Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Creating the Future

OK, it is finally time for me to share with everyone the direction the Journey is heading in our immediate future. Most of you should receive a newsletter containing this information, but I we can not communicate this often enough. Many of you are aware that we are one church that is about to be meeting in multiple locations. The game plan organized by myself, the elder team, and other key ministry leaders is this:

* We are moving to 2 services beginning May 18th! The service times will be 9am and 11am. We will have full children's ministry at both hours. We believe this will allow us to expand the options and opportunities to reach more people. We ask that staff and all Journey regulars to adopt a "attend one - serve one" mentality. More details are to come in the days ahead, but this will give us the entire summer to continue building a stable base.

* We will not be having preview services throughout the summer, and instead will launch the Providence and Hartsville Campuses in the fall. We will use the summer to build networks and relationships in those areas and find opportunities to be on mission there. We will launch these campuses simultaneously in the fall as all the pieces line up concerning meeting locations and leaders.

* We will be anointing campus pastors as the shepherds over each campus. The purpose of the campus pastor will be to give ministry care to church attendees, develop leaders, and ensure the vision of the Journey is infused at their campus.

* Each campus will meet on Sunday mornings to ensure the optimal opportunity to reach the unchurched and lost of the community. I will still be the primary communicator for The Journey and each campus will be on the same teaching series. We will video my sermon and each campus will receive the message via video. I will rotate to the different campuses to offer face to face time; however, each campus will operate full functioning worship, ministries, and everything as normal - the teaching will be the only thing via video. Campus pastors will be speak at their campuses 10-12 times per year, the remaining 40 Sundays I will speak.

This is the skeleton plan of the direction; there are still many details to hash out, but we are confident that we are moving in the direction God has ordained. There will be much more communication and details as we keep moving forward; however, the big announcement for now is: MAY 18th - 2 Service times: 9am & 11am! Mark your calendars, find a place to plug in and serve, and let your friends and family know that there are two opportunities to come and worship with us.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Big Announcement Tomorrow

I sent out a newsletter today to the entire church concerning some big announcements about our direction and future plans at The Journey. You should receive those in the mail tomorrow. I will also post on here in the morning the details of those plans. There are exciting days ahead of us!

Interesting Story

An article today on the home page of AOL news, is entitled: US Among Most Bible-Literate Nations. In the article is shares that US and Spain are the two most Bible-literate nations in the world -- meaning we know more about what it says than many other nations. My question is this: are we among the most Bible-obeying nations in the world? Are we the most obedient to what God says to us in the Scriptures? There is a big difference between knowing something and doing something. What blew me away about the poll and how they came to these results are found in this part of the story,
"Asked if they had read a phrase from the Bible in the past 12 months, 75 percents of American respondents said yes, while between 20 percent and 38 percent of respondents in the other eight countries said yes."


The reason Americans are considered some of the most Bible-literate in the world is because 75% have read a passage in the past 12 months. This is the very reason a radical movement of God needs to sweep across this nation and world. Our world and nation is hungry for hope (they'll run to it even if its a presidential candidate claiming it) and they need to know that there is. Hope is not found in Obama, I'm sure he is a good man, but hope is found in Jesus Christ. Let's pray for our world today and that God would "wake the nations".

Monday, April 28, 2008

Positive response to Sunday message

I have heard a lot of feedback yesterday and today concerning things God is putting on the hearts of people in the Journey about using their gifts. First off, I'm thrilled to hear that most of you did not forget 95% of what I said. Secondly, I meant every bit of my sermon and my belief that the body of Christ will only reach its destiny as each member finds its gifting and mobilizes it. I've heard many people mention getting in a small group or having coffee house conversation with another person or two for opportunities for spiritual growth. I have received responses from people who are wanting to start ministries or get involved with other ones. Many others have mentioned ideas that the sermon sparked in them.

This gives me encouragement that God is at work in the midst of these teachings. If I was completely transparent with you all, I have struggled to get really excited about this teaching series, not because I don't believe in it, but because it is not as "sexy", for lack of better words, as other potential teaching series. This series is not the most thought provoking, insightful, or inspiring series in the world, but I TRULY BELIEVE it is what God has wanted me to teach for this season at The Journey. I say all that to say, thank you for confirming in me, by your responses, that God is definitely the orchestrator of this.

Added note: thank you all for your prayers for Kaleb; he is recovering well from his tonsils and adenoids removal - he can't wait to get back to the Journey to see his friends and play the "air" drums.

Something Funny!

I'm going to post another post later in the day today, but I wanted to share something I thought was funny. Since my comment in service yesterday about the statistic that says people forget 95% of what they hear in a sermon in less than 72 hours after hearing it, I have had more people reference me saying that in conversations I'm having. I hope that is not the 5% of what people remembered, but it is already looking like it is :-)

Btw, that statistic was not completely quoted correctly - it is actually: people who don't write down what they hear will forget 95% of that within 72 hours. The lesson here is write down things you think were from God to you. We are actually exploring with the idea of providing an outline on Sundays to help with that -- we'll see?

Also, don't forget to email (erik@thejourneytn.org) or make a comment on the BLOG here about your topics, questions, or ideas on the series I want to do in the future: If You Want It...You Got It! Send me topics you would like hear me preach on and we'll collect the most common theme or the one's I believe God confirms need to be spoken. I'll post some other thoughts I'm having right now later on today.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Sunday Reflections

I'm so lucky I get to be the lead pastor of The Journey. I get more excited each passing week about what God is doing, the people he is leading to our church, and the direction that we are heading. I want to reiterate to everyone who was at The Journey today, find a way to mobilize your gifts in the church. Find out which environment is the one in which your gifts can best be unleashed (public worship gathering, intimate spaces, or the mission field) and many will discover that your gifts can be deployed in all three if you look closely enough. This message has to be grasped and lived out if we are to be the church God desires for us to be.

I'm sending out a newsletter to all in the church tomorrow to inform you of some very big decisions that were made by the elders and specific ministry leaders concerning the direction of The Journey this evening. I will BLOG more in depth on this on Tuesday, but it is exciting! The days ahead will cause each of us to dig deeper, pray harder, and dream bigger than we ever have before, but that is exactly the place that God desires for us to be. I thoroughly enjoy being on the journey with you all; we are only scratching the surface of all that is to come - let's ignite a Jesus movement!

Friday, April 25, 2008

This Weekend @ The Journey

I look forward to yet another opportunity for God to work in our midst this Sunday at The Journey. God is stirring something up that I don't even believe we have scratched the surface of yet. We are in the second week of the three week series: You Got Skillz. If you missed week one, you can watch it by going to the Journey's website and clicking on Video Messages. The topic for this week will be: Mobilize. It is one thing to discover your gifts and that God has given you something greater than yourself to live for, but eventually you have to mobilize those gifts for the cause. I'm excited about sharing the message and reuniting with everyone on Sunday. Don't forget that there is a Journey 101 class immediately after church in the gym. It is a quick, informal time to meet me and other staff, get some information, and ask any questions you may have about the Journey. If you have never been to this, I would encourage you to check it out. Be in prayer for Sunday, that God would encounter each of us, that the lost would found, the hurt would be healed, and the weary would find rest.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Surgery Successful

Today was a big day for Kaleb! He finally had his catheter's removed after two years of having them - yeah!! Everything went well for his surgery. He had the tonsils and adenoids removed, plus the tubes placed in the ears. All of those went well! We are staying overnight only for observation to ensure his breathes well while sleeping and we should come home tomorrow. At four years old, Kaleb will have his first official bathtub bath! It is the first time in his life that he hasn't had some type of tubes or catheters preventing him from doing so. We are so excited!

Big Day!

We are about to leave for the Vanderbilt Children's Hospital this morning for Kaleb's surgery. Please keep in your prayers as he has his procedures done. Thanks to all of you - it is great being in community with people that you can truly share life with.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Night On the Town

Tonight was "boys night out" for me and Kaleb. Katrina was at her women's small group tonight, so me and Kaleb made a night out of it. We went and played outside for a while, then proceeded the Chick-fil-a for dinner and playground fun. We topped off the night by visiting both of our's favorite store: Books-A-Million. I read books, he plays with Thomas the Train. It is fun hanging out with Kaleb, you would be amazed at the things that come out of his 4 year old mind and mouth.

Btw, we seen an older teenage girl/young twenty-something with a t-shirt on that said: "If you don't have Jesus, it's hell!" I then proceeded to watch her let a boyfriend or some dude grab her "bum" while they walked down the sidewalk - Jesus, save us from your followers!

I also just spoke with John Griffin who is in Orlando, FL for the Exponential Conference. He just had a chance to listen to Rick Warren, author of the Purpose Driven Life and Pastor of Saddleback Community Church in CA, in a setting with only about 100 people there. Afterwards, he had a chance to speak with him and Rick laid hands on John and prayed for him. That is pretty cool! John said he was going to blog about the experience - John Griffin's BLOG

Top Off the Jeep Kind of Day

It has to be the most beautiful day of the year so far today in the greater Nashville area. I rode around to different appointments and errands with my top off the Jeep and just soaked in the beauty. Oh course, now my face, head, and arms are "fried" - but it was worth it. When is the last time you experienced God just by being in his creation? That time of driving around was the equivalent to a couple hours of prayer or studying the Scriptures for me -- it was that good!

Please remember my son Kaleb tomorrow in your prayers. He is having the full tune-up of surgeries: tonsils, adenoids, tubes in ears, and having catheters removed that are no longer needed. His surgery will be late morning or noonish. We are excited to have all this behind us. He will be able to sleep better, be less congested, and be able to swim in his swimming pool!

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

What Would You Be Willing To Give Up?

This past Sunday we discussed discovering our gifts and abilities that God wants to use to further His Kingdom. We highlighted and talked about Peter being challenged to leave his nets and follow Jesus - Luke 5:1-11. Peter had to leave his fishing business and trust that what he was about to give his life to was worth doing. I imagine there was a level of fear and a big healthy dose of the unknown; however, he chose to give up fishing for perch to fish for men.

Question: What would you be willing to give up to follow Jesus and become everything he wants you to be? What would you lay down in order to see your life maximized to its full potential? What would you sacrifice to help others find the hope that you have discovered?

Perhaps another way to view it...

Question: What are you not willing to give up to allow your life to be used by God to the fullest? What things would you rather hang on to instead of leave behind to follow Jesus? Is there anything that comes between you and God that needs to be done away with?

I want my life to be completely defined by the fact that I say yes to Jesus daily, and leave behind anything not needed for the journey or would keep from making the journey - how about you?

Monday, April 21, 2008

Ignite a Movement Jesus!

Today I wanted to give some props to other bloggers in our Journey community and highlight how God has been working in their lives. The first is the Perry Family; you can hear how their journey led them to be a part of The Journey by visiting their blog: Perry Family BLOG.

The second is Kristi Bode; Kristi and her family are a story of the kind of people we so desperately want at The Journey. Kristi came into relationship with Jesus since being a part of The Journey and her husband Jeff is just at the edge, if not stepping over the line of faith. You can hear their story at Kristi's BLOG.

In addition, other people are telling expressing how God is using The Journey to awaken them to a new life and fresh perspective of Jesus. God is very good. The Journey is about igniting a movement of Jesus. I believe God is raising up a generation, not defined by age, race, or gender, but defined by attitude and heart; they are going be the ones spearheading that movement. May the Journey lead the way!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Weekend Reflections

This week has been a wild and crazy week. I spent Monday through Wednesday in Seattle for a conference on multi-site churches -- I learned a great deal about that subject while there. Saturday I gave two talks at The Ignite Conference, which went really well. Today, we had another great day at The Journey. I'm talking with people every Sunday who are new or only been recently coming, who are expressing just how much God is lighting a fire in them since being a part of The Journey. I do believe God is doing a great work right now in the life of the church and is preparing us for even more than we can imagine.

A lady told me today, "I've never been the type to enjoy going to church, much less on Sunday night and Wednesday night, since attending The Journey, I find myself wishing you guys had Sunday night and Wednesday night, because I'm so hungry for Jesus." Only God!

There are days ahead of us that will require tremendous faith. There will be times when we have to be willing to take big risks. Ultimately, it is all about people finding Jesus and we as a church going to any and every extent outside of sinning to do so. Pray for courageous hearts and that God would continue to send workers for the harvest.

Friday, April 18, 2008

Quote for pondering

I heard a pastor from the state of Washington say this quote this week, "everyone is someone who will spend eternity somewhere."

Just something to think about as you spend time with family and friends this weekend.

I hope to see as many of you as possible at the Ignite Conference tomorrow! Come and be empowered and encouraged to share your faith with the world.

Oh No...They've Put Me on the Radio!

This morning I'm going to be on 94.1 FM The Fish with Robbie Cheuvront, our worship leader @ The Journey and co-founder with me with Ignite Humanity, as the The Journey is the church of the week. We will be on there with their morning DJ's and during the morning drive time audience. We will have a chance to talk about The Journey and what we are about and all that God is doing. We are also going to be able to share about The Ignite Conference that is tomorrow at New Hope Baptist Church from 9am - 4pm. This is just another great opportunity to discuss all that God is doing in the life of our church and the lives that are being changed. Pray we don't make too big a fool of ourselves.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Back in the Swing of things

Today has been kind of a "groggy" head-spinning day. I finally slept good for the first time all week, which actually caused me to wake up dazed and confused. I took off for a meeting with the Tennessee Baptist Convention guys and Clyde Rountree (our Community Outreach Pastor and fellow co-founder of The Journey). We discussed our plans and strategies for having Journey churches all over Middle Tennessee, I think they are excited about partnering with us. Clyde and I returned to my house where we sat and talked about what kind of journey it has been the last several years and how good God has been.

Kaleb and I are about to head to the go-kart/putt-putt/driving range center and have some father/son time together. I've got to work the rust off my back swing and give the "wild man" a ride around the go-kart track. God is good!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Going to Bed - Central Time

We made it home safe late this afternoon and I've enjoyed spending the night with my family watching American Idol. I ate a great home-cooked dinner for the fist time all week tonight - my wife impressed me tonight with that meal! I have got some serious information, brain switching overload going on right now! This conference gave so much insight into multiple site churches and we had opportunities to speak directly to pastors who are doing it first hand and are having tremendous success. I will share over the course of time a lot of the things we learned. For now, I'm about to pull a Rumpelstiltskin and get my sleep on. I will post tomorrow, for tonight - I sleep!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Starbucks, Muslims, and Coming Home

Most of you are aware that I've been in Seattle since Monday for a conference to learn more about multiple-site churches. Outside of the valuable information and tools learned as a result of the conference, there are a couple of other things I learned I believe are worth mentioning.

#1 Starbucks (my second home) was founded in Seattle -- but did you know yours truly actually taught a couple of Starbucks workers about the "Red Eye"? The "Red Eye" is a cup of coffee with a shot of espresso. There is also the "Black Eye" - two shots, and the the "Jet Eye" - three shots of espresso in the coffee (only get one of these if you plan on staying up for 48 hours straight). These are not very known in the public and not found on the menu, but the true "Starbuckers" know about these. Apparently, a few of Starbucks very own, in Seattle, did not - and I taught them.

#2 Would you believe me if I told you that their are Muslims who know more about Christianity than Christians? They do...at least the taxi driver who drove us to our hotel yesterday evening did. He was a Muslim man from Egypt - extremely nice and conversational. He asked about why we had been at the church and then asked if we were Christians. We told him yes and then he asked us a couple of questions (I was thinking uh-oh!). Each of his questions were asked to see if we knew the answers, not because he was seeking answers to things he had been pondering.
His first question was: where was Jesus raised as a toddler? The answer is Egypt, which is why we found out he was from there. This led to some dialogue with him about his home town and history of Egypt. He then asked, why was Jesus in Egypt for? The answer I told him was because of the news the prophets in Judea were sharing, that a King of the Jews had been born. This prompted the leading officials to start killing off thousands of babies in an effort to kill the supposed newly born king. Joseph and Mary then fled to Egypt with Jesus for refuge - this is all from Matthew 2. The Muslim man then asked his third and final question: was it the Romans who were responsible for trying to kill Jesus? The answer is no, it was Herod, the Jewish ruling king, under the authority of the Roman Empire who wanted the babies killed. Another supposed Jewish king was a threat to his kingship and power - another reference to Matthew 2. The Egyptian Muslim man expressed how impressed he was at my knowledge of the Scriptures and history, because he said, "most Christians don't know very much about their Christianity" -- ouch! Unfortunately, I couldn't disagree with him. I enjoyed my conversation with this man and pray a Muslim loving Christian somewhere in Seattle will invest in a relationship with this guy and be used by God to bring this man into relationship with Jesus, not just a knowledge of him.

I'm leaving for the airport right now - it is 4:30am Seattle time, 6:30am Nashville time and I'll be arriving back home this afternoon. Be praying for me and Kim, that our flight would be smooth, and we return home safely. I can't wait to see Katrina and Kaleb.

10 Questions I'm Asking Myself

After an incredible two days at this conference in Seattle, which is a continuation of the regeneration Jesus has already began in me lately, there are many questions that I'm wrestling with -- questions I believe should be at the heart of all followers of Jesus.

#1 What is the church? Is my church everything Jesus gave his life for?

#2 Will I operate my life around fear or faith? (this is in all areas of my life)

#3 Is my heart breaking more and more for the things that break God's?

#4 Am I willing to risk everything for the sake of Christ?

#5 Am I willing to look foolish for the sake of Christ?

#6 Is my church safe enough for lost people to come, but dangerous enough to change their lives?

#7 Am I willing and is my church willing to be all things, to all people, so that BY ALL MEANS POSSIBLE I/We might save some? (1 Corinthians 9:19-23)

#8 Am I willing to stop being a people pleaser and become a people lover, so that I may become a GOD PLEASER?

#9 Am I willing to lose control and let the church get messy if means people discover Jesus?

#10 Am I obsessed with reaching lost people? Am I willing to go to any extent outside of sin to reach them?

We should ask ourselves these questions with earnest desire to hear Jesus speak his heart to us.

Ignite Conference on Saturday


Just a quick note of reminder: the Ignite Conference 2008 is this Saturday at New Hope Baptist Church in Hermitage, TN. This is going to be an inspiring event and well worth giving your day to. There will be a lot of worship, a lot of practical tools for sharing your faith, and a lot of encouragement to go out and live on mission with God. Please register at Ignite Humanity's website if you have not signed up yet for the conference. Prices are $29 per individual and $19 per groups of five.

I'm off to another day at the conference, pray it will be just as insightful as yesterday. I'll post more tonight.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Drinking from a Fire Hose

It is the end of an extremely long day. I woke up at 3:30am to catch a 6am flight to Seattle for the Multi-site Conference that Kim Working and I are attending. We have learned an immense amount already today from these churches and pastors who are on the front lines of the multi-site movement. There are many new ideas we are learning and many confirmations to things we are already doing and planning. The content is so rich and so plentiful that it is like drinking from a fire hose -- you can't possibly take in all the great content being dispensed. Our prayer has been that we would hear the things that God is showing us for our context. Tomorrow we finish the conference at 4pm and we are thinking of taking in a Seattle Mariners game to top the trip off. We return Wednesday afternoon back to Nashville and will hit the ground running again in regards to activating The Journey's multi-site mission. I will post tomorrow about the different things we are hearing discussed at the conference and from its attendees. God is doing great things all over the country and we are all a part of that as part of the local church. I'm going to bed! Talk to you all later.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Sunday Evening Reflections

Once again, another great day at the Journey. Today in our worship gathering we had several movements going on in the lives of people, including people surrendering their lives to Christ. Today was also Compassion Sunday. We had over 15 children sponsored by The Journey - that puts us over 30 as a church, unbelievable! Jesus has been lifted up and glorified and the Spirit has been moving people closer to God as a result. Our God is Mighty to Save, and many are experiencing that first hand in a powerful way. Man it is exciting!

I went and watched Alex Perry's (a member of The Journey) hockey game tonight at Centennial Sportsplex and now I want to play hockey...how would I look preaching with a missing tooth? We'll see how that develops...

I'm leaving for Seattle in the morning - 6am flight...ouch! I'm heading up there to attend a conference on multi-site churches with an elder from The Journey. We are hoping to learn a lot of good things to help the Journey avoid pitfalls and mistakes on our journey to become one church that meets in multiple locations. Be praying for us - we return Wednesday evening.

Next time you read a BLOG from me, it will be from Seattle, WA. Talk to you then. Journey Church...it is a pleasure being on the journey with you - you rock!

Saturday, April 12, 2008

Sleep in Day

Every now and again, I'll get an opportunity to sleep in - today was one of those days. Kaleb spent the night at his Gi-Gi's house last night, so Katrina and I were able to sleep in and not get up to give him medications. I don't get to sleep in often, but when I do, I feel guilty. I feel like there are things I should be doing. Does anyone else ever feel this way? I'm realizing that there will always be something to do, but if you don't find time to rest it will catch up with you eventually. I feel very rested today...I haven't even had my first cup of coffee yet!

I look forward to tomorrow at The Journey. If you are a Journey person, say a prayer for tomorrow's service and ask God to touch people's lives. I may read a book today or go do the unthinkable...workout at the gym. See you all tomorrow.

Friday, April 11, 2008

This Weekend @ The Journey

This weekend at The Journey we are concluding our three week series we've been doing entitled: Mission Possible. We've been discussing how we are to accomplish this task God has given us to share hope and the gospel of Jesus to the world. We wrap up this week with the topic: Our Role as Individuals. The previous two weeks we explored God's Heart for the World and The Church's Mission to the World. Each of those weeks have been very powerful Sunday's in the life of The Journey. Many people are experiencing change in their lives and receiving the love and hope that only Jesus Christ can offer. Others are taking notice of their role and responsibility in embracing the task of sharing that hope with others. This week, I hope the challenge will thrust us out to become the people that we must become to reach the world around us.

I hope to see you all at 10am! Come a little early for some coffee and early worship.
Also, check out today's leadership study @ Jesus on Leadership.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

We Didn't Meet in a Strip Joint

Yesterday, I had the privilege to speak to the faculty of Rutland Elementary School, future home of The Journey @ Providence. I was given the opportunity to cast the vision of The Journey to this group of teachers and share a small bit of our story with them. I began by thanking them for the opportunity to share with them and be at their meeting. I then proceeded to introduce myself and the others from the Journey who were present. Then, I launched into the creation story of the Journey and told them, "we started in a strip center on Hwy 109." The entire room of teachers, all women minus one, erupted in uncontrollable laughter. I kind of looked around smiling not knowing what hilarious joke I had just told, and I even wondered if my fly was unzipped. Someone then pointed out to me that they had gotten a kick out of how I said it, because it came across as me saying we met in a "strip joint".

Needless to say, it was a great meeting with the faculty. They like to joke and have fun, and I'm glad I was able to provide some end of the day humor. I went on to tell them about our plans to meet there as one church in multiple locations, but I emphasized more than anything that we desire to serve them and establish a relationship with the school that would be of great value. When I was finished, they all clapped and were excited about The Journey coming to their school. I anticipate a great relationship with this school and its faculty; however, WE DIDN'T MEET IN A STRIP CENTER!

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Jesus on Leadership

In light of yesterday's post about leaders growing at the pace the church is growing, if not faster, I've started a second BLOG solely dedicated to the subject of leadership. Instead of me trying to give all of my leadership wisdom nuggets daily (which would probably run out very quickly), I will focus on the leadership lessons that can be learned from the greatest leader that ever lived...Jesus. I will study the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and post examples of Jesus' leadership genius and how we can learn about our own leadership from his example. Jesus of Nazareth put on a leadership clinic in which the world will never witness again. He mastered the art of casting vision, building teams, creating ownership, encouraging, rebuking, seeing his leadership legacy live beyond himself (2,000 years and counting), and many other leadership essentials.

You can check out that BLOG here by clicking on the Jesus On Leadership daily under the My Other BLOG subtitle to the right. I will update this daily along with my main BLOG here at Savage Generation.

I hope you journey with me on this leadership study of Jesus and allow for it to shape the leader you are becoming.

By the way, hats off to the Tennessee Lady Vols basketball team for winning their second consecutive National Championship and eighth total - maybe the men's team will get one in the near future.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Leadership Must Rise

The more I see God moving among The Journey and growing our congregation numerically and spiritually, the more I'm recognizing the need for leadership to grow with it. I think a problem that often exists in churches is that those who start in positions of leadership, paid and volunteer, often let their spiritual growth get stunted rather than continuing to grow along with the church. As God grows the church, leaders must be growing at the same pace, if not faster. When leaders fail to continue growing at the pace of the church, they become irrelevant, and begin leading out of last year's or previous year's spiritual growth. Once this has happened, they will fail to be able to offer a fresh wind of God's Spirit to those they lead, they will not be able lead people where they themselves are not willing to go. What happens when a lot of leaders quit growing in their relationship with God is it begins to stunt the church's growth -- because the people who are suppose to be hearing God's voice and leadings are simply position fillers, not being led by the Spirit. The leadership of the church must rise, will you? Will I? If we are not willing to rise, God will raise up the needed leaders to advance His Kingdom into the future. I desire to be on the train as it moves forward, how about you?

Here are some recommendations:

#1 - Evaluate how much time your spending with God in the Scriptures and in prayer versus XBox, Playstation, the Internet, or other time theifs

#2 - Make the needed adjustments to rearrange your time to allow for more time with God

#3 - Ask yourself if your willing to do what is necessary to continue leading as God raises the stakes and raises the bar upon which leadership must operate

#4 - Find another leader or leaders that want accountability in this arena (iron sharpens iron)

#5 - Pray the dangerous prayer of asking God to give you an insatiable hunger for His presence, His Word, and His Spirit

Monday, April 7, 2008

Continued Thoughts ...

I have received an overwhelming response to yesterday's message from many people who were touched by God. This subject of suicide and the hopelessness that exists in our world today is something that resonated with many people at our Catalyst gathering. Many have responded by sharing that they know people who have committed suicide or have themselves been at a place before where they have contemplated it. We must keep in mind that everyone we pass may be the very person God has brought across our path for the purpose of bringing encouragement and hope. What can you do this week to extend a personal encouragement to someone?

By the way, who wins the Men's NCAA Championship tonight -- Kansas or Memphis? I'm going for Memphis, you've got to keep it in state.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

Sunday Evening Reflections

Another great Sunday! We had a pastor's lunch again after church and spent the afternoon with some families from The Journey...this church is full of great people. There is a different atmosphere beginning to emerge at The Journey. We are becoming more sensitive to God's movement during our Catalyst service on Sunday's and people are responding to the promptings of the Holy Spirit like never before since the church opened. Today's sermon was really more about what God is teaching me and how he is making me more aware of his heart than ever before in my life. I pray for all of those who are struggling with finding hope for the situations that have invaded their lives -- the world needs Jesus and the hope he brings so bad! Let us be the church and people who are willing to be the hands and feet of our Savior to those around us daily.

Because God decided the sermon needed to be different this week after the encounter I had, I didn't use the power point that had been built. So...I have posted some bullet-points of the sermon today on the Church's Mission to the world:

#1 - the church is not a building, the church is the people

#2 - the church is not here to meet our preferences and needs, we are the church, here to meet the needs of a lost and broken world

#3 - there is a world of people full of hurt and pain around us...they are the majority of the people we encounter daily, not the minority (Issac's story)

#4 - read Luke 17:11-19 (allow the reality that Jesus healed ten and only one returned to give thanks set in...Jesus didn't "qualify" their worthiness before healing them, and he probably knew not all would be grateful and some would probably use him)

#5 - God has challenged me about never being caught up in being busy that I miss an opportunity to share hope with people who need it, and to be willing to help people despite the fact that some may simply be using me - because that is more like the heart of God than someone who very selectively qualifies who is worthy of help, hope, and love

To top the evening off, we went to small group tonight, but it didn't go quite as well as we had planned - read my wife's blog to catch the story.

Saturday, April 5, 2008

Saturday Pancakes

This morning we are going as a family to Friendship Christian's Pancake Breakfast. We are going to have some breakfast with friends from The Journey and then Kaleb and I are going to his friend's house to play.

I'm really looking forward to tonight when the Men's Final 4 begins. North Carolina versus Kansas and Memphis versus UCLA -- it is a coin toss as to who is going to win those games.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Wake-up Call

Yesterday was one of those days in which God moments were occurring left and right. The first one happened when I met with the Tennessee Baptist Convention church planting guy about The Journey planting the new campus in Providence. They have restructured how they do funding and what the qualifications are. Without giving numbers, so that I don't build up an expectation that doesn't happen, The Journey sits positioned to receive a substantial amount of money toward the Providence campus plant. We have to submit a funding proposal by the first Monday in May, that is when they will review and reward funding. God is so good!

The second God moment happened yesterday when I got a phone call from an individual asking about whether or not people who commit suicide go to heaven -- six hours later when I left meeting with him, God had shook me to the core, and put my heart through the spin cycle. Be at The Journey on Sunday 10am to tune in to who this guy was and what happened in our time together. The topic for Sunday is: The Church's Mission to the World.

God is good. His love for us goes beyond belief. Be sure today that you allow his love to shine through you to the world that is in disarray around you. You never know who may be watching and needs it.

Thursday, April 3, 2008

I'm Willing to be the Guinea Pig

I have fully recovered from my day of moving junk around the house and painting my son's room -- it actually wasn't that bad, I'm just not used to slowing down that abruptly in the middle of the week. Yesterday I mentioned a meeting I had in Brentwood with a company called A Group. They specialize in helping churches produce solid "brands" for lack of better words -- they help create a church's image to the outside world, so that they can get them to become a part of the inside world. In addition, they work on developing websites, marketing pieces, Sunday morning programs, and other literature the church uses. Their idea is that everything you can control in developing the image people have of you, you better take advantage of it. Churches from all over the country are flying in to meet with this company and those using their services are finding major success. I was able to hit it off with the CEO of the company and he gave a lot of "uncharged" advise to me about our situation at The Journey. It was a very insightful and energizing meeting.

I am heading to Brentwood again today (...I'm spending a lot of time their huh?) to meet with the head of Middle Tennessee church planting to discuss The Journey's move to being a multi-site church. The Tennessee Baptist Convention is researching this phenomenon and are looking to learn more about it. It's possible that The Journey could be a pilot church for them to study our movements and track our successes and failures. Of course, if they are willing to fund us to ensure a better success rate I'd be willing to be a Guinea pig. :)

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

A One-Day Sabbatical

I promised my wife today that I would help do some spring cleaning, namely getting all The Journey gear out of our house and over to our new offices which will be in the donated house we got. I've also promised to finish painting my son's room...I hate painting! I promised no work, including Blackberry emails, phone calls, and all that good stuff. I may get in trouble for blogging, but it wasn't mentioned so I'm going for it. Upon publishing this I will be knee deep in work around our house. So if you read this, say a quick prayer that I could at least have some good prayer time and reflection today while moving stuff around and painting.

Tomorrow I will post about the tremendous meeting I had with the CEO of A Group, a company out of Brentwood that works with churches all over the country and website development, marketing strategies, and creative solutions for the church. This guy was genius. Tune in tomorrow...

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

Open Doors

I wanted to share with everyone how God is opening some amazing doors right now for The Journey. Last week, a conversation with the Principal of Rutland Elementary, future home of The Journey @ Providence, led to many opportunities for outreach within the school and community at large. The principal was so thrilled about our coming that the following opportunities opened up:

1. I get to go next week to the faculty meeting of 84 Rutland teachers and administrators and cast the vision of The Journey to them about how we desire to serve the school by partnering with them.

2. The Journey will have the opportunity to serve and work at their Talent Shows that are on May 2nd and May 5th. May 2nd is on a Friday night, parents of children will be flooding the school for that event. (NOTE: This is just over two weeks away from Preview Service #1 on May 18th)

3. We have been given the go ahead to post Journey news and events in the school newsletter and have been given permission to hang a sign on fence in front of the school whenever we are ready.

The doors that God is opening serves as more evidence that we are moving in the direction that he is leading. We must continue seeking out those doors and having the courage and fortitude to walk through them.