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!"

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Some Things Just Have To Be Said

This weekend at the Journey, Erik gave one of the most profound talks he's ever given. Truly awesome! For those of you who missed it, or maybe just don't go to the Journey, but want to hear one of the best messages about churches you'll ever hear, click here

I don't want to spoil anything for anyone but here's just a little synopsis: One of the best things said in the talk is this: Church is not a buffet of services that you can come and consume. WOW! Now that just flips the paradigm of what people think about church on its ear!  If you want to hear the rest, or just have that explained, then I highly suggest you go listen. I promise, you won't regret it. 

Anyway, this week has been a good week so far. There is a lot about myself and life that I'm really examining hard right now. One, I'm not getting any younger. And the days of eating a large Pizza from Papa Johns and then just waiting for it to melt off my body are gone!!! I'm trying to avoid the Homer Simpson spare tire. (And I'm not gonna lie, there's a little one already there.) It's crazy!  I just woke up one day.... and POOF! It was there. (Not really, but that's what it feels like.) So today, I started working out with Shawn. Whew! I didn't realize how out of shape I really am. I mean, I do physical things, and I'm certainly not just morbidly lazy or obese, but I found myself getting winded after walk/jogging 1 mile. That's ridiculous. Not five years ago, I could run 3 miles like it was nothing! Not anymore! 

But that's all about to change. Shawn is the executive pastor of The Journey, and a tried and true workout nut! (I mean that in a good way). He's a former policeman, played every sport in school, very athletic, and a great motivator. He also has a great blog. Check it out here. He's absolutely one of my best friends in the whole world and I love to hang out with him, regardless of what we're doing. 

But I realized something today. We each have things that we're good at and things that we struggle with. For me... I'm great at artistic things and focusing on other people. I absolutely suck at focusing on myself (when it comes to things like staying physically fit, and eating right, and things like that.) I need motivation. Cause I can tell you right now, I'd rather go play eighteen holes of golf and call that exercise, than spend an hour in the gym and really burn some calories. I've started down a path of asking myself, what do I struggle with? It's a hard question to ask of yourself. Cause you have to just face facts and be brutally honest with yourself. You can't lie to yourself, cause in the end, you already know the truth. You can put up facades and fool yourself, but in the end, it's only that: just a facade. I know that I need help staying motivated to keep in shape. And so, though I feel like I want to throw up right now (cause I just got home from working out!), I also feel good knowing that I'm doing something that is going to benefit me in the long run, even though I can't see the results immediately. By the 4th of July, though,.... the goal is to be rockin a beach body once again! Something I haven't seen since..... well..... awhile! 

What do you struggle with? Who's in your life that can motivate you to do something about it? Are you willing to put in the hard work to see the results of change? Or are you happy just living within your facade? Good, hard questions to ask yourself. You may not like the answers you get, but the bigger question to ask is.... are you willing to do something about it? 

Love y'all,

robbie


Here's the songs from this week's Catalyst service:

"King Of Heaven (Open up the gates)" Planet Shakers, "Sing To the King" Cindy Foote, "Saviour King" Hillsong,  "Draw Me Close To You" Marc James, "Lead On" Chris Duran

Friday, May 8, 2009

Finally Friday

Well, Hello all.

Sorry It's taken me all week to post. The Journey's got a lot going on these couple weeks, with the renovation of the new building. We're all excited and can't wait to get in. Please be praying for us that God will continue to provide all the necessary things that we need. I think sometimes we often forget that He is in control and we just need to get out of the way and let Him do what is necessary to guide us where He wants us to be. 

Another reason I've been away is because I've been spending a lot of time on Erik's blog. He has put out a 28 day reading challenge to everyone and is conducting a kind of open discussion about what we're reading. It's very easy stuff to keep up with, and I encourage anyone who is reading this to go visit his site and take part in it. We're reading 1 and 2 Samuel and there has been a lot of good insight from those who are posting comments. It's caused me to read and re-read these books and chapters within the books over and over again. It's helping me to grow tremendously in my scripture knowledge and understanding. I encourage all of you to participate. 

So, tonight, I'm having a cookout for my praise and tech team. (which is kind of good timing, cause this week, Erik's talk is about living in community with each other) We spend so much time getting things ready for Sundays and then executing the plan, that often times, we forget to just get together and hang out. I'm making it a point, this year, to do more of these get togethers. I believe it's crucial to any team, business or otherwise, to spend time together and remove yourselves from the daily "business" that you all participate in together. We have to be about meaningful relationships. The people you spend so much time with in your life shouldn't be just casual acquaintances. These are the people you spend half of your time in life with. Why wouldn't you want to know that you can trust them with your struggles and needs, as well as your celebrations. I can't wait to see these guys tonight and just spend some time asking questions about their lives, how they're doing, and what's going on with them. I want them to know that when I say I care about them... it's not just meaningless words. I really care about them. But I can't make them believe that, if the only conversations that I have with them are about transitions in music and arrangements of songs and telling them "Great job today, guys!". Those platitudes only go so far. And I'm not willing to spend the amount of time that I spend with them, and not know what's going on in their lives outside of church, or have them think that the only thing I care about, when it comes to them, is whether or not they are prepared for Sunday service. 

C- Y'all!

Robbie

Here are the songs from this past Sunday's Catalyst service:

Jesus Is Alive (Fee), Glorious One (Fee or Northstar Worship... I like both of them!), You Are Our God (Me! & the Journey Praise team.... Still not available for download yet. Working on it. Just takes $$$$ If you have $$$$ and want to donate to the cause, we'd love to record this stuff!!!!!!) The More I Seek You (Gateway Worship), Everlasting God (Todd Fields)