Reading Challenge: Acts 27-28

We are at the end of our journey. We have covered the entire book of Acts, tracing the origins and roots of the church and mission of the Kingdom of God. I have loved reading your comments and insights throughout the time and encourage you to continue to leave your thoughts and feedback on Savage Generation.

Today's reading is from Acts 27-28

Chapter 27:
This is another amazing example of Paul's faithfulness to what God told him. He used every situation as an opportunity to share with others about God. I wonder if I was sailing on the ship if I would have been willing to heed Paul's advice to stay on the ship. You have to believe firmly that God's Word can be trusted in order to stay aboard a ship that you are told is going to wreck and be destroyed, yet they did it and survived. Reflection Question: How often do we ignore God's directions because it defies what seems to be logical?

Chapter 28:
When Paul and them land on the island, Paul is bitten by a snake as they gather firewood. This is horrible. He's been beaten, mocked, ran out of town, but now he's bitten by a snake. However, the snake bite doesn't hurt him and everyone is amazed. This leads to the people of the island giving them great hospitality during their time there as they prepare to sail again. Once in Rome, Paul is speaking to people about Jesus and proclaiming him as Lord and Messiah. Scriptures tell us that some believed and others did not. And then the final verse in Acts sums up most of what we have read, "31Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." That was Paul's mission. That was his objective and he spent his life up until his death doing it. Reflection Question: Am I willing to boldly and without hindrance share the message of Christ with others, recognizing that some will believe and others will reject?

Reading Challenge: Acts 25-26

Welcome back everyone. We have two days left of the book of Acts. I hope you have learned a great deal and have a deeper appreciation for the origins of the church and its early mission.

Today's reading is from Acts 25-26

Of these two chapters there is one exchange that I believe is the most fascinating. Paul is giving his defense before Agrippa. Agrippa calls Paul crazy, but Paul tells him that he is both sane and reasonable.Then Paul asks him if he believes the words of the prophets, to which Agrippa answers,"Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" 29Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

I love how Paul didn't care who it was, he was willing to unashamedly share his faith and his desire for Agrippa to come to that faith. Take-away: Do I have the intensity of Paul for sharing with others the hope of Christ? Do I truly want to see people reached as much as Paul did?

Your thoughts?

A Tribute to Michael Jackson

This is how I like to remember Michael Jackson. The dude was an icon, I still love hearing some of his early music. Oh yeah, and don't forget the moonwalk!

Ferris Wheel Fiasco

Okay, so what is your worse fear when it comes to riding a Ferris Wheel? You may give a couple of answers, but my guess would be that getting stuck at the top of the ride would be right up there at the top. Well...my worse fears came true. Last night Kaleb and I rode this monster Ferris Wheel in Orange Beach. It is so big that you sit in a covered cart. As we get to the top of it the Ferris Wheel stops and we don't move for nearly 45 minutes. At first I just assumed they were loading some people in, perhaps somebody got sick, I didn't know. Finally, Katrina yells up from the bottom that the Ferris Wheel is broke. I'm thinking to myself, "broke, hmmm, that could mean a number of things. A bolt fell out, a cart broke, and the motor stop, the hydraulics quit working...anything." In that moment, I had a couple of things going on in my mind that I had to deal with. All said and done we were on the ride for an hour and forty-five minutes. We were the last ones unloaded off the ride. A couple things of note:

First, I'm claustrophobic and that cart was tiny, and I was stuck in it. I couldn't let my fears get in the way because I had to keep my son from freaking out (who did incredible and didn't get scared). We also had to assure these little girls in a cart beside us that everything was going to be okay. 

The second thing, and I don't want to over-dramatize the event, but it forced me to ask the question: if this were it, I'm I ready to go? The answer is yes and no. Yes, I'm ready to die if it comes to it, because I have assurance of my eternity because of Christ. I've lived a full life and a very blessed life. It wouldn't be my choice of how I would want to go, but I'm ready. The answer was also no. I still feel very passionate about living out the vision God has given me for my life. I still feel there is work to be done. I have a family that needs me and a little girl coming who needs a dad. I'm not ready to go yet because of those things. 

Here's what I left that experience thinking about: some things are more important than my fears (staying calm for my son and assuring the girls beside us that we were okay) and we don't have control of any situation, it could all change in a moment -- live like it is your last. Go after your dreams, live out your passions, and love those around you. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 24

Welcome back everyone! We are nearing the end of our reading challenge. Stay the course and continue to watch as this dramatic story of Paul's future unfolds.

Today's reading is from Acts 24

This passage is one of those interesting, often unread passages in the Bible. Paul once again finds himself speaking before a group of people about faith in Jesus. I think its comical that most of the people Paul was defending himself to believed that they had Paul in their control, but in Paul's eyes, he was in the best possible place: in front of a captive audience who he could share about the hope of Christ with. One of the people who he finds himself in front of is Felix, a high ranking Roman official. Felix is intrigued with Paul's discussion of the Way, for he was already familiar with it. Felix continued to have Paul summoned and talked to him about faith in Jesus. We never here about the end result of these sessions they shared together, but we know that God both ordained the encounters and worked through them. 

My take-aways from this passage: 1. our trials, tribulations, and rough circumstances may simply be opportunities for us to demonstrate or communicate our faith with others. 2. we don't always know the fruit of our sharing the hope of Christ, but God works through these encounters and peaks the curiosity of the listeners. 

What about you? What stood out from this passage to you? 

A Couple of Books to Read this Summer

Two books I'm going to pick up for my summer reading list: Pastor Dad and Death by Love. Pastor Dad is a book that talks about the primary role of a father to pastor their child/children. If you follow the link to it it is a free downloadable book that is quick and easy to read. The second book is serious business. Instead of explaining it, the video will tell it all. I know once you watch it you will be immediately recognize yourself or others. Take a look.

Reading Challenge: Acts 22-23

Welcome back everyone. Today's reading is from Acts 22-23

Chapter 22

Paul was giving a sermon through his own testimony of what God had done in his life. We often think that we need to be deep scholars or theologians to share with others about God, but the reality is we can share God with others through our story. I find it amazing that the crowd was listening intently until Paul mentioned that God had sent him to the Gentiles. The word "Gentiles" sent them into a rage and immediately shut them down. This raised several questions for me: what are the words today that will immediately cause people to lose interest? Are we ready to share with people the things they don't want to hear? 

Chapter 23

This chapter is similar to Chapter 22 in the fact that Paul is addressing a captive audience. As Paul looks around and sees that his audience is half Pharisee and half Sadducee he begins to taylor his words specifically to that reality. He takes the route of speaking of the resurrection of the dead because his knows the Sadducees and Pharisee's were divided deeply about this. In this way, he could begin to gain supporters who would hear him out. The interesting thing is, the Pharisee's were not in agreement with Paul's claim of Jesus' resurrection or that Jesus was the Messiah, they were only concerned about being right over the Sadducees. We must be careful that we don't find ourselves in meaningless arguments over doctrine and theology that we miss opportunities sitting in front of us. These two groups were not even paying attention to the life changing message Paul was sharing, they were simply looking to prove their points over the other group. 

What things stood out to you from these passages?

Reading Challenge: Acts 21

We are coming up on the home stretch of the study. We have already seen some amazing things happen as Paul and Barnabas travel the Mediterranean world. I hope you are learning much from our early Christian brothers and sisters.

Today's readings are from Acts 21

There are many things in this passage that could be discussed. For me there were two major images that I could not get past: 1. the group praying on the beach together. 2. Paul reminding those trying to keep him from going to Jerusalem after he received the prophecy of his fate that "the Lord's will be done." 

I love the image of Paul and the disciples of that region on their knees at the beach praying for Paul. It an image that imagine was filled with tears, laughs, and earnest pleading to the Lord. I envy their connectedness to each other, and I long for their willingness to humble themselves before the Lord and petition Him. I also like Paul's resolve to do God's will despite the dangers facing him. It didn't matter to him that his life was in jeopardy as he went to Jerusalem. Even when his companions were trying to keep him from going forward, he had to remind them of what mattered most: obedience, not safety. 

What things stood out to you?

Reading Challenge: Acts 19-20

Welcome back everyone. We continue the Acts Reading Challenge today. I'm in Gulf Shores staring at the beach. It is neat to get a perspective of the Scriptures being out of your normal context.

Todays reading is from Acts 19-20

Chapter 19:

I love a couple of parts in this chapter. The first one is when Paul arrives in Ephesus and begins talking about the Holy Spirit and the believers there do not know what that is. They were still operating under the baptism of John for the repentance of sin. It is probably because I'm in a different place, but I imagine this being like me showing up here and going to a church and the people not having the Scriptures or not have known about baptism. I think it is interesting to think about what this must have been like for Paul and his traveling companions as they never knew what they would encounter in each city they arrived in.

The other part of the story that is eye-opening is when some followers of Jesus cast demons out of the man in the name of Jesus, that preaches of. The funny thing is, the demons say we know Jesus and Paul, but who are you, then they put a beat down on the people. A couple of things stand out: first, messing around in the business of casting out demons comes with some responsibility. Second, if you're not in the right place spiritually, messing around with demonic things will get you beat up. 

For space purposes I'm going to leave Chapter 20 for others to talk about. What stood out to you from these passages?

Living Faith

A lot of people talk about "having faith," but some people's faith is based on a belief system or a one-time decision for Christ. Living faith is when we not only trust God for our salvation when we surrender our lives to him, it is when we live each moment by a type of faith that believes things change when we pray, healing and miracles still happen if we open our eyes and open our minds, and that God is still active today. A living faith doesn't see the Scriptures as the story of what happened back then, but sees the Scriptures as the origins of our story that is still being written today. 

A living faith is less about some prayer you prayed years ago and is more about how God is transforming you right now. Faith that is real, living, and active is the kind of faith the world needs to see. A faith that spouts off dogmatic statements and creeds is not living, but dead. Those who choose that kind of faith live in graveyards. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 18

Happy Friday to everyone. Glad you are today. I hope the reading challenge is inspiring and revealing to you as see the origins of the early church and watch how the events unfolded. There is so much to be learned from.

Today's reading is from Acts 18

This chapter demonstrates how quickly things were moving as they preached the message of Jesus. They were continuously traveling and trying to get to as many places as possible. One of the more interesting thing that stood out to me is the fact that God was bringing people to Paul who will later continue pushing forward the message even after Paul's arrest. Last chapter we seen Timothy come to Paul. This chapter we have Aquila and Priscilla from Corinth. And from Ephesus Apollos comes. It just reminds me that the more we look to serve God and the more we are willing to be obedient to His mission, He will provide laborers for the harvest. He did it for Paul and will do it for us.

Your thoughts on this chapter?

Reading Challenge: Acts 16-17

Amazing thoughts yesterday everyone! Continue to read we a cautious eye and an open mind to what God may be saying to you right now through these passages. They are rich with instruction for us. 

Today's readings are from Acts 16-17

Chapter 16:

I'm amazed that after all the discussion from Ch. 15 about whether or not the Gentiles should follow Jewish custom and so forth that Paul decided that Timothy should be circumcised...interesting. It is neat to see how Paul came upon Timothy in this passage too because we know later that Paul ends up writing two letters to Timothy, one being the last one he would ever write. I also love the story of the "Macedonia vision." I feel that God still opens up doors like this and give us direction in ways like this. For example, we have had many people asking for us to plant a Journey campus in Hartsville. This is kind of like a Macedonia call. 

Chapter 17:

My favorite story in Acts 17 is the story of Paul going to Athens. I could preach an entire sermon and write a week's worth of blog post on this chapter. So...I'll let you give your thoughts and comments on this chapter and throw my thoughts in as you guys toss it around.

Thoughts?

The True Gospel

What is the true gospel message? This past week's sermon explored this question and we examined the difference between religion/spirituality and the true gospel. I invite you to watch the message below...perhaps what the true gospel is will become more clear to you from this. Plus, this can give you a glimpse of what a typical Sunday at the Journey is like. Enjoy.

Reading Challenge: Acts 15

Welcome back everyone. Great thoughts over the past few days...very insightful stuff. 

Today's reading is from Acts 15

This is one of the most important chapters of Scripture in the entire Bible. The decision being made at this council held the potential to unleash Christianity into a force throughout the world, which it did, or it had the potential to kill the movement dead in its tracks. The decision as to whether the Gentiles would have to follow Jewish customs and Mosaic law was the issue being decided on. If they would have made the decision for the Gentiles to have to be circumcised, follow the food laws, and follow Jewish customs in order to become Christians, my guess is that the movement would not have made it very far; in fact, none of us would probably be having this discussion today. 

Question: what issues today and decisions we are making as followers of Jesus could potentially be a stumbling block for other people to come into the faith? Are we creating unnecessary hoops for people to jump through or are we sharing liberally the grace that has been made available through Jesus? We have to be careful about how our decisions as people and churches can have many ripple effects.

Saturday's Cornhole Tournament

The smack talk has been going on now for weeks...

People have had boards made so they can perfect their game...

Many have order uniforms...just to emphasize the absurdity of it all...

Now...the only thing left to do is: THROW SOME BAGS!!!!!!

This Saturday, the 1st Annual Journey Cornhole Tournament kicks-off with Registration @ 10:30am and the games begin @ 11am. This tournament is $30 per team, $15 per individual. The location is the Journey Church, Lebanon Campus: 212 Leeville Pike, Cumberland University. 

All proceeds...and I do mean ALL proceeds go to mission endeavors. They will go to a new church plant getting started in Richmond, VA and will support a church planting missionary who is going to China. There will be food, drinks, and other great things going on. There will also be childcare available for a donation price for those parents who need to do something with the kids. 

Who would have thought that registering to have a fun day of throwing Cornhole Bags could actually go to furthering God's Kingdom and supporting these great causes? Plan to join us Saturday. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 13-14

We are at the half way point as of today. In fact, from this point on we are going to see the explosion and birth of the church as most of the story follows Paul in his missional endeavors. 

Today's readings are from Acts 13-14

Acts 13:

What an incredible time this must have been! Paul and Barnabas had been staying in the Antioch church when one day while they are praying and fasting the Holy Spirit informs them that they are to go out to the rest of the world. This is amazing. This is an opportunity for us to witness first hand the movement of God in its infant stages. I love how when we read it we don't hear them asking all kinds of questions or arguing about what to do, they simply go. This is a lesson for all of us: 1. we need to be in constant prayer and yes, maybe even fasting. 2. When the Spirit of God speaks our next response should be obedience, not questioning. 

Acts 14:

In Chapter 12 we seen how King Herod was struck down for letting people worship him as God. In this chapter Paul and Barnabas deflect the worship and tell them that they are merely men. The thing that stood out to me in this chapter was their faithfulness to the task of sharing the Good News. Notice that Paul was nearly stoned to death and dragged outside the city. The Scriptures say that he got up and went back into the city. That is courage! That is conviction to a mission! That is the type of commitment and boldness the church and her missionaries once again need to embody. 

What were your thoughts on these chapters? 

This is why you should come to The Journey

This is why you should be coming to The Journey. This is an example of the creativity and humor that we use in order for people to connect with the message of Jesus. Enjoy!

Reading Challenge: Acts 12

Welcome back everyone. I hope everyone had a great weekend. We continue in our Acts reading with Acts 12. We are going to cover some ground this week, so be sure to read carefully and comment if you so desire. 

Wow, there are lots of things happening in this chapter. It begins with the death of James, the brother of John (the beloved disciple). James was part of the inner circle of Jesus and he is the first of the 11 faithful disciples that has died for being a follower of the Way. Peter is then arrested, but has a miraculous experience happen as an angel appears before him and rescues him. Why is Peter rescued and James not? These are questions we will never have answers to. Perhaps Peter's mission from God had not been accomplished? Either way, Peter escapes and continues his mission of making Christ known. 

The part that may have stuck out to me the most was the death of Herod Agrippa. It says that Herod was struck down dead because he accepted the worship of other humans, instead of giving glory to God. How much of this happens in our world today? Athletes, musicians, PASTOR'S, and others often accept the praise and worship of others instead of deflecting it to God. In what ways have you failed to deflect worship from you back to God?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and take-aways.

Sunday Evening Reflections

Once again, the only thing I can begin by saying is: WOW! Today was such an amazing day at The Journey. I'm blown away by the overwhelming presence of God in our midst each week. I seriously didn't even have to preach and we could have all left filled with God because of the amazing time of worship. I feel so grateful to be a part of this church.

A couple notes of interest:

* be in prayer for a big meeting we have this week with a lot of highly influential and well-resourced churches about planting the Hartsville Campus. A lot of things are coming together around this campus.

* today was a great day at the Mount Juliet Campus. We had a good crowd and a great atmosphere and spirit of anticipation. We are working really hard to build a strong, vibrant and growing campus in Mount Juliet. Today was a great reminder that God is at work.

* the Cornhole Tournament is this coming Saturday @ the Lebanon Campus starting at 10:30am. Be there and be prepared to go down. My partner and I are: Team Old-school. You are not going to want to miss my outfit...then again, once you see it you may wish you would have missed it.

Great things going down right now at The Journey. God is good....and it is only going to get better!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

End of the night reflections with Kaleb after his first Nashville Sounds game.

Kaleb's First Nashville Sounds Game from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

An Inside Look at Peter's Twitter/Facebook Log

Okay, so yesterday I posted a blog that imagined what Jesus' twitter/facebook status updates would have looked like. We used the Matthew 16:13-28 passage as our reference. 

Today, I want to take a sneak peak at what Peter's must have looked like from the exact same story. Take a look...

Peter's Twitter/Facebook Updates:

• been traveling a lot lately...Jesus sure does like to walk 1:06 p.m.
• Jesus is asking us who people are saying he is... 2:19 p.m.
• Oh no, he just asked us who we think he is and nobody is answering 2:42 p.m.
• Sweet! I just answered the question right...I knew he was the Christ 2:49 p.m.
• Jesus just mentioned something about building a church...what is that? 2:52 p.m.
• Hmmm, been following Jesus around for a while now and he just mentioned something about dying...??? 4:45 p.m.
• Wow, Jesus just called me Satan...that sucks, really bad! 5:20 p.m.
• Jesus just talked about denying ourselves if we are to follow him...this guy is on an entirely different level!  7:16 p.m.
• Trying to reflect on all I've heard and seen today...it has never been a mistake to follow Jesus, but its tough 8:31 p.m.
• Good night to all, I've got to get some rest...I'm sure tomorrow will be as eventful as every other day 9:13 p.m.

Reading Challenge: Acts 10-11

Welcome back everyone. We are back on track today and reading from Acts 10-11. I'm really loving the participation, keep it up. Today, take your time when you read these passages. It is a little long, but don't let that keep you from seeing the richness in it. Slow down, soak it in, reflect on what it is saying to you and to us collectively. 

Chapter 10:

I've read this chapter a hundred times before, but it really jumped off the page to me for some reason with this reading. The one thing that struck me in this whole thing is that God was at work orchestrating the encounter between Cornelius and Peter the entire time. God was speaking and moving in each them simultaneously to bring them face-to-face with each other. The key is: both had to listen to what God was instructing them to do or they would have missed the payoff of the whole household becoming followers of Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit. Take-away: we may not always know the reason why we should do something, but God could be orchestrating something that we will only discover as we take the steps of obedience. God orders the steps of both to bring them together . Amazing!

Chapter 11:

I laughed when I read this chapter. Often what happens in churches is that when God starts really moving and transforming people's lives, there's a group of people, usually the one's who have been around the longest or have been Christian the longest, who don't particularly like it. We see this reaction to Gentiles becoming Christians by the Jewish believers. The good thing is, after Peter explains what happened and how God had commanded him , they accept this new thing God is doing. The antithesis of this initial reaction is found later in the chapter. The church in Antioch is one of my favorite examples of churches working together to help one another. I don't want to expound to far, because some of you might, but I think more of these actions between churches are needed. 

Your thoughts and take-aways?

If Jesus Twittered and updated his Facebook Status

So humor me for a moment. Can you imagine if the technology would have existed in Jesus' day for him to twitter or update his Facebook status. What would he have wrote during those moments we read of in the Scriptures? I imagine it would have looked something like this:

Read Matthew 16:13-28 to see the context of the story that Jesus is twittering/facebooking

Jesus' Twitter/Facebook Log:

• just arrived in Caesarea Philippi with the boys...it is hot here! - 1:13 pm
• I wonder if these guys following me around really know who I am? :-) - 2:01 pm
• Just asked these guys if they knew who I was, good discussion...Peter of all people actually got it right! - 2:47 pm
• told Peter that I was going to build my church on the truth of his claim...hope he understands... - 2:55 pm
• thinking I need to tell these guys that I'm going to be dying soon...probably important to know - 4:19 pm
• apparently Peter didn't get it, he got upset about the news...I called him Satan...was that too harsh? - 5:02 pm
• I'm going to raise the stakes for these guys...following me is not going to be easy...will cost them EVERYTHING! - 6:45 pm
• I love these guys...thats why I'm going to lay down my life for them...and the rest of the world - 8:15 pm
• long day today...lots to do tomorrow...good night everyone! - 9:14 pm

Reading Challenge: Acts 7

Welcome back everybody. Today we are actually going backwards because I skipped Chapter 7 yesterday for some reason. So today's reading will be from Acts 7, tomorrows will be from Acts 10-11. 

Chapter 7:

This chapter is long, but in it contains the whole message of Jesus' saving action and how God was working throughout history to bring this time to fruition. Stephen was chosen as one of the seven who would "wait tables" through the food distribution; however, he becomes the first martyr of the Christian faith. So think about it...this guy may have seemed to have had an insignificant job, but he ends up playing a significant role by standing and giving the gospel story. A couple of things stand out to me: 1. no matter what your role in the Kingdom currently is, there is no insignificant roles 2. every role in the Kingdom has the primary job of being able to share the gospel message when opportunities present themselves. 

What an amazing faith Stephen had! What awesome courage he displayed! There is a lot for us to learn from this single moment.

Your thoughts?

A Typical Conversation about The Journey

Listen carefully to the guys talking. I'm sure a conversation like this is happening everyday about The Journey.

Reading Challenge: Acts 8-9

Welcome back everyone. Great thoughts on yesterdays post. Continue to give your opinions and thoughts for others to engage with. 

Today's reading is form Acts 8-9

Chapter 8:

So often we view trials and hardships as problems to be overcome and forgotten. What we see here in this chapter is that the persecution of the believers scattered them to other areas, and soon after people from other places are putting faith in Christ (Simon the Sorcerer and the Ethiopian Eunuch). It was through this persecution that the church actually began to move outside of Jerusalem and into Judea and Samaria as the Acts 1:8 passage foretold. Is it possible that the trials or difficult circumstances we are going through today or yesterday is so that God can get us to the place where He wants us? Without this persecution from Saul and others, who knows if the church ever consciously scatters?

Chapter 9:

One of the great chapters of the Bible. We actually get to first-hand witness the greatest missionary/evangelist/pastor ever come to faith. The point of the story that I like the most is that no matter evidence he had heard about Christianity, nothing could replace the personal encounter that he had with Jesus. He was there while Stephen made a case for the faith, and he was aware of the claims the apostles were making about this man named Jesus, but it wasn't until he had real encounter with Jesus that he laid down his life. Two things it tells me: even the hardest of hearts cannot resist when they encounter Christ face-to-face and we have to do everything we can as followers of Jesus to help others have these encounters. 

This is a great book! I'm loving it! Your thoughts?

Reading Challenge: Acts 6

Welcome back everyone. I'm loving hearing your feedback on the passages from Acts. This creates such a great learning community. All of your insights are giving me new ways to approach these scriptures.

Today's reading is from Acts 6

Chapter 6:
We see here immediately that there was already some division in the early church. The Grecian and Hebraic Christians were already in conflict with each other (we will see this addressed in depth by Paul in the book of Romans). The conflict was over the daily food distribution. Here's the thing to remember: the food came from those who were giving it to the apostles for distribution. This was not a grocery store or food bank from a non-profit organization. The church was sharing its possessions with one another. Is it simply because of the way of life in the first century that this was possible or can this still happen in our world today? In what ways?

I also like how the apostles finally realized that the mission and task was getting bigger than their ability to do it all. They finally started involving others in the ministry and focused on the things that only they could do. Listen, I believe there is more horsepower in the seats of our churches than there are on elder teams, staffs, and lead pastors. This does not mean that these people are not needed, but they cannot carry the weight of all the ministry that needs to happen. Involving others in ministry is the key to expanding ministry beyond a handful of people to the masses.

Your thoughts?

Video Blog: Kaleigh Reed

We're trying to figure out a middle name. My favorite is: Grace. Kaleigh Grace Reed. What do you think?

Video Blog: Kaleigh Reed from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

Reading Challenge: Acts 4-5

Welcome back. We continue our Acts Reading Challenge today. Today's reading is from Acts 4-5

Chapter 4:

I think there is so much to learn from this chapter. We see an entirely new countenance on the disciples. They are bold, courageous, and willing to go anywhere to preach Jesus. They believe they have been given a power through Christ that can conqueror anything -- and they have! The difference between them and us is that they actually lived like they believed it. Perhaps my favorite verse in this chapter is vs 13: "¹³When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus." I love this reminder that we don't have to be the most educated people in order to be the most godly and anointed people. We simply need to be people who are with Jesus.

Chapter 5:

By far my favorite part of this chapter is when Gamaliel the Pharisee speaks out when everyone is upset about the work and ministry of the apostles. I believe his words can still serve to guide us today. "³⁸Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. ³⁹But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."Wow! What a powerful reminder. If it is from God, nobody can stop it!

What were your thoughts?

Sunday Evening Reflections

And....we're off! SENT started today and I'm so glad. I'm looking forward to the conversations that are going to be taking place in the weeks to come regarding mission endeavors at The Journey. I truly believe God wants to use this church to make some noise in our city, region, country, and world. I don't say that because its what I'm supposed to say, I say it because I believe it. 

Today we talked about the fact that we need to be Re:Commissioned as the people of God to take the message of the cross to the people who have yet to embrace it. My prayer is that today's message will continue to bear fruit in the days, weeks, and months ahead. 

Here are some other random thoughts going through my mind right now:

* "Rain Down" was unbelievable during worship today, great song

* I'm praying we have a huge turnout for the Cornhole Tournament so we can raise a bunch of money for mission endeavors

* There are some big meetings taking place in the next two weeks with leaders from others churches and the Tennessee Baptist Convention about planting a Journey Campus in Hartsville...big things are lining up out there!

* I'm fired up about what is going on at our Lebanon Campus, now I want to see us take up another notch at both of our campuses

* We may have some baptisms coming in the next week or two --- be on the lookout!

We are on the tip of a major movement of God. Keep praying big prayers. Keep spreading the word about what God is doing. Most importantly, live as those are SENT on a mission from God - BECAUSE that's who we are. 

Video Blog: SENT

Trying something new...let me know how you think it works!

Sent from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

Cornhole Tournament

The Journey will be hosting a 36 Team Cornhole Tournament on Saturday June 20th in Lebanon. We are excited about this opportunity to connect with the community and raise money for mission endeavors happening locally, nationally, and globally. The tournament is $30 per team. Registration is at 10:30am and the tournament starts at 11am. Prizes will be awarded for the first and second place teams.

To get you in the Cornhole mood and laugh your butt off, check out this video:

Reading Challenge: Acts 3

Welcome back everyone. Happy Friday to you. Today we are in Acts 3

The first thing that jumps out at me from this passage is their boldness to tell this man to get up and walk. That took some amazing courage and humility to do. What if God didn't heal the man? What if they say that and the man can't get up? It appears that those doubts never crept into their minds, they were sure that Jesus would heal him. Why don't we live with that kind of faith and boldness today? I want that kind of living faith.

My favorite part in this chapter comes in the second section of it. Peter is speaking to the crowd and he says, "It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see." (Acts 3:16) May we never forget the simple, yet profound truth found in that statement by Peter. It is in Jesus that we find our complete healing. We find ourselves healed physically, emotionally, and spiritually when we surrender everything to him.

What stood out to you? What are your thoughts about this chapter?

Reading Challenge: Acts 1-2

We begin a brand new journey today. We are going to read through the book of Acts over the month of June. For a Christian, the book of Acts is the story of our origins as a church. Christianity goes from being a small sect of a 120 or so, to an unstoppable movement in the ancient world. Take time to think about things that apply to you, but also put into larger perspective the themes you are reading on.

Today's reading is from Acts 1 - 2

Chapter 1 and 2's major theme is the Holy Spirit. I'm teaching on this Week 3 of SENT so I don't want to show my hand completely, but these are powerful passages. Notice that when the disciples were commissioned (Acts 1:8), shortly after Jesus ascends into heaven and the disciples are sitting staring at the sky. An angel comes and asks them, "why do you stand here looking at the sky?" I think that there is still a lot of standing around and staring at the sky going on in Christianity today. There needs to be more "going and doing." When we sit around and only dream of his return, we are essentially reliving this passage of staring at the sky. We have been challenged to "go" into the world, not sit around and gaze at heaven.

What are your thoughts? What stands out to you?

Churches Working Together

Rarely do you see churches work together! I'm sure that has been your experience, it has certainly been mine. I was encouraged in a major way yesterday. Randy Cook, pastor of Crossroads Community Church in Lebanon, wrote a blog about The Journey coming to Lebanon that was super encouraging and extremely rare. It blessed me to read that because often times churches get territorial when other churches enter their towns. Cheers to Randy  and to the Crossroads Community! May God bless all their ministry efforts in the Lebanon community and may many people find Christ through their faith, love, and hope. 

Reading Challenge: ACTS

We are beginning a new teaching series at church entitled: SENT. This series will go for four weeks throughout the month of June. One of the things we are going to do to help make the experience and the content sink in even deeper is to read the book of Acts.

The book of Acts is the story of how the church was launched into action after the resurrection of Jesus. It is 28 chapters of fast-moving action. In this book we hear Jesus commission his disciples, we see the Holy Spirit comes to fill the believers, we see people repenting and being baptized, we see the church persecuted, and then we see the conversion of Paul and follow him through his three missionary journeys.

We are going to do this reading challenge M-F. We are going to alternate doing one chapter per day and two chapters per day beginning this Thursday, June 4th. Thursday you will read Acts 1-2 and Tuesday you will read Acts 3. If we alternate like this throughout the entire book, we will finish on the last day of June. Make a commitment to invest a small amount of time into something that can pay huge dividends in your walk with Jesus.

Intentions versus Actions

I feel like I'm right on the edge of a breakthrough idea...then again, it may not be, but I still would like to flesh it out. I'm wrestling with the ideas of our intentions and our actions. Sometimes we have good intentions, but we do the wrong actions. Other times we have the wrong intentions as we are doing the right actions. 

An example of this would be found in Matthew 21:28-32

Two other examples are found in Proverbs:

Proverbs 21:2 NLT - We may think we're doing "good" but the LORD examines the heart.
Proverbs 21:27 NLT - God loathes the sacrifice of those with ulterior motives.

So are both bad? If you have the right intentions, but do the wrong actions, is that okay, or is it still damaging to do the wrong actions? Same for the other, is it ever okay to have the wrong intentions, but do the right actions?

I love equations! Sometimes equations help you to flesh out an idea...sometimes they don't. An example of a good equation would be: change of pace + change of place = change of perspective. That is an equation created by Mark Batterson. Help me to feel in the blanks for your ideas of what the answer to the equations for the following would be:

right intentions + wrong actions = 

wrong intentions + right actions =

Day 28: 2 Samuel 24

Well, we made it. Day 28 of the 28 day reading challenge. I know it has been hard, but I hope it has been rewarding. My reason for doing the challenge was more than just wanting to share a reading experience together, but it was also to try to help you instill a habit of reading God's Word each day. It is not always easy to pick up yourself and no where to start, so I hope this has been helpful. I may try to do another one through the book of Acts as I teach the SENT series. Give me your feedback as to whether this was meaningful for you or not.

Today's reading comes from 2 Samuel 24

Chapter 24:
Kind of a wild way to see this reading challenge close. We see David take a census and later come to realize that he has sinned by doing so. I find it interesting that he had a choice of three punishments that God would carry out against him. Here's what this reminds me of: though we have been forgiven of our sins and they will not be held against us on the day of judgment because of Jesus, we still will suffer earthly consequences for our sins. This passage is a powerful reminder of sins consequences. David builds the altar to sacrifice before God and stop the plague, but it seems David is not the same guy we have come to love earlier in the story. We must always stay close to God and not stray, for we all are prone to wander and lead our ourselves, rather than be lead by God.

What were your thoughts? Thanks again for joining the conversation!