Follow Through

We finally finished up the baseball season for my son Seth. I was so proud of him. His team won the All Star Championship and played their hearts out. Seth loves baseball - all 60 lbs of him. He is put together like a stick man but he can really swing a bat. Toward the end of the season though I noticed that his hitting has significantly lost its power. One game in particular he hit the ball directly back to the pitcher three times and of course god put out every time. As I watched his swing I realized what his problem was: he wasn't following through. He would swing the bat and when the bat contacted the ball he would relax his swing and lose any power that he had generated. Before his next game, we went to the batting cages and worked on the follow through of his swing. I told him to keep pushing through the swing even after he makes contact with the ball and he will get power behind the swing and hit the ball farther. Sure enough, the next game he went to the plate and hit the ball all the way out into left field. Seth learned the importance of a good follow through.
We live in a culture where follow through seems to be relegated only to baseball swings. I see people start all the time but as soon as they come in contact with some resistance they slow down or even stop their progress. There is a story in the Old Testament book of 1 Kings 13 about a man of God from Judah. Amazingly, this man's name is not even mentioned even though he delivered a very important message from God. He walked for miles from southern Israel to northern Israel to deliver the message that cult priests that were serving the ungodly king Jeroboam would someday be burned on the very altars that they were making animal sacrifices on. God had told this man to deliver this very important message but to also not eat or drink but to come straight back home to Judah. The delivery of the message was critical but the "follow through" was even more important. You see, this man of God ended up not following through and it cost him his life.
As I read this story I can't help but ask God why he is so strict on a man who delivered this powerful prophetic message. I came to realize that no matter how gloriously you fulfill part of God's command it is not enough. When God gives instructions, it is important to follow them completely (even if the resistance comes from supposed religious people).
God help us to "follow through!" To remain faithful to ALL that you have told us to do.

Sunday @ Journey (May 3)

With rumors of swine flu circulating our community and the potential for sever weather, we had church regardless. Zach Brown made a guest appearance in the worship band this week as they lead us into the presence of the Lord singing "Holy Holy Holy is the Lord God Almighty / Who was and is and is to come / With all creation I sing / Praise to the King of Kings / You are my everything and I will adore You." My prayer is that we can always sing that song with sincerity and a heart-felt sense of awe towards God. Our subject was on Fear. Very appropriate for our day and time and I believe from the feedback that I have already received that the message hit the mark.

I was great to meet several new guests. We have new guests on a consistent basis but hearing how some found out about Journey is amazing. Some said that they had seen our billboard which has been down since the end of February. Others I met said that they received a door knocker which was delivered on February 7. Ironic, but that is how we pray - Lord help us to be the right church at the right time (1 Chron. 12:32).

I am always so thankful and humbled to see the efforts of our set up and tear down each week. Everyone makes it look so easy even though I know that there are a million other things that would be more pleasant that carrying speakers and putting down nursery floors on a Sunday morning. Glad to see new faces helping out. It gives me a pulse on the church when I see people just voluntarily jumping in and helping. At that point, Journey becomes less public and more personal. It becomes "my place of worship" not "their place of worship."

Sunday @ Journey (April 26)

It was a distinct day at Journey for a variety of reasons. First, Guy Delcambre spoke and did an amazing job delivering a message of timely truth through God's Word. I believe that people were truly ministered to and we saw evidence of that as several came forward for prayer during our ministry time. It is great to have a God-given team carry the weight of Journey. May God help us to continue grow on a personal level as the church grows.

A second distinction about this past Sunday was the fact that I got to be involved in the worship time in a "loud" way. I got to play in the band. Now those of you who might know me, that is really nothing unusual. I am a musician and I have been playing instruments and singing in church forever. As a matter of fact, some can remember the first set of drums at Bethel in Duncan. That white, now creamy white, set of drums on stage with a stringy headed 11 year old kid pounding on them. I was just a kid when I started playing drums in church. What a chance my dad took on me! This past Sunday I found myself playing drums once again. Our drummer called in on Friday and said he would be unable to make it. As a new church, options are usually pretty limited but I have always said, "if I have to I will" and I had a blast. I spoke to one of our first time visitors and she said, "I've never had a pastor who played the drums before." I just hope I played better than I did when I was 11!

Great job team! Another day of serving the Lord in our field!

Sunday @ Journey (April 19)

There was a great presence in our worship experience on Sunday. So many times we try to think that the things WE do make the day meaningful but in truth, it is the things that HE does that causes our corporate experiences worth while. As we were lead into worship by our team, I found myself lost in a moment of worship.

The vision for Journey is to be a place where people can genuinely experience the presence of God in a corporate environment. Sunday was a great day for that. Now you must understand that people come with presupposed ideas of what it means to experience God. My take is that when a person is truly touched by the presence of God, the grading system of our human wants gets set aside.

I thank God for everyone who made the day great...especially HIM.

Baptism Bash Time

It will be hard to compare subsequent baptisms to our first but I pray that baptisms can become a monthly occurrence around Journey Church.  Sunday, March 29, 2009, we baptized 11 people in water as an example of their faith in Jesus Christ. You can read about some of their stories on the church website and even get the video!

It has been said that Texans sleep with their boots on.  Well, they get baptized with their boots on too!

Sunday @ Journey (March 29th)

Sunday was a day that will go down in the books as won of the most exciting days in the history of Journey Church. You could feel the expectation of the day as it started at 5 am as Joe and I drove to the theater to drop off the baptismal tank a.k.a. cattle trough. We started filling it with water as we prayed the our heater would be sufficient to heat the tank in the 34 degree weather. I knew that it was going to warm up but putting people into a tank of 50 degree water was not what I wanted to be known for. But thanks to Shane Hall, we turned our cattle trough into a redneck hot tub that was perfect for baptism. All total, we baptized 11 people on Sunday from ages 7 to 70. You can catch some of their stories on the website (www.churchonajourney.com) and our facebook page. Baptism was their demonstration of their new found journey. May they always pursue the HIM with an uncompromising commitment. My prayer is that today will serve as a CRUX in the life of those eleven who confessed Jesus as their Savior. May their commitment never fade. As Maxwell said, "Until I am committed, there is a hesitancy, a chance to draw back. But the moment I definitely commit myself, then God moves also, and a whole stream of events erupts. All manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings, persons, and material assistance, which I could never have dreamed would come my way, begin to flow toward me - the moment I make a commitment."

Not only was Sunday the first day of baptisms at Journey Church but it was the first time we decided to do our worship time, acoustic. Sometimes new churches are forced to do an acoustic set because a drummer doesn't show but that wasn't our case. We found that Pablo, our drummer, has incredible ninja skills and can actually play the shaker and text at the same time (or so I am told from the guys at rehearsal). The most exception part of the worship besides Blair showing his ability on the djembe was Aaron bringing it with his standup, "doghouse" bass. I honestly wanted to cry for joy when I saw and heard Aaron pull out the bow and start sawing on that huge fiddle! Awesome time of worship!



As I continued our series, Crux, that highlights the cross of Jesus being the dividing line in history and our life, I felt the passion of God as I communicated what it was like to find true conversion. True transformation. True life-change. In our closing prayer, I ask for hands to be raised by those who were wanting to put their faith in Jesus. Several hands went up and I was able to pray with one man in particular who described to me how over the past few weeks while attending Journey, God has been drawing him closer and closer and today he wanted to affirm his faith in Jesus. What a great day!

God is blessing our new church beyond our expectations. It's not about being hip and cool. It is not about being impressive and catchy. It is about the life changing power of the Gospel. I realize that more every day. For that Gospel, I can and have given my life. And why shouldn't I, HE gave his!

Serving Denton through Convoy of Hope

What a great honor for our young church to be a part of serving our community on such a large scale event such as Convoy of Hope.  Even through the figid temperatures, churches joined together to show love to our city and those who were facing difficult times.  Here are the details: 

27 churches participated

16 community/social/business organizations

572 volunteers

1,516 guests

60 people prayed prayers of salvation

1,015 people were prayed for

In the words of songwriter Chris Tomlin - "greater things are yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city"

Sunday @ Journey

What an incredible day we had this weekend. We got a late start but that didn't seem to matter to the TEAM. Everyone including those who have recently come on board to serve at Journey, jumped in and transformed our theater into a place of worship for adults and kids alike all in record time.

It was a busy day for our nursery/preschool team because we had almost 20 little guys and girls celebrating Jesus in their own way. Shannon, Melissa and Brandi will receive a crown in heaven that they won't be able to carry for all their work with those little ones.

Michael spoke on Sunday and became the second person to speak in front of a Journey Church audience in our short 5 week history. He didn't disappoint as he challenged us to follow Christ because he knows more of what we need that we do ourselves.

Overall, it was an incredible day. Growth. Relationships built. The Gospel preached. A win!

God, Family, Church - In that order!

It is hard to describe how proud I am of Sydney after her team won the 10U City Basketball Championship. I watched the games in amazement as our girls played with incredible heart and beat a very tough Laker team back to back.

It was worst case scenerio as it all played out. The championship game ended up being played at 5pm Saturday. The exact same time the our planned BIGteam meeting was scheduled. I was forced to make a split second decision at 4pm: Am I going to go to Sydney's game or am I going to skip the game and do the meeting? Family or Church?

It wasn't my daughter's fault that the game was scheduled at that time. We actually thought it might be played on Sunday afternoon. But no such luck. It also wasn't the team's problem that my daughter was playing basketball. How could I win in this situation?

Well, I know that it has been said - God, Family, Church, but many times that really isn't lived out. I can honestly say that my parents never missed one of my ballgames but there were times when I did feel like our family took a back seat to the church calendar. It isn't an easy thing to balance because the choices usually effect lots of people.

I chose to go to my daughters ball game because I wanted her to know that she was more important than it. It is one thing to know what you are getting into when you sign up for kid sports that you know will take you away from church. That is a different story! But when it falls that way without your knowledge, it is another thing entirely.

i chose to set the culture early for Journey Church. The order is not just talked about so it makes us feel good. The order is lived out - God, Family, Church. Why this order? Because I believe strong families have a focus upon God and strong churches have a focus on family. In God's plan, the family came a long time before the church did and that is they way it still should be today!

How do you grow a great TEAM?

One of the most amazing things that I have been able to experience since we began this journey of starting JOURNEY, has been the development of our TEAM. One of the first questions I started getting from people who were either asking from curiosity or asking for accountability was, "so how many people do you have on your team?" I would always do my best to give them the information that they were looking for and then try to give them the backstory of how we got connected. That is the real story!

For sake of time and space, I am going to skip the backstory and just give some thoughts about how God puts together championship teams.

In the early planning stages, we began to think through all the things that we felt had to be in place before we actually started having church services. At every corner we were faced with this question, "how in the world are we gonna do all these things when we don't have people to help us?" Now I know that this is a planting 101 question but let me tell you - when you are in the middle of it, it is a test of faith. Thankfully, the Lord spoke to me and encouraged me to get concerned about what HE was concerned about and HE would give us the help we need. That has certainly been the case.

On Saturday night, we had our first BIGteam meeting with all of our volunteer team. As I looked around I realized that 6 months ago, I didn't know 95% of all these people. Now they have become some of our closest friends. We followed the pattern of Acts 2:32 and we have seen God build an incredible team. I have found that Championship teams do several things: 1. They eat together often 2. They pray together regularly 3. They work together for the common good 4. They play together.

I have found that our recruitment process is at times flawed, but HIS process is always perfect and he knows the type of team it takes to win!

Sunday @ Journey

>> I was told that Daylight Savings Time weekend could possibly be a downer. But it didn't play out that way. We had a great weekend at Journey. Our attendance didn't bottom out and there was a lot of excitement in the air. I did see quit a few more blood shot eyes than usual.

>> Awesome job by Dustin and the set up team of making the best of a late start. You guys have the system down and it is great to see that you do what you do each week with an incredible attitude of service and love.

>> We welcome Aaron and Danielle as a part of TEAMJourney. We are so glad that we have gotten to know them and see their excitement for being a part of the team. They bring unique skills like knowing the molecular structure of an avocado and being able to arrange symphonies. Welcome to the team!

>> Each week we see new faces. It was great to get to meet several whose faces are becoming more and more familiar. I love to meet new people. Always have and always hope to have that opportunity!

Sunday @ Journey

Sunday @ Journey

1. Another great weekend for Journey. We had been expecting a great weekend and God didn't disappoint. I believe that lives were changed. Especially those who found a new vantage point of faith - ridiculous faith!

2. It was great to finally find a way to create a ministry and prayer time in our worship experience. The theater is great but it has its limits. Think about it. Movie theaters aren't usually designed for people to communicate. They are designed for people to sit and watch. I certainly don't want a "spectator" mentality to get into Journey. I like hands on. We just have to be a little more creative than most. Thank God for a handicap aisle. I mean it was designed for those who have special needs right?

3. It was great to meet new friends and see those who have been coming to Journey on a consistent basis. What was really incredible this week was the number of senior adults who attended. Edgy music, dark movie theater and all - they came and really entered into the service. I think that speaks volumes or at least it should. One lady came up to me afterwards and said, "I counted every time you said 'Jesus' in your sermon. It let me know that you know what church is all about." I counted that a compliment. And by the way, it was 36 times!

4. Great job for the music team that lead us into worship another time. I want to especially say that Joe is certainly Mr. Utility. He has played a different instrument 4 weeks in a row. Now that is awesome. As we sang, "Lead Me to the Cross" into "At the Cross" my heart wanted to explode. Everything hinges on the cross. The love of God, through the sacrifice of Jesus, for a rag-tag, unlovable, mass of helpless humanity. Brings tears to my eyes every time.

5. One exciting moment occurred just before sound check. We were in the main theater and all the sudden I hear this crash. Looking over my shoulder, my worst fear was confirmed - our projector fell from its 8 foot high perch and crashed to the ground. I didn't want to even look so Jeremy went to check it out. The projector fell into a seat and was still running lamp and all. No big deal? Oh yeah, God cares about the little things too.

6. We are still praying for others on our team to be able to relocate and finally get moved to Denton. It has been a great challenge to the Delcambre's and the Roberts but I know that God's plan is perfect. It will happen and we are praying that way. That just reminds me to repeat one more time - in basketball, you miss all the shots you don't take. Likewise, God doesn't answer the prayers that we fail to pray. So, I ask, Lord bless and provide for our team!

A Vision for Mexico City

I spoke with a close missionary friend of mine yesterday. Denzil and Rebecca have given their lives to the work of the kingdom in Mexico. I frequently travel there to join them in their work. They are driven by the desire to see people's lives transformed by the gospel. That is the kind of people that I like to be around. Although many in the world may never know their name, they have made huge differences in the lives of thousands of Mexicans.
It was my privilege to call him and tell them that the first offering of Journey Church will be given in its entirety to Amigos De Fe and the ministry in Mexico City. I truly believe and I constantly tell our team that we are to sow in fields that we may never reap. But in turn, we will reap in fields that we have not sown. That is the economy of God.

DQ - Texas version of Starbucks

Being a holiday, the kids wanted to go to grandma’s house and spend the night. It is great that they are only a couple hours away. I grew up with a pretty close relationship with my grandparents. I loved going to their house. There was always a buffet of food to be had or fun games to be played. They always seemed to huddle around me or put a lot of attention my direction. I know it sounds like I was spoiled but actually I was just blessed. One place always sticks out in my mind about going to the grandparents – Dairy Queen. It is kind of a hybrid between a Whataburger and a Grandys. It was always the place where the old timers would hang out for their coffee or it was the prize at the end of the week for those looking for something besides the familiar family kitchen. (The town I’m talking about only had about 900 people in it and that’s counting dogs, cats, and horses.)
So, rather than making the drive all the way to my folks house, we met halfway in Bowie at the DQ. All of the memories that I just described flooded my mind as we sat down. There were old timers visiting with one another. Some people were alone at their tables slowly eating their food as they casual observed all the commotion of the room. So why DQ? Probably wasn’t the food. I’m thinking that people just wanted to be with someone. So go somewhere where they might see someone they know. Talk to an old friend, or even see something out of the ordinary. If they came yesterday, they certainly saw something. My kids ordered ice cream and got it all over themselves. I think we provided the much needed entertainment for some of the patrons of the DQ. It sure brought a smile to my face!

Sunday @ Journey

• Another great day in the early history of Journey Church. We are finding our groove. Things went up fast and came down quickly thanks to our all star team and some superb direction by Dustin.
• This Sunday we were completely on our own. No out of town help came in for support this week. I kind of thin of ourselves as a chick that is hatching. When it is time to hatch, the chick begins to peck its way from the inside out. Through the process of hatching, the babay chick gains strength – strength it needs to survive. If it receives too much outside help, if someone comes along and cracks the shell off the little chick, then it will most usually die. Why? Because it has to learn what it takes to survive.
• Journey is doing more than surviving. We are alive and kicking. Even though it was a double holiday weekend and north Texas is suffering from a flu epidemic, our numbers were solid and there were several first time guests.
• Interacting with guests is one of the highlights of my week. Every hand I shake and every hello I say, my prayer is that every person will feel the presence of God in our meeting.
• Worship was great this week. Josh did a great job for his first time leading at Journey. And a shout out to Joe for bringing Jun to rock out. Thanks Jun! I could tell that you were playing for the glory of God! As for Stephen, your talent will be missed but I know that God’s hand is on you and He is leading you on your journey!

Exit Interviews

It was great to get immediate feedback from those who came to our Grand Opening. Humbling fo sho!

Garage Sabbath

Yesterday was a great day for me. I took a long needed day off. There is nothing more fun than starting Journey but even Jesus took a day off now and then. I was reminded by a New Yorker friend of mine that the devil never takes a day off. He was kidding of course. But if that is true - it is no wonder he ultimately loses! Sorry Luci Fer, you just aren't too smart.

Taking a Sabbath is critical for everyone. Beyond the physical, mental, and emotional, rest there is spiritual rest. On my day off, I found myself in my garage trying to make sense of the mess. I spent most of the day moving things from one corner to another. Where did I get all that stuff? Oh yea, it is my wife's! I turned on some tunes and took my Sabbath with the sounds of Delirious, Terry Kelly, and others. I was so refreshed even after a day of all out cleaning. I realize that God's plan of rest helps us recognize a few things:
1. It gives us perspective. When you get out of the squirrel cage and take a look around you are able to see the big picture and most importantly, God's work and not yours.
2. It shows us our limits. I have always worked good under pressure but as with anything there is a limit. How do you know when you are close to your limits? When you get up, walk into another room and upon arriving, you forget why you went in there. Or, when you can't remember basic vocabulary words that you learned in or around the 4th grade. If these are happening, you are on "E." Time for a day off.
3. It makes you thankful. It took a couple of hours to begin to realize that I was doing something that wasn't urgent but needed to be done. I began to realize how thankful I was for all of the things that had transpired over the last few months.

Sunday Journey Experience - Grand Opening

As I went to bed last night, my mind was still racing about the events of the day. Not unusual since Feb. 8, 2009 was a date that had been embedded in the back of my mind for over a year. To be honest, it arrived very quickly. For six months we have had our sights set on our Grand Opening. Yesterday we "officially" became a church. Well I guess you have to have a specific day to commemorate but we have been a "community of faith with singular purpose" for quite some time. God has brought an amazing group of people together that sincerely want to see God do something great through their life - To touch people and make a difference in our community.

From the get go, the atmosphere was electric as everyone and everything began to fall into place. Everyone knew th e greatness of the day. Our greeters, Jacob, Al, Julie, Dustin, were amazing as they began to welcome our guest even as early as 9:30 we had visitors arriving. On man said he was at the movies Saturday night and saw our sign and decided to come. Gotta love the spontaneity of the Holy Spirit! From all the feedback I've had, everyone bragged on our they felt so welcome and comfortable. One welcome and one smile is worth more to a guest than 1000 sermons.

Our amazing JKidz team lead by Jaclyn did an amazing job with the kids. A lot of people were really curious what kids church would look like in a theater. I think most were really surprised to see the set up and the fun that was in the room. About 25 kids banged out rhythms during worship while Jaclyn, Meg, Bree, and Viv led the kids to better understand their "Rock Solid Foundation." Shout out too a fellow Chica Laca for hooking us up with great kids programming!

Brandy stepped up huge and took charge in the nursery to allow my wife to be a part of our main worship experience. After I had finished my message I walked toward the lobby area and stopped by the room where I nursery and preschoolers were. It was a buzz of little 3 footers. Thanks to everyone who helped out with the little guys: Bev, Leslie, Allison, and Victoria!

Some of our team like Guy, Blair, Dustin, Marianne, Anita and Aundrea worked in the background this week but are so vital for Journey to impact others. Tech crew - you guys are top shelf. Thank you for serving behind the lights! Your attitude is that of our Lord Jesus.

As our Journey worship experience began I was floored by our sound. Man that band is great! Proud of how you guys have made it come together like a bunch of legos. You set the bar high and as you began to sing, "I need you Jesus to come to my rescue..." my eyes filled with tears and I thought, "man that is what we are all about - Jesus." Worship yesterday was incredible. The randomness of how God brought our music team together is truly mind blowing. So to all you church planters out there my advice would be this: concern yourself with making disciples and God will build a team of talent that will amaze you.

As I finished speaking we all bowed our heads and four people raised their hands to make a decision for Christ. Can you say, "that's what it is about." So far we are batting 1000. Every time we have gathered as a body (two previews and launch), there has been someone make a decision to follow the Lord. As one man said - I can give my life for something like that. Setting up, tearing down, pushing your life to the max, working more than you've ever worked, sacrificing - a person coming to Jesus - we are giving our life for that...

Preview #2

What an incredible weekend! Our TEAMJourney and our friends from Bethel had a great time freezing ourselves on Saturday. It is just crazy that for three days the weather was in the 70's and then on Saturday the temperature didn't get out of the 30's. But that didn't really matter. We hit the streets anyway. Without sounding quib. Even though it was cold outside we all stayed warm because we knew the reason we we doing what we were doing.
Sunday was a great day. It was awesome to see the excitement in the eyes of our team. There was a high level of anticipation as we began our day and our anticipation was not disappointed. God showed up in a great way Sunday. our worship team lead us into God's presence and I taught about how to live a God-focused life. The best part of the morning was meeting many of the people who came to Journey and reconnecting with those who had previously visited.
From the theater it was off to the church "fellowship hall" - my living room! There we had lunch together and shared our excitement with each other. After the last person left my house, it was off to the football field for practice. Man it has been a while but the old man still has the goods!
After practice, it was family time. We took in a movie and a bucket of popcorn. As the incredible day ended, we were all singing..."you've got to move it move it." What a day!

Sneak Peek #1

The weekend was truly incredible. We got our exercise from the distribution we did on Saturday. Our goal was to hit 15,000 homes. We ran out of time but not until we had made approximately 10,000. Our team and a wonderful group of people from Bethel Church. It was hard for me to hold it together as I stood in front of all the excited faces staring at me from the bus seat as they were leaving to return back to Oklahoma. Our journey would be much harder without such loving, giving people.

Early Sunday morning another group of "wow" people showed up early at the Cinemark. They were fired up and ready to go. Some a little nervous but for the most part, a mood of expectation. The set up went on without a hitch and the worship experience started straight up 10 o'clock. It was a surreal moment for me. I felt like I was having an out of the body experience! We had numerous guests that came through a variety of connections: billboard, doorhangers, and relationships. It was great to see all the ways that God connects people. I spoke from Matthew 16 and 1 Chronicles 12:32. I talked about the Divine Intersections of life when God crashes into us. If we blink, we can sometimes miss the most important moments in life. We have to catch those moments and follow after Jesus whenever he calls. I was so thrilled to be able to pray a prayer of salvation with a man that came up to me after the service. That is what it is all about. Thanks TEAMJourney! Thanks Bethel! Most of all, thanks God!

Kids are High Priority

I spent most of this afternoon with some of our Journey friends building the Journey kids set. I love the Dr. Seuss feel and the bright colors. I have no doubt in the importance of investing in our kids. I want our church to be known as a place where our children are of the highest priority of ministry.

Gonna spend the rest of the evening watching some football and enjoying my family. A priority for kids has to start at home first.

'09

I have been anticipating 2009 for a long time and it is finally here. We are 10 days away from our first "sneak peek" worship experience of Journey Church. I am excited and looking forward to the grand opening of Journey. In my desire to see Journey succeed I have notice how God has performed incredible miracles in 2008. The people that have come into my life in 08 will forever be a part of me. Living a life of faith is the the greatest adventure of them all!