getting ready

So, this sunday at The Journey, we are having a really different kind of service. It's kind of a cross between a Celebration Sunday and Praise and Worship Service. Now, if you were with us last Sunday,  WOW! I don't have anything else to describe it but WOW! God's presence in there was overwhelming. It was incredible. 

So this week, I've kinda been a little worried. Not that we are going to "not" experience that again, but that it's going to be even more intense! I mean, we're only human. I don't know how much of that we can handle without our heads exploding!! :)

Seriously, though, I do believe we are in a season where God is growing us. (I don't mean numbers here, either.) I've noticed a trend that has started happening around the Journey. It seems like every week more and more people are letting go of themselves and turning it over to God. I've noticed this both in worship and during Erik's reflective time. People are making moves toward God. (and here me say this... This is nothing of our doing!) But I do know this. As people at the Journey continue to be obedient to what God is calling them to do, He will continue to increase His presence in our lives. I can tell you from personal experience. 

Two weeks ago, I spent the week preparing for Sunday, like I always do. However, I found myself distracted by things that took me away from focused prayer time, my personal worship time, and my scripture reading. Nothing that you would say, "OOOH! I can't believe he did that!" I'm talking about everyday things, like needing to go to the bank, watching TV, playing with Cason. Little, everyday things. And I didn't spend the time that I'd promised God, with Him, that I should have. I let other things come first. Well, that Sunday, I struggled with distractions, forgetting words, and stupid things that shouldn't normally happen. Immediately, I thought of all the things that got in the way of my time with God, during the week. So, I made the decision right then and there, never again!  Long story short, this past week, when I got to church, I immediately felt God's presence all around me. There was a warmth and a peace like I'd never known before. I knew that the time that I had spent with Him this past week was being honored. Just the mere thought of stepping on that stage and singing praises to Him filled my heart so much, that nothing could distract me. I truly felt like I was at His feet, as He sat on His throne. And as we began our service, His presence was all I felt. 

I talk all the time about preparation to my praise team and tech team. Yes, it's good to know your songs, and light cues and computer-powerpoint presentations, and key signatures. But the kind of preparation that I try to encourage is spiritual. Take the time throughout the week to talk to God. Read the scriptures. Spend focused time in prayer. 

Give Him your first of everything: your day, your thoughts, your time, and watch what happens. 

-blessings

answers

Hey everyone,

I keep getting a lot of people asking me what songs we did on Sundays. So, I thought that I would start posting on Monday mornings what we did. I'll try to keep up with this. Most of these songs can be found on itunes or some other downloadable site. Some, however, are originals, meaning, either I, or someone else on the team has written it. In those cases, you're just going to have to wait! We are planning a recording session, hopefully soon, to get all of those songs on a CD for everyone. If there is a song that you cannot find anywhere, and it's not something that we wrote, please let me know and I'll try to get you a copy. Maybe my new press secretary, Alex Perry, can do that for you!

Love y'all, here's the list.

Happy Day

How Beautiful the Blood Flowed

Let God Arise

Jesus Paid It All

You, You Are God

The Voice of Truth

Shout Unto God

We Shine

sunday thoughts

today was an incredible day at the Journey. We had one of the most complex, technically challenging services ever planned for our Catalyst service. We had everything from a creative reading, video, drama (not the kind that people are always trying to avoid!! I mean, like, actors and choreography!), a kickin' message, and blow-it-up-unabashed-full-on-worship! 

If there was ever a day that things could tank and go straight to pot, this was the day! However, we serve the God of the universe. The One that restores broken lives. And when you have a bunch of people, all in one accord, He shows up.... Big Time! And He did! 

If you weren't there, I'm soooo sorry you missed it. If you were, I hope God moved in your life like He did mine. If you read this blog, and you don't have a church home, and you live in the area, please come and join us. We are, by no means, the best church ever! We are a bunch of crazy people who believe that God wants to do something amazing in this region and are trying to be obedient to what He's calling us to do. And because of that, we are having a blast!!! And lives are being changed. It's an honor to watch it happen and unfold before my eyes. I'm so blessed to just be a part of it. 

Thank you to all who served today. Thank you to our drama team today. You guys knocked it out of the park. My praise team... well, you guys are just sick! (That's a good thing, Danny!) 

Congrats to the Rountree family. I'm so proud to be your friends. It's amazing to see God work in your lives and call you to such an honored life. You guys are an inspiration to all of us. Tiffany and I love you very much! 

I'm looking forward to what God has in store for us over the next few weeks. Next week is going to be a special service. We are going to be taking the sacraments, commissioning all three campus pastors and engaging in extended worship. It's going to be exciting. It's going to be a preview of our "Night of Praise and Worship", which is coming up, hopefully, in the month of August. I'll be sure to let you all know when that's coming up, so you can make plans to attend. the last one we had was great. I know this next one will be just as exciting! See you there!

-Blessings

P.S.   To echo Erik, it's starting to smell like football season! For the first time, since living in Tennessee, I'm going to convert and try to be a VOL's fan. This is a tough conversion for me, but Erik has been working on me for the last eight years. I'm going to give it a try. Bear with me! Go VOLS!!!!! Down with the Gators!!!!! 

golf and accountability

Today, I spent the day with a couple of my good friends, Todd and Ty. We drove an hour away to avoid the pouring down rain, just so we could chase a little white ball around 6800 yards of lush fairway and probably 100 acres of six inch rough, trees, sand traps; which is where we actually spent most of our day!!!

Not really, but you get the point! We had a great time. And what I realized was, if you're playing golf with a couple of really good buds, it doesn't always matter how you play, and we all played really well today, so I'm not saying that to justify a crappy round!!!

I do have to admit. I struggled through the front nine. I played Ok, but I was having trouble controlling distance. For the life of me, I couldn't figure out what I was doing wrong. Then, all of a sudden, I developed a wicked left pull. Every shot! I was having to scramble around the greens to save par.

About eight holes into the round, Ty, who is standing behind me as I took one of these wicked-bad shots, started laughing. Naturally, I turned around and thanked him for laughing at my expense!! :) He says, "No! I'm not laughing at you, I'm laughing because I know what's going on with your swing! And your gonna feel like an idiot when I tell you!!!"

First rule in golf: Keep your head down. No problem. I got that one down.... after five long years of horrible duffing!

Rule # 2: Keep your left arm straight, all through your backswing. (unless you're a lefty, then it's your right arm.)

Long story short, Ty informs me that I'm bending my left elbow so badly, it looks like I'm hugging myself. Thank You so much!!!!! Immediately, my swing is back! I'm crushing the ball, right on target, and the very next hole.... Birdie!!!! Not just a birdie either. I knocked the approach shot within 12 inches, from a 130 yards out! (side note-not to be outdone, Todd stuck his approach right beside mine, from about 100 yards out! Two incredible golf shots, if I do say so myself)

So here's the point of the story. It got me to thinking. I can't tell you how many times something goes wrong with a golf swing and you can't see it, feel it, or fix it, you just know something's wrong. The reason is, the difference between a complete shank and a perfectly executed shot is literally... 1/8 of an inch off plane. And you can't always figure out what you're doing wrong. It takes someone else to point it out to you.

Todd and Ty are two really, really good friends of mine. Either one of them can tell me anything, and they know that no matter what, I know their motive is not to hurt me or putt me down. Even if what they're telling me is hard to hear. Just like in Golf, our Christian walk can get out of alignment sometimes. I'm not talking about the really big obvious things that we immediately know... Uh, oh! That was not something Jesus would've been proud of! I'm talking about the litle things, the day to day things that may not seem like they're a big deal, but can gradually pile up and then, Uh, oh! Now we got a pile of junk to deal with.

This is why I have a couple other really good friends that I meet with regularly. They are my accountability partners. We keep maintenance on each other's lives. Every now and again, I'll get an email that is subject headed- Image Consultant! I know, when I see that, that I'm about to get gut-checked! It's a good thing, to know that I can be completely transparent with these guys. There's nothing that I can say that's going to change the way they feel about me, and vice versa with them. We approach everything with love, knowing that we are only bringing these things up, to make sure that we are following the path that God wants us on.

I would highly encourage you, if you don't already, to find a couple people-people you trust implicitely with everything. People who, it doesn't matter what you tell them, good or bad, it doesn't leave your circle... NO MATTER WHAT! But here's the key. You can't just find someone to dump on. You need to be willing to hear what they have to say about it. You need to be willing to take it to God, with them, and see what He has to say about it. And you need to be willing to accept that you may be doing something that is not what God would have for your life. Sometimes it's very hard. I'm not going to lie to you. Sometimes it's like having to stand in front of a magic mirror, one that strips you of all your facades, and shows you the real you. But that's ok, because God already sees that. And there's nothing we can do to hide it. Sometimes we need our accountability partners to help point these things out, and sometimes we need to point out these things to our accountability partners. That's even harder!! But the point of all of this is, we were created to be in relationship. God expects us, through those relationships, to grow in Him, and learn how to love each other, build each other up and hold each other accountable when neccessary. Sometimes we just need someone to point out that our elbow is bending, and messing up our swing!

Blessings

sons and daughters of a king

i had a great conversation with Cindy yesterday. Well, actually, it was a three part conversation! 

Tiffany had a really long day yesterday. She was in meetings all day from 7:00 to about 10:30 last night. So, I had the little man all to myself. Naturally, when the phone rings, he decides that everything he's been holding on to say for the last two hours, he feels the need to blurt it out all at once, at ninety miles an hour!

So, the phone rings. It's Cindy Raffield, our piano player at the Journey. Something you need to know about Cindy: She has been a devoted follower of Christ for a long time. God gives her insight into things that literally will blow your mind. I love talking to her because one of the things she is consumed by is worship. As a worship leader, I personally think it's probably a good idea to listen to those people who God really speaks to, especially when it concerns worship! 

Anyway, the phone rings. I say, "Hello, what's up?" Immediately, as the words leave my mouth, my son is right in front of me talking his head off! I missed the entire first minute of what Cindy was saying. I finally get him to simmer down, and turn my focus back to Cindy. Immediately, the first thing I hear is, "So what do you think?" 

So here I am, completely unaware of anything she just said. Now, here's the cool thing about being a parent. You quickly learn how to use your recall memory. So, desperately, I rewind the last minute of my peripheral hearing. All I can recall is sons and daughters of kings, going to war, defending your honor, and a few other things. So, like an idiot (i've told you all before, I have a unique talent for being an idiot sometimes!), I say, "Wow! That's really cool!" and we go on with our conversation for another couple minutes.

When I hang up, the rest of what she said came flooding in like a tidal wave. To make a long story short, we talked back and forth a couple more times, until I got the whole story.

Basically, what she was saying is, the sons and daughters of kings, all throughout history, have been charged with defending the honor of their kings. They would go to war for their King. This is really cool because, she then pointed out that we are the sons and daughters of THE King. And if you've been following the teaching series War Zone, you would know that Erik is talking about spiritual warfare. And this week, his message revolves around exactly what Cindy was talking about. 

So my question to you is this: if we are the sons and daughters of THE King, and there is a battle going on around us for the souls of these sons and daughters, how are we defending our honor? Are we sitting by, ignoring the battles? Or are we taking on the responsibility of royalty and engaging in the war?  If you are a Journey-ite, please, please make sure that you're there this week. This sunday is going to be out of hand! I don't say that to boast about anything that we are going to do. I say this because I know that God wants to do an amazing thing Sunday. And as we prepare for it, I really feel like He's saying, "Hey, y'all, watch this!!" 

I've encouraged Cindy to start a blog. Some of the stuff she shares with me is simply mind-blowing. If you see her around, please do the same. I know that, what God puts on her heart, we all need to hear!

-blessings

10 things that bother me

10. being three cents short of exact change (every time i go to buy something)

9. a drive through that makes you pull up front and wait. (i thought that's why i went through 

the drive through. i didn't want to wait!)

8. hitting every red light

7. hitting the south hartman dr./baddour parkway red light (have you seen this thing? it's like red for twenty four minutes and 16 seconds!)

6. shooting 78 at Windtree on Thursday, then shooting 89 at Windtree on Friday. (How can

that much go wrong with a golf swing in 24 hours?)

5. cleaning the pool filter. (i could install a new one in the time it takes to clean the old one!)

4. the other 10 million things that bother me, that i don't have the time or space to list here!

3. waiting almost an entire year for a new episode of "Lost". (that show is like crack!)

2. the fact that my wife is right most of the time! (love you, honey!)

1. the fact that i know what having a relationship with God is like and there are millions of 

people who don't.

i know this list is kind of funny, except for number one. but that's the point i'm trying to make. how many things in your life are you bothered by? like me, you probably have a million things that bother you. but of all of those things, are any of them as important as walking around everyday seeing the people you see and knowing that there's a good, no great, chance that they have no idea how much God loves them. and the lengths to which He would go to let them know... the lengths to which He already has. 

this is something that God slammed me with. it's our job to love people.  Jesus said we will know His disciples by the way they love people. the church is the only institution on the face of this earth that can bring the love of God. we can do this because He lives in us, and therefore, He can love through us. so, it bothers me that we have this Love inside us, and yet, there are millions of people who have never even seen it. 

my prayer is that God would show me how to love better. would you make that your prayer as well?

blessings,

-Robbie

when all else fails!

ok..... so yesterday was interesting! fun, exciting, and powerful....but interesting!

i know all you PC cronies are going to love this.... but i have to come clean! yesterday the MAC crashed!!!! I still maintain that it didn't crash... it was only taking a coffee break!

seriously, i kind of expected it (well, not the MAC crashing, but something like that happening.) once again, we delved into the realm of spiritual warfare. and once again, erik brought it!!!! and once again, our enemy tried his mightiest to get us off track. but this is what's soooo amazing! he doesn't realize that when stuff like that happens, it causes us to remember the One who makes everything whole. the Once who restores brokenness. we truly had to rely on God's power to get us through the technical difficulties. 

so, when all else fails, trust God, and He will make your path straight! so we did! we completely went off track, from what we had planned on doing. we started worship with a scripture reading... psalm 64. great stuff! click on the link and read it! then, i just closed my eyes and asked God what he wanted us to sing to Him. i felt my heart swell with joy and just wanted to shout as loud as i could His praise! we starting a completely different song, than what was on the agenda. the next thing i know, i look around me, and the entire praise team is in full-on battle mode!! (that means unabashedly worshiping!!!) our congregation was whooping and shouting, and jumping up and down, singing and praising God!!!!!  You cannot plan that! no matter how hard you try... you cannot plan that. it has to come from God. when you let go, decide to put nothing between you and Him and lay everything you have at the foot of the Cross, His spirit will ravage your church! 

to wrap it up... we didn't do one song that we planned, in the order that we had planned it. not only that, as God's spirit led... we just did a bunch of different songs. we allowed God to move us through worship. and we did it without video, power point, projectors and screens, or anything else. we just worshiped! and it was AWESOME!!!! 

i spoke about John 4:19-26 in my last post. i talked about how i have been truly seeking out what it means to worship in truth and in spirit.  i believe that yesterday, we got a glimpse of it! and now... i'm on a full-fledged mission. i am seeking to achieve this, not only on sundays, but every day of my life. don't get me wrong... i'm not saying that i want to kibosh the whole power point and video stuff. it is a great tool to use, to enhance worship. but that is all it is.... a tool! we must remember this. great power point, song selection, a jammin band,  and video presentations do not constitute amazing worship!!!! did you catch that? let me say it again. great power point, song selection, a jammin band, and video presentations do not constitute amazing worship!!! letting yourself go, trusting that your offering is pure of motive and solely focused on praising Him.... now that's great worship!!!

i pray that we would all worship HIM this way!

-robbie

TGIF

well, it's finally friday! been a long week. Tiffany was outta town this week at a conference for work in Houston. Cason and I took a day to hang out together. It was awesome! We don't do that enough. I've decided that I'm gonna try to do that once a week with him. He's growing so much, so fast, it's hard to keep up with him. And I don't want to wake up one day and realize he's seventeen and asking for the car! 

He's big-time into music right now. He has three guitars, a couple of drums, and some auxiliary percussion. He goes around the house, playing and singing. I think I've created a monster!! 

I'm looking forward to this weekend. Erik is going into the third week of the War Zone series. It's been slammin so far. We have seen a lot of people move forward in their walk with God. It's amazing, what God's doing! I talked to a lady yesterday who said she had grown up in church. She went and did the whole church thing, cause that was what you did, she said. Then she told me that for the first time in her life, since coming to the Journey, she got excited about coming. It actually meant something to her. She said all throughout the week, she's thinking about church and can't wait to get back on Sunday!!!!! Now that's awesome!!!! I'm so privileged  to be a part of a body of believers that are on fire for what God's doing around them.

I've really been focusing on a passage of scripture for the last few months. It's John 4:19-26. If you don't know the story, click on the link and read it. It's about the Samaritan woman. But 19-26 is what has jumped out at me, and caused my in-depth study, if that's what you want to call it. It's been more about prayer than study. Loosely paraphrased, it says that God is seeking those who will worship Him in truth and in spirit. Erik and I have had a few discussions about what this means. It's pretty cool how God has really put the same kind of thoughts on both our hearts. This is something that I'm gonna talk at length about with my Praise Team, as well as our church. We're planning on having a huge Praise and Worship service in the near future. I believe that God wants to do something really special during that time. If you attend the Journey, when you hear the date, please, please invite your friends, family, the unchurched, and anyone else you can think of. I know it's going to be a special night. We had one a few months back, and it was incredible. It's amazing to me how much God can grow a person, spiritually, through worship. 

well, that's all i have for now. be looking for the date for the night of Praise and Worship, come be a part of War Zone, and read John 4:19-26. See if God reveals something to you about how you worship Him! 

-robbie

hanging with the little man

so, today, i'm hanging out with this guy 8888888

tiffany's outta town, and last week was really busy for all of us, so today, i'm taking the day off and hanging out with my son. big day planned. i think we're gonna go see a movie. providence has free movies starting @ 10:00 a.m. on certain weekdays for kids. after that, i think we're going to PUMP IT UP, to jump around on the jumpies and tackle the big slides! from there, we're going to Ci Ci's for some pizza. after that, it's nap time. (someone gets very grumpy if he doesn't get his nap. i don't know what Cason is going to do while i'm sleeping, but.....!!!!!)  After the little man wakes up from his nap (i was just kidding...Cason is the one who will be napping!) we may jump in the pool for awhile. we will cap the day off by going to the putt putt golf course and getting in a full eighteen! (or as Cason likes to call it... golf-putt!) Then it's back to the house for some dinner and jammies. Finally, as all fathers and sons should do, we will spend the evening watching the MLB All Star Game (interrupted every three seconds as Cason makes me throw him his wiffel ball so he can hit it all over the room, knocking everthing off of shelves and tables!!!!) believe it or not, he actually can hit the darn thing!! 

i love my son. i thank God every day for him. it's funny, before we had him, tiffany and i thought that our lives were complete. i couldn't imagine myself as a father. the second he was born, it felt like i'd known him all my life and had no idea how i'd lived without him. 

if you're a parent, you know what i'm talking about. what blows my mind is, i've known ever since i gave my life to Christ what He'd done for me. but having Cason has changed the way i see it. it's not that God took on flesh and died for my sin, but that He gave up His son, to be beaten, mocked, and hung on a cross, and left to die. now i look at that and think... what if that were my son? could i let him die like that for you? 

that's how much God loves us. i pray right now, as you read this, that you understand that. Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."  Mathew 19:14.  

We are all children in the eyes of God. the kingdom of heaven belongs to us. we just have to come to Him.

blessings,

-robbie

 

pool partes and war

hello all!

i wanna thank all of the praise team/tech team for coming over to the house yesterday and hanging out. i had a great time. hope you all did too. we played cornhole and grilled out, then everyone jumped in the pool! great day! (erik has now come back, from behind, to beat me in three consecutive cornhole tournaments. i am vowing right here and now that, that will NOT happen again!!!!! :)

yesterday was a weird day for me. like all sundays, i got up at around 5:30, got my shower and then began to get ready for the day. i usually, put my ipod in my ears, right after i get dressed. this does two things for me. it allows me to sing along, to help warm up my voice, but i also use it for worship. i put on a playlist of the songs that we will be doing later on that day. and along with singing, i find myself already worshiping, praying and trying to prepare myself for what God wants to do through me and the team that day.

as you all know, we are in the middle of a series called "War Zone". it is a spiritual warfare series. and for the last couple of weeks, different leaders at the Journey have expressed to me how they've been just getting attacked, not that we haven't always been getting it, but for them, those particular sundays specifically, they've felt like the attacks were bigger, stronger, harder and more in depth. well, yesterday, it was my turn in the barrel, so to speak!

for the life of me, i couldn't focus! my voice felt scratchy. i felt really tired, as i tried to pray and sing (early in the morning), i was distracted. i forgot stuff, when i left the house (which isn't that big a deal... i do that all the time.). but it was the things that i forgot, that jumped out at me. for one, i forgot the keys to the building (like we were just gonna set up outside in the rain!). two, i forgot my Bible. this one, i don't understand. i have like ten Bibles. i've always got one in my backpack/computer bag, or my car, or my guitar case, or SOMEWHERE! not yesterday. couldn't find one anywhere! at this point, i began to laugh. not because it was funny, but because i realized what was going on. i knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that yesterday was going to be a big day for the people who come to the Journey. erik's message (and i already knew the content) was probably one of, if not the most powerful one he's ever given. and i knew that it was our, the praise team's, job to lead everyone into worship; to find that place where we are at the foot of the throne, so that God could do what He so desperately wants to do for all of us.

so, i began to laugh. because i knew that, once again, we had our enemy on the run. i knew that there were going to be doors slammed in his face, that people were going to turn to the One who brings restoration back to life. that people were going to be exposed to his tactics and the havoc that he loves to wreak in peoples lives. and as we began to sing, i felt the enormous weight of his attacks, pressing down on me, as if someone were holding me down and standing on my chest. (BTW, Todd Bates, the man who was to be recognized as a new campus pastor for us that day, was in the barrel with me. he said he woke up that day with the feeling of worthlessness, and questioning whether or not he was worthy of doing God's work.)

this post could go on for like an hour, but i'll wrap it up. as i began to laugh, i decided to go to war. we began to sing, i struggled to remember the words, my guitar started going out of tune. half way through the first song, i silently said a prayer. i told God that i needed to worship Him. I needed to see His face. I needed to feel His presence and that nothing else would do. almost immediately, i felt the weight leave. i looked out across the people and they had their hands up, they were singing, and some were even jumping up and down. IT WAS AWESOME!!!! jeff bode and alex perry were even in the front row playing air guitar, as they worshiped!

right then, i realized that my prayer had been answered. i was seeing God's spirit at work. we had almost everyone get out of their seat and come lay something down at the Cross in both services, when erik gave his take action. (we literally have a seven foot tall cross in the sanctuary) i truly believe that the door was slammed on our enemy and his army yesterday and the fight i was experiencing yesterday morning, was about that! and God's church won!

Praise be to Him!

meetings

hello all, hope everyone is doing well.

today i'm having a meeting with Miranda and Molly, two of my singers at the Journey. we are going to be discussing some of the things that are going on at church. as most of you know, we are going to be planting at least two new campuses soon. they are integral parts of the team and we are going to spend some time planning and praying together, as well as discussing the future moves.

i spent yesterday in a meeting with erik, our lead pastor. man, i love getting together with him! he and i are both dreamers and vision guys! we love to throw out the most absurd possibilities and then try to figure out how to get there! it's a ton of fun. (and it's also why we need people like molly and miranda, and shawn and tiffany and todd and and sandy and too many others to count or mention! they keep us on track!)

anyway, the title of this post is meetings. i've learned something over the last year. meetings can be boring and time consuming. so, my advice to you is, be a dreamer. you'll have plenty of people to keep you grounded. and the meeting will be much more fun!

peace.

con men

you see them on the street, shuffling three-card monty, trying to sell you a Rolex for $10, or offering you the latest movie, still in the theatres. you fully know who they are and what their agenda is... to con you out of your money. who knew that a two year old possesses these talents!

my son, God love him, is the slickest little con-man i've ever seen. tiffany is out of town today and tomorrow, so it's me and him, all by our lonesomes. now, there's something that you need to know. about two months ago, he got introduced to money! he fully understands its use. when we go to Kroger, he always wants to pick something up off the counter and say, "Daddy, I wan-it!" I say, "Son, you don't have enough money." He'll say, "Uh-huh. In my piggy bank. Go get it. i wanna buy it."

you get the picture.

so tonight, we're upstairs, TV trays out, eating dinner, watching Dora The Explorer, and i notice that there is about seventy cents in change lying on the coffee table. almost reading my mind, he says, "Hey Daddy, I want 'dat money over dere." I say, "No son, that's daddy's money." and i take it and put it in my pocket. next thing i know, he's acting up, not eating, playing with his food. i say, "Son, you need to eat, or i'm turning Dora off!" I swear to you, he looks me dead in the eye and says, "Give me dat money, an i'll eat my chicken." so, of course... i folded like a beach chair and gave it to him! He ate all his chicken!!!! little con-man.

it got me to thinking. when it comes to our walk with God, are we con-men? do we try to bargain our way through life with God. the answer for me was pretty scary. i do. more often than i'd like to admit. it's something that i've really tried to be aware of and stop doing for quite a long time now, but the reality of it is, we are human, and we are prone to do stupid things. but the awesome thing is, we don't have to. what i've found is, as i walk closer with Him, seeking His will for my life, the only con-game i'm running is how to beat the devil and stay where God wants me. cause that's where i'm the happiest, and most fulfilled.

don't let the ultimate con-man con you into believing that there isn't a life for you that's more spectacular than anything you could come up with on your own. this is something that i'm really trying to focus on, during this teaching series that erik's doing, these four weeks. if you want to know more, come visit us at the Journey.

and just to let you know... if you look hard enough, it usually says "ROMEX", not "ROLEX"!

-peace

sunday

well, it's another great sunday! just got home from the Journey, finally got something to eat, and now i'm going to go swimming with my wife. we haven't gotten to get in the pool without cason for.... well, i can't remember when! ha ha! he's taking a nap right now. 

well, erik started his series about spiritual warfare this week. it was awesome! we had a great day. i know this whole week has been tough for him. i just want to say, "hang in there, bro! you're doing what God wants!" 

usually, i'll get into something deep on my blog and try to give everyone some insight, as to what God is speaking to me. not today! today, i just want to tell everyone who served at the Journey today, "great job!" we couldn't do what we do on sundays if you weren't willing to serve. special thanks to my praise team. you guys rock. you're always prepared and always giving your all. i appreciate that more than you'll ever know. Don and Cindy, glad to have you back! i can't wait to hear about your mission trip! 

lastly, i want to encourage everyone to be inviters. you and i know that we have these new campuses that are going to be launched in the fall. we need all of you to be inviting your neighbors, friends, co-workers. for all you know, one of the key leaders, that the Journey needs to function at the next level, is living right next to you, and they have nowhere to go to church. Or what's more, no one has cared enough about them to ask them to come to church! be inviters! 

blessings everyone, talk to ya tomorrow!