This Weekend @ The Journey

We are going to be in Week 4 of our Shattered series this week. I'm going to be talking about "Releasing Our Grip." The theme of the topic is forgiveness. Forgiveness had massive implications on our lives. We think we know forgiveness, but I think we fail to see the full scope of its power. Join us this weekend for a new perspective on the power of forgiveness.

Also, we have been learning some new songs in worship. We have a lineup of songs over the next several weeks that you are going love. Make sure to be on time so you don't miss any of the worship time.

Last note: We are starting a new series on November 16th called: Love Sick. This is going to be a series on relationships. You definitely want to invite people you are investing in to this series. It is going to be a lot of fun. We need you to submit photos of you and your spouse this week and next. These can be digital or print. The pictures can be wedding, dating, or recent pictures. These will be used for the bumper video each week before the message.

God Moments

Today I'm conducting a funeral. I received a phone call from a person in the church who is a friend to this family. The family is a sweet family; however, they had no church to rely on during this time. I was asked if I would be willing to visit the family to help console them. I was called about an hour after the grandmother has passed and I made my way up to the nursing home to see the family. I have to be honest, I didn't exactly know what to say. I didn't know the lady who had passed or anyone in the family. I just began praying for God to give me direction on how to love this family and reveal His love to them.

When I arrived at the nursing home, everyone was in the hall. I asked them if they wanted to step into the room to get our of the busy hallways. When we stepped in, I realized that the lady who had passed was still in there. Needless to say, I was in uncharted waters. My heart just started to break for this family as I realized that this loss had just occurred. I just tried to put myself in their shoes to imagine the pain they must be feeling. I spoke with them about God's love surrounding them and that He is near during these times. I also encouraged them to lean heavily on each other. Then we did something that changed everything, I had them hold hands and start sharing their most memorable moments from her life. They started sharing funny stories, stories that described her love and character, and many more. You could sense a weight lifting off the room as we all cried. This lady deserved to be honored for all she had given her life to. We prayed afterward, and I offered to do the funeral if they needed someone and they accepted.

I left the nursing home that day realizing that there are hurting people around us every day. Some don't have a church to help them through the hurt and to speak of God's love to them. It is crucial that we become the light of the world, because there is much darkness. I was told later on that the moment we had in the room that day really impacted the family. It gave them a peace in the midst of their grieving.

Pray for me today as I try to serve this family at the funeral and honor the lady who played such a large role in their lives.

Handling Criticism

I think I'll let the words of Craig Groeschel from Life Church say it all from his book Confessions of Pastor (p.157-176):

"The truth is, I stink at handling criticism - especially nitpicking, ignorance-based, selfishly motivated, unjustified criticism. I should be able to rise above it. I hate the way it always gets to me."

He continues, "This confession reveals one of my greatest character flaws: I care too much about what people think. I should be consumed with pleasing God, but I'm often consumed with the impossible - trying to please people. I know it's wrong, but it's the truth. When people take their shots at me, I find myself wanting to defend my actions, justify my behavior, or even criticize back."

How do you handle this?

Groeschel offers four insights:

1. Listen - consider the source, if it is someone who truly loves you and isn't driven by personal agenda, then the criticism can be helpful to you. Don't focus on what is being said, as much as you focus on who is saying it.

2. Answer - If you think a response can help the critic understand your position then answer, but watch your attitude. A couple of missing details of the story could help a critic that is honestly seeking clarification to understand better. Just remember to first consider who before what.

3. Dismiss - If you face someone who can't be pleased, dismiss their invalid criticism. What people criticize often reveal their deepest insecurities. Hurt people hurt people. It's especially helpful to understand who your critic is when he or she is emotionally unhealthy or wounded. The jab may be coming from an injured heart.

4. Endure - This is not the easiest, but endurance is critical if you want to succeed spectacularly at anything God sets before you. Whenever you veer off the beaten path, whenever you blaze a new trial, you'll be criticized. Sometimes it will be relentless. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Be obedient. For the joy set before you, endure your unavoidable opponents.

Last thoughts: "You are who God says you are, not who people say you are. Don't try to base your life on the unstable foundation of human opinions, but instead, build on the unshakable truth of God. The truth is your high ground. When you cling to the truth, you can rise above the criticism."

Practicing What I Preach

The problem with most Christians is we don't "practice what we preach." Since I spoke on living life through the lenses of gratitude yesterday, I thought I would share another thing that I'm grateful for that actually happened to me today.

When I arrived at the train station this morning, I had to go to the ticket machine and buy a ticket. The tickets are $5 per trip. As I walked up to the machine to pay for my ticket, a man handed me a ticket and said, "don't worry about buying one, they are too expensive, take this one." I was a little shocked at first and wondered whether or not I should check the ticket for being fake. Then I thought to myself, why would he give me a fake ticket when he didn't charge me anything?

When I got on the train, it hit me: It was a $5 ticket, but I should be grateful for the man's generosity toward me. I thanked God for the free ticket and prayed for God to bless the man who gave it to me. If we look at the little things that happen everyday, I bet we can discover many instances in which we should be grateful. Gratitude is a choice on what perspective we will live with.

What things can show gratitude for today?

Monday Morning Reflections

By the time I went to bed last night I was completely exhausted. I had went to the UT vs Alabama game the night prior and didn't get home until 2am. Needless to say, I was very tired and had a weak voice on Sunday. What I lacked in voice, God made up in power. God once again showed up and touched the hearts and lives of people. The reality is, God is always there, it is whether we are open to allowing Him to shape and change our lives. Here were some things that stood out to me:

* I liked the flow of the service better with our changing of the order of things (I would love to get your thoughts on this as well)

* I thought it was cool to start the service off with Robbie singing 'How He Loves Us'

* Worship was great and the new song 'Breath on Me' was a success

* I enjoyed teaching on the subject of Gratitude. I'm still trying to align my perspective on life through the lenses of gratitude, but it was fun to see people writing down things they are grateful for and sharing it with someone else

* We had two full services yesterday and the energy was great

* I enjoyed having reflection and prayer time after service -- this allows people who feel intimidated by coming in front of the church to still have an opportunity to respond to the message and receive care

* Our "business meeting" went great and we had a great time eating and worshiping together -- we are going to do those more often

It was a great day yesterday. There are many more days like that ahead of us. Do not settle for mediocrity Journey church, we have been called to challenge the status quo and lead the way in stirring a movement for Jesus. That is exactly what we are going to do.

If We Only Win One More...

If the University of Tennessee could only win one more game this year, I pray they win tonight. Tennessee has had an awful season by our standards. There is controversy around firing the coach and our lack of good recruits. The bottom line is: if they beat Alabama tonight and knock them out of the National Championship hunt, that will make our season.

Tonight an upset is going to occur! I will be on the Hill with John Griffin watching it all take place. John is probably going to be crying for three hours on the way back home, but it will all be worth it!

Time with Jesus

I try to spend time with Jesus everyday. I get in the Scriptures daily and pray continuously. However, I had an amazing experience happen to me when I got home...Jesus was in my living room. Really! Okay, Kaleb dressed as Jesus for his school's Bible character day, but it was hilarious. My wife had already been crying from laughter when I got home. He kept going around saying, "Let the children come to me" and "Obey God" -- priceless! Enjoy the pics, we sure enjoyed seeing it live. It is not often that Jesus stops by the house, I felt like Zacchaeus.

This Sunday @ The Journey

Guys I'm excited about this Sunday. We continue our Shattered series this week. It has been a great two weeks so far and this one will be no different. You are going to want to get there early this week...we are starting out of the gate with the song that we did in Week One: How He Loves Us. Come prepared to worship and hear from God. Bring a friend, you never know what God may do in their life.

Also, we are having a "State of The Journey" meeting Sunday afternoon. We will meet at 5:30pm @ West and have dinner together and a time of worship. Following food and worship we will have our business meeting.There will be childcare available after worship has concluded. You do not want to miss this meeting. We will be discussing some very important movements happening right now. We need feedback and ideas about how to best launch the new campuses and will be looking for as many people as possible to be there.

It is a privilege to serve as lead pastor here at the Journey. The best is yet to come!

Authentic Community

I have to take a moment today to brag on my small group. It is a great small group. The cool thing is: it is not great because I'm leading it, it is great because the people seek relationship and transparency. I have been a part of small groups and Sunday school before, but I have never had an experience like this group. The problem with most Sunday schools and small groups is we don't truly desire intimacy. Real intimacy means we come clean about the condition of our lives, thoughts, and hearts. It means we lay it on the table with a group of people and something amazing happens...you find yourself still loved and accepted. This is what authentic community looks like.

We have had some amazing nights in our group as of late. People have been coming clean about broken marriages, struggles with addictions, insecurities, and many other things that they felt they needed support from the group on. This is what Biblical community should look like. This is what it looks like when people get tired of playing Christianity and truly start wanting to reflect Christ's character to the world. God is raising up a people who's rallying cry is: "We want more!" There is so much more, but you have to be willing to go where you have never gone before, with people you have never been there with. If you want to go there, there is a great reward waiting you on the other side: Authentic Community.

What are you Seeking?

What is it that you seek in your daily life? You know, that thing or ideal that you wake up ready to pursue. It could be a dream job, a particular amount of finances, a relationship, or an array of other things. My question is: does God register on the radar of what you are seeking daily? Do you wake up with a hunger to have time with Him? The world strives and hungers for many things other than God, Christians fall into this category as well. I believe God is raising up a people whose primary desire in life is to connect to Him. Their day involves being in the Word, prayer, and being sensitive to the Holy Spirit's movement in our daily moments. They are not detached from the world, but they stand out in the world. These people will lead the way in the mist of trying times and crisis in our world. These people are the image bearers of the Living God and their image is magnetic to those around them.

This is why our first step at the Journey in making a disciple of Jesus is to make disciples that are: Passionately seeking God's presence.

My prayer: Lord make me hungry for more of you. Give me an insatiable desire for your presence. Would you make this your prayer and your desire. Allow God to take you through a process of transforming your passions and desires. Can you imagine what it would look like if the church would lead the way in this? I dream of a church that is passionate about the things of God, not just performing religious rituals by showing up to church. Following Jesus and seeking him is a moment by moment endeavor. It begins with the honest question: What are you seeking?

33But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Matthew 6:33 (NIV)

3 Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ? Who may stand in his holy place? 4 He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false. 5 He will receive blessing from the LORD and vindication from God his Savior. 6 Such is the generation of those who seek him, who seek your face, O God of Jacob. Psalm 24:3-6

Glory to God...Forever

Imagine a life that reflected these words. There is a new song that is about to sweep the nation and world that millions will be worshiping to in the weeks and months to come. It is called 'Glory to God Forever' by Fee. The video below was recorded of their performance of the song at the Catalyst Conference. Focus on the lyrics. Make your prayer today be that those words would become your life. True worship is when our lives declare Glory to God, not just our words.

Sunday Reflections

Something has been brewing inside of me as of late. I will be sharing more about this over time, because I don't want to communicate it as some "flash in the pan" set of thoughts I'm having. These things going on in me have been happening for many years now, but God is beginning to make them so much clearer than ever before.

My sermon today had traces of the transformation happening inside of me right now. The sermon dealt with how we "dig our own graves" through our choices, decisions, and actions that are apart from the will of God. Our sin brings devastating results. We must stop making decisions and choice that gain us nothing, but cost us everything. I didn't want to stay on this too long, but I felt clear that I needed to make sure it was understood. The main point I wanted to come across was: we must be transformed by the renewing of our minds, where our desire for obedience outweighs our sinful desires. I dream of a people and a church who's hearts are defined by this. And I have to be the first person willing to model it.

Journey church, we are going to experience some amazing things in the days ahead. God is stirring something in more people than just me. God is about to ignite a movement in His people that will call all people to Himself. I was excited by the spirit of the room today and the response I heard from people following the message. I heard people say over and over again, "thank you, I needed that." The key for us is not just hearing it, but doing it. That is true worship.

Passages for reference from today:
Romans 7:14-8:14 (NLT)**Main Passage
Exodus 34:7 (NLT)**Generational Sin
Galatians 6:7-8 (NLT) **We reap what we sow
Psalm 119:32 (TNIV) **Running to God's commands set our hearts free
Romans 12:1-2 (TNIV) **True worship is through our actions; transforming of our minds
Matthew 26:26-28 (NLT) **Communion
Colossians 2:13-14 (NLT) **Christ's work on the cross

My Son is a Rockstar

The better title would probably be: My Son loves to Worship

This is more accurate to the truth of the matter. In the pictures above you see my son posing with members of Fee, the band that leads the Catalyst conference, is the primary worship leaders at Northpoint Community Church in Atlanta, and all around rock stars!

We went to see Fee in concert at First Baptist Hendersonville last night and loved it. I had just returned from two days of worshiping with these guys, but last night I got to enjoy it with Katrina and Kaleb. We had a blast just letting it rip. As Steve likes to say, "bad singers of the world unite!" It was great to just relax and worship without feeling a sense of responsibility for making sure something is getting done or preparing to go up and give a message. It was also mega cool to be able to go 30 minutes down the road to see a phenomenal band. These guys were awesome to pose with Kaleb for the pics...he loved it.

Why wouldn't he? He's a rock star!

One Thing

Imagine Jesus appeared to you in a dream and said, "____________(insert your name here), I want you to come up with one idea that will allow people who need me to hear about me. I want you to accomplish this at all cost. I want a full report when I see you here later."

If you were given the challenge to think of one idea, just one way, to reach people with the message of Jesus, what would it be?

3 Rules:
* Don't let money play a factor in whether or not it could happen

* Be sure the idea would include your involvement and participation

* Time is not a issue (don't fret about how long it would take)

How about it? What would your one thing be?

Take a moment to think about it. The answer will reflect a lot about you. It may also catalyze an opportunity to put the idea into action to reach people.

My idea: I would try to find a way to have people from my neighborhood over in in small groups (10-12) and find ways to relationally connect with them. In other words, I would throw parties. We could grill food, play cornhole, etc. I would need to work the idea out further, but it suites my strength of building relationships and it would be something I would establish trust and opportunities to share the gospel over time.

Journey through Luke

It is so important to find time to be in God's Word. We all have an excuse for why we don't have enough time to do it is often as we would like. The reality is, we make time for things that matter to us. Ouch! That hurts a little. But its true. What I have found to be helpful when I read the Scriptures for personal growth, not just sermon development, is when I journal. I write down the date, the passage, and my thoughts down about it. I'll write whatever insight I have about myself, others, leadership, church stuff, or just the world in general. I don't read a particular amount of Scripture. I like to do what I call "read until it resonates." I read until something stands out. Then I ask the question, "God, why is this standing out to me?" "What are you trying to teach me through this passage right now?" Give a shot and see how this helps your Bible reading time.

If you want to journey with me through the Gospel of Luke, that is where I am right now. I have gotten through the first 5 chapters. The following are thoughts that resonated with me and the references to which Scripture it was:

* God will work with other people, if you are unwilling to listen to what He is trying to say (Luke 4:14-30)

* My words must be fueled by the Holy Spirit in order to carry power (Luke 4:36)

* Speaking with authority and power is what God will use to spread HIS message far and wide (Luke 4:37)

* Jesus stay grounded and focused on the work at hand through reflection, prayer, and solitude (Luke 4:42-43)

* I must seek the Father to stay focused and fueled by the mission He has given me, I cannot maintain a spiritual authority or power apart from Him (Luke 4:42-43)

* If God directs me/us to do something, it doesn't mean we don't do it just because we have been unsuccessful in the past. I must be obedient to Him (Luke 5:4-7)

* Even as Jesus gained more prominence and fame he still withdrew to be with God (Luke 5:12-16)

* The church and Christians often keep out the people who most desperately need to be in (Luke 5:17-26)

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

At the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta last week, we were served fresh-brewed coffee for free the entire time. You would think that the coffee must not be any good if they were giving it away, but the opposite is true. They were giving away good coffee, because there is a story behind the coffee. The name of the coffee is Land of a Thousand Hills, and it is farmed in Rwanda (the country devastated by a civil war that killed millions).

Now Rwanda is rebuilding and trying to recover from the years of strife. Growing coffee for the United States has become a new focus for progress. Every bag of this coffee sold puts money directly back into the farmer's pocket who grew it, plus an additional $1 is invested in a program designed to help genocide widows become entrepreneurs in their own communities. It is a great story, go read it. More importantly, it is great coffee, with a great cause.

Last night I ordered a 5lb. bag of coffee to show my support. I'm no longer going to buy my coffee from a faceless organization. I'm going to keep drinking coffee (lot's of it), but I'm going to contribute to something other than just fattening the pockets of some corporate giants. Drink coffee. Do good.

Sunday Reflections

It has been an amazing week for me. I spent the end of the week in Atlanta for the Catalyst Leadership Conference. I was refreshed and reenergized as a result. There were many inspiring speakers and stories that remind me and others there why we do what we do to begin with. My voice is nearly gone from singing at the top of my lungs for two straight days!

I felt today was a great day at The Journey. I began the new series: Shattered. We talked about the reality that God cares for us and loves us despite our circumstances. We often struggle through believing that when we are in the midst of tough times, but it is a promise we can stand on.

Take time this week to reflect on the reality of God's love for you. If you are feeling weary and carrying heavy burdens, give them to Jesus and find rest in him. Invite a friend next week as we continue the series. I believe there are many people who need to hear what we are talking about.

Blessings.

This Weekend at The Journey

Hello all! It has been a couple of weeks since posting and I apologize. School has kept all my spare time busy (not there was much before school to begin with :-)). I'm trying to get out of this blogging funk that I'm in. To do so I will have just keep my nose to the grindstone and write. Right now, I have many plates I'm trying to keep spinning: Family, The Journey, School, Writing my book, Writing published bible-studies, blogging, correspondence with a pastor in India (I'll share more on this later), and just personal refreshment time. I tell you all that to attempt to communicate my need for your prayers and support. I'm doing great; I've just never had this much going on.

I'm really excited about the new teaching series I'm starting this Sunday at The Journey. Click on this link to send someone an e-vite (email invitation). Below is the overview of what we will talk about.

Shattered: putting life together when the pieces are broken

We go through life with ideas of how things are supposed to go. We have dreams, plans and hopes for things we want to accomplish and achieve. At some point, everyone will experience the crashing down of some of those ideals. Relationships fail, jobs disappear, health fades, and we are left scrambling to pick up the pieces and make sense of it all. Where is God while these things are happening? Can we run to Him? Will He help us? The next five weeks we’ll seek to discover how to walk with God through the pain when our lives are shattered.

Hope to see you all there!