Six Years - Part two

Today has been a great day for several reasons. First, I got  to hang out with Mac Richard, a friend of mine from Austin. Mac is the real deal and it's amazing how parallel our lives have been this past year. God is doing great things through he and his church in Austin. Yes, I did say Austin for all you Sooner fans. The last thing Mac and I talked about today was the possibility of a God - honoring wager, between 2 churches, over a little game in October. We'll see what happens.

The second reason it's been a great day is that I got to hang out with the staff for a little while talking about this weekend. I love the passion our staff has for our church and for hearing God. They are an amazing team!

Now to the Big 6 - As we cruise past our 6th birthday as a church here are 6 things that we have done right over the years. For those who think I'm arrogant for talking about what we have done right, please be put at ease. Tomorrow I'll list 6 things I have done wrong. (That list could be 60!)

Here we go:

1. We have believed the ability of God! The bottom line is there are to many pansy faith believers out there that don't have confidence in God. God is a big, big God and is capable of far more than we could ever imagine, guess, or request in our wildest dreams! (Eph. 3:20) God wants us to believe and trust in His ability! It honors Him when we do so!

I just read in our staff notes that 3 people in our church have been healed of cancer recently! That is HUGE!!! God really can do anything and we need to trust Him for everything in our lives!

2. We have been focused on reaching people! People are what pumps God up. He gave us the responsibility of sharing His grace with others. Over the years we have caught some crap for being a "reaching" church. There is nothing that excites my heart more than reaching people! Somehow reaching has been labeled as "shallow" among certain groups of Christians. The reality is there is nothing deeper than sharing the love of Christ with others and helping them develop in spiritual growth.

3. We have connected people to small groups for spiritual growth! There is no doubt that you can't maintain a healthy spiritual community without breaking into smaller groups. It's Biblical, it's practical, and it works! Right now we have over 50% connected is groups!

4. We have always depended on our people to serve! You are the church! You are who makes Journey rock! We have always depended on having you serve to make things happen and you come through BIG TIME! Last weekend we had to volunteers lead worship for thousands of people! This is your church!

5. We have always moved forward with our vision! From day one we have been a high expectation church, expecting God to do great things, and that makes everyday crucial. It is so easy to get distracted (which I'll talk about tomorrow) but there is no distraction that is worth giving up the vision of seeing Christ change the lives of others. The vision to reach the youngest generation a live is a must! To think that  our country could be an unreached people group someday if we don't get off our bootie's is scary! I love old people, middle aged people, etc. - but our vision is reach the youngest generation alive - PERIOD!

6. We have always been involved with our community! The first December of the church we raised several thousand dollars to give to the school system during a budget crunch. Over the past years we have work days, catered in lunches for teachers, helped with the Christmas store, etc. But the reality is were just now getting started! God wants to see a city transformed and it will never happen behind the walls of the church. God wants all of us involved!

7. (An extra one!) We have always believed in a young staff! I can't say enough about the commitment, loyalty, and passion of our staff! The are sold out to leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ! While hiring young has it challenges, the upside is incredible! They bring an energy and zeal to ministry that many of us older ones lose. They 're challening, they're creative, and they love God!

8. (okay, one more) We have always had great mentors! I can not say enough about the people who have shaped my life. David S., Craig G, Clark W., Garth B. Charles D, Dick A. - and the list goes on! These are the guys who have helped me keep my mind in the game over  the past 6 years. If you want to make sure you fail in life, all you have to do is not have mentors. Mentors are everything!

Tomorrow we'll start down the list of all the things I have done wrong!