Man, this weekend is going to be an absolute blast!!! I have never been more pumped about entering into the summer season as a church. It is going to rock!

As a staff we have been spending alot of time talking about our "best summer ever." The stories have been amazing! But the common thread was the spiritual growth, the involvement with the church, and falling in love. So we are going to help with the first two - you're on your own for finding the love of your life.

This Sunday we will roll out our strategy to help you make this the best summer ever! I believe with all of my heart that what God is going to do will change the trajectory of your life forever!

Don't miss it!

(Those of you at Possum Kingdom Lake, playing golf, can catch up onlilne.)

It is absolutey remarkable all that God is doing in our church right now! I am so humbled to be part of such an amazing move of God! Tomorrow I'll share some thoughts with you about this summer and what God is challenging us to do. I think it will be the greatest summer you ever have!

Today I wanted to update everyone with what is happening with the East Campus transition. As many of you know, we have acquired a new location for our East Norman Campus at 12th and Lindsey. The whole process has been such a huge God deal!!! The thought of being a mile off campus and have 32,000 SF - Wow - I don't even know what to say.

The thought of the compassion ministries that we wil be able to have in that facility is off-the-charts incredible!!! We have already have had some meetings to get some thoughts rolling!

As I mentioned at the EC, when I was over there a few weeks ago, we have considered bringing everything back to the North Campus t ... Read More »

One of the greatest traits I have seen in accomplished leaders is their simple ability to get it done.

They are not folks who over think - but they do think.

They are not folks who over complicate a strategy - but they do have a strategy.

They are not folks who procrastinate - but they do have patience.

They are people who simply get it done!

One great leader I recently met with put it this way: "I never want my people to be waiting for me!" He has taken the discipline in his life to change some patterns and simply learn how to get it done!

We had a 1-hour meeting this afternoon that will affect our church as much any other meeting in the past 6 months, and we simply got it done!

What is holding you back from going for it! No one else is...except you.

I was recently reading how the nation of Israel was at the edge of the Promised Land and turned back. Now we read that today, Monday morning Quarterbacking, and think, "How could they be so faithless? How could they not have more faith in what God was doing?" Think about it. The Promise of God is right there, but you turn your back? Come on now.

So I wonder how many times in my life God has brought me up to the edge of something spectacular, but I have turned my back. No, I would never intentionally snub God, but that is exactly what I do when I allow fear and discomfort to cause me from moving forward. It's not that I think I'm being rebellious, I'm just not being obedient. (Oh, that is rebellion!)

What is God calling you to do that you're turning your back to? Is it a new ministry? Is it giving? Is it establishing a relationship with a person who needs Christ?

Don't allow God to work out the details to take you to th ... Read More »

So today we are going to continue our discussion about being refreshed. Here are some questions you should think through:

1. Where do I need to go to escape distractions?
2. Have I communicated with everyone that I'll be away and when I'll be checking back in?
3. What am I going to do to spend time with the Lord?
4. What are the things I need to write down and choose not to think about while I'm away?
5. If I am going with a group, or someone else, who stresses me out, what am I going to do for space?
6. How do I plan to remember what the Lord speaks to me?

One of the questions that I am asking the people around me right now is, "What are you doing to be refreshed?" This weekend we start a 3-week series talking about how to take the stress out of life and walk through life refreshed. I firmly believe that you have to be refreshed by God to live into the potential God has for you.

I know that in my life I am tracking the patterns of my schedule and my mood to see what I need to tweak. For example - I'm in a crappy mood every year the Monday after Mother's Day. There is something that happens in our momentum cycle here at the church that on Mother's Day weekend we start our summer cycle, which in a college town looks tremendously different! So I have realized I need to start planning that day to be out of the office doing something that refreshes me.

A common mistake is to mistake time off for a time of refreshing. While time off might be part of the plan, if your not intentional about what your doing ... Read More »

Over the years, as I have watched others lead, I have noticed that people "start" in 2 different ways. While there is not one way that is particularly right, I have noticed a difference in effectiveness between the 2 starts.

Some people begin with a "Cold Start". These are people that really don't put any strategic planning in place until they know everything is in order. They take the overall task and break it down into projects and simply go through the numbers - when I finish 1, then I can go to 2, then 3, then 4, etc. These folks usually have an incredible list of tasks. They do well pulling them off one at a time, but they don't build synergy.

Others people begin with a "Running Start". These are people that as soon as they know something is a possibility they begin laying out strategic plans for multiple areas. As the starting line gets closer, and the deal gets firmed up, they begin laying out a plan with teams around t ... Read More »

This past week I have had a huge jolt of passion towards a topic of old. I had the privilege of meeting with a couple of guys (who are incredible) that represented another church. Well into the meeting, I discovered that neither one of the guys was the pastor! They were both committee members! Wow!

Several years ago I would always state in our membership class that committees were a scheme of the devil! I would say it with sarcasm, but there is a little truth in the statement!

Teams approach things with a very clear set of guidelines in place. The expectations are set, there is strong leadership in place, and the parameters of discussion are clear.

Committees approach things just the opposite. There are no clear guidelines in place, there is no clear authority, and the parameters are all over the place.

While I am not trying to pick on a certain style of leadership, I do want to encourage you that Paul ... Read More »

I have spent alot of time lately thinking about our future here at Journey. Things have never been better than they are right now! God's hand is on this place in such a unique way and I'm truly humbled to have a role! So many things I could share about, but as I have spent alot of time thinking there have been some really good questions pop into my mind.

What do you see as complete? I know it seems like a simple answer, but how a team answers this question will greatly impact the daily functions.

For some people, "complete" is when the project is done. You open a new building, you make the next hire, you get the video finished, etc.

For others "complete" is when the potential is realized. So along the way there will be some projects involved, but the project is not the focus! The potential is the focus!

To have a healthy work environment everyone has to be on the same page of what ... Read More »

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 »