Today

What are you doing today?

If today was your last, did you live life to the fullest?

Did you tell people you loved them?

Did you tear people down or build them up?

Have you talked to God today?

Have you considered whether or not your thoughts, words, and actions have honored Him?

Have you thought about what things really matter in life?

Has your perspective of others been skeptical or graceful?

What have you done today to show the love of Christ to those around you?

Have you modeled it?

Have you spoke it?

What are you doing today?

What will you do tomorrow?

What if there is no tomorrow?

Confessions of a Pastor

I have to admit that I have not been consistent of late with blogging. I did not anticipate the amount of my time that would be spent trying to juggle Master's school, church, family, and friendships. I wasn't naive; I knew I would be busy, but disciplines like blogging and twittering that once allowed me to communicate more regularly have become more difficult to pursue. In addition to blogging, working on writing projects has all but ceased right now.

Why am I telling you this?

I need your prayers. I need continued wisdom about what events and commitments to say "yes" to and which I should say "no" to. It is not easy as a pastor to say "no" to anyone or anything you are asked to do, but I'm finding that stewarding my time well is even more important these days for me. The other thing I'm finding difficult is finding time to refresh. It seems that as a student and pastor I'm constantly pouring out, but rarely having anything poured in. This has brought forth the realization that I need an Oasis.

I'm as excited as ever about what God is doing in my life, my family, and The Journey. I believe God is bigger than any stress I face or any difficulties that may come. The stress of life has made me realize how desperate I really am for God to be first in my life. It has made me realize that family can't be replaced by anything. Following Christ and being in the love of my family is the oasis I need. I'm also grateful for a church family that I can go to for prayer. These are my confessions.

Finding a Life Rhythm

Have you ever felt like your life was in a groove and going well, but then other times feel like everything is out of whack? I believe in such a thing as a "life rhythms." Songs are driven by the beat of the drum that keeps the rhythm consistent. If a drummer gets off rhythm, the entire song sounds out of whack. You find "life rhythms" everywhere you look. The sun rises and falls in rhythm each day. The tides of the ocean rise and fall in rhythm. I believe each person has a responsibility to find their "life rhythm" because that is where the sweet spot is.

The danger is when you push so hard that you get out of your life rhythm. If a drum beat is going faster than what the song is intended to go, the song doesn't work. The same is true for you and I. We have to stay "in tune" and marching to the proper pace that our lives should flow. Sometimes it is necessary to take a break to get back on rhythm. Other times we need to pick up the pace so that we can get in rhythm.

What is your life rhythm? Have you ever found yourself out of rhythm and drained and tired? Take time to evaluate the pace of your life, your family, and your work. Our individual mission's that God has ordained for us are too important for us to live out of rhythm. We have to live in tune to Him and walk at the right pace.

Sunday Reflections

I can't believe the DNA series has come and gone already. It was a six week series and it seemed to fly by. We had a lot of new guests who came for this series and several shared with me how much they enjoyed hearing a different angle on those things that should define our lives and our faith. If you missed any of the weeks and want to catch up, go to our website @ www.thejourneytn.org

We had a great day today. The music was incredible and brought us to a place of worship. I thought the 'Signs' song and video was genius...Joey Lockovich came up with that idea. There were many giggles and smiling faces as everyone read the different church signs. The challenge for us is to not let church signs do the work that is reserved for us as individuals to share our faith with the people around us. I want to give props to Robbie and the praise band for gutting it out when the lights were messing up in the first service and when the entire PA system shut down at the end of the second service. We believed there would be spiritual attack today and we were not mistaken. However, God won the day. It was an amazing moment when the whole church lifted their voices and the band came and stood on the stage risers and locked arms. That was a special moment and one I won't forget.

The time is rapidly approaching when we will be meeting in multiple locations. Be thinking of friends to invite to get the word out. It is going to be an awesome ride.

Never Forget

Where were you on this day seven years ago? September 11, 2001 is a day that most Americans, especially living in this era, will ever forget. It is a day that I remember where I was, what I was doing, what the weather was like, and what I was wearing; the memories are vivid. I remember riding down the road crying as I heard music and thought about the people who were killed. It is a day that we should never forget.

Why?

* It reminds us that nothing is guaranteed, not even our next breathe

* It reminds us that life it too short for silly arguments, conflict, and selfishness

* It reminds us of what matters: God, family, friends, and living our lives with purpose

* It reminds us to live each day like it is our last

* It reminds us that we live in the greatest country in the world, perhaps ever

* It reminds us that there is evil that exists around us and the world needs the hope of Jesus

Be reminded of these things today. Reflect on where you were, who you were with, and what you felt as you watched those towers and Pentagon come under attack. Take time today to pray for the families still dealing with the lose. Thank God for your blessings and live today reminded of those. Tell your family how much you love them, you never know when it could be the last time. Ask yourself if you are doing what you love in life, life is too short to go through the motions.

Never forget.

This Weekend @ The Journey

We will be finishing the DNA series this weekend at The Journey. The objective for Sunday will be to discuss in depth about what sharing our faith looks like. The "churchy" word for this: EVANGELISM.

How many of you when talking about yourself would say, "I'm an evangelist." The reality is, most of us would not, but maybe we should. We are ALL called to be propagators of the gospel message of Jesus. How we do that and why we do that is something in which we will discuss on Sunday?

Things to ponder:

* without someone caring enough about you and your salvation to tell you, you may not have the hope you have today

* without people who feel responsible to share the message of Jesus through words and actions, how will the world know about God's redemptive plan?

* what will you do about "the call" to make disciples?

All this and more will be discussed on Sunday, don't miss it.

Questions for reflection: when is the last time you shared your faith with someone? Have any of your actions (good/bad) shared your faith for you?

Stunted Growth

Have you ever had moments where you felt your growth as a follower of Jesus had been stunted? Can you recall times where you felt like God was far away and you were trying to regain the status you had before? I think we've all had those times. Some may be experiencing that right now. The one thing I've learned over time is that those times are normal. Look at the Scriptures, the book of Psalm is full examples of David feeling abandoned by God. God does not abandon us. In fact, we are the ones responsible for the "feeling" of abandonment. We have either fell into sin and are not where we were. Sometimes we get into habitual ruts and just go through the motions. Going through the motions will actually move you backwards in your walk with God. Some of you have actually let the "busyness" of your lives to crowd your life so much that you push God out of it. We also have moments of stunted growth when we go through trying circumstances and we don't invite God into our hurts, pains, and difficulties.

If you have experienced this feeling of being "stuck" in the same place in your relationship, try some of these things:

1. Tell God you are tired of being where you are and desire to draw closer. God knows the situation, but it is good to share your thoughts and the way you feel. It is often the catalysts for getting back where you want to be.

2. Tell someone else that you are tired of being where you are and ask them to journey with you to help you get where you want to be. Christianity has never been a solo journey. We are meant to live in community and grow in community.

3. Begin to journal or reading some passages of Scripture they may connect your story to someone else who has been in your position. Go read the book of Psalm.

4. Evaluate how you believe you got off the track you were on. Was is it an event? A hurt relationship? Laziness? Busyness? Find out, that will help you avoid it next time.

5. Repeat Step 1. I cannot express the importance of drawing near to God through simply crying out that you don't want complacency any longer. Tell God you want to be on fire for Him. Ask Him to light the fire in you.

The world can not afford to have a bunch of stunted Christians running around them. The world needs Christians who are burning white-hot for the love of Jesus and are experiencing that love daily in their relationship with Him. The world needs Christians that are growing in their knowledge of God and His love for the world around them. Believe it or not, what the world needs is not the next great President of the United States, it needs you and I to become everything God created us to be.

Sunday Reflections

Man...today was very fun! We had a great day in our services and many people talked about how meaningful it was for them. Couple of thoughts about the day:

* It was fun talking about the Scriptures today and I hope that something was said that can be helpful for everyone as you journey to grow in this area

* Worship was electric today...I could go on an entire rant about that

* Titans won a close a game...just thought I'd throw that one in there

* I can't wait until we launch these new campuses and get a chance to reach people in these areas

* I had a friend from Divinity School there today and he said he really enjoyed it...it was cool seeing him there

* I'm just grateful for all the people who serve on Sunday mornings to make what we do happen...never forget the eternal impact that you are making on people's lives

I'm heading to bed. I'm tired, but grateful for what God is doing in our midst. The Journey is a fun place to be.

Worship @ the New Campuses

OK...seriously, this is not what worship at the new campuses will be. Robbie and the band will actually be traveling to each location to lead worship, but I couldn't resist putting that as the title of this post. Seriously...you have to watch this video. Pay particular attention to their facial expressions and the guy in the back singing background vocals who seems uninterested.

Want a Quick Laugh?

If you want a quick laugh to pick you up, visit Chad Jordan's blog and watch the 10 second video he has posted today. Priceless!

Click here to watch funny video

This Weekend @ The Journey

We continue our DNA series with the discussion of Studying Scripture. How on earth do we begin to make sense of the Bible? Where do we begin? How do we hear from God through it?

This weekend at The Journey I want to bring to life the purpose of the Scriptures in our lives. I want to simply our understanding of the Bible and learn to use it for all situations in our lives.

On a scale of 1-10 (1 being the lowest, 10 the highest), what do you feel is your current level of competency when dealing with the Bible?

Attack of the Killer Bird

This morning I met with Shawn Allen, our Hartsville campus pastor. We were having coffee while sitting outside on the patio at Panera Bread. Out of nowhere, a bird comes soaring between us and smacks into the glass and onto our table. It landed facing me and I panicked, thinking it was going to come flying at me. It was breathing heavy and was twitching around. I went to pick it up with a napkin, but it kept moving and I kept dropping it. At this point, Shawn and I are dying laughing. The six guys inside the restaurant doing a bible study our also in hysterics as they watch the event unfold. I eventually quit trying to pick it up and instead, covered it with a napkin and we moved tables.

About 30 minutes later, one of the workers came out to clean our table we had left. We told her to beware of the dead bird under the napkin. She went to peek underneath the napkin to see the bird and it flew away. That bird had basically knocked itself unconscious. We were once again laughing so hard we couldn't breathe. All the guys inside were laughing again. It was quite an eventful morning.

Moral of the story...I don't know, help me pick one: once you fall, get back up...never let running into a glass window keep you down...don't attempt to throw a bird away that is only unconscious...be careful eating outside at Panera?