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Random thoughts

I just dropped by the office to do some cleaning up and organizing. Things seemed to get a little out of control over the last two weeks. There have been so many thoughts rushing through my mind - here are a few:

• I love celebrating the life of Christ!
• I love celebrating the life of Christ with 4500 other people! I was so blown away by how many people brought family and friends. We had over a 900 person increase from last year!
• I love seeing people meet Christ anytime, but especially at Christmas! I don't have an exact count yet, but there were alot of people.
• Our teams knocked it out of the park!!! They are unbelievable!!
• I have never seen a cooler environment than what the Journey team creates for Christmas Eve. From the horse drawn buggies, to the gingerbread house, to the photo booths, etc. - it is unbelievable!! (I'm not bragging about what I did, because I didn't even know some of the stuff we were doing - it is the team.)
• I am pumped about next year. God is going to do some really great stuff!
• My office is really messy.
• The weathermen totally missed it. I'm looking out my window at more than a "trace" of snow.
• Go to www.uaskedforit.tv and send me your questions!
• Have a great day!

Christmas

Can you believe it? Christmas is finally here! We kicked off the weekend yesterday with 3 of our 5 worship experiences. All I can say is "Wow!" I can't say thanks enough for all the hard work that has gone into this weekend. It really has been great!

If you are reading this before 4:00 on Monday you still have time to make it to one of our experiences today. The first one is at 4:00 and the last one begins at 5:30. I promise it is worth making the effort!

This next week I won't be blogging everyday. Things will kick back into gear after the New Year!

Christmas

Yesterday was one of those days that I still don't know what happened. I sat down at my computer, went to the web, went to typepad, entered my password, and never entered a post. How brilliant is that?

The Journey Team is working like crazy towards this weekend's Christmas worship experiences. There is so much excitement about what God is going to do this weekend! All the teams have have really put together some great ideas.

If you have never been to one of our Christmas Eve worship experiences you have to try one. There is nothing like coming together with thousands of people to celebrate the birth of our Savior. Here is the deal though - Don't come alone! Bring a friend, or five, that need Christ in their lives. People are very receptive at Christmas time to going to church, so don't miss this opportunity for God to use you to impact someone's life!

Here is the schedule:

Sunday- 10:00 am; 11:45 am; 5:30 pm

Monday - 4:00 pm; 5:30 pm

Pick one - bring a friend or family member - and expect God to do something great!

End times

Bet you never thought I would title a post, "End Times." I sure never thought I would, but here is the deal - I am reading through Revelations, as I wrap up reading the NT this year, and I have something very important to share with you. Are you ready? Here it is: I DON'T GET IT ALL!!!

It is like sitting in the really hard math class and the teacher saying, "Don't you get it now?" No! I don't!

I love the people who come to the church and ask what my theological position is on eschatology. The moment it comes out of their mouth I think, "This probably isn't the right fit for you." I did say that to a lady Sunday who kept on asking where I had been ordained. I could totally understand the first time, but the third time I answered it was game over, time to move on.

Back to the end times, here is what I know:

• Christ is returning to the earth someday.
• I can't wait to see the whole thing happen.
• I have know idea when it will happen.
• I have the great honor of leading people to become fully devoted followers of Christ in the mean time.

I really don't spend a lot (or any) time thinking about the end times because it's not something I can make a difference in. I can allow God to use me to help people take their next step in their relationships with Christ.

When I read Revelations I think, "Wow! What a God!", but then I get back to the work that God has given me now!

The truth of the matter

Have you ever walked through a situation where someone close to you didn't tell the truth? It might have been a family member, a friend, a co- worker, etc., but someone broke your confidence. I have learned a lot about myself, and others, as I have experienced situations where people didn't tell the truth.

Why would people lie, or even greatly exaggerate? Here are a few reasons:

• To impress people
• To make themselves feel better
• To try to be important
• To try to win favor
• They are embarrassed of the truth

Whatever the reason, lying is not worth it! It is not even worth it to exaggerate! God is honored by the truth!

As you continue your journey always evaluate your life to see if there are any areas that are becoming exaggerated. Don't allow the enemy to take you down the track of compromising the truth.

God will honor the truth! Don't live life by finding your identity in what others say, or think, about you - find your identity in Christ!

Today for lunch I got to hang out with the whole Journey staff for our Christmas party. We headed down to Toby's for lunch and then went to do some ice skating.

Things at the ice skating rink appeared to be getting a little out of control when I left a few minutes ago. There had been a game of the Hokey Pokey (kind of weird) a speed race, and the tricks were kicking into full gear. During the race their were some really good crashes. The strangest thing was when Heath (college ministry guy) would skate by all the little girls (who were not with us) and they would be chanting his name. It seemed a little odd.

At this time of year everyone does a good job of hanging out with their staffs, teams, families, etc., but what about the rest of the year? One element that makes a great organization is having a blast together. Often times we get caught up in the mess of things and forget to have fun.

As you work on your 2008 calendar, put some dates on there to hang out with your teams, staff, etc. just for some fun. I hear that ballroom dancing lessons could be coming in 2008.

Worship

I have been having an absolute blast lately in my times with God. Right now I'm reading through Revelations. In Chapter 4 today I read about how worship looks in heaven. While this passage is just a little glimpse, it really is pretty amazing. Read just this little bit.

    Day and night they never stop saying:

"Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,
who was, and is, and is to come."Rev. 4:8

Did you catch that? Day and night they never stopped worshipping! God desires for us to live in a constant state of worship! That doesn't mean there won't be distractions, but it does mean we look past those distractions (good and bad) to keep focusing on Him - to keep worshipping Him!

My greatest times in prayer are when I simply acknowledge God for who He is. When I do that and  pray for others, everything else seems to take care of itself. God loves when we tell Him who He is!

Take time today to simply write out some worship to God. If He was physically right in front of you today what would you say? Take time to worship!

 

One of the things that I'm learning as I grow older is that I have spent too much time fretting over issues that ultimately I can't control. That doesn't mean that my stewardship of situations isn't important, but at the end of the day I have to let God be God.

I was reading this morning in Revelations (always a fun one) and ran across this passage:

      These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name. Rev. 3:7-8

    I have realized in the past I have spent a lot of time working against God! That doesn't mean I was being disobedient, I was just trying to open doors that He didn't want opened, and shut doors that He didn't want shut. The lesson I learned is that when you work against God you get really burned out and  tired. The other side of that is when you trust God, to be who He says He is, He'll do far more than you could ever imagine, guess, or request in your wildest dreams! (Eph. 3:20)

God is always opening doors and creating Ephesians 3:20 moments, the question is: do we trust Him, patiently pursuing them, or do we begin to fret, taking things into our own hands?

What do you need to trust God with today?

What a weekend

Wow! I don't know where to even begin with my thoughts regarding the past 2 days! I guess a good place to begin would be giving God honor for the people's lives that were changed at church yesterday. I have to admit I didn't know what we were in for, but God was faithful! It is amazing that there has never been a Sunday in Journey history that someone didn't receive Christ. Yesterday, on a cold, icy day over 10 people committed their lives to Christ!

When I, and electricity, returned to my house last night I sat down to check out the news of the day. I opened MSN and saw the headline about a church shooting and my heart dropped. As I clicked on the page and began to read the story I sat in shock.

The shooting took place at New Life Church, in Colorado Springs, where Brady Boyd just became the Sr. Pastor. Brady is an incredible man of God who had already stepped into a difficult situation at New Life. Through his leadership God is doing great things in the church and setting it up for a great future!

I encourage all of us to take time to pray for the people of New Life and for Brady. Sometimes it's easy to forget how fortunate we are! I might have been out of electricity for a while, had 40% of our regular attendance, and slid around in the ice, but at the end of the day I'm grateful for what God has done.

Let's pour out our prayers and support to Brady and New Life! 

Life change

Yesterday I had the privilege of meeting with a couple who have been attending Journey for about 1 1/2 years now. They are both extremely sharp people who could teach me a lot!

In the middle of our conversation the wife said, "We need to thank you for something pretty big." The husband went on to tell me that in May of 2006 he had given his life to Christ on a Sunday morning! They had attended church for years, he had believed in God, but he had never trusted Him with his life.

The other thing they thanked me for was inviting people to know Christ every week, which is something I learned from Craig.

People can say they want to go deeper, have more "in-depth" teaching, etc., but I want only one thing - for Christ to continually be lifted up and to change the lives of others!

Thank you, Journey, for being a church where people can experience the life change of Christ!