Sunday, August 31, 2008

Sunday Reflections

There are many things going on right now in the life of The Journey. We will be launching the two new campuses in the next couple of months and need for each family to begin praying about which campus you plan on attending. It is exciting to think about how God is going reach people through our efforts in the days ahead. We also have a goal to raise $40,000 within the church to provide the resources needed to expand to these new campuses. This goal is not gigantic, but it will take as many people as possible to accomplish it.

Don't forget to continue inviting friends to join us on Sunday mornings. Ask God to reveal to you those people that you are to be investing in. Also, if you are looking for the next step of involvement, you need to find a small group. Small groups are the environments that you will learn more about following Christ and join with others who are desiring the same.

Special Note: Be in prayer for the families and people who are in the path of Hurricane Gustav. The last thing Louisiana needs is another giant storm to trounce it. Let's join in asking God to diminish the storm before it reaches land.

Friday, August 29, 2008

Football Time

Lee Corso and Kirk Herbstreit's voices are being heard. Fantasy football teams have been drafted and way overrated by their owners. All this means...football season has arrived! Our nation runs on football. I'm excited about all the possibilities and match ups this season. The cool thing about this point of the season is that every one's team has a chance. There is hope and anticipation about what your team might do.

The challenge I have for everyone: Let the excitement for what Jesus has done and is doing in our lives be as active as our football fever. Let our excitement for game day be an excitement that we also see when we show up for worship gatherings on Sundays. Lives are being radically changed by the power of God. It is an exciting season ahead of us. The fall is a great time of year. But there is equally exciting things happening in the Kingdom of God as well. This is going to be a great ministry season for the Journey this fall.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Scriptures that Speak to Me

It has been a while since I've posted any Scriptures that speak to me. These are just passages that have spoken to me throughout or at different portions of my life. The Scripture I'm posting today has recently become a favorite of mine. I have probably read it many times throughout my life, but it has spoke even clearer to me lately.

John 7:16-18 NLT
16 So Jesus told them, “My message is not my own; it comes from God who sent me. 17 Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own. 18 Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.

This has become the gauge upon which my messages are formed and prepared. My prayer has always been that God would speak through me, but lately I'm constantly asking myself if I'm seeking to speak what God wants or my own ideas. I think a problem that exists in the church in our country is that too many preachers are preaching to glorify themselves instead of the one who's ideas they are to be sharing. The day in which I seek to honor myself by sharing my ideas and quit seeking to share God's message is the day I need to step down. This passage is written on a piece of paper in my office for me to see constantly. I hope that it may somehow speak to you as well.

Starbucks Boycott


On my last day of orientation at Vanderbilt on Friday I parked at Starbucks across the street. I had got a cup of coffee and walked across the street to complete my orientation. While there, I met a guy that I really connected with and we talked about ministry and many different things. Toward the end of the day we decided to skip out on the last session and because he lives in Hermitage I told him I would give him a lift. When we got to Starbucks parking lot I quickly noticed that my Jeep was not there. I had been towed. Starbucks towed me. The cafe that takes so much of my money took even more. We had to catch a ride to the tow company and then I took him home. It cost me $65 to get my car out.

When I got home and told Katrina, she suggested that I boycott Starbucks $65 worth. At first I didn't think I had it in me, but after some thinking, I believe that is exactly what I need do. So, since Friday, I haven't touched Starbucks, a.k.a. St. Arbucks. The plan is to drink $65 worth of coffee somewhere else before going back. It is my small way of getting justice and vindication.

Question: Have any of you ever been towed? This was a first for me and I felt violated. If so, tell me your story.

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Just Imagine...

Just imagine if these new campuses are able to reflect the movement and momentum that we have experienced in the last several months

Just imagine if we were to go from ministering to roughly 170 adults/kids weekly to 450 adults/kids weekly in a matter of months

Just imagine Sundays where 100's are giving their lives to Christ and are being baptized

Just imagine a church in which people who are de-churched or have never been come to encounter the Living God

Just imagine the number of broken marriages that will be made whole as a result of The Journey coming to them

Just imagine God raising up several full-time ministers from within our body as a result of tasting what it's like to serve God

Just imagine the Journey being a church that influences churches throughout the nation

Just imagine that first Sunday we have three campuses operating and the excitement and anticipation we are going to have

Just imagine how God is going to change your life as a result of being a part of this movement

Just imagine if the numbers I'm projecting are undershooting what God plans to do and He blows our minds!

Take some time today and this week to just imagine the possibilities...I am pumped!

Monday, August 25, 2008

Campus Plans

There are still many moving parts to figure out regarding our launch of two new campuses in the near future. We have some targeted dates this fall that will require us to gage where resources are and how things are shaping up. Right now, we do have our strategy for how we will launch these campuses. We are going to be taking a staggered services approach to successfully launching these new campuses. We believe this will allow us the maximum momentum going into these new areas. It will look like this:

Providence Campus: Sunday 9am

West Campus: Sunday 11am

Hartsville Campus: Sunday 6pm

Each of the services will be identical services so that all campuses are learning and progressing at the same pace. Robbie and the band will lead worship at each location and I will be the primary communicator at each campus as well. The role of the campus pastors will be to shepherd and minister to the people on an individual basis that come to their campuses. They will be responsible for leading teams at their campus, overseeing small groups assimilation, and for overall campus development and growth. As we continue to grow and progress at each campus, there will obviously be other changes and new strategies implemented; however, we believe this gives us the best potential for success as we begin.

We (the elders) need to know which campus you and your family are planning on making your home campus. Obviously you would be free to go to any of the campuses, but we are trying to gage how the numbers are going to shake up at each place so that we can begin to look at developing leadership teams at each place. There will be a letter sent to everyone this week that will have a card in it. The card will ask which campus you are prayerfully considering to attend. Please fill this out and turn it in on Sunday. This information prepares us to be successful as we move forward. Exciting times are ahead.

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Sunday Reflections

It was a good day today. We had two very good crowds for the services. It seems like the message came across, but it wasn't without difficulty. I will be the first to admit that today's topic was not the most glamorous or popular. There probably aren't many Sunday's you wake up saying, "I can't wait to get to church today...I hope he is talking about fasting!" Maybe you do, but I highly doubt it...I sure don't. I did feel that I was preaching exactly what God wanted me to speak today. There is a difference between preaching what people want to hear and what God wants you to say. I felt today was a day that wasn't going to be fun to preach, but it was necessary to get people where God wants them.

Points to remember about today:
* the Cone Shell marine snail is one bad dude!

* Scriptural fasting is: abstaining from food or certain types of food for a period of time for spiritual purposes...sorry...fasting TV and XBox doesn't count

* Jesus mentioned fasting as part of the three chord group of things that people who follow God would do - when you give..., when you pray..., when you fast...(Matthew 6)

* The reason we don't fast is because of King Stomach and his rule in our lives

* We eat away the blessings of God

* fasting brings: things to the surface that control us, balance to our lives, healthier bodies, effectiveness in our prayer lives, guidance for decisions, and revelation

* primary purpose of fasting: acknowledging that God is our source of life, nourishment, and sustenance

* when we fast it is as if we were in continuous prayer

* desire to experience the Blesser more than the blessing

* If you want to discover more of God through fasting, just do it. Start slowly and progress how long you fast. There is never a convenient time to fast!!

NOTE:
Tomorrow I will lay out some details about the future of the Journey and our new campuses...invite someone to the blog to see it. Everyone else in the church will receive a letter on Tuesday or Wednesday describing those details. All I can say for now is: HOLD ON TIGHT...HERE WE GO!

Friday, August 22, 2008

Spiritual Community or Social Club

A question popped into my mind this morning: what makes the relationships at church different than all the other relationships we share? Just for the record, I'm not one of those guys who believes in having your "church" friends and your "real" friends. I have discovered that my friends are my friends, some go to church and others do not. My question centers around the discussions being had between friends who call themselves followers of Jesus and those who don't. If I was to give my honest assessment, I believe the church, which is a spiritual community, often ends up being no different than a social club.

Let's face it, we can have conversations all day long about the weather, our kids, the latest development in Titans camp, the presidential race, and many other things. We seem to be able to carry a conversation about Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie better than we can about the condition of our hearts. We don't often have much to say about the bitterness, jealously, envy, hate, lack of forgiveness, lust, pride, fear, and other things that too often fill our hearts. The church, and more importantly, the relationships in the church, are to be full of transparency so that we can lift each other up when we fall. It's OK to enjoy being with church people and having conversations outside of what Jesus has done for you. My fear is that we have that conversation all too often, and forfeit the closeness and realness gained from authenticity with each other. There is a big deficit in the number of conversations Christians are having that pertain to spiritual matters and growing.

This is why it's important to be in a small group on a regular basis. If you are not in a small group, find a 20/20/20 group to be a part of. Even beyond groups, there is a need to transition some of our close friendships to allow for more spiritual conversation to occur. There is too much at stake for us to not have others helping us along the journey. We have to allow conversations to take us into the presence of God so that we can grow together. You will be amazed when you being to engage in meaningful conversations just how much WE ALL struggle. Next time you are spending lots of time with people from church, ask yourself the question: is this a spiritual community or a social club? When you discover the answer, do something about it. Be the person who shifts the culture.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

A New Journey Begins

Today I begin a new journey in my life. I start my Master's program at Vanderbilt today. I have orientation and registration for classes all day long. This evening will be a class reception and dinner. Two thoughts are swirling around my head:

1. How did I fool Vanderbilt into accepting me?

2. What level of focus and commitment is this going to require of me?

This program will grow me and challenge me in great ways. Completing this program is going to open many opportunities and doors for me in the future. More importantly, I believe I'm going here for more than a piece of paper; I believe I'm going to Vanderbilt because their are leaders and individuals there that God desires for me to encounter and invest in. There are going to be some kingdom warriors that I'm going to partner with as a result of this...I'm believing that with all my heart.

I know it is going to be difficult. I truly believe God has ordained this season for me, but I know it is going to require extreme focus. Pray that I would be wise with my time and confident in myself as I embark on this new part of my life.

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Book Review: Wild Goose Chase



I've never met Mark Batterson before, but after reading his new book Wild Goose Chase, I feel we are kindred spirits and men with the same heart beat. The theme of his new book is on reclaiming the adventure of pursuing God by following the lead of the Holy Spirit in our lives. The title of the book reflects the Celtic Christians and their name for the Holy Spirit - An Geadh-Glas, or "the Wild Goose." Mark uses this theme of chasing the Wild Goose as the backdrop for exploring how to live on a radical journey with Jesus and why we often settle for a complacent religious experience instead.

The book is structured to look at six cages that keep us from engaging in the life that God desires for us to live. Those six cages are: the cage of responsibility, the cage of routine, the cage of assumptions, the cage of guilt, the cage of failure, and the cage of fear. Mark takes biblical characters and traces their steps of chasing the Wild Goose to show how we can break free from each cage. Mark's strength as a writer is that he is able to communicate profound truths with simplicity. His conversational writing allows for the reader to easily follow where he is leading and to grasp the content being shared. Mark uses humor and personal story to help make the connections to the points he is communicating. This makes the book a very easy read.

Wild Goose Chase is a great book for those seeking to understand how to live a more vibrant faith. This book is not designed to answer deep theological questions or as a model for having a successful church. This book is intended to serve as a catalyst for breaking out of the rut of religion and into the adventure of relationship with God. I believe Mark delivers on his intentions of writing such a book. He challenges the status quo of Christianity and dares to believe that there is something much deeper waiting to be found. In Mark's own words: This book is about more than you and me experiencing spiritual adventure. In fact, this book is not about you at all. It's a book about the Author and Perfecter of our faith, who wants to write His-story through your life. And if you read through Scripture, you'll discover that His favorite genre is action-adventure (Wild Goose Chase, pg.11).

I highly recommend the book for those who desire to begin living that action-adventure. The challenge is great, but the reward is greater. The book is available for purchase at all major book distributors, including Amazon. I am also giving away a free copy of the book. If you would like the free copy, simply leave a comment on the blog expressing why you desire to "chase the goose" in deeper ways in your life and I will choose one person to send the book to. The book is 174 pages long and published by Multnomah. If you would like to learn more about the book or Mark, visit: www.chasethegoose.com or www.markbatterson.com

Mark Batterson is the lead pastor of Washington, D.C.'s, National Community Church, widely recognized as one of America's most innovative churches. Mark is the author of the bestselling In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day and a widely read blogger. He lives on Capitol Hill with his wife, Lora, and their three children.

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Details Coming Soon!

Well, we believe we have our battle plan together for launching these two new campuses in Providence and Hartsville. It has been since February that we have been praying through details, finding leaders, and getting a strategy for success together. This week I will be sending out a letter to the church outlining the details of our strategy for these new campuses. I will release the information here on the blog first the day before the letter goes out - so tune in.

Snippets I can share now:
* You could attend each campus in a single weekend if you desired

* Teaching and worship will be the same at each campus that it is at the current campus

* It is going to require us to get some financial resources together to make it happen

* It is going to take a sacrifice of time and service to make it happen

* It is going to be amazing

* The campuses will be launched sooner rather than later

Stay tuned for the details in full in the next couple of days!

Monday, August 18, 2008

The Summit Church

God is doing some amazing things right now in the life of The Journey. People are finding Christ, we are about to launch two new locations, and many other great things are happening in the lives of people. These things are awesome, but there is still more to be excited about. The Journey is a mother/partnering church to The Summit Church that is planting in Seymour, TN (just outside of BIG ORANGE COUNTRY). They have been doing preview services on Saturday nights and things are really coming together for them.

I want to put out a challenge for the Savage Generation blog readers. I want you to consider how you can be a part of supporting and backing this new church start. Though we don't live close to them, it doesn't mean we can't be behind them in prayer and in things we could help with. For example, many of us here go out to eat at restaurants on a regular basis, but what if you took the money from one meal and decided to bless this church by offering them a resource. Pastor Bryan McKnight would be grateful, but more importantly, you would joining God in His mission to reach the people of Seymour. To help them out, look at their Wal-Mart Registry list and see if there are items you wouldn't mind assisting them to purchase.

God is working all over our great state. We have the privilege to not only be the church here in our region, but to help ignite a Jesus movement in Seymour as well.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Sunday Reflections

Let me begin by saying...WOW! God are you kidding me! Today was one of those days in which I say, "Thank you God that I get to be a part of this!"

What an amazing day today at The Journey. God continues to pour out His presence and favor on this church and these people. I get excited to think that we have not seen what all He desires to continue doing through our church. Do you have people in your lives that you should be inviting to church? Bring them! God is encountering people in ways I've never been a part of in all my life. We are witnessing people who have been far from God run to Him and others who have been playing it safe with God become DANGEROUS people!

The final number of people baptized today at church was 9
. That's right...2 scheduled baptisms and 9 people end up getting baptized. Today we seen men in their late forties weeping come forward to be baptized. We seen a husband and wife duo come forward. We seen many people who wanted to be baptized today because they had never been baptized upon accepting Jesus as their Lord and King. We seen people who were baptized as youth, but never understood what they were doing and they wanted to do it right. Praise be to God! He is at work in our midst and He wants to blow our minds with what is to come. We have had nearly 30 professions of faith and baptisms over the last three months -- that is a God thing.

Before leaving today, a friend approached me that has a gift of prophecy. This is a very mature follower of Christ and doesn't walk around wielding his prophecy sword around trying to say, "thus sayeth the Lord." But he did approach me today and said that God has shared with him, "this is only the tip of the iceberg...get ready!" I say, "Come Lord Jesus, Come!"

Continue praying big prayers Journey Church. Listen to the voice of our Great Shepherd and obey Him. Our prayers become more in line with His will as we simply follow His lead. I love being your pastor. I love where God is leading us. I love to dream of what the next several months are going to look like.

Click here to watch Week One of the DNA series: Repentance. This week's message and baptism videos should be up by mid-week.

Friday, August 15, 2008

This Weekend @ The Journey

When I pray, does God really hear me?

Does it matter if I pray?

Does praying change me or God or both?

What about unanswered prayers?

How can prayer become more transforming in my life?

How do I avoid just going through empty motions with prayer?

Should I just quit praying?

We will address these questions and more this weekend at the Journey, the answers may surprise you. Invite a friend. Come prepared for a entire new perspective on prayer.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Videos

Videos of sermons are now working on our new website. We are still making changes and fixing glitches, but we are excited about the new website. If you want to invite friends to The Journey, give them a taste of what to expect by sending them to the web. They can watch the sermons online.

Here is Week 4 of the War Zone series: Living as Conquerors

Stay tuned in the next day or so for last week's message on repentance.

Wild Goose Chase

I'm reading a book by Pastor Mark Batterson from National Community Church right now. I've been asked to read the book and do a blog book review. It is part of the promotional tour for the release on August 19th. I will have the opportunity to give away a copy to someone on the blog as well.

As I have been reading Wild Goose Chase, I quickly realized there are some very intellectually and spiritually stimulating topics discussed. I would like to share one quick tidbit now before I do the "official" blog book review.

Inverted Christianity: trying to get God to serve your purposes instead of you serving His purposes.

In what ways and in what areas of your life have you been living "inverted Christianity?"

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Caption Please


I want to test your creativity. I'm going to try and post a photo every week and have you create your own caption for the photo.

My caption for this week: Publix's New Grocery Delivery Service

Your turn!

Blessings Continue

Yesterday Shawn Allen and I had the opportunity to meet up with the Bledsoe Baptist Association leader and talk about the vision of the Journey. He is the director of all baptist churches in Sumner, Trousdale, and Macon Counties. We discussed our dreams of what could happen in Hartsville and he was absolutely fired up. He is going to make resources available to us (financial, administrative, training, etc.).

We are continuing to find many doors opening as we seek accomplish the mission God has given us. We are getting closer to having some details ironed out concerning timing, strategy, and meeting locations and times. Stay tuned for more details.

Question for feedback:
Would you prefer the new campuses be called The Journey or would you be open/more inclined to them being called something else (exp: Hartsville Community Church)? Or do you not care one way or the other? I'd love to get your thoughts.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Catch Up

It has been a crazy 4-5 days for me. I've done two weddings, preached our Catalyst service, trying to get my master's program stuff together, had a jammed packed family day, and now I've got a week full of meetings and more talks to get done. I love my job, but I've been busy. Here's the run-down:

Sunday Reflections:

* Joey and Marcella's wedding from the night before was incredible. Night weddings that are outside are my new favorite. Beautiful ceremony and lots of fun.

* We had some chaos before the fist service. A teacher at West was at the school trying to load things off the stage into her trailer. This prevented the set-up team from getting our stuff in. We were pushing all the way to the 9am start time to get ready.

* I felt good about the sermon. We didn't see a lot of movement during the reflective times, but I had many people approach me afterward asking questions and sharing how it spoke to them. I could also tell from facial expressions that many people were wrestling with some things.

* I thought the video of Amber and Trent during the service was very well done. Great job to Robbie for bringing that together at the quality it was. Thanks Amber and Trent for the transparency and willingness to share your own story of repentance.

* Sunday night was yet another wedding. I married Amber and Trent poolside at my house. It was perhaps the most fun I've had at a wedding. These two weddings were the best of all the weddings I've attended or conducted.

Family Day:
Yesterday was family day and Kaleb's first day of school. He loved it. Katrina and I stayed since it was only two hours the first day. We hung out on the bench outside the room and chatted. Afterward we went and had lunch together and went to Kaleb's favorite spot: Pump it Up! We went home to swim after that and Katrina and I went and worked out at the Y a couple hours later. That evening I had a softball game in which we lost both games...again. I did however hit two home runs in the cause...that felt pretty cool.

The Fun Continues:
Today Shawn Allen and I are heading to Hartsville to meet up with the director of the baptist association in that area. We are casting the vision of The Journey coming to that area. There is potential funding we can get from this association. They are excited about the Journey coming.

I've got several other meetings and I have to find some time for study in there as well. We've got small group this evening with a great group of folks. We really enjoy our group. It is going to be another packed week, but God is doing some amazing things in our midst. This Sunday we talk about: Prayer. We will also be baptizing some folks...don't miss it.

Friday, August 8, 2008

Joining God on Mission

Presence ~ Perspective ~ Purposes

Our God is a God who is on a mission. He is constantly in pursuit of humanity. He is drawing all men and women unto Himself for the purpose of a love relationship with Him. This is not His mission alone to carry out. We who have been captured by this love are called to join Him in making His love known to the world around us.

At The Journey, the third step of the discipleship making process is living out God's purposes. Once you are seeking His Presence and walking with Him, it will begin to change your Perspective of people and the world around you, you will see the world as God sees it. When we have His view of the world, it will cause us to join Him in accomplishing His Purposes to the world.

This step will happen in two environments (in no order): first, you will begin to serve His church and find a way to join the mission of the church. The church is God's redemptive agent on this earth and the only entity that Jesus ever promoted. Second, you will begin live God's purpose in your every day lives. Whether it be at work, with your neighbors, school, or your kids sports team, The natural result of seeing the world through God's eyes is that you join Him in accomplishing His purposes.

These are the three steps of discipleship that we are striving for each person to take at The Journey: Presence, Perspective, and Purposes. There is not an ending point in this process. Once you are living your life for God's purposes and have joined Him on mission, it will naturally springboard you back into His presence. The more sold out to His purposes, the more you will seek His presence...you can't sustain without it. The process is cyclical. If a step is skipped, it will be noticeable. Someone who is trying to go from presence to purposes without first gaining His perspective of people will quickly burnout in ministry. They will get frustrated at people and soon forget why they are serving to begin with. Each step is critical.

Where are you on the discipleship process? Perhaps you have made the circle, maybe several trips around, but can you identify where you need the most work right now? If you are having trouble seeing people through God's eyes, go back and seek His presence. If you find yourself hesitating to join His purposes in your life, go back to seeking His perspective of the world around you. Our objective at the Journey is to form disciples of Jesus with these three steps in mind.

Thursday, August 7, 2008

Seeing Through God's Eyes

Presence ~ Perspective ~ Purposes

It is inevitable; when we encounter the Living God and experience His presence, we not only hoard all this love for ourselves, but it begins to spill out of us and to the world around us. Our ability to love the world around us comes from the ability to see people of the world around us as God sees them. We are seeking God's perspective.

At The Journey, we believe this is the second step to becoming the type of disciple that Jesus has called us to be. We have to first seek His face and presence, and doing so gives us His perspective on people and the world around us. When we see people as God sees them it is harder to judge them. It becomes more difficult to hate and criticize. When we see the people as God sees them it should break our hearts for them, not lead to condemnation. The best way to begin allowing this to take shape is to find yourself in a small group. It is in the small group environment that we share life with others and help gain this God-like perspective. If you want to see people as God sees them, you have to be around people.

If you evaluate your own life and discover it difficult to love others or see them as God see them, you need to go back to the Presence of God and allow Him to change you. You see, when we find ourselves being highly critical, judgmental, and without compassion for the people in the world around us, we have a perspective problem. Perspective problems only get fixed as we get into the Presence of God and get reminded of all He has done in our lives. When we remember how much we have been forgiven and how much grace and mercy has been extended toward us, then we can see others differently.

If we can seek His presence and allow for that to shape our perspectives, we will begin to join His purposes. This will be the discussion tomorrow.

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Fill in the Blank

Fill in the blank:

When I go to church I feel _______________.

One word...choose one that best describes your experience.

Passionately Seeking God's Presence

Presence ~ Perspective ~ Purposes

Would this describe you? It is what should describe all who call themselves followers of Jesus. It is through Jesus that we can connect to the Father. What we are talking about here is not religiosity, but a strong desire to go deeper with God. To passionately seek after the presence of God is a hunger thing. Moses sought after this when he asked God, "show me your glory" - "let me see your face" (Exodus 33:18). Whether you are someone seeking God for the first time or someone who gave your life to Christ many years ago, seeking God's presence is the essence of being His child. We are not called to a one-time conversion experience, we are called to walk with God in relationship. The pursuit of God's presence is lifelong and will grow deeper as we continue seeking and encountering Him.

At the Journey, we have made this our first step of the process for making disciples of Jesus. This is the intent and purpose behind our Sunday morning Catalyst services. We want to create an environment in which those who far from God can encounter Him and those who have been walking with Him can go deeper. We are creating a Presence environment. However, seeking God's presence isn't just a Sunday morning deal, it is a day to day, moment by moment deal. We encounter the presence of God when we read the Scriptures seeking to find Him, when we enter His gates with thanksgiving and praise seeking to worship Him, and when quite ourselves and humbly seek Him through prayer. Find time today to passionately seek His presence. Come on Sunday's with this goal in mind for yourself and for others.

What inevitably happens when we begin to seek the presence of God and encounter Him is that it changes us. When we experience the love of God, it will change how we view others. As we find ourselves in the presence of God, we will find ourselves with His perspective on the world around us. That is the second goal of every disciple of Jesus at The Journey. That is what I will discuss tomorrow.

Monday, August 4, 2008

What is a Disciple at The Journey?

That sounds like a weird question, but it's one worth asking. Of course we want disciples at the Journey to be disciples of Jesus, but what do we want that to look like? If you visit every church in this region, you would probably find that all of them are different in the type of disciples they are trying to produce. Most would not be able to answer what type of disciple they want to produce. At the Journey we have always said that we want to, "lead people into an ever-growing relationship with Jesus Christ." We do want to do that, but we have had to answer the question: so what does an ever-growing relationship with Jesus look like? What does it mean to be his disciple? So here it is. We want disciples of Jesus at The Journey to be:

#1 - Passionately seeking God's presence

#2 - Seeing people through God's eyes

#3 - Driven to live God's purposes

We believe this is a process. If we try to create a church in which all people are hungry for the presence of God and are engaging with Him, we believe that will change their perspective of the world around them. It is impossible to love God and not begin to love others. Loving God will give you the perspective to love others. Once we are seeing people through God's lenses, it will drive us to serve them. It will drive us towards God's mission. If a disciple at the Journey looked like that, we would consider that success.

3 P's that we will be shouting over and over: Presence, Perspective, Purposes

This week I'm going to talk about how this type of disciple can be formed and how the DNA of The Journey effects that.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Sunday Reflections

It was a great day today. It was a day in which I would have never dreamed of when we first conceived the idea of The Journey over 3 years ago. It was so fun to commission and recognize Shawn Allen, Todd Bates, and Clyde Rountree to the role of campus pastors. These guys are going to do a tremendous job with ministering to those God brings to each of our locations. We had a family from Hartsville @ The Journey today who is excited about our vision for Hartsville -- God is good! We have only two goals that drive us at The Journey: make disciples and plant churches that make disciples. It is easy, but it is hard work and it takes God to guide us.

The worship was uplifting and vibrant this morning. When we prayed for Mrs. Morthel (principal of West Elementary) in the first service and then her pastor prayed, I thought the ceiling was going to pop off the building. It was such a powerful moment and God's Spirit was thick. That led to an amazing time of worship. Also, great job to Courtney Perry, Tiffany Jones, and Andrea Vickers for the sign-language that accompanied 'Your Love Oh Lord'. Molly, as always, did a phenomenal job today when she sang 'God of this City' -- I absolutely love that song!

We have a new website up and running www.thejourneytn.org and we would love for you to check it out and send others to it. You will notice a section called the e-vite, you can use this to send invitations to friends to the Catalyst service. Next week I begin a new teaching series called: DNA. I'm pumped about it and can't wait for you to see what God has in store for you through this series.

Keep believing that God wants to do something special through us. The days ahead of us are going to be incredible!

Friday, August 1, 2008

What is the DNA of The Journey?

The DNA of something is what makes it what it is. It determines what it will look like. It determines what it will become. On our elder off-site meeting we began our time together by asking the question: what is the DNA of The Journey? That is not an easy question. What we were seeking to discover is what makes The Journey different than every other church around the county, state, country, and world. Like every human, there will be certain characteristics that will be the same, but like every human, no one church is alike or identical. What makes you different is your DNA.

The following is a list of things that we believed characterized the DNA of The Journey. There may be more things you will be tempted to add, but you have to ask do those things spring forth from the things already listed? In other words, our DNA will produce certain behaviors, environments, and guide our decisions. In the days ahead, I will dive deeper into each element of our DNA. Our main hope is that it begins to become the DNA of each person that comes to The Journey.

* We believe every person is uniquely created for relationship with God
* It is all about Jesus
* People matter
* We anticipate God's movement
* We believe we are called to ignite a movement, we are a part of something bigger than ourselves
* Servant leadership will define our leaders
* Reckless abandon - anything to the extent of sin to reach people
* Creating transformational experiences