Wednesday's Four Silly Questions

Keeping with our Wednesday tradition, we will have our 4 silly questions. I've got to be honest with you, I'm loving seeing everyone's responses. We have a lot of similar people, but different one's also. Remember, your answers are your preferences as a whole, maybe not necessarily what you have currently have.

1. Coke products or Pepsi products? (you can only pick one!)

2. Cable or Satellite?

3. Summer Olympics or Winter Olympics?

4. Automobiles: Foreign or Domestic?

My answers: Coke products, Satellite, Winter Olympics, Foreign (even though I drive a Jeep)

Tribes

Yesterday at The Journey we spoke of every person's desire to have a tribe to belong to. If we look at our lives we can often identify several tribes. I have attend several schools and universities, so in some way, they are my tribe. I have a favorite football team, so in some way, they are my tribe. The Journey Church is an evangelical church with evangelical doctrine, so in a way, that is our tribe. We are connected to several networks and affiliations, in a way, they are part of our tribe. You get the point. 

What I talked about yesterday is that all of us seek desperately to find community and relationships, but until our relationship with God is in the right place, we will put all of our focus on our other tribes, only to find ourselves still searching. Once we connect to God, we then must learn to connect to the tribe of God - the church. The church is called to be an important tribe in our lives. The church has many warts, short-comings, and scars, but that is because humans inhabit it. God designed for the church to be a tribe in which we found grace, mercy, and forgiveness. It is a tribe in which we gain acceptance, despite our flaws. 

Tribes also have a mission. The cool thing about the Tribe of God is that we are called to help people enter into our tribe, it is not exclusive. We help lead people to connect with God and others. 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this: What do you think keeps people from embracing the Tribe of God? What has been the greatest thing in your life about being a part of the Tribe of God?

Believing vs Caring

In my small group on Tuesday night we had a great discussion around a central question. The question that was asked was this: What methods/strategies do we deploy as churches/Christians to help people understand that their need for significance, purpose, and meaning in life is only found in a life committed to Jesus?

This question led to discussion that eventually brought us to a revelation. People are often sold on what they should believe. Churches and Christians fight hard to convince people of what things they should believe. The problem is that many people believe things that they don't care about. You can have a belief in something that you don't care about; however, it is impossible to care about something that you don't believe in. 

Instead of trying to convince people to believe the right things, we need to work at helping people care about the right things. Christians believe its important to share their faith, but most don't. Why is the case? Because they ultimately don't care about it. Many people believe its wrong for people to suffer injustices, but most people don't care enough to take action. People might believe that living their life obeying God is the best things to do, but most don't care enough to actually live it out. In other words, we have to find ways as churches and Christians to help people care about the right things. That will be the only time that they will act on their beliefs. 

I would love your feedback: What are things in your own life that you would say you believe in them, but you don't care about them? What are ways the church/Christians can help people care about the right things?

Wednesday's Four Silly Questions

Today is our Wednesday's Four Silly Questions. Last week we had a lot of people chime in our their preferences and we learned a lot about some folks here on the blog. Most people were dog-lovers over cats. Most were automatic over manual (stick). Most were grocery stores over Wal-Mart. And most were mustard over mayonnaise. I can't wait to see your answers to these:

1. Body-wash or Bar of Soap?

2. Flip-flops or Crocs?

3. Steak or Chicken?

4. Music or Talk-Radio?

Bonus Question: College or NFL?

My answers: Body-wash, Flip-flops, Chicken, Talk-Radio, College

Poll Question

I have a poll question that I would love to get your feedback and responses from.

Question: What do you feel is the number one factor in getting somebody who is not involved in church to come to be a part of a church experience (service, group, etc.)?

I know there are some generic answers out there, but try to really think about deeper than the surface level. Allow for the surface level answer to be explore further to see if there is a root to it. Also, just because an answer are popular answers doesn't mean they are the only answers. 

Questions to think about as you try to come up with your answer: what was the biggest factor in your involvement in a church? what was your biggest factor in staying away from church? 

Power in Silence

This morning I had a time of prayer unlike any other. It wasn't a time in which I presented my requests to God. It wasn't a time in which I gave Him thanks for all my blessings. It wasn't a time in which I told Him how great He was. No, this prayer time was not like most of my times of prayer. This time was filled with silence. Yeah, silence. I didn't necessarily go into my time of prayer with this objective in mind, but it kind of happened. 

As I was getting ready to pray I started thinking about the LORD and who He is and what He has done. I was trying to get my mind focused. As I started to do this I found myself just focusing in deeply on Him. Requests and needs were no longer on the front of my mind, and the only thing that filled it was Him. I had yet to speak a single word, yet I continued to focus my mind on Him. Then a passage of Scripture came rushing to my mind: "Be still and know that I am God..." (Psalm 46:10)

As I thought about this passage it became like a roaring command from God to me in that moment. What needed to happen this morning was not for me to fill the space with talk, but to simply be quite. In those moments I was able to remember, though I've always known, that I'm conversing with the Living God, Creator of the universe. There are none like Him. He is the God that part the Red Sea while freeing the Israelites from Egypt. He is the One Elijah called upon on Mt Carmel who consumed the alter with fire from heaven. He is the One who called and anointed David to be king over Israel. And He is the One who sent His Son to give us life. As I sat in silence this morning I was reminded: sometimes our greatest prayer is to be quite and reflect on the glory and wonder of God. 

Questions: Do you ever have those moments of just sitting quietly to reflect on God? What is the most difficult challenge, in your opinion, to being still and quite during a time of prayer?

Intellectual Faith

I'm noticing a growing trend. I'm not sure if its just because I read a book that opened my eyes or if God has been allowing me to become more aware of it lately, but I've noticed a something in Christianity: not a lot of people really KNOW what their faith really is. I don't mean that people don't know that Jesus Christ died on the cross and three days later rose from the dead. I'm talking about having an intellectual grasp of their faith to such a degree that they could answer questions from skeptics, cynics, and unbelievers. 

The more I look around I don't see this true knowledge and understanding of the faith. It makes me wonder if I really know the things that I should. So that I'm not vague, let me give some examples. How would you answer these questions intelligently?

* Is the Bible really God's Word without errors and flaws, or is it simply an inspiring book, but not one that should be taken literally? 

* If asked why you believe that God created the world in the way in which the Bible describes instead of the process of evolution, what kind of answer would you give?

* If while sharing your faith with someone that said to you, "I believe that all ways lead to God and there is no one way." how would you respond?

* If told, "The Bible was put together by men who picked which books would be in there and which books wouldn't, plus many books were left out." How would you answer this claim?

Skeptics believe they can pick on Christians intellectually because they don't believe we are capable and equipped to answer their questions. I personally think that needs to change. Beginning in 2010 I'm going to be diving deep into a bunch of teaching series that will be aimed at equipping Christians to give an account for their faith and at the same time, answering questions that skeptics may be asking. 

Questions for you to answer: What things do you personally feel unequipped to answer about your faith? What subjects would you like to see taught on this issue? I would love to hear your answers.

Wednesday's Four Silly Questions

I wanted to have a little fun on here today and get to know everyone a little bit better. I want to ask four questions that you have to give an answer to. Your answer will be between two possible answers. This will be a fun way for everyone to find out something about others they didn't know, and perhaps see how different others are from us. Be sure to post your answer even if you have never answered or posted on the blog before. You can answer without having to have a blog account, you simply answer as a guest. 

Questions:

Pet - Dog or Cat? (even if you don't have a pet, which would you go for?)

Vehicle - Automatic or Standard?

Condiments - Mayonnaise or Mustard?

Grocery Store - Wal-Mart or Any other Store?

My answers: Dog, Standard, Mustard, Any other Store.

What about you?

Sex Series Ends

It was an incredible weekend. The last four have been. The Sex series is a series that I believe will mark a time in history of our church that changed us. I believe we have grown spiritually in a major way during this series. We tackled issues that most churches would blush at bringing up. Why did we do this? Was it to stir a buzz around town? No. Was it to see how controversial it could get? No. I'm learning more and more these days that there are churches who desire to link with other churches, even churches different than them, and there are churches that like to criticize every church that is not their church. We did this series for one reason: to talk about an issue that dominates our culture, yet doesn't get much representation from God's perspective. For the most part, we have a lot of ignorant Christians walking around on the subject of sex. The statistics we talked about spoke of how Christians and non-Christians are having sex before marriage, outside of their marriage, and even same-gendered sex. I believe the reason this is happening is because churches turn their faces away from this subject and the culture through the media, television, magazines, and movies educate us and define us for sexuality. 

I believe we are a church that can now stand and give an account to others as to why God's desire is for them to honor Him sexually, in addition to other areas. To ignore sex is to ignore something central to who we are as people. Discipleship is supposed to be holistic, which means we don't pick and choose what we want, it means we are supposed to teach the full counsel of God (Acts 20). I hope that you have been challenged by these messages and that you will share them with others you know. We need to redeem this act that was created by God and teach the world how God intended for it to be practiced. 

What things will you walk away with from this series? What lesson(s) stood out the most to you? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Journey Happenings

As we head into the weekend I want to share with you some things that are happening at The Journey over the next two weekends. Check it out:

Untitled from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

Too Busy Not to Pray

Here is Part II of some thoughts about prayer right now. I think they will challenge you. After watching the video I would love to hear your answer to this question: What are some of the things that make it hard to find that time to get away and pray?

Eliminating the Noise to Hear from God from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

Investigating the Content of Your Prayers

Do you pray? I know most people would say, "yes, to some degree, I pray." I think there is a much more important question than "do you pray?" I think a better question is "what am I praying about?" The content of our prayers says a lot about what we are thinking about, it shows us where our hearts are at, and it tells us about what things we are hoping and expecting from God. I get disappointed when all I see on a prayer list is the needs of sick people. Its important to pray for the sick, but most people when asked, "do you have any prayer requests?" always start naming sick or injured people. We should praying about deeper and broader things than just those we know who are sick.

For example...

I'm praying right now for my daughter's (who hasn't been born yet) future husband. I'm praying that he grows up in a home where his parents demonstrate a godly marriage. I pray that his dad would be the role-model of a servant for him so that he grows up in a home that teaches and prepares him to be a man of God and a great husband. I'm praying this right now for my daughter who will be born in 4-6 weeks.

I'm praying right now for God to make me more aware of His presence around me each day. If I truly believe that God is omnipresent, then I must believe that He is always around me. I want to be more sensitive to His presence being around me. I want to take more time to hear His voice and sense His leading each day. I don't want to live the moments of my day forgetting that God is all around me.

I'm praying right now for God to give me good rest at night so I can wake early to spend more time with Him. The thing that keeps me from spending that quality time with God is when I wake up groggy or with a headache. I want to rise in the morning with urgency, with focus, and with a rested mind and body.

What things are you praying about right now? What things do you need to begin praying about? Take time today to evaluate your prayer life and discover what it is you spend your time and focus taking to the Lord. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

3 Questions You Should Be Asking?

Could there be more than three...sure, but then it wouldn't have that catchy little title. Plus, all you people who love the three steps to _________________ lists wouldn't keep reading. So to save all of us the trouble, I've listed three questions each of us would be well serve to ask ourselves regularly. 

1. Am I closer in my walk with Christ today than I was a month/year ago?
This question is a matter of progression versus regression. There are only three possible states of your relationship with God: stagnant, regressing, and progressing. This question must be asked regularly, because at any moment we can begin to slip from our walk with God or become neutral. We can't possibly lead the charge of a mighty movement of God's Spirit in a state of regressing or being stagnant. Cry out to God and ask Him to help you move forward.

2. Is my heart growing more skeptical or compassionate for people?
This question deals with our attitude toward people. A true sign as to the condition of our spiritual health is how we view and treat people. The reason I ask about your heart is because you can put up a front that pretends to like people, but you know whether or not you are growing more hardened or compassionate. Followers of Jesus who are on fire for him have a burning desire to love people, even those who are unlovable and undeserving. Pray for God to break your heart for the condition people are in.

3. What things in my life am I putting before God? 
This is the hardest thing to ask ourselves. We don't ever admit to putting things before God. However, if you look under the microscope close enough, many things can begin to edge God out. Anything put before God is called an idol in the Scriptures. What are the idols of your life? Look at your checkbook, your calendar, and your desires and see if they balance out with God's dream and hope for your life and this world. Pray for God to reveal the things in your life that are coming before Him, repent, and put God in His rightful place in your life.

New Sunday Night Service

I am so pumped about some of the things happening at The Journey. In addition to growing at both campuses, we are seeing tremendous life change happen in the lives of people. This is why we are so excited about beginning a new service time at The Journey.

Sunday, September 20th at 6pm @ the Lebanon Campus will begin our new service time

The intention and purpose for this service time will be to create another gathering opportunity for people to come and worship. This service will be an exact duplicate of the morning service except for it will have extended praise and worship time. We hope to reach out to Cumberland University students with this service, as well as people who go to Titans games, work night shifts, or simply just want to sleep in and hang with family on one of their days off. This service will not have full blown Children's Ministry the way we do in the morning services; however, childcare will be provided on a scaled down version. 

Be sure to let people know about the new service time. We are looking for people who would be willing to serve on the Host Team, Coffee Bar, Worship Team, Tech Team, and a few people who could help with putting a movie on for the kids. More details to come soon, but be sure to get the word out.