to Christ?JABO: To be totally honest I can’t pinpoint an exact day or time when I first got saved. I was one of the people who just kept Christ close, you know? After I did something wrong I was like ‘Oh, God forgive me. Come back into my heart’. The one thing I can say when I really buckled down and decided to really worship God is when I was a freshmen in high school. I had this encounter with God the summer before high school. It was my transition from 8th grade to 9th grade. I went to this church camp and that’s when God showed me how real He was. That’s when my relationship with him got real.

SWING: So how’s it been so far?JABO: To be honest, man, it’s been rough. It’s not an easy thing living for Christ, especially now at this point since I just graduated high school. It just seems like I’m more sen-sitive to temptations. It seems to make my walk harder, but I know that if I continue to just focus on God and seek after him these other things in my life will come out successful for him. It ain’t easy though (laughing).

Artist: JaboAlbum: High SchoolTracks: 13Label: Flavor Alliance Media GroupRelease Date: April 22, 2008Availability: Nationwide

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SWING: I can’t imagine that it would be easy. It would be foolish to think otherwise. People who aren’t believers have a habit of looking at us and thinking real life situations don’t bother us. They feel like problems of the world hold less weight to us. How would you address that?JABO: Man, I’ve seen both sides of the fence, and for some-one to say, ‘Since you’re living for God or because you have an album out that you’re some sort of superstar.’ That’s a total lie. I’ve faced a lot of problems especially with some of my family, so I haven’t always been able to stay with my biological dad and my mom. I’m still struggling and fighting to forgive them. It’s not even like they did something tragic but that’s just to show that my situations aren’t perfect and I’m not some sort of superman.

SWING: Since we’re talking about family, how has your family responded to your life as a Christian?JABO: To be truthful, my family on my mom’s side is not really accepting to it. I really don’t communicate with my dad’s side of the family. I really don’t know what they think about it. My dad is an old dude and for him to say that he’s proud of what I’ve done - that’s enough for me. That’s like approval from both my mom and my dad…that’s enough for me. I don’t really care what the family thinks. Mainly because I know this is what God wanted me to do. He wanted me to write. He wanted me to reach out and distribute it to high school students.

SWING: Being a Christian Hip Hop artist and being a former high School student, what do you find that some of the most common issues are that you deal with? How do you deal with being an authentic Christian? Do you depend on accountability partners and fellowship?JABO: I gotta say, the way that I deal with a lot of issues I have is prayer man. It’s so powerful! I remember a time when I was teaching in kid’s church and we were actually talking about prayer and how powerful it is. That opened my eyes and thoughts to just how many times I’ve prayed for things and watching them come true. I love to pray because of the power behind it. I noticed that when I prayed for one of my friend’s problems that there’s this peace of mind that every-thing’s going to be okay as God speaks to my spirit, ‘Just wait on me. If it’s in my will then it may be yours. If not then remember that I’m always with you, Jarvis.’ I also do have accountability with brothers and leadership.

SWING: Was there a goal to your new CD “High School”?JABO: Yeah, as I was growing in my faith in my freshmen year I got serious about Christ. I was at Hillsborough High School and I had to change schools the next year. I became a sophomore at Gaither High School and God began pound-ing on my heart. You know how the first weeks of being at a new school when you don’t really know anybody? You sort of sit by yourself at lunch and you’re staring around. You want to sit with people but you don’t know anybody. I no-ticed at that time that God just started knocking on my heart, like, ‘I need you to do something for me.’ As I searched af-ter God he revealed to me that he wanted that me to write a whole album about High School. Write about what you see. Write what you think I’d say to those high school students. Right then I had a little battle with God. I didn’t know if I was capable. What if I write one song and can’t write the rest of

them? He told me to just do it, just write! As time went on I noticed that the album was taking shape into the problems I was seeing around me. My friends were telling me stories and it was crazy. I’ve seen so much. The goal was to have an answer to people’s problems and let them know that even though you’re in high school and struggle with some things you can still live for God. He hasn’t forgotten about you and He won’t neglect you.

SWING: How long did it take you to write the album?JABO: It took me around a year to write it and then another year to record and get it pressed up.

SWING: What’s in Jabo’s iPod these days?JABO: Honestly, I’ve been listening to some of my friends from Crossover. I don’t listen to my album, but I have local friends like Jerrell and my dude KB. I listen to cats like that. They’re young like me and they have the same goals as me, which is to reach out to the people.

SWING: What’s your favorite track on your new CD? Why?JABO: My favorite track on my CD is “He’s Real”. It’s my testimony and the whole track is about how real God is my life even though I went through certain events in my life. It’s not a joint that I really perform live or people give criticism on, but that’s my favorite.

SWING: Where do want to be in 5 years?JABO: I’m still fighting with that right now. I don’t totally know what I’d like to do. I want to go to Bible College. The two ideas I’ve been thinking on is to either go to be a teacher on an elementary school level or get into youth ministry. I’m not sure yet. I’m still seeking God.

SWING: How has Crossover helped your growth as a musician?JABO: One word I can use is “Exposure”. That’s not even close to my main reason for coming here though. Pastor Tommy has been a great guide. He’s mentored me from all the things that can and do happen in the music world. Now that’s on secular and a Christian level. Even when I go out and I do concerts, there are things that I see that I’m like, “I remember Pastor Tommy talking about this.” Crossover in itself has been a big impact on my life. When I come here I’m always so encouraged by other believers. It’s so nice that their young too, because they share their lives with me. Which makes me want to just go harder for Christ.

SWING: For the people reading this magazine for the first time who aren’t believers in Christ, if you had one chance to reach out to all of them with one statement to express the importance of Him?JABO: The most important thing is that Christ was a real man and still is a real man. If you’re hurting - He’s here for you. He loves you. There’s no need for you to fear that He’s going to do something that’ll hurt you. He just wants to love on you. I want to give my man Jerrell a shout out. That’s go-ing off of what I just said about God loving people. If you’re a Christian, even a new believer, let your life be an exam-ple of Christ’s love for people. Show love to other people. That’s what He was all about, and that caused Him to do what He did. Christ was all about healing, talking to people, building disciples and teaching them and then he died for us and resurrected! •••

Quarterly Worship and Prayer Gatherings

Wednesdays 7pm

As Crossover continues to grow we felt the need to put together a special gathering designed strictly for those that already have a re-lationship with Christ. Aspire is a time for believers to go deeper in worship as we have an extended time of worshipping our creator together. We then have a time of prayer where we lift up our leaders and the needs of our church and our community. There is an individu-al time of prayer and then a time where groups of people around the room pray together. The gathering wraps up with a short teaching and a time where everyone takes communion together. To check out the date for the next Aspire gathering – check out our website.

Aspire: To strive toward an ultimate goal.

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August 23rd, 2007 3rd Rail’s 2nd Annual Back to School Jam packed the house with teens from area High Schools.

Sept./Oct. 2007 C.H.O.S.E.N. Women’s Ministry launches with 2 amazing sold-out women’s retreats.

Nov. 1st-4th, 2007Fla.vor Fest 2007...To the ends of the earth. Our 8th annual conference attracts over 1,600 attendees throughout the weekend.

Nov. 13th, 2007Harmony’s double-disc“Reflections” album is released.

Nov. 24th, 2007Community Remix Project – Nearly 100 people gathered to go and serve ourcommunity through avariety of acts of service.

December 16th, 2008The Grinch Drama Production in all 3 services brings much laughter and a challenge about the Christmas season.

January 20th, 2008The all new CrossoverChurch.org website launches.

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January 24th, 2008Outreach Magazine lists Crossover

as #21 in their top 25 list ofAmerica’s Most Innovative

Churches for 2008.

February 3rd, 20081st Annual Super Bowl Party at Crossover kicking off the 300 Series.

February 24th, 2008“Home” - A huge outreach day at Crossover that premiered Urban D.’s new Home video with a message about the prodigal son. Over 700 people attended and over 70 built a relationship with Christ– everyone got a free Home CD.

March/April 2008“I Am Legend” Series kicked off on Easter and was the largest attended series ever as there were a large number of people dedicating their lives to Christ and getting baptized.

May 1st, 2008Pastor Tommy’s book “Un.orthodox” was a finalist in the Outreach Resource Awards for the “Target Outreach” category.

June 8th, 2008Crossover began streaming it’s services live through it’s website and hundred began viewing each week.

July 13th, 2008Christopher “Play” Martin spoke at Crossover and impacted the largest Sunday crowd in the church’s history.

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Cliff Saputo Hard Headed…Cliff found Christ on the corner of Gunn Hwy and Olive Joans Road on January 15th of 2008 after an extensive beating from a sledgehammer and metal baseball bat. This was followed by almost three weeks in ICU with no visitors and no phone calls, but a lot of time to think. That was a wake up call! A second chance to live! Being a product of Strong Island NY, he fallen to drugs and headed south for a new start. He was off to a good start but his escape didn’t last very long. Heartbreak, a bad influence and nothing to live for, quickly led to a new way of life and a new drug of choice followed. The beating Cliff received was a blessing and he has forgiven those who gave it. You can find Cliff now reppin’ Christ 24/7 at Monday night’s Apologetics Studies, Wednesday night bible study, Thursday nights 3rd Rail teen service (“Top Flight Security”), and Friday night... Prayer group or at correction facility’s doing out reach. On the weekends he’s ministering to the homeless at Least once a month and Sunday you’ll see him on the patio with the first impressions team and serving our guests and regular attenders. The old Cliff is dead as there’s no more get-ting drunk, no foul language, no drugs, and no sexual promiscuity. He traded his east coast 90’s rap to Christian hip-hop. Cliff was quoted as saying, “Cliff is HARDCORE for God cause God was HARDCORE 4 him.”

Tamika JenkinsLearning to trust againAbuse, alcohol and drama describe Tamika’s house that she was raised in. By the age of 13 she lost her mother and by the age of 14 she was so traumatized that she trusted no one but herself. She went in survival mode. The birth of her two kids Michael and Miachla was a wake up call. This showed her that even though she still didn’t trust anyone else that God trusted her. He trusted her with his most prized possession - children. A friend invited her to Crossover and she came and instantly felt comfortable and welcome. T soon built and authentic relationship with Christ. Today Tamika serves every Sunday in the children’s ministry and the first impression’s team. She desires for people to feel that same welcome and love that she experienced when she came for the first time.

Lacrecia Davis, Grandma & FamilyAn Unexpected SurpriseGrowing up in the Sulpher Springs neighborhood in Tampa, Lecrecia went to a traditional church. As she became an adult she went to churches on and off and although she enjoyed it she found herself straying away from God. Lecrecia couldn’t seem to stay focused as she found herself caught up in bad habits and abusive relationships. A few years ago she began raising her teenage grandsons along with taking care of her 88 year-old mother “Grandma”. This was a difficult transi-tion that really tested her patience. One Sunday her and grandma came to Crossover to drop off her grandsons as they were going to go to attend another church. They decided to come inside and check it out and to their surprise they both feel in love with the people and the place. God has transformed Lecrecia’s life in the past year as she has quit many of her bad habits and truly learned to lean on God for the first time in her life. Lecrecia loves people and has gotten involved in first impressions, cooking, cleaning and volunteering around the church. Her grandsons have gotten heavily involved in the youth ministry and everyone loves Grandma, as she has become Crossover’s oldest member.

Here’s some real talk from a few of our Crossover Family Members. You may find a story similar to your own. These are just condensed versions, so when you see them on the patio feel free to say what’s up, get to know them better and check out the rest of their street story and watch God get the glory!

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Gary Nagel aka G-86Shattered and RebuiltGary was born in Cincinnati, Ohio where he lived with his parents until the age of 8 when divorce shattered his world. Refusing to forgive, he became rebellious and resentful towards his parents and other authority figures. In the beginning he lashed out with constant fighting and stealing, and as he grew into his teen years he began to carelessly abuse drugs and alcohol and vandalize private property. Out of major concern, Gary’s mother decided to relocate their family from Ohio to Florida for a fresh start. However, one month after the move he became involved in a local gang and soon became a high school drop out. This downward spiral landed Gary in jail for mul-tiple charges by age 17. In spite of his tough exterior, it was his attendance at a Christian Adult School to earn his diploma that slowly opened his heart to change. After many twists and turns his good friend, Anthony Robles, introduced him to Christ and helped him to get plugged in to a local church where he spent 9 years working with youth and developing his gift in ministry. Now G-86, a hip hop artist working on his first solo project, is a committed member of Crossover where he is happy to serve in anyway that is needed. He currently oversees the Wednesday night street ball ministry, and he has supported the prison outreach and drama team. Over the years Pastor Tommy has been an example of diligence and a personal encourager to Gary. He has a lot of respect for the vision that God has given Crossover for the Tampa Bay Area.

Howard and Heather Sluss and FamA Big Family finds an even Bigger Family!Howard moved to Florida at 15 after being raised by his grandparents in Richmond, VA. In a very strict Southern Baptist Church. His dad, not being a Christian didn’t pay much attention to him and he found himself in a whole new world of freedom. Eventually that freedom led him to prison. At 22 he met his wife Heather and began to see that God hadn’t given up on him. Not quite ready to face his past, he continued to struggle with his wife until 2006 when they found Crossover. Although he resisted at first he finally realized that Crossover was the home and family he didn’t even know he was looking for. As he continues to grow in Christ and become more involved in a real faith community he, along with his wife are diligently raising his children in a life of service, ministry and outreach. Tristan, Kaitlyn, Jayna, Elijah, Cholee and Trey have already been taught that true freedom can only be found in Christ!

Jose and Gladys PardoA Second Chance…Jose was raised in Brooklyn, NY and got into sports at a young age. But, soon he began to get involved in the street life, which led to gangs and eventually to prison. From 1979 until 2004 he was constantly in and out of jail as he spent the majority of his adulthood in maximum-security prisons in upstate New York. When released in 2004 he moved to Florida with family. He visited Crossover in 2006 and in 2007 he and his wife Gladys both committed their lives to Christ and got baptized together. Jose has a failing liver due to his rough lifestyle. Life link put him on the wait-ing list for a transplant. As Jose grew in his relationship with Christ he got involved in Crossover’s drama ministry and the Juvenile Detention Center Ministry. He regularly goes in and shares his testimony with teens in jail and points them to Christ. In May of 2008 he received his new liver and had a miraculous recovery that was so fast it had all the doctors puzzled. In less than two weeks he was back at church and shortly after that he was back at the JDC ministry. Jose now has a new lease on life and knows that his best days are ahead.

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Crossover has always been known for it’s unique

hip-hop/R&B styled worship.

We believe in worshipping God in an indigenous format for urban culture.

It’s amazing to watch the multi-cultural audience engage in sing-

ing a new song to their creator together. Our worship team has

put out two full CD’s that have reached thousands beyond our

church campus. The latest CD “Reflections” is a double-disc CD

set that feature 13 original tracks written by several team mem-

bers on disc 1. Disc 2 is a great resource with 12 instrumentals

along with enhanced content that include power points and lyric

sheets. Several other churches have implemented these tracks

into their worship services.

Worship has gone to a new level in 2008 as several live musi-

cians have been added to the backdrop of the DJ. New sing-

ers, poets and MC’s have joined the team and brought a new

dynamic and variety. Crossover has different teams lead each

week and also has national artists regularly come in and lead

worship with our team. •••

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In 2007 Crossover opened it’s new Prayer Patio on the front side of the church. This spe-cific space and ministry has been established to support the various prayer-related needs of the Crossover family. This includes praying after services with those who have been especially challenged by the message, praying with someone to build a relationship with Christ, and praying during the church services.

We engage in and encourage every type of prayer that is consistent with what we find in scripture. Crossover has extended prayer times in our quarterly Aspire services and regu-larly in our prayer small groups where we participate in prayer together as defined by Jesus in Matthew 18:19-20. “I promise that when any two of you on earth agree about something you are praying for, my Father in heaven will do it for you. Whenever two or three of you come together in My Name, I am there with you.”

We also make an effort to create an atmosphere where people feel comfortable in being transparent and offering spiritual support to each other as instructed in James 5:16. “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with.”

Additionally, this ministry provides an opportunity for members to receive prayer for specific needs as indicated in James 5:14-15. “If you are sick, ask the church leaders to come and pray for you. Ask them to put olive oil on you in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven.”

Prayer is a necessity as it is communication with our creator. We believe that it is crucial for a growing relationship with God and for the advancement of His Kingdom in this world. If you have a prayer need we encourage you to visit the prayer patio the next time you come to Crossover or leave a request on our website by clicking on the prayer link.

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Most everything we do at Crossover is outreach oriented meaning we are reaching out to the community and inviting

them to join us. Our three Sunday services and our Thursday night teen service are all intentionally designed so guests

to join us. Many of them are not Christians yet. We thank God that every week he trusts us enough to send us around

40 first time guest to our services. Our skate park and our basketball courts constantly have people from the community

stepping on our campus and experiencing something different. All this is great, as we are truly a church that the commu-

nity is coming to in large numbers, but as we look at Jesus’ teachings we know we are also supposed to also go out into

the community. Crossover has a variety of organized outreach ministries described below, but there are also several

people constantly reaching out at their jobs, in their neighborhoods and their schools and that’s what it’s all about!

JDC Ministry (Juvenile Detention Center)

A team of adults go out once or twice a month to local JDC’s and minister to juvenile defenders. Sometimes they may

hold a drama production, a service, or have some rappers from the church. Other times it may just be sharing some

testimonies and talking and praying with teens that are hurting and feel alone. This ministry has seen hundreds of lives

make commitments to Christ in local JDC’s.

International Flea Market Hip-Hop Shop and Outreach Events

Crossover has a hip-hop shop right in the flea market! The main purpose is mix it up with people in the marketplace

and let them know we’re here and we care. We regularly hold outreach concerts at the flea market where artists from

Crossover go and use their gifts and talents and members from the church pass out flyers and talk with people.

Filaments of Truth

This ministry is made up of artists; rappers, singers, dancers, poets, etc. The Filaments team goes out to different out-

reach events and gives artists a platform to use their gifts and talents and lead people to the truth of Christ.

* To get involved in our outreach ministries you can mark the back of

your connection card and one of our outreach team will contact you.

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Choosing toHopeObeyServe andEncourageNow

…..For such a time as this. - Esther 4:14

In the beginning of 2007 God had been stirring the hearts of four ladies.

In a series of God-ordained events that took place, these ladies met to-

gether and confirmed what God had been speaking to them. Each one

“chosen” and placed exactly where God wanted them to accomplish His

will for such a time as this in order to form a women’s ministry at Cross-

over to meet the different needs of the ladies.

C.H.O.S.E.N. Women’s Ministry is a vibrant and active ministry available

to any and all ladies who are at least 18 years old. The vision for this

ministry was birthed in March 2007 and was launched in September and

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October 2007 with an amazing overnight retreat each month for the ladies. These retreats were the commencement of something new.

The result was transformation, restoration, healing and a truly unique experience with God. C.H.O.S.E.N. was formed and began with

eager and excited ladies ready for growth, spiritual development and fellowship with one another.

C.H.O.S.E.N. exists to provide teaching, godly counsel, accountability and fellowship, not only for the women of Crossover, but for our

community and beyond. In turn, we can expect better women, wives, mothers, daughters, leaders, workers, etc. who understand their

full potential and their purpose and choose to serve God and others through this ministry. This can be accomplished primarily through

the small groups Crossover has available for women, as well as, Treasures, a quarterly activity that incorporates a time of teaching and

fellowship. Other activities include Heart 2 Heart, Secret Sisters, ladies night out, conferences, retreats and much much more!

For additional information on this ministry or to receive our quarterly newsletter;please email Lucy: lucy@crossoverchurch.org

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We Got Next is a hot new Christian Hip-Hop show. The soul purpose is to preach the Gospel of Jesus

Christ to youth and adults influenced by hip-hop culture and give them a positive alternative to the negative

influences that bombard them on TV every day. On We Got Next you will see interviews, testimonies and

music videos from both national and up and coming Christian artists that are heating up the scene.

Warren Scott aka The Voice has worked at the Christian Television Network for over 7 years. In 2006 God

put it on his heart to come up with a show that would minister to people of all races. He knew this would be

a show that would have a Hip-Hop flavor. Little did he know God had already had this in preparation and

brought along Urban D. to help partner in this vision. Voice has put together an entire season of shows and

continues to work on new material that includes exclusive Fla.vor Fest footage and interviews from several

events from Crossover. Urban D. and Voice also share a short message on each show to encourage

the viewer in their spiritual journey. There has been lots of response from the show that include people’s

prayer requests, praise reports, and even people looking to build a new relationship with Christ. We Got

Next now airs on the Christian Television Network, WCLF, every Saturday night at 12:30 am. CTN is now

also available on Direct TV. It can also been seen on internet at CTNonline.com. God is growing a whole

new movement in this generation, watch out… we got next!

Ever had a childhood dream? After work-ing so hard to achieve it would you walk away from the chance to make it hap-pen? How about if God had other plans for you? Che-Che Da Supastar, born An-ise Robinson in Newark, NJ to use her words, “has always been a busy body”. From repairing televisions and radios, to rapping on the court, she was known around the way for her skills. In love with basketball, she knew one day she’d be playing ball professionally. So much so, she had plans to start in the WNBA. Hav-ing been formed approximately a year earlier, the only thing left for her to do was sign a contract with the Charlotte Stings. But God had other plans… and Che-Che obeyed.

During the years leading up to that moment, “Teachers and other people in my life invested in me, teaching me the importance of being exposed to more than one’s surroundings. Amongst them; my father who has always been in my corner, my grandmother, whom I was extremely tight with, like glue, as she was more like a mother to me and my mother who died in 2004 to lung cancer. The more exposed, the hungrier one becomes to pursuit those things,” Che-Che recalled. Followed by, “There’s more to life than hangin’ on the corner.” This profound view on life had resulted in straight A’s and a secular record deal at the age of 10 where she opened up for Onyx and Das EFX. She was not a solo act, but when her girl got stage freight, Che-Che knew the show must go on and put on such a show, that she was offered a solo deal. Convinced ball was the way to go, she turned it down as she knew she would have other opportunities to rap. This was a wise choice, since playing ball led to a scholarship at Johnson C. Smith University located in Charlotte, NC where she worked towards a professional career in the WNBA while pursuing a career in Film and Video Production as well as Business. She was excited, but later disappointed that her beloved grandmother did not live to see her graduate from high school, as she died her junior year.

By: Janine Carrero

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“In the street you feel like you have to hold things in to show you are hard. Yet, I found the strength and courage to share my heart.” The person Che-Che would share her heart with was Mrs. Sandra Barnes, the Director and creator of a family literacy and living program where Che-Che worked before heading off to college. “Mrs. B poured into me and always in-vited me to her church, but it wasn’t until my other grandmother died and I felt I really needed God that I decided to take her up on the offer. She insisted on picking me up that day since I admitted to driving an unregistered car. Insurance was expensive and I was about to head out to college (LOL) - at no time did I know I was on my way to church with anyone other than a simple churchgoer. Then we walked in and it wasn’t until she went to the pulpit and began to pray that I found out she was a Co-Pastor. Had I known prior, I wouldn’t have gone. She got me, but you see God got me as well. I felt alive for the first time since my grandparents died and from that day got so connected with the ministry… I loved doing the ministry thing. Shortly after, I went off to college and had a phenomenal breakout season that led to a tryout for the Charlotte Stings. But I encountered a problem - the tug of God on my heart to go into ministry my sophomore year. I decided to go back home and what should have taken a day to acquire the three necessary signatures to transfer out, took three and a half weeks, as everyone insisted on counseling me to stay. Everyone thought I was crazy. They even sent me to the cafeteria lady whom everyone called Grandma. But she knew the deal and told me, “When God tells you to do something, you’ve got to do it.” And I did. A year and a half later I was ordained as a Youth Minister, where I started a television and audio visual dept. for our church. A few years later I was ordained as an Evangelist and continued to learn and grow doing whatever needs to be done, including playing the drums and going to Bible College.” Equally as exciting, God has allowed her to minister on the court as well, as she plays Semi-Pro ball as a guard on the Big East Ballers team in New York.

Che-Che also found herself on stage doing Christian Hip-Hop, something that she laughingly recalled she once thought was a sin. This was no doubt due to the reputation Hip-Hop had due to the ‘gangster rap’ wave. “I just rapped about God and what was on my heart for fun, not professionally.” But God was far from done with blessing Che-Che. A chance meeting led to her acquiring a manager and opening up for her favorite Gospel artist Vickie Winans. “I didn’t have songs, but I had a manager”, Che-Che said laughing hysterically. This was followed by a string of underground releases and touring the country. Then in 2001 God put it on her heart to start her own label. “Che-Star Records is more than music, it’s a lifestyle. Every rapper and dancer on my label aspires to live a platinum lifestyle for Christ as we perform and do Bible study together.” Che-Che Da Supastar also has her own digital radio show. “Radio just fell in my lap and I love it. The chance to be live on the dial and internet gave me the opportunity to lead people to Christ from the air, not just locally but from countries like Israel as well.

Che-Che Da Supastar is an example of what God can do with someone who puts aside their plan for God’s plan. Current CD is “Playa/Coach,” featuring “Runaway” with Mike Winans Jr. available on cdbaby.com. Up and coming projects include; “Camp Amazing” scheduled for release in the fall of 2008, it is a fun-loving spirit filled cd featuring collaborations with such artists as Canton Jones. Additionally, God has put it on Che-Che’s heart to start an actual youth camp called Camp Amazing that will target youth from all over focusing on every aspect of growth, encouragement and inspiration. The camp will also teach them how to start their own record labels, production, recording, etc… scheduled for debut in the summer of 2009.

Contact Info:bookcheche@yahoo.comor call Che-Star Records at (862) 703-8084myspace.com/cheche77star

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Braille“The IV Edition” - Syntax Records

syntaxrecords.com • myspace.com/braillebrizzy

When I first heard Braille perform live in Tampa at Crossover for Flavor Fest ‘07, I knew I had to cop the new album! I missed his performance that Saturday night as I was part of the film crew on the other stage, but thankfully I got to check him out as he performed in Sunday’s services at Crossover. We were all blessed to hear his best and most heartfelt track “Blessed Man”. WOW! Right when I heard that song I was like...where and when can I get the album that this track is on! Collaborations include Manchild, Mr. J, 88 Keys, Rob Swift, Marco Polo, Poems, Theory Hazit, DJ Bombay, and the list goes on. Already, I can tell that this will be an album that I’ll be bumpin’ for a while. I believe this album is the closest to his heart, which I felt shining through his lyrics track after track...all 17 of them! Overall as an artist, Braille is probably one the most transparent cats I’d ever heard. Tracks like “Get It Right” (my favorite) and “Many Stories” are just an example of how much of his heart and emotions that he has put into this album. “The IV Edition” is a must have...believe me, you will be blessed! -DJ Dash

Othello“Alive At The Assembly Line” - HipHopisMusic

hiphopismusic.com • myspace.com/othello

Othello is the maestro of Jazz Hip-Hop. He is part of my favorite crew Lightheaded along with Braille and Ohmega Watts. Drums, bass, guitar, Fender Rhodes, Trumpets and Sax-horns! If you love live instruments and authentic samplings, this album is for you. He has smooth, skillful deep lyrics. His underground hip-hop is loved by the listeners in the U.S and internationally in Europe, Australia and Japan (where I’m from) as well. You can check the video for the lead single “Let’s Just” onothellorockswell.net. This album is “the wake up call, to wake up ya’ll” -Elijah

Christian hip-hop has truly come a long way. So many have come up in the ranks of being quality artists who flip the message of Christ and make the great commission their mission through their music. The pool of albums from these mission-minded quality artists has got-ten so large in the effort to counter the norm of modern-day hip-hop content, and every year that pool is growing.

Of course, time & space doesn’t allow us to review all that we would like to, but we picked a few this

year that are definitely worthy of recognition... -check ‘em out...

If you would like your album reviewed by S.O.U.LMAG or would like to have our Hip.Hop.Shop carry it, contact:

>>hhs@flavoralliance.com<<

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shai linne“The Atonement” - Lamp Mode Recordings

lampmode.com • myspace.com/shailinne

The ATONEMENT, do you know what it means? I don’t think you do… The lowercase MC shai linne is back with his sophomore installment The Atonement! The title speaks for itself in this groundbreaking release by the Philly native. From the beginning to the end of the album shai hits us with some in your face lyrics that go back to the fall of man and explains the cross of Christ like never before. This album is definitely lyrical theology at its finest! Tracks to pay attention to are “In Adam all die”, “Where you there”, “Through my eyes”, and “Atonement Q + A”.

Not only does this album answer questions that your non-Christian friends have been won-dering about, but it also challenges the believer to look at themselves in a new light. The Cross of Christ is a serious thing! Thanks shai for breaking it down for us. -Clok

JR“Life By Stereo” - Cross Movement Records

crossmovementrecords.com • myspace.com/jrinstereo

The first time I heard the soulful sound of J.R. was on his debut album “Metamorphosis” (CMR). The tracks on that project really spoke to me. Prior to this he was, and is still, one of the most recognizable voices on most of CMR’s albums. Now, just out the kitchen, on J.R.’s sophomore joint, “Life by Stereo” my favorite track – You Chose Me, allowed me to reflect on how despite my imperfections, my God did choose me.

Also, the track – When the Thrill is Gone, featuring Lecrae, personally touched me, as I thought back on all the things I did to fill that void in my heart, when all I needed was to rest in God. So whether your preferred dish is Rock, Pop, R&B, or Hip-Hop… this main course of this musical meal will satisfy your appetite! -Brother Greg

Eric Cross“The Art Of Composition” - Beatmart Records

beatmart.com • myspace.com/ecrossmusic

The Art of Composition, what may be the last offering from Christian hip-hop label Beatmart, is definitely a must for true Hip-Hop heads. Hailing form Milwaukee, Wisconsin with a de-livery similar to that gutter Marcy projects flow, add a heart for God and you get Eric Cross. Three things stand out when listening to this album, his ability to deliver a steady flow no matter the pace of the tempo, excellent choice of beats and a God given gift to educate the streets on why Christ is the answer. Some tracks that stand out “How we roll”, featuring DM, “Way I Live” and “Verse”. Eric Cross is definitely here to stay and get ready for the fol-low up album “The Signature” dropping in 2009. It keeps getting better! -Todd Mitchka

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These are a series of classes that help people grow in their personal spiritual commitments. Our goal at Crossover is to always help people take their next step of growth in their relationship with their creator.

101 Membership Connection Class:In this workshop you’ll learn more about Crossover’s unique vision, strategy, struc-ture, and goals. This class is all about connecting with Crossover (your family) as you also are connected with Christ (your leader). We’ll be sharing the story of our church’s beginning and our incredible vision for the future. If you feel comfortable at Crossover and would like to get more involved, we encourage you to come out and officially join the family!

201 Maturity Connection Class:In this workshop you’ll learn more about maturing in your relationship with Christ. You’ll learn several practical and important ways that your connection with your Creator can be strengthened.

301 S.H.A.P.E. Connection Class:In this workshop you’ll discover and reaffirm what you were shaped for. Each of us was made with passions for certain things. In this class you’ll get connected to a ministry where you can grow and fulfill your purpose as you serve others.

401 Mission Connection Class:As Christians it’s our mission to share our faith with others around us. This work-shop will better equip you to engage others in your community and around the world. Crossover has several local opportunities for you to fulfill you mission and several upcoming opportunities around the country and beyond.

*Connection Classes are offered quarterly on Saturdays with a free meal and child-care provided. You can sign up on your connection card at the information area or visit our website @ www.crossoverchurch.org to get the dates and register for our next class.

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As Crossover continues to grow we are aggressively trying to maximize the space God has given us. In 2006 we completed our covered outdoor patio on the backside of the building. It serves as a video venue for more seating during services. In 2007, we added a 3rd Sunday service (at 7pm), and we have a service on Thursday night service that is specifically for teens. Even with all these additions we still have more space issues aris-ing again as we continue to grow. These are great problems… but what’s NEXT? Even though we love this campus and many of us have worked hard on customizing it make it the unique place that it is, we know that God has an even greater vision for our church. GROWTH EQUALS CHANGE. Crossover plans on relocating in the near future to a facility on a main street that will provide plenty of square footage, parking, and visibility. Our new campus will expand all of our current services, programs, and ministries while it will also give us the ability to add several new ones. Our leadership team is currently working with a major development company that is donating their time in helping us secure a new spot. Keep this in your prayers as When, Where, and How are the questions! With every major project we’ve undertaken, these have always been the questions. God has always answered them and always provided every need. Our story is one that is filled with miracles, and although relocation would be our biggest challenge yet, we know that this will be an even greater opportunity for God to shine and get his props!

Growth“Developing solidroots to impact theurban community”

How can you get connected to WHAT’S NEXT? You can become a Ministry Partner and get involved in the “Growth Campaign.” By checking out this magazine many will quickly assume that Crossover has plenty of finances. In actuality, Crossover is made up of predominately lower to middle class urban young adults. Many of them have also recently started their relationships with Christ. Although our church is quickly growing in num-bers, our finances are much lower than your average congregation of our size. Even though our resources are limited, we still believe in doing things in excellence. We have a committed staff that has financially sacrificed to work full-time at the church. Many people in our congregation also volunteer countless hours.

We are building a team of like-minded people that will become part of our “team” through prayer and financial support. Although we started a building fund and many of our members are actively involved, we need people from the outside to come along side and join us. You can be a part of what’s next! We ask that you look over this magazine and prayerfully consider being a part of our extended family. You can financially support us on our website and check out the details on Crossover’s “Growth Campaign” - stay tuned and watch the growth!www.crossoverchurch.org

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Hopefully this magazine has provoked some of your spiritual thinking. Before you put it down, I want to leave you with two final thoughts. The first one is that each one of us is made with a longing to know our Creator. At some point we’ve all questioned why we are here. Now, more than ever our culture is searching for meaning and purpose. If you look around you can observe that search everywhere; you can hear it in music, see it in movies, and watch it play out in every day real life. We soon figure out that this materialistic lifestyle that the media has pushed on us… just doesn’t satisfy! Even when we get some of the stuff we wanted or achieve some of the goals that we worked so hard for… it seems we still long for more! There’s still an empty spot inside of our souls. That spot can only be filled with a personal relationship with Christ. Until we understand this, our lives will continue to seem like an endless cycle of searching.

If you feel like this your search can end today! We’ve all messed up and made mistakes, but we now have an opportunity to get things right and get reconnected with our Creator. This can happen by building a personal relationship with God’s son -Jesus Christ. He came and paid the sentence for all of our sins as he died on the cross to be the sacrifice in our place. The Bible shares in Romans 10:9-10 that if we have faith and believe then we will be forgiven and will have life forever in heaven. You don’t have to wait to come to God until you get everything together… because you’ll never get it together on your own. Right now as you hold this magazine you can simply talk to God and tell him that you need him and want to do it his way. Let him know you are sorry for all the things you’ve have done wrong. That relationship that will change your eternity can start right now!

What happens next is the second thought I want to share with you. Each one of us is made with a need to belong to something. Many people try to find this in fraternities, community organizations, political groups, even in street gangs. These groups can provide some form of belonging and ownership, but God has something much more fulfilling for all of us. If you ask most people they will tell you that they believe in God, but the majority of our society has no real involvement in a local church family. Many will say, “Well, I believe in God, but I just study the Bible at home.” Or some will say, “I watch church on TV, and that’s my church.” Each one of us is called to belong, not just believe. Ephesians 2:19 says, “You are members of God’s very own family, citizens of God’s country, and you belong in God’s household with every other Christian.” (LB) According to the Bible, being a member of the church means being a vital organ of a living body. The church is a body, not a building; it’s an organism, not an organization.

For the organs of your body to fulfill their purpose they must all be connected to your body; it’s exactly the same for you as a part of Christ’s body. Each one of us was created for a specific role, but you will miss a major part of this if you’re not attached to a living, local church family. We all have our different gifts and talents that God has given us so we can help each other.

Crossover is a growing family of believers. There are many different talents and abilities that our family has. We are just common people, but together, as we work towards our vision, we attain uncommon results. We’re not perfect, and we never will be, because we are made up of hu-mans. However, we are a family that is there for one another and clearly understand that our purpose is to reach out to others that need to know Christ and discover their purpose in life. If you believe in God and don’t belong to a church family, I encourage you to get involved somewhere! Don’t miss out on what God has for you! If you feel comfortable here at Crossover, we’d love to have you become part of our diverse family. If you need anything… let one of our family members know. We’re here for You!

Peace and God Bless,

Pastor Tommy Kyllonen aka Urban D.