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!"

Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Back from sabbatical

Hey everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a few weeks. Been kinda busy!

So, as most of you know... I'm a new father again! Baby Hadyn was born last week. She's healthy, beautiful, and the sweetest thing I've ever seen. I'm already wrapped. And I knew this would happen. It's why I didn't want a little girl! LOL. Now I have two women that I'm hopelessly in love with! Cason is loving being a big brother. He thinks he's really cool now. Tiffany is doing well, except for she's about to go crazy sitting at home.

If you come to the Journey, you know that I have taken the last three weeks off from leading worship. Nothing's wrong! Just took a break. And it was good for me. I have some extremely talented people on my worship team and I've been working with them for awhile now, helping to prepare them for stepping into leadership roles here at church. As we continue to plant campuses and add services, I won't be able to be there at everything. It's going to require that other leaders step up and lead. I want to say a big congrats to Molly MacNiel, Miranda Allen, and Philip Organ. They have been working really hard and preparing themselves to move into worship leader roles here. They are the three that led these past weeks. They did an incredible job, and I heard nothing but great things about all of them. I'm very excited to know that God has blessed us with these people and their talents. I look forward to putting them into a regular rotation of leading worship. And I know they are excited to be stepping up!

Some things that I learned while taking a break:
1. Everyone needs to take a break. No matter how much you love what you do, you need a break.
2. If you prepare well, and trust those you give leadership to, they will excel when they have the opportunity to lead.
3. If you pray for God to bring you leaders, and He does, you better use them.
4. The world won't fall apart if you aren't the one who is leading at that moment, but rather, your leadership is increased by empowering other leaders.
5. Allowing other leaders to lead gives them the opportunity to taste that vision you've been telling them about, rather than just hear about it.
6. Once they've tasted that vision, their resolve is strengthened even more for the mission of the team.
7. And lastly but certainly not least.... When you have a new baby, and your friends bring you food for a week, and your family stays with you to help out with housework and things like that, you really see how blessed you are. Thank you soooo much to everyone who has been there for me and Tiffany. We love you all very much and thank God for all of you.

Finally, I know a lot of you have been praying for my book endeavor. Just a little update.... I have a couple agencies who have contacted me, wanting to represent me as an author. Please keep praying for me as I make this decision as to who to sign with. I'm very excited and know that it's going to take a lot of hard work to get this book out, but with your prayers and a good agency, I know that it is going to be successful. I can't wait until it's on the shelves and you can read it for yourselves.

Love you all,

Robbie