Twitter has been all over the news lately. I’m fairly new to Twitter. I’ve been doing it for about six weeks now. But I feel that I’ve already made a pretty big splash. I convinced my close friend Oprah to do a show about it, and now probably over a million new women have now joined the service.

All kidding aside, I think twitter is a very cool way to communicate. Here are three things I like about twitter:

•    It’s simple. I don’t care to spend a lot of time learning how to use a new tool. Twitter is very accessible and not very hard to get up to speed with.
•    It’s mobile. I almost exclusively use Twitter on my phone. It’s very easy to type a quick update or catch up on what people are doing while waiting for a table at a restaurant or sitting in traffic.
•    It’s flat. You can connect with anybody on Twitter, and they can connect back with you. ... Read More »

As I sit here thinking about the next 6 months I am absolutely pumped! Everywhere I look I see God's hand and blessing, plus it's my favorite time of year!

Here are some of the things I look forward to:

It's lake season! The countdown is on to pulling out the boat and playing hard! I love to watch my kids ski, wakeboard, tube, etc.!

Robin and I get to go to Hillsong in July! We booked our tickets this weekend! I've always wanted to see Austraila and Hillsong! Bonus: Stopping off in New Zealand for a few days! Way cool!

One Prayer is starting in 6 weeks! I love getting to partner with thousands of churches all around the globe. I'm taping my One Prayer message tomorrow night, be praying for me.

We get to make a major announcement this weekend about our future! I can't wait to see what God is going to do!

In my mind, the beginning of the school year i ... Read More »

Last year in March I really felt like the Lord was challenging me about what He wanted to do in the area of our finances here at Journey. I had planned a series for April and was hoping that God would take us as a church to a new level of understanding in the area of stewardship.

As I prayed and prepared I felt the Lord challenging me to give away 10% of our monthly revenue goal for the next year. Wow - seriously? We do not sit on a lot of cash, so this was not an easy challenge to accept, but we did! On the first Sunday of April 2008, we gave away x amount of dollars, and began trusting God in a whole new way!

So a year later, what is the report? Our monthly average revenue has matched up perfectly to the goal we set a year ago! God has done so many miracles, using many of you, throughout the past year!

So what is the Moral of the Story here?

1. THANK YOU God, for what you have done! Read More »
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There is no greater time in life than when you hit your groove! It's that place when you are in the zone of God's blessings and every area of your life reflects it. It is a fun place to hang out!

No doubt over the years I have had times when I was in the groove, and plenty of times I have been out of the groove. So the question is, what is the difference maker?

Great question!

I believe the greatest difference maker is margin! When you have margin in every area of your life it allows you the flexibility to do the things that keep you in the groove. What is interesting is that most of the times "those" things are the small things in life.

Tomorrow I'll share a few thoughts of things I am learning to do to keep margin and enjoy the groove.

What do you do to get in the groove?

This morning I had the honor of having breakfast with 20 businesss leaders in our church. The agenda: How does the church do a better job serving people in the marketplace?

For years now I have believed that there is a huge disconnect between the marketplace and the church. Many people would blame it on the marketplace's greed, or materialism, or worldly drive. I think that is bull crap! I think the disconnect is that most churches don't know how to relate to leaders! We can preach to them, make them feel guilty for not giving away their whole profit, etc., but for the most part, we haven't helped them become better or live into their God-given potential.

God needs great people in the secular marketplace if we are going to transform the world! It is the church's responsibility to help develop marketplace leaders into ther God-given potential!

I look forward to more breakfasts with more of our business leaders!
< ... Read More »

What are they saying?

Not only are people's stories a huge indicator of life change, so is their general conversation about the church. While it feels good to hear the "Great sermon... great worship... etc." stuff, it really isn't a good indicator of what God is doing in people's hearts. Yes, it is important they enjoy it, but there is so much more.

Over the past years I have learned that the greatest things I can hear are:

'God did....'

'God spoke....'

'I felt God....'

While it always feels good to recieve a compliment, it is not our call. Our call is to create environments for people to experience the presence of God and to allow His power to transform their lives!

Let's give God the honor for what He is doing!

Wow! I don't know what words to even use to describe how I feel about this past weekend! It was truly miraculous! It never gets old watching thousands of people filing in to take part in what God is doing!
I personally attended 5 of the 8 worship experiences and it never got old! To sense God's presence in worship, to see people's response to God's word, to hear the stories out in the hall about what God was doing - Wow!

Bragging on our team is always easy, but this weekend they were simply off-the-charts amazing! I could not have been more proud of every area of ministry in our church! God has put such an amazing group of people around this place. I am truly humbled to have the opportunity to work with them.

Things are going to continue to heat up through this series. I encourage you to be here every week to learn to live as a New Creation!

P.S. - And for those who always wonder about our attendance - we did break ... Read More »

Wow! I am pumped that this weekend is here! We have prayed, planned, rehearsed, invited, and prayed some more, and we are jacked about what God wants to do this Easter weekend!

There has never been a more exciting time in ministry for me personally than right now! I love to see what God is doing and I love that I get to be a part! It is truly humbling.

The think that excites me about this weekend is not just this weekend, but what God is going to do over the next 5 weeks! I truly believe this will be the most life changing series you have ever experienced! I believe that the next 2 weeks will change your life forever! It will change your life, your kid's life, your mate's life, your co-worker's life, everyone! If you get and apply what we'll talk about the next 2 weeks, it will change every aspect of your life!

Yes - I am that confident!

Invite every breathing person around you to be a part! How could ... Read More »

MINISTRY TIME

We love what God does during the ministry time at the end of our worship experiences!!! It is such a huge honor to pray with people for God to move in their lives. What we have found through the process is that you love to share with us what God does after we pray. We love that!!

The level of communication increases dramatically if they have personally been prayed for during one of our worship experiences!

COMMUNITY

One of the key indicators of life change for Journey is answering the question: Are people growing in community?

I am more convinced than ever before that there is a big difference between an experience and life change. The life change might begin by a highly emotional or spiritual experience, but for there to be a lasting effect I am convinced people have to have community in their lives!

Community adds encouragement and accountability. We were not created to live this life on our own. We need the Body of Christ! If we are growing in life change, we are growing in community! I love to hear the stories of what God is doing in people's lives through small groups, life transformation classes, women's bible study, men's fraternity, mission trips, etc. Weekends are great, but we need community beyond the weekend!