Confessions of a Sinful Pastor

I'm a very optimistic person. I will rarely take the side of pessimism when comes to anything. I simply refuse to be the person who has something to complain about around every corner. I try to take this optimism into every environment I'm in. Recently, I've noticed that there is an area in my life where I am pessimistic. What is that area? Other churches. That's right, I said it, I'm pessimistic about other churches. 

The reason I say this is because I tend to have doubts about other churches and church plants/planters motivations. I know many people have genuine hearts to plant churches so that they can reach people, but I also know that church planting has become the hip and trendy thing to do. I have found myself getting pessimistic. The thing that is worse, I've been unconsciously jealous or envious of other churches success. I have had the mindset of "if they are successful, we may not be." It is a ridiculous way of thinking, but one that God revealed to me that is in me. 

Here is what God began to show me. God revealed to me that if I'm not careful, I will be concerned with my success over and above the success of other churches. Which at the end of the day means that I desire for myself to be known more than I desire God to be known. God gently reminded me of the passage in John 3:30 where John the Baptist says of Jesus baptizing more people than him, "He must become greater, I must become less." I think that is what needs to happen in me. He must become greater, which means more churches having more success. I must become less, which means that I remember that its not about me or "my" success. Recently, I have started a habit of praying for all the local pastors and that God would bless their family and church, and make them successful. I pray that you would join me in that endeavor. 

I hope my honesty doesn't repel you, but it is simply a confession from a man who needs forgiveness for my selfishness.  

Sunday Evening Reflections

Today was a milestone day at The Journey. It is so exciting to be a part of what God is doing in the church. Every week we see new faces, more commitments of faith, and more lives transformed to follow Christ. I love being able to look back at where we have come from and just sit back and be in awe of God. We are in some exciting times right now in the life of the church.

The more I reflect on all that is happening the more I realize that we have an amazing opportunity to reach our communities. With that opportunity comes major responsibility. God is giving us an influence and a voice and we must bring glory to Him with that voice. My prayer is that we would stay hungry for His Presence. That we would stay hungry to see lost people become found people. That we would stay hungry to see lives transformed. If we stay hungry Journey Church, there is no ceiling as to the influence and impact we can have in our region.

I'm grateful to be the pastor and one of the leaders at such a great church. I love the people. I love the mission. I love our commitment to the things of God. May He continue to be lifted up by us and in us. May we live each day with an eye for those who need Him and take big risks to love those who most cast aside. May we stand amazed each time we gather because He is moving powerfully in our midst.

We have a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT this Sunday so don't miss. Also, the new Sex Series starts this Sunday and it is going to be one the best series we have ever done. Get there early each week and bring friends! Final Stats today: Biggest crowd in the history of the church, Easter included, and 13 baptisms!

Friday Fun

I thought we would have a little Friday fun. Take a shot at creating the caption for this photo or if you like, create the next sentence out of this guy's mouth.



My caption: Huhhhhh, I promise at was at home last night!

The Cost of Discipleship

You may or may not be familiar with the book The Cost of Discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, but it is a classic on the life of one who desires to "carry their cross." I spoke on discipleship on Sunday at church, but the lesson I'm learning about it is still ongoing. I'm being challenged by God in a big way. Discipleship is that process of transformation in which we reflect the image and likeness of our Lord through our lives. As I have thought about this, there are many things in our lives that could destroy that process of transformation. 

I was reading a tweet from Rick Warren the other day and it said this: "What we laugh at reveals a culture's heart. When impurity and mediocrity are considered hilarity we have a problem." When I read that it stung me. I kept reading it and reading it. The thought that came across my heart and mind was, "there are things that I laugh at that really show that my heart needs changing." I watch movies and T.V. shows that have crude humor. As I thought about it, the things that I laugh at make me no different than a culture I'm trying to reflect Christ to. I'm not one of those people who in anti-everything because I am Christian. But I'm realizing that if I'm not careful I will be swayed and lulled into a comfortable drift along with the rest of the culture. Think about this for a moment: how far off-base have comedy movies over the last two decades drifted? Think about the difference between "Caddy Shack" and "The Hangover." I do not recommend "The Hangover" to anyone simply because of how crude it is. 

As I find myself seeking to become more like Christ, I have to evaluate what things that I engage with and consume from our society. Do I really need to watch that show? Is this movie that important to go watch? Is this music truly honoring God? I know some of you may say, "oh, come on, it is not going to hurt anything to watch this or listen to that." But my question back to you would be: "is there not a cost to discipleship?"

Only Having Days to Live

The last couple of months have been a very sobering and reflective time for me. In the course of that time I have done the funeral for a 17 year old kid killed in a car accident, hear of a 16 year old that died of a brain aneurysm as he was working out, and was at a funeral for a friend's grandmother who was in her 60's that died of cancer. In addition to these examples I have been sent prayer requests and been informed of many other ones. It has resulted in this one over-arching question that it forces me to ask: Am I living my life like I have forever or am I living my life like today is my last?

I think this is an important question to ask. If you knew tomorrow was the last day you would have on earth, how would you spend it? What things would make you mad? What things would you look past because they don't matter? Would you keep partying your life away if you knew you were going to come face-to-face with the Living God in a matter of days? How would it effect the way you communicate to your loved ones? How would it change what you do for a living? How would it change your view of money? I think having a healthy sense of our mortality is the only way to truly live as we should. When situations are put in the light of no promise for tomorrow, it helps determine whether or not they are truly important.

So why do I write this? I want you to take inventory of your own life. Have you told the people you love that you love them today? Have you demonstrated your love through your actions? Is your life filled with meaningless things instead of things with meaning? Take inventory and see what you find. Begin to live like you are not promised tomorrow, because you know what? Your not. 

Sunday Evening Reflections

It was another incredible day today at The Journey. I never stop being amazed at what God does in our services each week. Today was one of those days that God really moved the hearts of people. I prayed with many people today at the end of service and following service. I continue to be amazed at the stories of lives that are being changed in this community of faith. God is sending more and more people for us to share the gospel of Jesus with. I pray we continue to faithful in our mission to do just that. 

Today there were several things that left impressions on me:

* I'm thankful that God has continued to grow us as a church throughout the summer months. There are so many new faces that I find myself always introducing myself to others. 

* I loved how our Praise and Worship team had three different people lead worship songs during our time of worship. That is a great job by Robbie Cheuvront in being willing to let others lead. It is also why he is hands-down the best worship leader in the area. Great job by Molly McNeil, Philip Organ, and Miranda Allen in stepping up and leading those songs. 

* I particularly loved "Reign in Us" sang by Philip today. I loved the words he had to say before he sang about his experience coming to The Journey and about how that song should become an anthem for us. Good stuff.

* I thought our tweak in the flow of service worked well today. I liked having the offering and communion as a simultaneous moment. It reminds us that our offering is an act of worship, submission, and obedience to Christ, in whom we feast upon as we take the elements. 

* I'm pumped up about the baptisms for next week. We have double-digit baptisms scheduled and their could possibly be more! You will not want to miss next Sunday.

* Don't forget to hand out the Sex Series cards that we gave out today. We are anticipating a huge turnout in people for this series. If you aren't too shy or embarrassed to invite others, this one will be the one to do it on. 

* I felt my sermon today was speaking to a lot of people in the room. I pray God will bring forth fruit from it. I also love how our church is willing to have fun and laugh as we seek to learn the ways of God together. Good job to my two students this morning who took "my test." 

I'm honored to serve alongside of you all and be a part of what God is doing here at the church. Lets commit to continued faithfulness so that we will keep seeing God pour Himself out in our midst. 

Why I Love Twitter

I know there are many skeptics of the newest and latest networking tools that come out. Facebook is the fourth largest site on the internet right now behind only Microsoft, Google, and Yahoo. Social networking tools such as Facebook and Twitter have changed how communication happens...and I happen to like it. 

The beauty of these two tools, especially twitter, is that you can communicate about what things are going on in your life without having to have 377 conversations with people (the number of people I would have to call or meet with that are my Facebook friends). It is also a more concise way to talk and share information. For example: when I get emails that are just short of being full-length novels, I rarely finish reading them. When I get phone calls from numbers that I don't know, I rarely answer them. In today's world, people don't want to be bogged down. Short and fast communication solves this issue. With twitter you only have a 140 characters to communicate what you need to say. That is the equivalent of two full sentences. Could you imagine if all the fluff of some of your emails and conversations were cut out and just the meat were there? This is why I love it.

Think about this for a moment. Which would you more likely to respond to: the long email, the unknown phone call, or the text message, twitter direct message (140 characters), or a Facebook message. My guess is that you are probably finding yourself responding to things that allow for quick and concise communication. After-all, thats what we have time for. I don't think these things should replace face-to-face contact and conversations, but I love these tools because they allow for me to do my job at a level that I could never accomplish without them. In fact, if you are reading this blog it is probably because you clicked on a link from Facebook or twitter...see. 

Follow me @ twitter.com/erikreed or facebook.com/erikreed

Divine Appointments

As some of you may know I'm coaching my son's tball team this fall. I started calling our players yesterday to let them know I was the coach and to inform them of our practice schedule. One of the main reasons I coach is because it allows me to do this with my son, but also I get a chance to meet families that I would normally never have a chance to know. My prayer is that God would always use these opportunities to allow for people who don't know Him to perhaps find him. I just want to be used to reflect God's love to people who may otherwise not know of it.

Yesterday as I am calling people I get a hold of a lady who's son is on my team. As we are talking about the practice schedule she informs me that she is not sure if they will be able to be there or not. She says that their 9 year old daughter has brain cancer and they are finding results out that day about whether or not the chemotherapy has been working. She starts to cry as she is telling me this. I immediately begin to share with her some of our history with Kaleb's medical problems and then I pray for her, the family, and her daughter. When we finally hung the phone up I just sat there in my chair perplexed. I realized that God happened to ordain this time and the opportunity for this family to be on our team. I'm amazed at how God works. My prayer is for this little girl Bishop to receive healing. I also pray that the family would come to know that God is there with them at all times, if they don't know this already. My prayer is that God would use this tball season as a divine appointment in both their lives and mine. Please pray for this family and sweet little girl. The results yesterday was that her tumor had grown by 20%. 

What Divine Appointments have you had in your life? Is it possible that today is a day full of possibilities for divine appointments if we simply open our eyes and hearts?

Sunday Evening Reflections

Today was the official "last day of summer." School starts back this week. Vacations are over and the normal life routine begins to start back. I had my last scheduled teaching break of the year and I'm ready to get back at it. We have two weeks left of the You Are My Joy series and then we begin the SEX series. It is going to be a great ministry season this fall and we are going to reach so many people. 

This weekend was great. Todd did such a great job today and I'm grateful for him and Shawn filling in for the last 2 out of 3 weeks. The band was awesome as usual this weekend, including the amazing Praise and Worship Night we had on Friday. I have some pictures attached that Nate Uhl took at the event. We also had a great skit today performed by Sarah and Hannah Gallagher. They always do such a great job of communicating without having to say a word. 

I'm excited about all the days ahead of us will bring. We have baptisms coming up in two weeks and it will be awesome. Keep praying big prayers Journey Church and continue to be faithful in all that God asks us to do to forward His mission. 

Plants Need Water

Anyone who  knows me knows that I'm not the best when it comes to fixing cars, building things, or planting gardens. In fact, the more I think about it, I don't know if I have that many skills at all! However I have taken on this task of caring for a couple of plants that we bought in the spring. With Katrina being pregnant she can't get to the hanging plants to water them, so I made this my chore for the summer. We have had plants like this before but they always die. We never remember to give them the water they need to live. Not so this year. I was determined to do the job. 

I have learned some valuable spiritual lessons from my job as caretaker of the plants. The first several weeks I was noticing that the plants were starting to wither, so I gave them more water. Regardless of how much water I gave they were stilling fading fast. I was dumbfounded by why they weren't flourishing. I soon discovered that I was over-watering the plants. They were getting more water than they could have drawn out. 

I think this can be said of us too. Sometimes we pour and pour more information and knowledge in to ourselves. Whether its bible knowledge, sermons, studies, or something else, we are rarely having as much of it applied and lived out before we put more in. We are often over-watered as Christians, and the result is the same as not getting enough water: we wither. Some of you would not be over-watered people, but under-watered. You don't get nearly enough of the things you need to sustain you and grow you. You don't pray, read the Scriptures, participate in the community faith, or share life with others. As a result you are withered because you are expending more than you are having put in. 

What do you think would describe you? Are you over-watered or under-watered? There can be value life lessons learned from the everyday moments. Something as simple as watering plants can teach us a little bit about God and ourselves. 

Making God like us vs Us being like God

A thought crossed my mind as I was driving down the road the other day. I was thinking about how often times people excuse their behaviors and lifestyle as something that God does not get upset about. We twist what His Word says to make it say what we want or to get ourselves off the hook for coming up short. Very few people truly immerse themselves into wanting their lives to reflect the life of Jesus. We don't want to go through the painstaking process of surrendering our will to His will. After thinking through this reality a statement came to my mind:

"We fashion God into who we want Him to be instead of fashioning ourselves into who He is"

This statement just seemed to flow from out of the blue, but the more I think about it, the more I think it is absolutely true. We want to make God into what we want Him to be. A God who is okay with our behaviors, pursuits, and disobedience. A God who will justify not loving someone who's wronged us. A God who will justify sleeping with my boyfriend or girlfriend before I've committed my life to them in marriage. The Scriptures say we are created in the image and likeness of God, not God created in our image and likeness. Our goal is become like Him, to be transformed into Christ-like character.

Question: in what ways have you seen others or yourself try to make God in your image? How can we surrender to Him so that we may become like Him?

Sunday Evening Reflections

I get excited every Sunday night as I reflect on the day's events. Today was another big day for the church. We are reaching new families by the week at each campus. The church is growing both numerically and spiritually. I cannot imagine what it will look like in the middle of fall if this is what we are doing in the summer.

I continued to be impressed by all of our volunteers who make The Journey happen.

I continued to be impressed with our campus pastors who organize and lead the way at each campus.

I continue to be impressed with our worship team and their ability to bring us into the presence of God each Sunday and encourage us to pour forth our praise.

I continue to be impressed with our attitude and spirit as we challenge the church to make commitments.

I continue to be impressed with our ability to welcome new people in as if they have attended forever.

Keep up the good work Journey Church! Let's keep fighting and striving for unity so that the world will know we are His disciples. I'm honored that I get to call myself the pastor of this church.

Friday Fun

Thought this might give you a good Friday laugh. Enjoy.

Handcuffing Jesus

What if I told you that you are the reason for the limited power of Jesus in your life? What if I told you that the reason you do not see the powerful manifestation of his greatness in his life is that we settle for less? Would you believe me?

I was reading this morning from the Gospel of John. In John 1:47-51 there is a story about Nathanael going to meet Jesus. Nathanael is approaching Jesus and Jesus says, "Here comes an honest man - a true son of Israel." Nathanael is taken back and little confused, "How do you know about me?" Jesus then informs Nathanael that he had seen him under the fig tree before Philip found him to bring him to meet Jesus. Nathanael is amazed at this and says to Jesus, "Teacher, you are the Son of God - the King of Israel!" 

What Jesus says next is something I believe he would say to a lot of us today. Jesus says, "Do you believe this just because I told you I had seen you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this." In other words, "Philip, you are impressed with this, yet this is not even a tenth of my power that can be displayed." Jesus is trying to let Philip know that even though he is impressed with this display of knowledge and power, if he settles for this being the extent of Jesus' power, then he is missing it. 

How often do we settle for small things in our lives because we've reduced Jesus' power to simply being about "knowing our sin" or "dying for us" or "loving the unlovable?" These are all good things to understand about Jesus' nature and character, but we must realize that there is so much power in Christ that can and should be displayed in our lives, but we are often the reason it is not. We sell Jesus short. We become like Nathanael. Instead, choose today to explore the possibility that Jesus wants to display more power in your life than you were aware was possible. Give him your needs. Tell him your dreams. Offer up your life. You may here the words of Jesus spoken back to you, "You will see greater things than this."

I Struggle with Anxiety

Last night at small group I got into a conversation with someone who shares a similar struggle as I do. We both suffer from anxiety. I started experiencing anxiety about five years ago when my son Kaleb was going through all of his medical struggles. I remember having my first panic attack and not understanding what was happening to my body. I later learned that this was brought on by anxiety caused from the stress in my life. Since that time I have struggled with in anxiety in spurts and seasons. I tend to recognize the symptoms of anxiety start to creep in and its my indicator that I need to go exercise some more to help relieve stress.

I remember thinking to myself that I was crazy. I did not tell anyone because I thought, "nobody will understand." After I spoke with some friends about it I began to realize that others experience anxiety as well. In my discussion last night, we talked about how anxiety, depression, and other similar things are the result of fears and strongholds. They are either brought on by things we dread happening (fear) or they are things that we have put as more powerful than God (strongholds).

I don't want to write a book today so I'll close with this: many of us, Christian and non-Christian, struggle with things in our lives, but we are not alone in our struggles. We put our anxieties, fears, depression, and worries in His hands. I have resolved myself to the fact that I may struggle with anxiety my whole life, but I will never be alone, and I always have the hope of Christ. Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." That is a hope to take with you today, regardless of what burdens you may carry.

Gear Up

Last night we had our first "Gear Up" class at The Journey. It is similar to what we have done in the past with our Journey 101 class, except this time we are diving a lot deeper into the inner-workings of the church, our vision, and how people can be involved. Last night we had over 17 people from the church come to hear about who the Journey is, what we are trying to accomplish, where are we going, and how can you get involved. It is so exciting to see people who are new catch the vision and understand who we are. They were nodding and I could the light-bulbs going off in their head as I spoke. 

One of the major elements I spoke about was our disciple-making mission. Every church will claim to want to make disciples, but not every church has real definition and plan for how to make that disciple. At the Journey, our definition of a disciple of Jesus is: a person who is pursuing the Presence of God, seeing the world through the Perspective of God, and living for the Purposes of God. This is what we are about. Our Catalyst Worship Gathering on Sunday's is Presence environment, our small groups that meet through the week is a Perspective environment, and our ministry teams and outreach events are our Purposes environment. That is what we are about. It is also how you know what your next step is. If you attend the Journey and are looking for the next step, come to a small group. If you are not coming to the Journey but are interested, come to a Catalyst Worship Gathering. 

You can always measure the health of the church by the number of new families that come. If last night is an indication, then we are in good shape. 

Sunday Evening Reflections

What a great day today at The Journey! It is the middle of summer, but we are still growing and going. Both campuses are doing fantastic and reaching new people every week. I was so proud today of Shawn Allen for how well he did preaching. It was nice to have a break. It was the first time that I have not spoke all of 2009. I only have a few more scheduled breaks, but it was good. 

We have a lot to look forward to this fall. Only a few months from now I anticipate us having more people coming through our doors than we have ever had before. Begin inviting your friends and neighbors. Let people know about all that God is doing at the church. And of course...if you heard Shawn's message today...you need to find a place of service to connect to in order to help us move the mission forward, we need you.

Have a great week...I look forward to the conversations we will share.

Going into others Sub-Cultures

Have you ever invited someone to your church, an event, or some type of club you may be a part of? How often do we think in those moments that are invitations could be scary to them? For example: what if you had someone who was homosexual that you were a friend with try to invite you to a gay bar, would you go? What you walk into their sub-culture? I know I would be hesitant, if not completely against it, but I have to wonder if it is any different for people we invite into our Christian sub-culture?

If we desire to reach our friends, family, and neighbors for Christ and introduce them to his love, then we may need to be willing to go into others sub-cultures. After-all, if we expect them to come into ours, which can bring a lot of anxiety and fear to those who don't go to church, then we should be willing to go into theirs.

Something to think about: what sub-cultures exists in the people you are reaching out to or desire to reach out to?

Cherish God's Word

As a Christian we're supposed to like the Bible. That is a no-brainer. The real question is: do we cherish it? Do we love it? A quote that really spoke to me this morning was by Charles H. Spurgeon. 

He says, "Happy are we to have God's Word always to guide us! What is the manner without the compass? And what is the Christian without the Bible? This is the unerring chart, the map in which every shoal is described, and all the channels from the quicksands of destruction to the haven of salvation mapped and marked by One who knows all the way."

Get into the Scriptures this morning and let them guide you, let God speak to you through them. Memorize Scripture, let it get down deep into your heart. Right now John Griffin and I are doing a Scripture Memory challenge together where we are memorizing Scripture with each other and testing each other. I challenge you to do the same. We are using the Navigators Scripture Memorization study called: Topical Memory System. If you're interested, join in. 

Whatever you do, cherish God's Word. 

Sunday Evening Reflections

Today was an incredible day at The Journey. Even though it is summer, and that is traditionally lower attendance months, not today. Today was one of our biggest crowds we've ever had, Easter included. God is doing some amazing things and I'm thrilled to simply be a part of it. But you know what? Its more than about numbers. Numbers are important because numbers represent people, and people matter deeply to God and should matter deeply to us. But attendance is not our number one priority. Crowds gather for everything: concerts, sporting events, etc. We don't want to simply gather a crowd, we want to see lives transformed. I feel today could have been one of those days where that happened. Talking about joy in the midst of suffering is serious business. It isn't the easiest message to give. My heart has been burdened all week and was again today. My prayer for today is: God, use the words spoken to draw all people unto Yourself. May Your joy be manifested in our lives, despite what circumstances and trials we may face. 

It was a great day today Journey Church. We had an awesome Summer Celebration gathering tonight and had a great turnout. Lots of food and fellowship...even had some Cornhole games going. The best is yet to come Journey Church. If we continue in faithfulness to pursue the things of God's heart, we will have a lasting impact on this community. To God be the Glory!

Time of Reflection

I have been in a little bit of a writing funk lately. Not because I don't feel there is anything to be said, but because I have been doing a lot more reflecting lately. I haven't felt ready to say anything this week. I'm thinking about our church, I'm thinking about my family (and soon to be addition), I'm thinking about how I can get better...you get the point, a lot of thinking. 

Do you ever find yourself getting into more reflective modes in your life? This is not a bad thing by any means. I have just felt more compelled to say less and think more this past week. It may have to do with what I'm speaking about on Sunday: Joy in Suffering. I realize that there is a lot of hurt that exists in our world today, but there is joy to be found in in the midst of our sufferings. I feel a heavy heart about speaking this Sunday so perhaps that has added to it. 

I'm not sure what has brought this season on, but its here. Question: what things do you reflect about in your life? What things race through your mind when you think about the future?

Journey Podcasts

For all of you itunes subscribers who download music and podcasts to your ipod, The Journey is now on itunes. If you desire to subscribe to our account and download the audio file of our sermons, click here: Journey Podcasts

Once you subscribe it will automatically update the sermons each week every time you open your itunes or plug in your ipod. Now, if you are interested, you can listen to the Journey's sermons each week, though you may be live out of town or attend another church. Enjoy!

Readjusting Your Swing

Last night Kaleb and I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. I texted a friend who lives near to the range and asked him if he wanted to meet us there...he also happens to be a really good golfer. As we are hitting balls he begins to migrate over to where I am to watch me hit. He is noticed the "hiccups" in my swing that are keeping me from hitting the ball the way I could. He begins to make some adjustments to my grip, my stance, and a couple of other things. Before you know it, I'm hitting the ball pretty good. Once I got my driver out and started working on it, it all went downhill again. We worked on it until we ran out of balls and he left me with this statement, "You going to have to work on it. The changes won't be as awkward if you keep doing them."

Let me ask you a question: Are there things you are doing in your life right now that are the equivalent to having a bad grip or wrong stance? Are there some things in your life that are keeping you from living at the highest level? Something I realized last night is that making adjustments in your life is not easy, just like making adjustments in your swing is not. It helps to have people in your life who know what they are talking about who can point things out to you to help you, not ridicule you. We also have to commit to practicing these new habits and lifestyle consistently or we naturally fall back into doing what we know. More often than not, doing what we know will lead to nasty slices and shanks.

Pitch Tents or ...

One of my biggest fears is slipping up on a Sunday morning and saying something stupid. Its not that I use all types bad language while I'm not speaking, rather, I'm scared of the possible dyslexia slip-ups that can occur when trying to pronounce or say particular words. One of the all time classic slip-ups has to be this guy...check it out.

The Promise and the Payoff

What does it mean to have a dream? When I think of a dream I don't think of what occurs while I'm sleeping throughout the night. I think of the future that will exist tomorrow and I try to imagine how I can shape that. Dreams and visions are simply pictures of a desired future that you spend your present time trying to build into a reality. In others words, the promise (dream and vision) and the payoff (the coming to fruition). The promise could be to have kids and the payoff is holding your baby. The promise could be to start a successful business and the payoff could be hiring your first employee and cashing your first check. The promise could be to get your degree and the payoff is walking the line. The promise could be to see a Jesus movement to sweep our region and the payoff would be the changed lives, healed marriages, and people saved.

I heard a speaker say that in between the promise and the payoff there is a process. Sometimes the process is hard, sometimes we fall, sometimes we fail. The process is the day-to-day grind that you endure in order to get to the payoff. So often we want to skip the process and get straight to the payoff, but the process is what shapes who you are becoming. How you lead and work during the process will determine if you make it to the promise. If your behaviors, habits, and work ethic during the process are not sufficient, you will never make the payoff, and if by some chance you do, you will never stay there. It doesn't matter what the endeavor is, the process is a grind that requires discipline, commitment, and perseverance. When those things exist, the payoff to the promise will come.

Questions: What promise (vision/dream) in your life are you running after? How are you doing throughout the process of that promise? Are you prepared to work and fight for years before getting the payoff? What roadblocks in the process could deter you from the payoff?