Growing "Pains"

One of the first church planting resources I can remember encountering was a toolkit that walked perspective church planters through the process of launching a new church from scratch. I still remember bullet points that were shared in those audio tapes. The one I recall most often is this, "Church planters and their teams must remain flexible."

There have been multiple times in fourteen years of church planting when I have reminded myself of that important reality. We are in one of those seasons right now. Actually, the past two years have required that we live in a constant state of flexibility.

The new year has brought some very steady growth (numerical, financial, spiritual) at Journey Church. It has been awesome to see! It has forced us, however, to make some critical decisions quickly. There have been multiple occasions when we have had to "turn on a dime." We are turning again. It feels right. It feels good. Man, this is fun!

In the next three weeks, several ministry moves will take place:

- We are purchasing a boat load of new ministry equipment!
- We'll be moving our student ministry environment to Sunday mornings.
- We have added another part-time staff person. He'll be building and leading the student ministry house band.
- We are adding another children's ministry class. Space in the 2-3 year old has quickly become a real issue.
- We are moving Kidmo to a new location and changing the name.
(In fourteen months, we have doubled the space needed and used at LEHS where Journey meets every Sunday.)

Each of these moves sets us up for the Spring ministry season that is beginning. We are trusting that God will use each of these moves to continue to allow our influence to grow in West Chester and the surrounding areas. I fully believe we are creating space for the people God will bring in the next few months.

There is no question the best is yet to come at Journey Church!

The Right People

I have been on a personal mission this year to put the right people in my life. One of the missing pieces was a mentor. Over the years, I have had some great people in my life to look to for wisdom and guidance, but no one who I would specifically call a mentor.

I invited a long time wisdom person in my life to lunch yesterday. The intention of the lunch was to extend an ask for him to consider mentoring me. He agreed and asked me to read this book.

I am pumped to begin this journey. It is well overdue.

I'm Back!

We had a wonderful time last week in Gatlinburg. It was restful and refreshing. We enjoyed some great meals. We shopped. We shopped some more. We did, however, stay under budget! I did manage to find the time to run 13+ miles in three days. This helped balance out the additional caloric intake during the trip.

We arrived home late Saturday evening to 4 more inches of snow. Journey had another tremendous Sunday despite the bad weather. I have been pleasantly surprised by how people have forged ahead in the midst of the late winter storms. We are currently on one of best two month runs to date despite the early morning storm that hit a few Sundays ago. Have I mentioned how fun this is? I sure I have.

The new week started with a bang! I was looking at a full inbox (I did manage to dodge the it for a few days) and calendar. As the weather changes, the pace of life will increase as well. Our team is working hard to prepare for three of our biggest days of the year--Easter (April 8), Mother's Day (May 13), and Celebration Sunday (May 20). I am pumped about our Spring ministry season. With the way our winter has been, I have high hopes for Spring!

Arrived Safely!

We arrived safely at our place of temporary residence in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. The place is awesome! We are anticipating an awesome few days.

Time For Some Rest

My apologies for my lack of posts this week. It's been a really busy few days as we prepared to leave town this afternoon.

Andrea and I are headed to Gatlinburg for some much needed time away. We are leaving the kids with my parents. We'll miss them, but are really looking forward to being away without the kids.

We do not have any specific plans. We'll eat, shop, and catch up on some sleep. It will provide the perfect opportunity to also catch up on some recently missed date nights.

We'll be back early Saturday evening. My talk is written and I am pumped about the weekend at Journey. You will not want to miss it!

The Machine Is Us/ing Us

I can remember the first time I logged onto the Internet. Loading pages in a web browser took forever. Sharing files was a big challenge most of the time. A lot has changed since then.

A friend of mine shared a video that is worth watching. It chronicles some of that change.

That's Normal Here

A great deal of ink has been spilt unpacking the power of word of mouth marketing. It is interesting to me how people read this kind of material like it is a new idea. The idea and power of WOMM has been in place for a very long time.

It is clearly one of the ways Jesus intended to advance His redemptive cause in the world. Mark 16:15 is one place where Jesus clearly communicated that, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation." It is really a simple idea: have a good experience and share it with others. It has the potential to spread like a virus working its way through a first grade classroom.

I have never been able to get past the question of why the Church doesn't advance with more force. In most churches I encountered, it isn't normative behavior for people not to invite their disconnected friends. I have often wondered why that was the case. I have a list of answers, but I'll save that for another post.

One of my biggest passions for Journey Church is that it will be a place where it is normal that people invite their friends. I have been thrilled to watch so many at Journey make a connection (to Journey and/or Christ) only to quickly and passionately invite their friends. I pray this trend continues. I pray it happens with greater force in the days ahead. We'll invest a great deal of energy to ensure that is the case.

9 Things A Leader Must Do

I swung by the bookstore yesterday to pick up a needed resource. I was immediately captured by the title of another book written by the same author that led me to the bookstore in the first place. As you might guess, I purchased both.

The premise of the book is simple: Successful leaders possess a shared set of behaviors and common actions.

Chapter one shares the first of nine things a leader must do: Excavate the soul. Dr. Cloud contents that buried in the soul of every person is a treasure. He goes on to say that successful leaders are those that "dig up the treasure of the invisible soul in order to bring dreams, desires, and talents into the visible world."

Dr. Cloud also adds some thoughts on why this treasure often remains hidden. I was quickly reminded of what has taken place in my life in the past thirty+ months. I couldn't help but see myself in each of those paragraphs. I spent far too many years allowing the treasure to be hidden. I did nearly everything in my power to dig, but often found myself cowering in the corner. I was afraid and paralyzed by a plethora of feelings, doubts, and questions.

I can look back over my shoulder now to find defining moments that provided the necessary courage to dig again and the relationships that gave me the much needed push to do so. With every day that passes, I am gaining more and more strength to keep digging. I continue to discover new ways to make the invisible visible.

You might be reading this post and feeling that some excavating needs to take place in your soul. If so then let this post be one of those defining moments in your life. Grab a shovel and dig with all you have. Buried deep within you is an invisible treasure. You have been uniquely created and called by God to make that treasure visible to the world.

Do not miss it or waste it. Dig. Dream. Live big!

Fitness Update

Ten weeks ago, I forced myself back into the gym with hopes of eventually getting back into shape. I am finally beginning to see the fruits of my labor.

Here's a brief update:

- The number on the scale continues to decrease.
- I have shed almost 17 lbs.
- I have run 106 miles since I purchased my Nike+ gear (I logged my first run on December 13th, 2006).
- I posted my fastest 5K time today: 27'31"
- I am using the fourth belt loop instead of the first one.
- All of my clothes are fitting much better.
- In a few weeks, there are some pieces of my wardrobe I will no longer be able to wear at all.

I am pumped I have allowed my yes to be yes and my no to be no! I am 6-8 weeks from my initial goals.

Would any of my reading audience be interested in running a 5k or 10k in late Spring/Summer? Leave me a comment.

CoachNet

I have been asked to serve as a national coach for my tribe. I was deeply honored by the invitation. They sweetened the deal by asking me to endure a few days in Orlando in May. How could I say no to that?

The training process officially kicked off today. I signed up for the online training through CoachNet. I am initially very impressed with the site, topics, and process. There is no question this will be quite the learning experience. I am confident it will also help me on a local leadership level at Journey.

Once I have completed the training, I'll be assigned a couple pastors in my region to coach. I plan to journal some of my learning's here. Stay tuned.

NFL Backpedaling

More details here.

Debt Snowball

One of the principles I shared yesterday in my "Money:Margin" talk was about what Dave Ramsey calls the debt snowball. I was informed after the gathering that I had not shared it accurately. After thinking back through what I did share, it was confirmed I wrong. Sorry about that.

Here's a link to clear up my misinformation. If you have consumer debt and are feeling the bondage that comes along with it then I hope you will begin to attack it! Margin and freedom await. I'm all in, are you?

Also, if you enjoy podcasts then you might consider adding Dave's to your list.

Sunday Report

Today was incredible! On the coldest day of the year so far, LEHS was buzzing as another weekend for Journey Church unfolded. I know I have said it before, but I continue to be amazed at what God is doing.

We kicked the "Stressed?" series off with a bang! Travis and the Journey House Band knocked it out of the park with their version of "Gravity" by John Mayer. It set the table for the "Money:Margin" talk perfectly! People seemed to really respond to the challenge to get financially free, build more margin, reduce stress, and live more faithfully by God's principles for managing money. Dozens responded to the 90-day challenge to live by the 5 principles that I shared today. I cannot wait to see the stories God authors as people make changes and become more free!

We had a couple dozen new faces (at least 5 households) this morning. I am beyond pleased by the way people continue to invite their friends! We were just shy of 300 at our gathering today. That is 40% more than we had on the same Sunday last year on the same weekend. The new year has brought with it a couple dozen new families who have made a church connection at Journey.

This momentum sets us up for a great Spring run!

* Photos by Nick Graham *

Dirty Shirt Night

The Cincinnati Reds revealed their giveaways today. This is my favorite: Ryan Freel "dirty shirt night." I have added those dates to my iCal.

I wondered if that will come stuffed in a beer mug?

I'm Confused

The NFL is ridiculous! In case you haven't heard the news, read this article for a few more details.

Why would any organization or business try to stop the buzz for what they are providing or selling? Why has it taken the NFL so long to protest? Churches and similar groups have been having these kinds of gatherings for years. I'm confused...

Your thoughts? Comment below.

February Series @ Journey Church

This Sunday I'll begin a new four-week teaching series designed to unpack how we can more effectively manage stress. I have really enjoyed prepping for this series. I think we have locked into four key areas that bring the greatest level of stress. I am even more excited about the words we have attached with each stress point to help us better manage it.

The series flow looks like this:

Money : Margin 2/04/07
Relationships : Boundaries 2/11/07
Time : Priorities 2/18/07
Work : Significance 2/25/07

This weekend I'll be addressing the topic of money. It's curious to me how nervous people get when the financial conversation surfaces in the Church. Most people will give friends, pastors, and churches the freedom to challenge them in every other area of their lives. It appears most of the time that this area is off limits. Therefore most pastors and churches shy away from hitting the topic head on. The result? People live in bondage. The statistics are clear. The level of debt and financial pressure that most people live with us overwhelming. The lack of margin holds us back and forces us to live with an unnecessary pressure.

What if we had more margin? What if we were more free? What could I do? What could you do? What could we do together?

I long to be more free. I long for others to be more free as well. I believe that cannot happen unless we get open and honest about money. I am glad the Bible isn't silent on the topic. I am looking forward to Sunday!

I read a great article this week that speaks directly to building financial margin and gaining more financial freedom. I am convinced that more financial margin means less financial stress.

Personally, I want more margin so I can be more generous. I firmly believe tithing (giving 10% of your income back to God) is the bare minimum. I have always been a person driven to exceed expectations. There is a deep passion brewing within me to extend my family's ability to bless others. For that to be the case, there must be more margin!

I hope you get to have as much fun this weekend as I will. If you are around Journey Church on Sunday I hope you walk away more free! If you cannot be there then check out the Journey podcast.