A question about unity and multiple meetings...

Regularly I receive questions and suggestions from different members of The Journey asking me about issues and topics specifically related to this body. One of these came this past week from a wonderful person in the body. She wrote, "I had an idea that I thought I would share with both of you (Rod and myself). I think that spring/summer is almost here we should think about having church service outside at a park somewhere in the mountains or by the ocean or somewhere else so that all of the congregation can enjoy all that God has created and there wouldn't be the identification of "I'm from first service" or 'I'm from second service.' I think the identification should be 'I'm from The Journey church.' "

Part of our mission here is that we are traveling toward God - we have a safe place to explore faith and faith-related issues, and this suggestion is a great example of someone feeling safe to think "outside of the box." I hope that The Journey grows in this way - a safe place to travel - a safe place to travel in freedom together...you get the idea.

So I thought about this, and while I am not sure how it would work logistically, the desire behind it is for unity. We CAN maintain unity even though we are divided physically (and probably will be divided again with a third service soon - stay tuned for details)? But a way to help this is to meet as a congregation together occasionally, and when we met outside at our birthday celebration last year that it was great. We will plan on doing this a few times during the summer (weather permitting).

Jesus was passionate about unity, and so am I. Even though our circumstances are a little difficult for maintaining unity as a physical expression (an entire congregation), it is not something that we need to struggle with as a body. We CAN be unified in our worship, in our efforts, in our love for each other and for our community. There is more to our unity than being able to congregate as an entire body (although it is a great thing).

All in all, I encourage this church to keep thinking outside the box, and know that we travel toward God together in community to reach our culture. Who knows, maybe God will bless us with a meeting place large enough to house all of us plus many more. Stay tuned...Pastor

A good read...

I just finished reading Tempting Faith: An Inside Story of Political Seduction by David Kuo. I had picked this book up based on an article I had read about two months ago, and finally decided to read it. As someone who is intrigued by politics, I found this book fascinating. Here's the scoop:

David Kuo was a special assistant to the President from 2001 to 2003, deputy director of the White House office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Kuo's desire was to work with the President on delivering the $8 billion per year promise to faith-based organizations that were helping their communities. As the book points out, this promise was never delivered, nor was it ever taken seriously so much as being a campaign booster and as a way to attain votes in 2000 and 2004. Kuo's revelations of these things isn't so much disturbing to me on a political level as on a personal level. Here's why:

• Politically we need to remember that all men are human, even really good men - or well-intentioned men, like our President. If I take President Bush at his word (and I do), he is a brother in Christ. But he is human and prone to failures and temptations. The higher the leadership, the greater the magnification of these things.
• Personally I am bothered by these things because I have too often been all about "my side" winning and trusting that "my political party" will get things done. As a lifelong Republican, I have to admit (as Kuo did) that Republicans have controlled the White House for 19 of the past 28 years, as well as controlled Congress from 1994-2006 - and are we better off? That is not a Republican slam so much as a personal slam on my looking to politicians when I should be looking elsewhere (starting with the mirror) for the world to improve.
• Spiritually is where I get really distressed - why did the Religious Right/the church become so consumed with politics? When was that ever part of the Great Commission? I agree with Bill Hybels, "The future of the world rests in the hands of local congregations...It's the church or it's lights out. Without churches so filled with the power of God that they can't help but spill goodness and peace and love and joy into the world, depravity will win the day; evil will flood the world. But it doesn't have to be that way. Strong, growing communities of faith can turn the tide of history" (Courageous Leadership, p. 21-22). While the church has made great strides through individuals to better society, its best and most effective work is done when it remembers that God has ordained the church and not the government to do His work.
  
• But spiritually I am alarmed and distressed by church leaders who get too involved in politics - men I have great respect for, but who have erred on the side of over-involvement and who have apparently been duped by politicians to simply becoming vote-getters. I hope that Kuo's book, even though it is from his own point of view, sheds light and perspective so as to avoid politics that is over-promised and under-delivered. If nothing else, I hope that it causes these religious leaders who feel called into the political spectrum to more closely monitor what is being promised versuswhat is being delivered.

One of the other fascinating viewpoints of this book is the historical viewpoint. These include:

• Seeing the formations of a President, before as governor of Texas and then in the early stages of his administration as he began to fit into the role.
  
• Discovering how the White House is the greatest home-field advantage on the earth.
• Viewing different political figures through the lens of a White House aid - figures such as the Clinton family, the Bush family, and other key political figures.
  
• Watching how a new administration begins to unfold through delegations and prioritizing.
• Learning an insider's viewpoint of the events of 9/11.
• Witnessing the mixing of politics and religion.
• Seeing the differences in religious leaders such as Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, and Billy Graham.
  

As Kuo wrapped up his book, I think the suggestion he gives at the end is phenomenal. He recommends that the religious right fast from politics for two years. He doesn't advocate not voting, but rather turning off the talk radio, the TV ads, the campaign rallies - and getting involved in the local church as the agent of church (that last point is probably my viewpoint). But he recommends that we do this so as not to be used for political gain, and that in turn, we take a look at politics from Jesus' standpoint - that we vote from a biblically-guided perspective, and not allow the sway of political jargon be our guiding force. I think this is an excellent and refreshing idea.

All in all, this was a great book - a grounding book. It is said that this book which was released in the fall of 2006 was a major reason for the political victories of the Democrats. Maybe, maybe not. But it is a much-needed book for Christians to read so that the church will remember the Great Commission is our objective, not the advancement of a political party.
-Pastor

Sunday, March 25, 2007 - the Ride of Your Life

Today was week 9 of the Heroes series, and it was all about the ride of your life through the power of community. Rod preached and used the analogy of whitewater rafting to demonstrate how community can get us through the rapids of life, and he spoke on Lydia from Acts 16 who pursued community, persisted through difficulties, and re-played the memories of the community in Philippi. At the end of the service, I asked people to commit to community by allowing changes to happen and to embracing the future. Traveling together in community is part of our mission, but we haven't always succeeded at fostering community. The mission is good, but sometime the strategy isn't, and so I just asked the congregation to be patient as we pursued more strategic ways to help foster community. It was good.

The worship service went well, especially in the second service as we reached a good place - but for the time, I would have stayed there a little longer. I am eagerly looking forward to our Night of Worship on Easter Sunday night.

It was a good day at The Journey, with many visitors. I thank God that He continues to bring people our way, and we had our highest attendance of the year at 164. Thank You, Lord.

Sunday, March 18, 2007 - Moving from ME to WE

Week 8 of our Heroes series was one of the more interesting services that we had - we did something that most churches don't typically do - a reverse offering. As we switched the focus today, we talked about how the church as a group of people who have engraved on their hearts "In God WE Trust," just like the average piece of US currency. And as we trust in God, we step forward into areas where God is leading us, and God desires for His church to take on areas of leadership within its community. So we discussed that as a church, for us to lead we must:

1. Evaluate - know what's at stake.
2. Participate - seek to solve problems.
3. Renovate - embrace change.
4. Innovate - keep learning.

I believe God wants the Journey to be a community leader, something that might take years to become. But just because it takes years doesn't mean that we shouldn't start making small impacts now - using the little resources we have to punch holes in the darkness. So we did a reverse offering, handing out $10 to every family that wanted to participate. The goal - give the $10 away as a blessing to someone in our communities. Here were the stipulations:

• You will not pocket the money.
• You won’t give the money to someone you know – family or friends.
• You will use the money locally.
• You will pray that God will show you where you can invest the money back into our community somewhere – if someone needs some groceries or a winter coat or a tank of gas – there are a 100 different ways. Use it for a need – don’t let someone buy a box of cigarettes with it. This is for a need.
• You will only mention the church if someone asks you about it.
• You will write down/record your story and give it to me - or visit www.614project.blogspot.com
• Challenge – I invite you to double it and give it. See what God will do when we start living out “In God WE Trust.”

I am anxious to see what this produces, but I wanted to do this as a step forward as we think outside ourselves. I was inspired to do this while watching a Erwin McManus sermon on the risks involved with visionary leadership.

Beyond the message, the music was good and the spirit of the people was interesting - they seemed unsure about the whole "Reverse offering" concept, but I pray that God uses it to mobilize us. For attendance we had 152...

Sunday, March 11, 2007 - The Growing Pains of Leadership - Part 2

Today was the 2nd part of last week's service as I spoke on The Growing Pains of Leadership - part 2, which is week 7 in our Heroes series. The focus was on Acts 15 and the growth of the churches in Jerusalem and Antioch and the growth of the apostolic leadership. I am so excited to see leaders recognize that in order for growth to happen, we must accept the painful changes that come as we embrace change - and there are three ways to do this:

• Break your box – You aren’t the “end of all knowledge” about how God works. The way God has worked in your life is not the way He works in everyone else’s.

• Reject the romantic – Fall out of love with moments in time, “the way we were” things. While it is nice to remember things as they were, don’t live in the past. The way you found this church when you came is not the way it will remain. Don’t fall in love with moments, fall in love with momentum.
  

• Hang up your hang ups - - Embracing change is painful because we have to release our likes/dislikes.

The last growing pain of leadership is to keep learning - embrace that God's ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:10-11). It was a good message for our aspiring leaders to hear.

But there were other things beyond the message today that greatly excited me - three people raised their hands that they prayed with me to invite Christ into their lives, two of who were first time visitors. I did not receive any info on them, but they were friends of men and women from our church that I will follow up with.

The music was also phenomenal this week - energetic and leading people to experience God. I thank God for the work our praise band does every week in preparation. For attendance, we had 148...

February 11-March 4, 2007 - weeks 3-6 of Heroes series

Every once in a while, I get busy and forget to record on this blog what's happening at church. During these four weeks, I did not record what happened in each service, but here's some facts:

• February 11th - week 3 of Heroes - Using Your Supernatural Eyesight - great word about Ananias seeing Saul through God's eyes and how we need to view people with the eyes of God from Acts 9. We had 128 in attendance - this was a great word.
• February 18th - week 4 of Heroes - The Power of Encouragement - this message began a three week emphasis on Barnabas, showing the power we have to encourage others from the example of Barnabas encouraging Saul and his ministry at the end of Acts 9. We should also calling people to higher levels. We had one salvation (praise God!) this week, and we had 160 in attendance.
• February 25th - week 5 of Heroes - The Power of Mentoring - this message showed the importance of Barnabas influencing John Mark and mentoring Saul/Paul. We had 162 in attendance.
• March 4th - week 6 of Heroes - The Growing Pains of Leadership, part 1 - This message kicked off the first of two message from Acts 15 about how leaders grow by 1) remembering what's at stake and 2) solving problems. We emphasized that "the pathway to leadership is protected by problems." We had 149 in attendance...

They were all great days - I will work to be more diligent in my reporting. Pastor...