Sunday, April 29, 2007 - In the Zone - "God Hearted"

Today we began a series called In the Zone, which is about stewardship. I am excited to see where this series brings us as a church, and to see how people will pursue living life in the zone of God's blessings.

It was a fantastic day in many respects, although Rod, our associate pastor was out with the flu. Despite some technical issues, the services were both good. It was good to worship with God's people, and the reception to the message was excellent as people began to see God's plan for us as stewards and not owners. I pray that this message really takes hold here at The Journey - I think we have only begun to understand stewardship, and I believe our effectiveness as a church greatly hinges on us understanding stewardship and applying it.

Today we had two people in the second service who invited Jesus Christ into their lives for the first time - one teenager and one husband of a woman who's been attending The Journey for about 6 months. It is so incredible to see people respond to the gospel - I am always surprised and refreshed when people respond to the gospel message. I am so excited for those that invite God into their lives, and I pray that The Journey is a place of growth for these two.

So as we start out In the Zone, it is good to have a good start - we had 156 in attendance and 2 people invite Jesus Christ into their lives - yes and amen!

Odds & ends on a Friday...

As we get ready for another great weekend here at The Journey, I want to sound off on a few things:
1) I am SO excited as we kick off a great series this weekend called "In the Zone." Don't miss a weekend gathering. Come find out what God-cam is, discover what it means to live "in the zone," and throughout this five week series, learn how you can be blessed by God.

2) Last weekend we had good services - thank you, Lee, for a good message on fruit and discipleship. We will continue exploring how we can live and grow as disciples over the next several months, looking at how we can grow in stewardship, serving, and worshiping - we are going to have a GREAT spring and summer!

3) Thank you for sharing your prayer requests with me by email. It has been a good thing to see into your hearts and unite with you in prayer.

4) Very soon I will share my thoughts regarding the $10 we handed out about 6 weeks ago. If you haven't given your $10 out yet, I want to give you a little bit more guidance, and offer you some encouragement. If you HAVE given out your $10, PLEASE share your story with us at www.614project.blogspot.com at some point soon.

Hope your Friday is going well - I look forward to worshiping with the whole body this weekend!
-Pastor

Another word from Sunday's message...

I wanted to post an email I received from one of our men, Tom Riordan, regarding Sunday's message. It is a word for the body, and worth posting separately...

First, the “Heroes” series was outstanding! It nourished, encouraged, and challenged my spirit.

“Dreams” was a special blessing, and it stirred in me certain reflections I'd like to share.

When I was in my early twenties I spent most of my summers backpacking in the Rockies. One summer my brother, a friend, and I traveled into Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada. Midst our explorations we came upon a site called “Parker Ridge.” It was a 9000 foot high mountain which was popular with tourists and hikers because of the spectacular views it gave from its summit. It overlooked the Athabasca Valley, at the head of which was the massive, Athabasca Glacier, a giant, streaked, tongue of ancient ice that curled and wrapped and ground around and over the jagged-Canadian mountain peaks.

The trail leading up the mountain side was a long arduous switch back that gradually made its way up above the tree line to the barren summit. Along the trail there were numerous wooden benches where hikers could pause to rest and catch their breath.

It was interesting to watch other hikers as they climbed towards the top. We all started off full of energy and enthusiasm with our common goal firmly set before us... the summit of Parker Ridge and that glorious vista!

But the hike was difficult. It was hot, and the grade of the pathway was often steep. Soon ones' energy level was drained and enthusiasm was sapped. So often when one of those frequent rest stops showed up, and a party of hikers paused to rest, some of them would decide that they'd had enough. The journey was too long, too hard, too much work. They'd wait at the rest area while their party continued up the trail. They'd rejoin them on the way down. As a result they never made it all the way to the top. They were content to stay where they were and let their companions continue on. Instead of stopping to rest, they stopped and camped. Instead of being renewed they became complacent.

Because of Who God is; because He is in His very essence: LOVE, all that He does and all that He allows in our lives is for His glory and our good... our “perfect good.” His Kingdom, His DREAM for us is His “perfect good” established in our daily lives. But we have a tendency to settle for second best. He has a vision, a DREAM that we should have “life and have it in super-abundance,” but too often we settle for something “else.” We settle for some counterfeit or perversion of what He has promised. His DREAM, His purpose for us is that we should be filled with His JOY and that His JOY in us would “overflow.” He also purposes that we should have “Peace that surpasses understanding.” But the fulfillment of His DREAM for our lives doesn't come without some effort on our part. We need to “pick up our pallet and walk” at His command. To have Life in superabundance we must “listen to His voice” and follow Him. His Joy comes when we obey His commandments and we love one another as He has loved us. And His Peace comes when we are willing to surrender and trust Him entirely.

It's not always easy. Sometimes, like the hikers on the path up Parkers Ridge, we get tired. We get discouraged. We are disappointed by someone or something, or the heat of the journey drains us of our strength and energy and enthusiasm. We find some “comfortable” place to park ourselves and we lose sight of the goal, the purpose for which God created us and defeated Satan to ensure that we could possess it. Instead of God's DREAM, we settle for Satan's nightmare.

Sometimes we slap on a plastic smile and play the part of being a “joy-filled, victorious, Christian,” but inside there's still a misery because there's unforgiveness in our hearts, unconfessed sin on our lives, or our “love” is self-satisfying rather than sacrificial.

Sometimes we are deceived into thinking that we don't deserve God's BEST. We've committed some sin or our past is something we are so ashamed of that Satan has us believing that God's blessing, His favor, His abundance, His Joy and Peace are for the “other guy.”

Whatever the reason, whatever the deception, whatever the excuse, we allow it to cloud our vision and be dissuaded from the DREAM, the goal, the purpose, pursuing the summit of God's PERFECT Will for us and experiencing the BLESSING which “no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love Him.”

For myself, my family, my Pastors, everyone in the Journey and everyone I meet, I want to encourage to put away the excuses, rebuke the deceptions and lies, and get off our benches, catch a fresh VISION, a renewed DREAM, and get back on the path to the summit of God's BEST.”Focusing on one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead. (Let's) press on to reach the end...for which God in Christ Jesus is calling us.”

**********


THANK YOU, Tom, for a great addendum to the word from Sunday - a fantastic word-picture... May all the members of The Journey receive this...

"What a wonderful world...?"

I see trees of green, red roses too
I see them bloom for me and you
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white
The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky
Are also on the faces of people going by
I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"
They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cryin', I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Sunday's thought was all about "making God's dream come true for this world." Two days removed from that message, and we see the challenges we face:

• A shooter guns kills 33 people at an American university and then himself on Monday...
• The world's weather continues to revolt as a Nor'Easter claims two innocent lives of people in our state.
• War and insurgents continue to cause bloodshed and destruction.
• Spiritual leadership in crisis...
• Growing hostility everywhere we turn...
• Trying to protect our children from the evil that would destroy them.
  

As we learned on Sunday, the world is crying out for God's dream to come true as everything and everyone continues to revolt. That's why pursuing God's dream is so important. Little by little, it brings goodness, peace, and joy wherever it takes hold. We as believers in God's dream actually have the chance to overturn and defeat wickedness wherever we go.

Some might argue and say that making God's dream happen is WAY TOO BIG, and it won't happen until Jesus returns. Two responses:

1. Yes, these are BIG problems. But BIG problems can need to be solved in the small ways before they are solved in the BIG ways. And every BIG problem begins as a little problem that no one resolved. And as we resolve problems locally, watch a small solution turn into a BIG solution, from affecting my neighborhood to impacting my city to carrying into our region and soon enough into our WORLD!
   
2. Matthew 6:33 tells us to seek God's kingdom. The word seek carries more meaning than simply "look for it to come." The idea is to pursue aggresively being kingdom citizens and bringing the kingdom wherever you go. The kingdom affects employment, economics, politics, medicine, law, sexuality, racial equality - it reaches into every area and teaches us to live at a higher level. But it is something we can pursue NOW. Furthermore, Matthew 6:34 takes the immediacy of the kingdom seriously by telling us to not worry about tomorrow - the kingdom - God's dream - isn't a "tomorrow" topic - it's a today "topic," and potentially a "today" reality as we pursue it.
   

More than ever before, seek God's kingdom - God's dream - for this world above all else. And KNOW that it gives the Father's great happiness to GIVE us the kingdom - His dream - as we pursue it...

Any thoughts?

The Williams Driving School/Journey Church Teen Scholarship

As mentioned below, a scholarship from Williams Driving School was given to Kay Greene and Amy Gibson. Kay and Amy have been faithful members and helpers at the church for a few years, and Brent Williams and myself were pleased to extend this scholarship to them.

Sunday April 15, 2007 - Making God's "Dream" Come True

As I sit here this afternoon at my desk, I watch the snow come down...sigh! Oh well, it could be worse - it could be May! :)

Today we wrapped up our Heroes series with a look at how we can be agents of God's kingdom wherever we go. Borrowing from one of my favorite authors, we changed our terminology and instead of calling it the kingdom of God (since we as Westerners understand so very little about the concept of the kingdom), we infused the term with meaning by calling it the "dream of God." Every hero is driven by a dream, and God's heroes are driven by His dream (His kingdom).

The services were good today, even though we had some minor distractions. Today's word was a "seed" message. By that I mean that I wanted to plant seeds of interest and seeds of the kingdom within the men and women at The Journey. It is my prayer that they pursue the Kingdom wherever they go (Luke 12:31) I have never preached on the kingdom of God before, but my views on the kingdom have been largely influenced through the writings of two men - Brian McLaren (The Secret Message of Jesus) and Donald Kraybill (The Upside-Down Kingdom). No doubt, today's message was like molecule on the piece of snow on the tip of the ice-berg so far as how far reaching and expansive the kingdom of God is. And ust a note - if you were in the first service and you had a hard time following me, you can pick up a CD of the message from the 2nd service. It came across much better (in my opinion!).

During my message where I spoke on making your work an extension of God's dream, Brent Williams came forward and presented the scholarship for the Journey/William's Driving School recipients, Amy & Kay (see picture above).

Overall, a good day. We had 164 people, which is a great day attendance-wise. We had return visitors (Eric & Andrea, Scott & Kimberly) and a good spirit in worship and in the word. I am grateful for what God continues to do at The Journey.

Brent Williams comes out of the water

Brent is excited - to be baptized, and to come out of that water. I praise God for what He is doing in Brent's life!

Baptizing Brent Williams on Easter Sunday 2007

The water was incredibly cold as I did not have the water heated, thus Brent's expression!

Easter Sunday 2007 - "The Resurrection is all about Connection"

Easter - Resurrection Sunday...quite honestly, I never know what to expect. Sometimes the attendance is up, sometimes it stays the same - but it is always a great day, and today was no exception. There were several highlights:

• The stations of the cross from the week made a great lead-in to today...
  
• The volunteers that made everything possible...
  
• The crowded first service (144-a record)...
• The all-time best attendance - 199!
• The worship was invigorating and celebratory...
• The baptism of Brent Williams - it was awesome (quick and cold, too!)...
• The Night of Worship - we had a good night of worshiping together...
  
• And the best part of the day - 4 people invited Jesus Christ into their lives for the first time ever!!!
  

It was an awesome day with those highlights. The message was on "The Resurrection Connection" as we played with Lego's (everyone got one as a reminder that we can get a deeper connection with God) and focused on Acts 17. We learned the four Lego laws:

1. There is no restriction to your connections.
2. New connections become immediate targets.
3. Unused connections are worthless.
4. Sometimes you just have to build.

We were missing many families, and if you were one, you missed a GREAT day. We did have many visitors (3 who became new believers), and it was an absolutely phenomenal day in every respect. THANK YOU to everyone who worked hard to make sure things ran smoothly.

THANK YOU, LORD for a great day, and for the continued growth of The Journey and the expansion of the Kingdom!

"Why this scientist believes in God" article

Check out this article from CNN.com today - it is wonderful to see that science and faith are not mutually exclusive, but rather coexist. The actual address is http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html

I invite your comments...
-Pastor

About the Stations of the Cross

In the middle of our observation of the Holy Week, I have heard a few questions asked about why we observe the Stations of the Cross. After all, it has largely been a Catholic tradition, so why would we do this at our church?

One person emailed me out of curiosity - and I thoroughly enjoy the dialogue, so thank you to that person - and she asked me, "I'm curious to know why we do them (the Stations) here at The Journey. I haven't even heard the term in 100 years - not since Catholic school. I have no objection, I'm just curious." And I wanted to share my response, as I realize that if one person has a question, many people probably also have the same question.

While we are not Catholic, we knew this was a question that would come up. The stations are not only a Catholic tradition, they are a church tradition that has been around since the 13th century. We believe that the tradition is a good one, remembering the passion and death of Christ at specific stages and moments.

While we don't adhere to the non-scriptural stations (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stations_of_the_cross and http://www.crivoice.org/stations.html for more info), we do take the time to remember in detail what Jesus did for us based on the biblical accounts. Why do we do this? Let me say - it's optional. No one has to do it. But we encourage it because it provides an opportunity for a deeper worship experience.

But what you will also learn when you attend is this- one of the worst sins a Jew could commit is to forget. Throughout the Bible God instructs His people to remember what He has done for them - see Mark 8:18; Luke 1:72-73; Isaiah 46:8-9; Deut. 16:3, 15; Luke 22:19-20; I Cor. 13:23-26. Every time we take communion, we remember what Jesus did for us. The Stations fits right into our worship. They are meant to help us remember what Jesus went through in order for our sinful debt to be paid.

Overall, it is a historic church tradition that we believe provides for a deeper experience in worship. Not trying to be Catholic, but just trying take an excellent tradition and make it part of our own. I hope you will take time over the next few days and come observe the Stations...
-Pastor

Sunday, April 1, 2007 - "What's in Your Hand?"

Days like today are gifts from God...

The service was good, as we had our guests with us. The focus and music and communion were all good as we observed that the Lamb who was slain is worthy to be given all honor and power - and He is worthy to be given everything that is in our hands. What is in our hands? Our livelihood, our energy, our strength - what we do with our hands is what we do with our lives, and we saw a personal demonstration of the power of God working through hands of people like our guests who are surrendered to Him.

The attendance was phenomenal as we had our highest attendance ever apart from a special service - 171! Be praying for clarity as I explore the next steps in meeting our need for space.

But why was today a gift? Because on top of all the good elements of the service, we had two people who's lives were forever changed because they invited Jesus Christ to be a part of their lives for the first time! Two new births took place in our auditorium, and we were there to witness it!

So I thank God for what happened, and what He continues to do at The Journey...