John 4:19-26

"Sir," the woman said, "you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?"

Jesus replied, "Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on the tis mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. But the time is coming-indeed it's here now- when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

The woman said, "I know the Messiah is coming-the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us."

Then Jesus told her, "I AM the Messiah!"

Monday, August 18, 2008

Sunday thoughts

Yesterday was a great day at the Journey. But like every Sunday, it started off crazy! 

Saturday morning, John Griffin and a couple other guys and I went to the school to set up for Sunday. We don't usually do this, but we were going to have a baptism Sunday and needed to set up our baptistry. (for those of you who don't come to the Journey, we meet in a school and are a set-up/tear-down church.) This was awesome, cause then, on Sunday, we didn't have to get there super early and do it all at once. So, I was excited! I get to sleep in another half hour! (This means I got to get up at six, instead of five thirty! Yipee!) 

So at exactly 6:15, I get a call from Joey, one of our guitar players and fellow rock stars! He's sick. Been up all night talking to the porcelain throne in the bathroom! Ewwww! 

No problem, I say. We got it covered. Stay at home and get some sleep. We'll push on ahead without you, my dear, sick, brother! 

And so it began! 

I left the house, forgot my ear buds, went back to the house, got them, left again, remembered that I needed two extra cables for this Sunday, went back to the house, (by this time my wife thinks I've lost my mind), got the cables, walked around the entire house twice to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything else, and then left again. I got to McDonald's drive thru and was about to pull up to the window, when my phone rang again.  The other Joey (we have two of them) is on the other line, sounds like he's been hit by a train, and proceeds to tell me that he too is sicker than a dog. Same thing. Up all night!

Now, at this point, it becomes comical. Here's why. Don and Cindy, our other drummer and keyboard player, are out of town. On vacation! And it's baptism Sunday!!!!! 

So, I immediately pull over in the parking lot and began to pray. I knew that this was going to be a big day, (and it was... we'll get to that later), and I knew that none of this crap mattered. I just asked God to work with what we had at our disposal. I called Erik, told him that it was fourth and twenty, and we were about to call an audible! When I got off the phone, I continued to pray and just ask God, what songs he wanted to have played today and how He wanted us to move forward. By the time I got to church, I was pretty sure that God was telling me that today was going to be a special day, and He wanted something intimate and very focused. 

So, like we do often at the Journey, we completely shifted gears!!! (Sometimes this is necessary in order to keep up with God! It's when you don't, that you end up missing out on something truly mind-blowing!) We decided to go acoustic and completely change the entire list of songs and weave a few scriptures readings into the worship. What happened was incredible. God immediately fell upon us and His spirit had its way in there. Erik gave possibly the best talk he's ever given. The music was soft, and powerful. And on a day that 2 people were scheduled to be baptized, 9 people ended up in the baptistry. Lives were changed. The Kingdom of God grew. And we got to see it! Praise Your Holy Name, Jesus!!!!! 

The moral of the story is this: our plans are not God's. Scripture even tells us that God says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts". It's Ok to make plans and have everything laid out the way you think you're supposed to. But when God decides to do something different, you better be ready to jump on board and wave bye-bye to your plans! Or you may miss out on seeing the Spirit of God at work! 

Here's the song list from yesterday. (the ones we actually did! not the ones we had planned!)

You Are Our God (written by Erik Reed and myself, so you can't download it anywhere yet), And Your Praise Goes On (Chris Rice), Enough (Chris Tomlin), Saviour King (Hillsong United), Oh Praise Him (David Crowder) READINGS: Isaiah 48,  Psalm 4 

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