i Worship

Blessings

2010-04-30T08:56:00.005-05:00

As most of you know, Tiffany, my wife, lost her job about six months ago. It was a very emotional time for us, not because she lost her job, but because of the way she lost it. I won't go into details, but I'll say this: my wife is probably one of the most Godly, kindest, professional, smartest, and beautiful (inside and out!) people that I've ever known. She was an executive and had some employees that, well, just didn't like her. I don't know why, though I'd guess it's because she wouldn't let them get away with doing things that they shouldn't be doing anyway. Needless to say, one thing led to another and she found herself in front of her board of directors, shocked and hurt at the accusations, and the way the whole process was handled. In the end, she resigned, though there was no fault found with her or her job as the executive of that company, not wanting to make a big deal out of it, and we moved on.

Now as you all know, I'm in ministry full time. I make hundreds of dollars a year! WOW! I'm rolling in it, right?! LOL. So needless to say, it was a tough time for us. Well, this past week, she did her third interview for a company, who absolutely loves her, and has asked her to take a job with them. She's very excited to be getting back into the corporate world, and I'm very proud of her. But that's not the story. This is.

During that time, we were forced to look at a lot of things, budget, time, budget, maybe selling our house if we needed, budget... you get the idea. The thing that we ultimately realized was this: None of that mattered. What mattered was the thing we had already known, and the thing that gets us through life anyway. God is in control. Period! No, our situation wasn't one that we would just choose to have, but it was one in which God wanted to show us something. And that something was all the blessings that we have. My wife and I are so blessed, that if I had to list out all of the blessings that we experience on a daily basis, we'd be here for the next week.

So often times we only see our blessings when things are going well. We forget that to merely wake up and take a breath is a blessing that our Father in Heaven has ordained. We all say that we don't want to take our blessings for granted, but do we really mean that? I don't think we do. We take EVERYTHING for granted, every day. The whole idea reminds me of a teaching series that we did here at The Journey, called "Highly Flammable". The whole series was about how to traverse the fires of life. The entire series revolved around a piece of scripture from the book of Daniel, where three young men were given the choice to either worship King Nebuchadnezzar, or be thrown into a fiery furnace. Here's what they said. (paraphrasing) The God that we serve is ABLE to rescue us, but even if He DOESN'T, we will still worship HIM. That's a big statement!

Tiffany and I held onto that passage during this time, knowing that, our God can bring us out of this stressful, despondent time. But even if He didn't or wouldn't, we would put our faith and trust in Him, knowing that, for whatever reason, He wanted us to go through this. Peter says that we are to count it as a blessing when we get to suffer, that we may share in Christ's sufferings, meaning that God will grow us in these times and reveal more of His character to us, as we lean on Him for our provisions. 1 Peter 4:12-14.

This post could go on and on and on about how we should count our blessings. But instead, I would ask you to take an inventory of your own life. This is something that Pastor Erik has challenged our church with a few times. Take some time by yourself. Take a piece of paper, think of as many blessings that you can, and write them down. Then pray over them. Take them, one by one, and thank God for your blessings. Really try to understand just how much we've been given, and see if you're not overwhelmed at the list you compile. And if you're like Tiffany and myself, you'll find yourself on your knees, thanking the God of creation for the very breath you take, and wanting to serve Him more.

Here is a link to some passages that are encouraging, and you can use as a reference when you're going through some rough patches. Start by reading the passage from Daniel. I hope they bring you comfort. They have me.

-robbie

The Opening Act, pt. 2

2010-04-21T09:54:00.002-05:00

I've been trying to get back to this for a week now! Allergies, kids, work and just plain old life have gotten in the way.

So last post, I asked a question. "Do you think 'Worship' is the opening act for the message?" I got some good responses. Some were encouraging. Some were disheartening. I want to start this post with a statement, rather than a question. John Piper, in his amazing book Desiring God, said this (and I'm paraphrasing), that worship is not the means to the end. It IS the end.

So what does that mean? Well, it means this: that we are not to worship God out of duty, obligation, or because we just feel good at the time. We should worship God in EVERYTHING. It is the end of all things. To worship Him is why we were created. You want to live a life of freedom-- and I mean true freedom here, not the culturalized definition that we adhere to-- then you need to become a better worshiper. And let's just put this out there. And I'm gonna give it its own line because it deserves it.

Worship is NOT singing the 3 or 4 songs before the message at church. It is merely one, tiny, though very significant, portion of worship.

Worship is a lifestyle. If you are found in Christ, the Bible says that you are a new creation, one that is capable now of choosing to live a life of righteousness. You are no longer bound to your sinful desires (though we all know as a broken and fractured creation, we will still mess up. Let's not kid ourselves here... 1 John 1:5-10) But, we are new, found in Him! That should be the most astonishing, astounding, profound thing that we could try to wrap our minds around. We are no longer subjected to the 2nd death (Revelation 20:6). If we could fully comprehend this... and here's the thing... we CAN! We just have to apply some effort... then we would wake up each morning, regardless of what our situation is in life: rich, poor, sick, healthy, happy, sad, busy, relaxed... you name it, and we would be overwhelmed with the fact that the God of the universe, the Creator of everything, chose us, before the foundations of the world, that we may become adopted sons and daughters of the Christ, and share in His resurrection, and we would be moved to a state of mind that drives us to our knees and humbles us before Him in awe and wonder. And we would strive to, with everything in our lives, live to exemplify the work that He has done in us, and our lives would be lives that are led by worshiping Him and seeking His desires, and to do His will for our lives.

Oh, if we only recognized what we have been given....

My heart yearns for a time when the church, not just The Journey Church in Lebanon Tn, but THE CHURCH realizes that getting together on Sundays to gather together in fellowship is the culmination of our week, ending in praising Him, singing songs of adoration and hearing His word preached, and breaking the bread and taking the cup. Not because it's Sunday and that's what we do.... But because we've worshiped Him all week through our actions and our decisions and our words and deeds and our giving and our parenting and in our relationships with others and in our marriages, and now we are gathering together with our brothers and sisters and we are celebrating the Risen Christ!, for all of the blessings that we have.

I'm going to say something here and I hope it bothers some of you. It disgusts me to think that people come to church on Sundays because their ONLY motivation for being there is because they love the music, or they love their worship leader, or their pastor, and it's not to worship the Living God, from start to finish. That is Idolatry. And if you're one of those people, then you are an idolater. And you need to fall on your knees and you need to repent and ask your Father in Heaven to forgive you for not worshiping Him, and allowing Him to be the sole source of your joy and adoration. And you need to ask Him to reveal to you, through His word (yeah, you're gonna have to read the Bible to hear from Him... that's kinda how He communicates with us) how to worship Him better. And then you need to surround yourself with people who get it! You need truth tellers in your life that are going to hold you accountable for walking in the Light.

And when you allow all of that to take place in your life, you will finally understand what Worship is. And the Opening Act... well, it will become the first breath you take in the morning, as you wake up and thank Him, who ordained it that you even live.

-robbie

The Opening Act, pt. 1

2010-04-09T11:15:00.010-05:00

Well, I've kind of been on sabbatical for the last month. As most of you know, we at the Journey have undertaken, over the last two months, quite a huge project. Actually it was about 3 projects all wrapped up into one. I'm not gonna go into a lot of details. If you'd like to know all about that, and I would encourage you to inquire... it's been a lot of fun and exciting. Check out Pastor Shawn's blog. He's gone into great detail over the last couple months about all the campus renovations, filming studio/kid's area, website redesign, and Hartsville campus launch. Which by the way, if you haven't seen our new website yet, check it out here!

So, I had a conversation with Pastor Erik, our lead pastor and one of my best friends, yesterday. We were talking about worship and how it's often perceived in our churches. And during our conversation, we hit on something that I think is key, and hold enormous implications for our lives. He brought it up, and then we began to expound upon it, to the point that I thought it would make a good blog. As you will see in the post, I'm going to ask everyone who reads this to comment on this. But if you are a Journey person... Please Please Please leave a comment. At some point, I believe we are going to have the opportunity to teach about this subject on a Sunday morning. Your answers may very well provide the subject matter for the content of that talk.

Collosians 3:15-17 says this: And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (E.S.V.)

I guess I should've mentioned earlier.... this is probably going to be a 2 part blog. Otherwise, it'll get too long. So, here's the thought. When you come to church, and you see the opening video, or hear the band kick off the first song, or however your church starts... do you just kinda go through the motions and eventually work your way into a place where you feel like your just about to really connect to God... and then the music is over and it's time to sit down for the message. I would suggest that most of us do. I would bet that hardly none of us truly understand the purpose of that time of worship. Over the next blog or so, I'm going to begin to unpack what I think it truly means, and I'm probably going to step on some toes! But I promise, the one thing I won't do is throw stones. We are ALL guilty of the things that I'd like to talk about. And none of us are exempt from the consequences that will come as a result of our failing to engage in worship.

I'll post more later, but for now, I'd like to start this whole thing by asking a question. Please, Please leave a comment with your answer. Your answers are going to be the platform from which we get into this discussion. It's my hope that through all of this, we will all become better worshipers. Here's the question:

Do you think that the "Worship" time at church is a warm up for the "Message"? Another way of asking it would be: Do you think that the "Worship" time at church is the "opening act"?

-Robbie

Who's God gonna tell?

2010-02-02T12:16:00.003-06:00

So, this past week, my worship team did a fast. We do this from time to time. It IS an act of obedience that we're called to, as followers of Christ. For more info on that click here! But, back to the story... One of my worship leaders was telling me this morning about how she chose to fast from red meat. She and her family went out for dinner that night and she ordered a salad. The menu said it had bacon bits in it, so she began to think through the process: "Bacon is pork. But I guess you could kinda consider it red meat... is it red meat or white meat?.... never mind! I'll just not have the bacon bits and eliminate the doubt altogether!" Now, you need to understand that on this worship team, we take fasts very seriously. If you agree to fast and then break it, we consider it an offense against the whole team, as well as God. So if you cheat, and someone finds out, you may be asked to take some time off from the team. So.... like I said, we're VERY serious about it. So with that in mind.......

In the middle of her conversation with herself, her daughter (who is adorable and I think 8 yrs old) says, "Who cares? Who's gonna know?" She smiled and said, "Well, God will know, honey." So her daughter gives her this "you are so weird" look and says, "Who cares? Who's God gonna tell?"

We laughed, heartily, about their conversation, because.... well, it's funny! I love the logic that little kids have. My son cracks me up daily with some of the things he thinks about, and his rationalization through them. But it got me to thinking about something. Integrity.

Integrity is word that we throw around a lot and dismiss its meaning. And we often rationalize things by saying, well who's gonna know. The answer is God. God knows. And if you subscribe to the beliefs of the bible (which you should... just sayin!) and are a follower of Jesus, then you are called to live a life of integrity. Who's God gonna tell? No one. Because God answers to no one. But the flip side of that is this: we may think we answer to our peers and friends and coworkers, but we don't. Ultimately, we answer to God. He is the only authority that holds any implications for our lives currently, and our eternities. And while He may not "tell" anyone of our misgivings, He will judge us for them. The bible tells us so, and is explicitly clear about that. And though you may be found in Christ, and have all of your sins wiped away, remember this: Christ died a physical, painful, humiliating death to atone for those sins. Do you think He did that so we could live a life NOT of integrity? And listen, I'm not writing this cause I've got it mastered. I'm as broken and messed up as you are. I need to hear this, too. But I'm committed to seeking His righteousness, and not my own faults and desires. That's the only way any of us can overcome our sinful, wicked desires.

So the next time you ask yourself, "who's gonna know?" Remember who it is that DOES know, and what He has done for you. Maybe then the word integrity will have a bigger impact on your thought process.

-robbie

Worship and Theology

2010-01-18T13:38:00.008-06:00

For those of you who know me... I'm a huge reader! I love to read almost as much as playing music or golf or watching movies. But here's the catch. I've always read fiction. I've never been a non-fiction guy. BORING!!!! However, over the last few months, God has really put it on my heart to know Him more. And so, I've been reading a good bit of non-fiction. I really didn't know where to start so, I asked Pastor Erik (who by the way reads about 4 books a week!) where should I start. He challenged me to first start with what I do. Worship. So I asked around, did some research and found an incredible book by Bob Kauflin called, Worship Matters. For the first time in my life, a non-fiction book was relevant and interesting to me. And I found that I learned a TON! As a result of reading this book, I found that I was drawn to understanding more about theology. Bob says that (and I'm paraphrasing here) in order to truly and fully worship God, you must have a deep understanding of theology. I didn't know that I agreed with him at the time. And I recently posted a tweet saying that. WOW! Some of you have really gotten up in my mix for that statement! LOL so, let me clarify.

First of all, you have to look at what I said. I said in order to "truly and fully" worhsip. Not just "worship". Let me ask you something. Is it possible for you to like football and know hardly anything about it? The answer is yes. But can you truly have a passion and love for the game if you don't know every nuance of how every position works, how every play develops, why coaches make decisions, or why certain players get drafted to certain teams? The answer is NO! You can't.

So why then do we presume to think that we can worship God, the way Jesus instructs us to in John 4:19-26 , without fully knowing who God is. That is theology.

Many people say, "well, I read my Bible," or "well, I just believe". That's all good and fine. But do you truly know God? Just as you've been given a gift of music or sports or talking to strangers, or whatever else you want to throw in there... God has specifically gifted men and women to be able to discern and teach about who He is, and what His word (the bible) says. As a pastor, I guess I'm somehow lumped into that category, though I often feel inadequate to claim it. But there are those who have devoted their lives to understanding God's word. Those who have dedicated themselves to learning Greek and Hebrew to be able to take the original manuscripts that Luke and Paul and John, Peter, Matthew, etc. wrote, and translate them and interpret them for us. One of those people is J.I. Packer. This is a guy who literally oversaw the translation of the English Standard Version Bible, considered to be the closest word-for-word translation that we have available to today. The man is something like 90 years old! He's been studying God's word for over 70 years! I would say, he probably knows more about the character of God than any four of us combined!

I say all of that to say this. You cannot (and I'll stand firm on this), you cannot fully and truly worship that which you do not know intimately. You can follow God. You can love God. You can put your faith and hope in Jesus Christ (which by the way you should, since by the way He did say, "No one comes to the Father but through me".) But you cannot truly and fully and whole heartedly worship Him unless you know Him. Understanding theology is in and of itself, by default, the definition of worshiping God. Here's what I've found out since diving in to these books: my worship of Him has increased with every page I read. My time in scripture has revealed more to me than ever. And my heart and mindset are being transformed before my eyes, more so than ever before! And it's nothing short of incredible!

If you are interested, here are some books that you can find on Amazon. This link, particularly, is for a J. I. Packer book. You can find the others here as well. They are: Worship Matters, by Bob Kauflin; and Desiring God, by John Piper. That's a great start. I would strongly urge you to read them. Then if you disagree with me, let me know. In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Please feel free to comment below. No one is going to judge you for your comments. But I think this is a discussion that needs to be had. So, I'll ask you again.... can you truly worship God without a deep understanding of theology?

-robbie

Are You A Liar?

2009-12-15T08:48:00.003-06:00

I get so little free time these days. I have to be very intentional how I spend my time. As someone who is in ministry full time, I've realized how my time can be usurped by people, tasks and meetings with people about tasks! So, lately, I've really tried to trim down what it is that I do for personal time. Like everyone, I have a few shows that I DVR, and God knows that I'm twitching with anticipation for LOST to come back on! (along with half the world!) And, of course, I love spending time with my family, and will do that EVERY chance I get. But there are times when I'm in the car, or by myself with a few minutes to spare, and I have recently decided to be intentional with that time, as well. Not just flailing around, waiting to wonder into something fun or interesting to do.

SO, I've been downloading some podcasts of some of my favorite teachers of the Word. John Piper, Mark Driscoll, Mark Batterson, and probably my favorite.... Matt Chandler. If you are someone like me, who likes to be challenged in your thinking, you should look these guys up. Especially Piper and Chandler. So, this morning, on my way to work, I was listening to a talk by Chandler when I had my face kicked in by the Holy spirit, convicting me of what I was hearing Matt say. Cliff's notes: 1 John 1:6-10 basically says that when the Holy Spirit convicts us of some sin our lives, and we do not repent and ask forgiveness for the wickedness that is in our heart, then we are walking in darkness and we cannot, therefore, claim to be in Him. And if we do not repent, and claim that we ARE in Him, we are calling Him a LIAR!

SMACK! Gitcha some of that! And here's what I've realized. It's not enough to say you grew up in church and that you're a moraly upright, good person. If you don't recognize that you are a human, prone to sin, and will continue to sin until you die, and HAVE to repent continuously and confess that our hearts are wicked by nature and will cause us to stumble, then you are a moraly sound, good, upright LIAR. Don't feel bad.... we've all been there.

The good news: John tells us, just as every follower of Jesus has, that by coming to the realization that we're broken, and in need of a Saviour, we CAN walk in the light. We can know Him and fellowship with Him and be loved and forgiven by Him. But it's not enough to say some prayer and think that everything's good from that point on. Salvation is about a trasformation of the heart. A continuous process. Ezekiel 36 gives us God's promis of that transformation. And we need to know that repentance and confession is not something that we did, rather it's something that we DO.

Are you a Liar?

-Robbie

On a side note, Matt Chandler recently woke up one day, a few weeks ago, and had a seizure. He was rushed to the hospital and found that he had a tumor on his brain. He was scheduled for surgery and has since had that surgery. He is doing well and hopes to make a full recovery, but he may not. And he is a huge voice in the ministry. But if you want to see what true humility and a life that lives for Jesus Christ really looks like, go here and read the blog he posted, just hours before his surgery. Matt's Blog Before Surgery

What If Facebook was a church?

2009-11-10T08:26:00.003-06:00

So, I'm constantly bombarded with technology in my job. As most of you all know, I'm the creative arts director/worship leader for our church, The Journey. And because we are constantly trying to find new and innovative ways to present the Gospel of Jesus, we are always trying to keep what we do culturally relevant. Now don't here me say that we are only about presenting a show. Cause we're not. If we didn't have stage lights, projectors, live bands, creative short films, or any other piece of technology... the Gospel of Jesus would still be preached, and we would still (as one of my best friends and our lead pastor, Erik Reed, says...) still charge the gates of Hell with a water pistol!

But why should we? Why should we be stuck in our ways and not be cognizant of the technology available to us (the church). Jesus said to be in the world... not of it. So what does that mean? Does that mean that since we are the church, we should remove ourselves from society? Absolutely not. Think about this.... if God is good, and He created all things for good, Genesis 1, then it stands to reason that the entire world, and everything in it, was created and meant for good. Or.... God is a big fat LIAR! And I don't think anyone is going to go there.

So, because of our sinful nature, we then corrupt that, which was meant for good, and deem it unusable by the church, because it's "Of this world". That's gotta be the biggest bunch of bull crap I've ever heard! Are you serious? Matthew 15:9 says this: "They worship Me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men." We make up these rules that say, we cannot use this or that for the church because its "of" the world. That is a rule and a tradition that we should evaluate by a closely. And traditions aren't always a bad thing. Even the apostle Paul points this out in his letter to the church in Thessolonica. But when they become the difference between the lost hearing the Gospel, and not hearing the Gospel, they cannot be allowed.

So, back to the original question and the title of this post. What if Facebook were a church? I would say to some extent, it is a church of sorts. It is a large community of people interacting, sharing life, standing up for causes, and connecting to new and unknown people. Sounds like a church, doesn't it? Except for one thing. There is no actual human interaction. (oh, and the point is not to propagate the message of Jesus) And the problem is... people are more concerned about updating their facebook status, than they are about their neighbor, or their father, or their friends, or their children spending an eternity in Hell, separated from the love and grace of the God of the universe, who loves them and created them. But yet, those of you who call yourselves Christ followers, and have facebook accounts, have one of the greatest social networking tools that the world has ever given us. The question then becomes, what will you do with what you've been given? Will you use it to REALLY connect with people, and find out how you can physically minister to them? Will you invite your network to come to church with you sunday? Will you use that, which is "of " the world, to help spread the only message of TRUE hope that can change a person's eternity? Or will you just see how many people you can be "friends" with, or how many followers you can get on twitter?

Tough questions. I hope they truly weigh on you.

-robbie

Busy week

2009-11-02T12:32:00.003-06:00

Hello everyone. Happy Tuesday.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I had a great one. My mom came in from Pittsburgh to visit her new granddaughter. Of course, she loved her!! Tiffany and Hadyn are doing great. Thank you all for your gifts, visits, and of course, all the food!! Cason had a big time trick-or-treating this year. He's almost 4, so putting on his costume and running around the neighborhood getting free candy was like the pinnacle of his life so far! And we had an amazing week at The Journey. If you've missed it, you can go watch the video here, as well as any of our other sermon series.

So, in my last post, I told you all some things that I learned during my short sabbatical from leading worship, as some of our other worship leaders had the chance to step up and lead. I'll say it again... I'm very proud of them and I'm looking forward to putting them into a rotation to be able to do that regularly. This week... lot's of meetings. I'll be meeting with a literary agency to discuss them representing me as an author! I'm one step closer to getting the book published. Please keep praying for me. I'm also going to be meeting with several of my leaders on the worship team to just creatively plan out the rest of the year, throughout the week. And then, because God is sovereign and just plain ol' awesome!!!!!, I'm going to be meeting with several new musicians that have been coming to the church for awhile. They are eager to get plugged in, and I'm eager to get them involved.

Which leads me to the meat of this post: If you don't already read his blog, please click here and go visit Pastor Erik's blog from Monday. At the Journey, we have always been of the mindset that we pray to see a Jesus movement in our time. And more specifically, one that starts in our area and permeates the rest of the world. This is not something that is a fly-by-night fantasy. This is something that could be a reality. Are you sick and tired of turning on the news and hearing about how bad the world is? Are you tired of hearing people argue over who should run health care? Are you tired of just going to church and consuming, or not even going to church, but longing to be a part of something that could ACTUALLY change the face of humanity? Do you struggle to find out where you belong and what life is about? Well then you want what we want. We want the God of the universe to be known. We want the name of Jesus to be the name that people run to when they hurt, when they feel alone, when they celebrate, when they search for their meaning. You want to change the world? You want to fix poverty and health care? You want to see people's lives radically changed? You want to find meaning? Then come be a part of something that actually has the power to do these things: The local church. It is the only institution in the whole world that brings the only true message of hope to a hurting and broken world. You don't have to be a member of the Journey, just be a member of a good church. One that preaches the gospel of Jesus. One that speaks of repentance and redemption and grace. One that teaches the word of God, His scriptures. Do that, and give your life to Him.... and watch what happens!

Love you all,

Robbie

Back from sabbatical

2009-10-27T10:58:00.003-05:00

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

What would you do?

2009-09-23T08:51:00.003-05:00

So... this weekend, we had the Cornhole Tournament at the Journey. It was really cool and we had a bunch of Cumberland University students come by (which was the intention behind the whole event!) and we gave away a $500 first prize for the winning team. All in all, it was a big success.

So, I carry a blackberry. Have to... for work. My wife hates it, but that's another story. But, I love my blackberry. I can get instant emails, text my friends, look up things on the internet.... it's literally like having my laptop in my pocket. And Saturday, during the cornhole tournament, I got the best email I've gotten in quite awhile.

As you all know, I have been trying to get the book that I've written published. Right now, I'm in the "find an agent" stage. So, I've been sending out proposals to agencies and blah blah bah.... you know how it goes. Well, Saturday, I got an email from a really good agency informing me that they were completely hooked on the story and the sample chapters I had sent them. Now, they want the entire manuscript! So, naturally, I fell all over myself trying to get to the computer to send it back to them! LOL.

Anyway, I've always believed that since I started writing this book, that it was going to be successful. But in order to make that happen, I'm going to have to put a lot of energy into it. When you send a book proposal, one of the first things they want to know is.... what are you going to do to ensure the success of the novel? Well, the obvious answer is.... Whatever it takes! Right? Yeah. But what is "whatever it takes". Many publishers are willing to put money behind a good book. But few of them are willing to put money behind anything if the author doesn't have a marketing plan.

So here's the question. You've written a novel that you believe in with all your heart and soul. What are some of the things you would do to promote it? I'd really really love your input. Please leave a comment and a suggestion. Who knows you may be responsible for the greatest marketing idea to come about in 40 years! (and I'll even give you credit for it!)

Have a blessed day.

Robbie

Rain

2009-09-21T16:24:00.003-05:00

Well, I'm going to cheat this week. I posted a blog for our praise team about this and liked it so much... that I'm using it here too. So, I hope you enjoy.

Rain... what can you say about it? We've certainly had a lot of it lately. I sit around when it's raining and think.... really? God, couldn't you just give us a nice sunny day? Couldn't we just not have to walk around and get drenched? Would it be too much to ask for a little bit of Sun?

This morning I was sulking, thinking about how much I hate the rain. Then I opened my bible randomly to Dueteronomy. I do this from time to time, when I'm not doing a book study. So, I'm grumbling about how it's pouring outside.... AGAIN! and I'm really starting to question whether or not I need to build another Ark. And then I see this:Dueteronomy 28:12.

So often we take the things of this world for granted. We dismiss the smallest of things and make big deals out of others. But more often than not, we forget that God uses ALL things for His glory. We sit around and ask God to bless us and our efforts, and in the midst of a blessing, we pass right over it. Today I was taught a valuable lesson and I was reminded of another passage of scripture. In Isaiah, God tells us that His ways are not our ways. His thoughts are not our thoughts.

We need to remember this. Cause if we don't, we are going to possibly miss out on something that God is doing, something that directly affects us. We may be missing out on receiving that which we have been praying for. And in the future, maybe I'm not going to be so bummed out when it rains!

Tell me your thoughts.

Here are the songs from the Catalyst service yesterday.

"Open Up the Gates (King Of Heaven)" Planetshakers, "Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble" Hillsong, "Glory To God" Fee, "The More I Seek You" Gateway Worship

Prayer

2009-09-15T11:34:00.003-05:00

Rarely do I ever re-direct someone from this blog to another for the purposes of explaining this blog! Actually, I don't think I've ever done it. I have directed you to other blogs for the purpose of just reading a great insight from someone else, but not the former. Today I'm going to do that.

Yesterday, my wife (who is expecting our second child) got out of bed and made a nasty face and grimaced, while holding her belly. Yeah! My thoughts too!... Uh oh! The next words out of her mouth kinda made me feel a little bit frightened. She said that she felt like she was having contractions and she was nauseous. Not good, cause that would mean baby Haydn would be coming 4 weeks early! Now, you all have to understand, with Cason (my son) she had the picture perfect pregnancy. No sickness, no tiredness, no nausea, etc. My wife is a runner, and she actually continued to run 3 miles a day almost into her eighth month last time! This one, however, has been different. Immediately I found myself talking to God, saying, "Please God, just take care of her and the baby. Whatever happens, just take care of them, please." Long story short, we went to the doctor and they said, nothing to worry about. Just some Braxton/Hicks contractions and that it was normal.

Usually on Mondays, I post this blog and one other, our worship team blog. The worship team blog is a tool that we use, as a team, to stay in the Word and hold each other accountable throughout the week for being in the scriptures. Since I spent the entire morning at the doctor's with my wife, I wasn't able to post that blog. I asked one of my leaders on the worship team to post for me. Philip, the guy I'm talking about here, is an awesome guy. Very selfless, always there with an encouraging word, and is willing to serve whenever/wherever. So, I asked him if he would do the post instead of me. And I told him to post whatever God put on his heart. Given what I just told you... he said, "Yeah! No worries!"

So when I got back to the house, I jumped online to see what he posted about. As you will see, he posted about something that is... well, should be... one of the most practiced things we do, as Christ followers. It really got some good conversations going through the comments. (this is how we communicate with each other about our thoughts on the post throughout the week) And it got me to thinking. We throw around the word "prayer" a lot in this world. But do we know what prayer really is? Do we know how we are to pray? (there actually is a template lain out in the Bible for us, by Jesus) Do we know what to pray for? And what are the possibilities of prayer in our world? This truly is a great conversation that I would invite all of you to join us in. If you would, click on the link HERE, and read Philip's post. Then, check out the comments that have been left by our team. If you would like to post a thought, please do. We would welcome your input. You will need to have a google account in order to post a comment, but that's as easy as going HERE and signing up for one. It's free and completely secure. I look forward to hearing all of your thoughts!

-Robbie

Here are the songs from the last two Catalyst services, since I didn't post last week due to the Holiday.

"Let God Arise" & "Sing Sing Sing" Christ Tomlin, "Come Now Is the Time To Worship" Pick an artist! there's like 100 to choose from!, "Saviour King" Hillsong, "From the Inside Out" Kristian Stanfill, "We Shine" & "All Because of Jesus" Fee, "Agnus Dei" & "Love Song" Third Day, "Let Me Sing" Todd Fields,

Movement

2009-09-01T08:52:00.002-05:00

The dictionary defines "Movement" as a noun, meaning a series of actions or activities intended or tending toward a particular end.

Now, that's just one of about 14 definitions it gives, but they are all similar in content, basically meaning the same thing. When we talk about "movement", we usually mean one of two things. 1: motion: the act of moving or 2: a cause. An example of number two would be the Civil Rights Movement.

As human beings we are always drawn towards something, some cause, something that stirs within our soul that compels us to take a stand on an issue and, for most of us, to act on that impulse. You see, we were designed to be drawn towards things like this. God has birthed certain wants and desires within our souls. The problem is, often times, those things are the desires of God, but we fail to see His role in them and the significance that they were intended for our lives.

Right now, our country is up in arms about the health care movement. I would think, unless you are just a stubborn, hard-headed mule, that everyone would agree that, though we may have the greatest health care system in the world, it has problems and needs to be fixed. I don't think there is any argument about this. The argument comes when we try to decide how to fix it. But the TRUE problem is, no one is looking at it from how God sees it. Listen, I'm not here to debate the role of health care in our world. This is just one of many examples. The problem lies deeper than health care, or any other issue like this in our world.

At the end of the day it comes down to one thing. The Church has removed itself from many of the roles that God intended us to serve. Do you know that up until just a couple hundred years ago, the Church was the trend-setter in the world? That the Church defined culture? Now, it seems like there is such a disdain for the Church in our world that more and more we are removing God from everything. Why is that? Here's a thought: Over the last two hundred years, the Church has been more about telling people what they can't and shouldn't do, instead of telling people about the love and hope of Jesus. And rather than love people, regardless of their circumstances, we have chosen to put up this imaginary wall around an imaginary city that we call Christianity. It has a big, huge moat around it, and you would think that it has fire-breathing dragons and man-eating crocodiles live in the moat. Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in CA. made one of the most brilliant statements I've ever heard about the church. He said this: "The Church has NEVER been persecuted for its righteousness. The problem is, instead of being the hands and feet of the body of Christ, doing the work of the church, we've become one big MOUTH! And people are tired of hearing it!"

What I've noticed though, is there is a group of people who are tired of seeing this world go to hell in a hand basket. They understand that we were created for more. They understand that there is a movement that is taking place around the world, one unlike any movement that has taken place since the time of the disciples. I believe that God is raising up a generation of people who are not concerned with legalistic religion. Rather, they are desperate for a relationship with the Living God, a relationship that we were born to desire. They are concerned about the things that God is concerned with. They are seeing the world through God's eyes and they are about his purposes. This movement is what we at the Journey call, "The Jesus Movement". And we're seeing it take place before our eyes. We are seeing people's lives transformed. And we're seeing these people start to take action and begin to be the hands and feet of the body of Christ. You want to see things like health care, poverty, and brokenness get fixed.... then we must be the Church that Jesus created us to be. The Church that He gave His life for. We gotta stop running our mouths about all the things we're against, and start telling people what we're for! We can't change someone's situation. We can't transform anyone's life. Only He can. And when we fully understand that we, the Church, carry the ONLY message of true hope and change, then and only then can we fuel the movement of Jesus.

-Robbie

Songs from Sunday's Catalyst service:

My Glorious (Delirious), Filled With Your Glory (Starfield), Not To Us (Todd Fields), I Stand Amazed (Kristian Stanfill), Give Us Clean Hands (Chris Tomlin), Salvation Is Here (Hillsong)

Football

2009-08-24T14:08:00.002-05:00

Ok, so today, I'm not going to go into something deep. I'm going to talk about something that is very dear to my heart.... FOOTBALL! But first... I want to say thanks to everyone who has helped to get the new "Sex" series ready at The Journey. Yesterday was the first week, and WOW! It was really awesome. We had a lot of new guests there. I hope that they will find a home with us, but more importantly, I hope that they encountered the Living God.

I can't remember when I've been so excited for football season to be here. It's been a long time. After living in nashville since '91, it's been up and down for me during football season. I moved here from just outside of Pittsburgh in a little town in West Virginia, just on the state line. Interestingly enough... I'm not a huge Steeler fan. I know... blasphemy! So, shoot me! But I am a WVU fan. And well, it's just been up and down. Because of that... I was bent on not giving into the pressure and donning the Big Orange. Last year, though, my boy Erik conned me into going to a game. We went to the Florida game. If you follow football, you know how that went. It was one of the most electric environments that I've ever been in. It was really exciting... for about the first three minutes of the game. LOL Anyway, I began to give in and realized that I have become a huge UT fan. With Kiffin taking over, I'm excited to see what happens. So Go UT!

But here's why I'm REALLLY excited. I told y'all that I'm not a huge Steeler fan. Long story that I won't go into, but as a kid, there were two teams to watch... the Niners and the Cowboys. If you know me, you know how badly I HATE the Cowboys! So, I'm a Niner fan. This year, I've TVO'd their pre-season games and I got to tell you.... not since the late 80's early 90's have they looked like this. They have (talking starters here) something like 8 takeaways on defense, they're killing QB's, they got a rookie RB (who I hate to admit is from Alabama), who is running up and down the field like he's playing against high school teams, and Alex Smith actually looks like an NFL quarter back. Shaun Hill is right behind him (looking as good or better) trying to win the starter job. It's the second year as head coach for Mike Singletary and this guy is coaching these guys like they just came off of a Superbowl win and they're trying to repeat. Could this be the year that the greatest team in NFL history begins a new dynasty?

Living in Tennessee, I'm still a big Titans fan too. So don't think I've given up on them. But they're in the AFC, so it's ok. You all know what they did last year. I'm hoping that they won't fall apart either. Who knows? Things could get absolutely retarded in the NFL and NCAA and we could see a Niner/Titans Superbowl, with UT winning the National Championship!........ It could happen!

Here's the songs from yesterday's Catalyst service:

Jesus Is Alive (Fee), Everybody Praise the Lord (Lincoln Brewster), Filled With Your Glory (Starfield), Help Me To Find You (Todd Fields), Word Of God Speak (Mercy Me), Everlasting God (Todd Fields)

Another Busy Week

2009-08-17T10:14:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was an incredible day at The Journey. Once again, we had seven or eight people scheduled to be baptized, and God moved in a mighty way. I think we had something like Fourteen total. It was incredible.

Anyway, I'm constantly blown away by this church and the people that are involved in it. I've never been a part of a church where everyone in the church is crazy for what we're doing. I mean, if I had to guess, I'd say that over 70% of the people who come here, are involved in something. The servant to consumer ratio is astoundingly low! It just goes to show you: you don't have to be in ministry full time to do ministry! If you are someone who calls yourself a Christ follower, you are a minister! The bible says that... not me. Check it out. It's there... I promise!

So, next week starts a new series that Erik, Shawn, Todd and I have been putting together for quite awhile. It will probably be the most controversial series we've ever done at this church. It's called "Sex". And that's exactly what it's going to be about. We're not pulling punches, and we're not softening it to be "Churchy". This is going to be a hard-hitting, straight to the point series about sex in our culture and what the Bible says about it. If you don't have a home church, and you live in the Nashville area, you DO NOT want to miss this. I promise you... you've never heard anything like this in any church you've ever been to. Just FYI, though, this series is rated "MA", for mature audiences. If you have a young child or a young teen, there will be age appropriate teaching in the Navigators area for the next four weeks. (That's our kid's church). Parents, it will be up to you, whether or not you feel your child is old enough, and mature enough, to listen to the content. Don't panic! You won't see or hear anything pornographic. I don't want to scare anyone, but you will hear real life issues and very direct teaching. If you're not ready to have that "Talk" with your child yet, you may want to send them to the Navigators! Otherwise, your Sunday afternoon "Nascar Nap" is going to be replaced with, "Mommy, what did he mean when he said.... (fill in the blank)"!

If you are not someone who lives in the Nashville area, you will be able to watch the teachings online at our website. Or you can go to itunes and subscribe to our podcast. Just search Pastor Erik Reed, or The Journey Church-Lebanon Tn.

Look Forward to seeing you all there!

Robbie

Here's the songs from yesterday's Catalyst service:

"Happy Day" Tim Hughes, "Reign In Us" Starfield, "With Everything" and "Lead Me To the Cross" Hillsong, "Lift High" Eddie Kirkland, "All Because of Jesus" Fee

Are You A Sheep?

2009-08-13T09:15:00.002-05:00

I watched an interesting show this past week, called "The Shark Tank". If you don't know what that is, it is a show where young entrepreneurs, who have great ideas, or even small operational businesses, come into a room with 5 business tycoons worth a combined net worth of over a billion dollars. These young entrepreneurs try to pitch their idea or their business to these moguls in hopes of a partnership or an investment into their small start-up company.

In a nutshell, I loved this show. These poor people were getting sleighed by these business giants. They'd go in and offer them 10% of the company for a $500k investment, and the tycoons would come back with a counter of 51% for an investment of $1 million. Most people would say... wow! That's stupid. Why not just give them the $500 k and take 30 or 40% of the company? The answer is because these people didn't become billionaires by taking the safe route. Nor do they like to be pushed around. If they are going to invest the money into something that they believe in, they are going to make sure they have the controlling interest in the company, and they're going to make sure that the company has more than enough to float it until it can turn a profit.

I say all of that to say this. Leaders often times don't want to believe that they are lead-able, if that's even a real word. (If not it should be) These young entrepreneurs didn't want to hear from someone more powerful than them, that they had a great idea, but in order to make it what they wanted to make it, they would have to give up control over it. WOW! How many times have we had to face that. It hurts sometimes doesn't it?

Peter didn't want to allow Jesus to wash his feet, because he thought that it was beneath Jesus to have to do that. In another instance, Jesus was having dinner at a Pharisee's house, where there was an incident that took place involving some spilled perfume and a woman. The Pharisee quickly rebuked Jesus for his actions, thinking he knew far more, but Jesus quickly put him in his place. All throughout scripture we see that Jesus taught his disciples that in order to truly lead, you must first be a servant, but then, you must also allow yourself to be led or taught, when necessary. These young business minds, most of them, turned down the offer of a 51% controlled interest of their company out of selfishness and not wanting to be led. But they were standing in the presence of greatness, people who have done what it is that they sought to do. People who have made billions of dollars. Did you hear that.....? BILLIONS.

So why then are we selfish? Why do we fight against being led? Why do we think our way is the best way, when there are people who do what we are trying to do at a higher level than us. They've been successful in their area, but yet, we know it all... "Can't tell ME anything!"

This is something that as I grow as a leader, I'm wrestling with daily. I know that I have to surround myself with people who do what I do.... and do it at a higher level than I'm doing it right now. Cause they have knowledge that I probably don't have! I'm a sheep. Whether I want to admit it or not, I'm a sheep. Sometimes I get to be the lead sheep, but nevertheless, I'm still a sheep and I need people to lead me, so I can effectively lead people. What are you doing to allow yourself to be influenced, or led? Me.... I'm reading some good books, trying to build relationships with some guys who are doing what I do, and I'm trying to listen to the people that I do lead (WHOA! That's heresy!) so that I can become a better leader to them.

C-y'all.

Robbie

God Appiontments

2009-08-10T13:48:00.005-05:00

Ever have a meeting set up and when you get there, it's like pulling teeth to get through it? I have. Hate them! But what about the meetings that are just kinda organic? They just happen... no one really set a specific time or day, you just run into someone and decide to have lunch? Or something like that? Yeah! Those are the best. Especially when they were directed by God.

I had one of those the other day. I call them God appointments. They are appointments that you may not have been aware you had, but God already put them on your calendar, so you gotta be there, whether you intended to be, or not! LOL.

Anyway, sunday at the Journey, Erik was talking about discipleship. Now, I know that everyone says......UGHHHH! and big flashing signs go off that say, "CHURCH WORD.... CHURCH WORD"! Yeah, discipleship is a church word, but it's not specific to church! As Erik talked about, we have been being discipled since we were born. I won't go into it. You can click here and watch for yourself.

In a nutshell, we cannot become more intimate with God until we decide to try and live our lives in an effort to mirror Christ. You have to continuously be on a journey, moving down the path. What I've come to understand is this: When you decide to move in the direction of being more like Him, He will set appointments for you, in order to grow you. Unfortunately, for some, they will dismiss those God appointments and remain standing still. My prayer for you is that you would move. That you would see your life as the testament of what Christ has done for you, and that you would live a life worthy of the Gospel that saved you in the first place! That you would recognize your God appointments and take advantage of them.

Love you all,

Robbie.

P.S. I know I didn't get to post last week. My family and I were out of town. So here are the songs from this and last week's catalyst service.

"Rain Down" Delirious, "He Reigns" Newsboys, "Reign In Us" Starfield, "Praise" me (sorry y'all. this is another original. I promise I'm trying to get them recorded), "Breathe On Me" Todd Fields, "Let The Praises Ring" Lincoln Brewster, "Behold" me again!, "O Praise Him" Crowder, "Every Body Praise the Lord" Lincoln Brewster.

Too Good To Be True

2009-07-27T09:36:00.004-05:00

We are a jaded society. If something comes along and it looks to good to be true, we usually dismiss it and move on because.... well, it's too good to be true.

I had an opportunity last week come my way, and it looked too good to be true. As most of you know, I am an aspiring author (along with all the other stuff I already do! LOL). But I have written a novel and am trying to get it published. I enjoyed writing it soooo much, that I've actually started on another one. I've found a passion that I never realized I had. I love to write. Now, I was a professional song writer for many years. I've been blessed and have had a few of my songs cut, and the excitement of that still lingers. But this is different. NO BOUNDARIES! Unlike song writing.

So anyway, a friend of mine tells me about this resource for new writers, where they can find agents, publishers, editors, and just about every thing else an aspiring writer needs to get up and running and be successful. Too good to be true.... right? Wrong!

After arguing with my self for a day about whether or not I'd be spinning my wheels, I put together a little proposal for my book. Not expecting to hear anything, or at least not anything for a few days or weeks, I hit "Send". I mean, I'm a nobody in this world. These guys are professional literary people. They deal with hugely successful authors. They're busy. Probably got a thousand manuscripts on their desks that they'll never even get around to looking at, right?

Fifteen minutes after I sent the email, I got my first response. So I open the email, fully expecting the automated response saying, "Thank you for your submission. Our office is currently not accepting new manuscripts, due to our full client base." Except, it didn't say that at all. Not only wasn't it a "auto-response", but it was a personal email, from the actual agent whose name is on the firm. The first line in the email was "Great Proposal!" They said they were very much intrigued and wanted me to send the entire book proposal as soon as I could. WOW! Needless to say, my head was spinning. So, instead of messing around for the rest of the day (this was my day off), I decided to start working on the full proposal. About ten minutes into it, I get three more emails, from three more agents, all saying the same thing: "We loved it, please send the proposal."

The point is, why do we just assume things are too good to be true? I think a lot of people think that about Jesus: He's too good to be true. If they only took the time to investigate His message, they would see that it IS good. Way better than anything we ever deserved.... but it IS true! How many people do you know that dismiss the hope of having a relationship with their Creator, only because they think it's "Too Good To Be True"? What can you do to convince them to investigate it? Are you condemning? Or do you love them, unconditionally and allow the love of Christ to show through you? Just some thoughts.

Love you all,

Robbie

Here are the songs from yesterday's Catalyst service @ The Journey

"Salvation Is Here" Hillsong, "Glorious One" Fee, "How Great Thou Art" (public domain), "Saviour King" Hillsong, "Your Grace Is Enough" Chris Tomlin

The Mark of A Great Life

2009-07-20T12:36:00.002-05:00

I went to a funeral yesterday for the grandmother of a great friend, Alex Perry. She passed away, after a long bout with cancer. Funerals are always sad, because they signify the end of a relationship, as we know it. And, they remind us of our own mortality. But they can also bring joy. I know that sounds counter-intuitive, but it's true. It all depends on the life you led.

First of all, I want to give Alex a huge compliment. They only asked a few members of the family to speak at the ceremony. Alex was one of them. Now, Alex doesn't speak in front of groups of people regularly, as it is. But there were probably close to four hundred people there. He did an awesome job, speaking on behalf of the family. He shared some personal stories of his grandmother, and I know there wasn't a dry eye in the entire building. So, Alex, great job, bud. I was praying for you, as were many others.

What made me smile, though, was the fact that this lady had led an extraordinary life. And you didn't have to hear anyone's stories to confirm that. All you had to do was look at the many people who were gathered there to remember her. There were people of all ages, each having their own story and memories of a woman who touched their lives in some way. Typically, when an elder person passes away, and you attend the funeral, you tend to see a lot of people in that age group, and then a few stragglers of different ages who are there, either as family, or just to support the family members. That wasn't the case here. Outside of myself and a few others who were there to support our friends who'd lost a love one, the majority of the 400 or so people who were there, knew her. And they loved her. And it spoke volumes about the life she had led. And they were of all ages, from teenagers to people older than she was.

The pastor who led the service was also a great friend of hers. And he reminded all of us that one day, we'd be sitting in a box, just like she was, and that there would be some pastor standing up there talking about us. The question that he asked was, "what will that pastor be able to say about you?" Did you live a life worthy of being remembered? Did you impact the lives of those you came in contact with the way she had?

Alex's grandmother was a devout Christ follower. Therefore, she spent her life trying to tell people about the hope that she carried. She never wasted an opportunity to share her faith with anyone. And the fact that she was a truly humble and generous person, allowed her to speak into the lives of those she came in contact with. I know that when she breathed her last, a few days ago, she saw the face of her saviour moments later. And I'm even more sure that she heard the words that we all hope to hear some day.... "Well done, My good and faithful servant. Come, My Father has prepared a place for you at His table."

We often live like we have forever. The reality is, we don't. Furthermore, we don't know how long we have. I know that's a buzz kill for some of you, but it's the reality of where we are. You could live to be 100, or you could die tomorrow. Are you living the life that you were created to live? When you go, will people say you lived a life worthy of being remembered? And will you find yourself living an eternity in the presence of your Creator? Or will you be found wanting, separated from God and eternal life?

Hard questions, for sure. But they are questions that, someday, we will all answer. I pray that your life will reflect the right ones. If you are someone who doesn't know, and I mean truly know, what it means to have a relationship with Jesus Christ, and you have questions, please contact me. You can send me a private email through our church website, if you like. Just click here, and you'll be able to contact me, or one of the other pastors, or elders, at the Journey. Any of us would welcome your inquiry. Or, if you are open to a conversation that you don't mind other people reading, just leave a comment. I'd love to have that conversation with you.

Blessings everyone.

Here are the songs from yesterday's catalyst service:

"God Is Alive" Fee, "Let Me Sing" Todd Fields, "Revelation Song" Gateway Worship, "How He Loves Us" Eddie Kirkland, "Salvation Is Here" Hillsong

Change

2009-07-13T09:59:00.002-05:00

So, first of all.... (and I know I say this all the time, but God is good and it's always true).... we had an amazing day at the Journey yesterday. We taught a new song (possibly my new favorite song) and Erik's talk on "Joy" was unbelievably eye opening. I'm editing the video as I'm writing and it'll be posted later today on the website. Just click here to go watch it, or you can go to itunes and search "Pastor Erik Reed, The Journey Church, Lebanon Tn." and subscribe to our podcast now.

So... change. Always happening, can't avoid it, and most of the time, it isn't the most convenient timing in our lives. BUT.... more often than not, it's always for the better. Yesterday we dove a little deeper into some change that is taking place within my worship team. For awhile now, I've known that as the Journey grows, more is going to be required of me and my team. Right now, we can manage doing two services in two different locations. But what happens when God decides to blow the doors off the place and, suddenly, we need to expand our service times? Or add locations? That's the big dream that we all have.... to be allowed to minister to more and more people. Well, Erik and I have talked about it at length. The fact of the matter is... we can't be in two places at one time. Duh! So what do you do? The answer: you raise up leaders who can do it for you. You work as hard as you can to try and replace yourself. Notice I didn't say duplicate. I said replace! BIG difference. That's another blog for another time!

So, with that in mind... the Journey Creative Arts dept. is having a BIG meeting tonight to discuss some changes that are going to be implemented in order to allow us to begin to move into a place where, not only are we ready to expand into other places, but where we are growing together as a team spiritually. We've been rather busy lately, planting a new campus, moving one campus into another location, and preparing to possibly launch a third campus. And I'm concerned we may be getting a little bit of center with tracking our spiritual growth. We are going to implement some rather big ideas to help us keep that side of things in order. And so, I would ask all of you to pray for us, as we step into a time of some "Change".

Love you all

-robbie

P.S. I know it's been awhile since I've given you all the set lists for our worship time. We have been teaching a lot of new songs. So, rather than list everything we've done over the last few weeks, here are the songs that we've been teaching. Most of them aren't "new". But they are new to the Journey. They may be new to you as well. So check them out. Great stuff!

"Rain Down" Delirious, "The Love Of God" Jeff Deyo, "With Everything" Hillsong, "Not To Us" Todd Fields, "Help Me To Find You" Todd Fields, "Revelation Song" Gateway Worship, "Reign In Us" & "Filled With Your Glory" Starfield.

first times

2009-06-29T08:32:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone.

This weekend was kinda special for the Cheuvront family. First of all, it was an amazing week at The Journey. God was moving in some incredible ways. I'm still amazed every week when I come in this place and see the people that God has brought into our folds. All Praise be to Him.

So...... Tiffany and I took our son, Cason to do some things, and it was his first time to do them.

As most of you know, I played on the road with "Lonestar" for many years. It was fun, and Richie MacDonald, the lead singer, and I became great friends. He's kind of like the brother I never had. Love him to death! Anyway, Richie now has a solo career. He doesn't do many shows because he likes to spend time with his family, after being gone on the road for 15 years. But when he does, he calls me to see if I want to go out with him and do a quick performance. So, this weekend was faith and family night at the Nashville Sounds game and we did a show there to promote his Christian Album. Because it was faith and family night, we took our families and watched the game. I got some extra tickets, so we took Erik and Katrina, along with their son, Kaleb (Cason's best friend). It was Cason's first B-Ball game and he loved it. They gave him a couple balls and a bat (which he and Kaleb proceeded to try and throw and hit everywhere they could during the game! (that's a whole other blog!!!) We had a great time, but it was pretty much what was expected..... Hot dogs, baseball, friends and lots of fun.

Second, we took Cason to the movies for the first time. We saw Disney's "UP". It was a really good movie, and just like I suspected, it was completely different than what I thought it would be. They are really good at that. Unlike a lot of other movies, where you see a thousand trailers for them and by the time you actually go, you pretty much know the movie before even watching it, Disney movies have a knack for getting you intrigued just enough to go see them, without really even knowing what they're about.

I think that's a really cool thing b/c you don't know what to expect. And then you're typically pleased with the result. Unlike the baseball game, where we knew what was pretty much going to take place, we walked into a dark theater, with a 3 yr. old, hoping that it would be a good experience.

That got me thinking. What do people expect when they go to church? Is there a pre-conceived idea of what they are going to see? I think so. And most of the time, if they're unchurched or haven't been to church in a long time, that pre-conceived notion could be drastically wrong. For so long the church has had this stigma about it, that when you go.... people are going to make you feel uncomfortable, make you do something that embarrasses you, or even the other extreme. They won't even acknowledge you are even there. Why is that? I'm afraid that the church has become that which Jesus spoke against: A religious institution. It was never intended to be that. It was intended to be a gathering of people who love God, worship only Him, and through the grace and mercy that has been shown to them, they in turn share that hope and love... bringing the only message of hope that there is to a hurting and broken world.

Too many people call themselves Christians and don't have any idea what that means. There's a piece of scripture that I think they need to listen to. Jesus said, on that day people would say, "Master, didn't we prophesy in your name....etc. and He will say, "Depart from me, for I never knew you." Maybe we shouldn't call ourselves Christians anymore. Perhaps it's time to redefine ourselves. "Christian" has become a table-top discussion word. If we are going to be the church.... the church that Jesus instructed us to be, loving those around us, worshiping Him, following His teachings, being obedient to His will (not ours), taking the gospel message to the world and making disciples of ALL the nations.... then perhaps "Christian" is the wrong term. Maybe we should call ourselves exactly what that description says we are..... Christ Followers. And if we did that, and stopped acting like the church that the world has defined us to be, and instead acted like the church we are SUPPOSED to be, maybe people wouldn't feel so put off by all of us "Christians".

Love you all,

Robbie

cool video to open our church services

2009-06-16T08:45:00.001-05:00

Hey everyone. This is a cool video that we use to start our church service with. It's really awesome, cause, it's exactly what we wanted to say, and do for a video.... and someone else did it for us. Thanks to whoever you are!!!!!

Had to try this

2009-06-13T13:20:00.002-05:00

Well, Since seeing Erik's video that he created for a Journey Preview... I had to do one for myself. It just looked like too much fun. So, here ya go folks. Enjoy!!!!!

Baby Names

2009-06-12T18:22:00.003-05:00

Ok, if there was ever a reason to stop at one kid..... this is it:

What in the crap are we gonna name this child? This seems to be the question asked every five minutes in our house, right now! With our son, Cason, we spent almost 6 months looking for his name. Now, I know this is gonna sound cheeky, and perhaps just goofy, but we named him after the street where the first house we lived in was on. Cason Lane. We actually thought about naming him Cason Lane. But after some thought and trial and error of other names, we came up with what is his middle name,.... Makail. We probably went through every name book we could find, every internet sight we could look up, and everything else in between. Finally, someone suggested that we look on a map and find cool city names, or landmarks. Exhausted from looking, we did. And that's where we came up with Cason.

So now, we're pregnant again (I say that like I have anything to do with carrying our little girl around for nine months!) and we're right back where we started three years ago.... searching for a name. And just like last time, we're tapped out. Nothing seems to fit. So, this time, I'm throwing it out to you guys and girls. Comment to me with your suggestions and maybe Tiffany and I will use one. If we do, we'll post it on our blogs and myspace and facebook and twitter... and you can be known as the person who named our little girl! Sound fun?

So shoot us your names. Remember, it's got to be something unique, as we have exhausted the normal repertoire.

C-y'all

-robbie

What R We Doing?

2009-06-10T08:41:00.002-05:00

Hey all.

I've been struggling with this blog for a couple weeks now. I've been wondering if it's really worth my time to sit and write every day, or every other day, when I could be out actively doing something to be intentional for God. I won't bore you with the details, but I think I found my answer. It actually came to me in the form of a question. During my prayer time, while I was asking God what to do about this blog, I heard the question, "What are you doing?", meaning, if I'm not trying to reach someone through my writing, or make a difference to someone with some thoughts that God has lain on my heart, what am I doing instead?

It took me awhile to answer that. What I figured out is, I do a lot of stuff. But how much of it is just tasks so that the ministry can happen around me? That's what I'm trying to figure out. I'm learning that sometimes writing a blog may be more effective in reaching someone, or at least make them think about something, than all the tasks in the world. Let's be real. We can all do tasks until Jesus comes back. What did we do with what He gave us? Good question. He asked it Himself.

We're in the middle of a new series at The Journey called "Sent". One of the Key passages so far, that has stood out to me, was when Jesus asked Peter, "Simon, do you love me?". They begin to have a conversation that just goes to show the burden that Jesus has for us and the lengths to which He expects us to go to show that love.

I hope you all will ask yourselves, "What are we doing?" And I hope that when you ask that question of yourself, you will know what the answer is SUPPOSED to be.

To join in with the conversation further, visit Erik's blog. We are doing a reading challenge of the book of Acts. It's a chance for you to read about the early church, give your opinion and hear what others are saying. I look forward to hearing from you all. Please feel free to leave me a comment as well. I will try to answer everyone.

Love y'all,

Robbie

Some Things Just Have To Be Said

2009-05-10T21:35:00.002-05:00

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

Finally Friday

2009-05-08T11:47:00.004-05:00

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)

Monday morning

2009-04-27T08:46:00.005-05:00

Hello all! Happy Monday.

Yesterday was a GREAT day at the Journey. We had 7 people get baptized, both campuses under one roof, and God's spirit was everywhere in that place. What more could you ask for!

Today I would like to stray off course for a moment. Normally I would tell you what's going on in my life, and what God has put on my heart for the moment. But today, I want to talk about someone else. A few people, actually. My tech team. This post may be a little long, but it's well worth the read. Pleas take the time to get to know these people below.

I've said it before, but not really gone into great detail, about how they are really great guys (and girls!), but I've never really told you about them. So today, I'd like to take a minute to do that.

Jon Ayers is our tech team leader. This is a guy, who just about a year ago, God grabbed in a mighty way. John is about as country as cornbread! I love him to death! When he calls me on the phone, I say hello, and then I hear a long drawn out..... Hey. I'm certainly not making fun of him. I just want you to know that he is the definition of "Good Ol' Boy". John came up to me back then and started asking questions about how do you know when God is calling you to step up and become more active in His church. We had a long conversation that lead to him opening up what was going on in his life. And he shared with me all the things that he thought God was pressing on his heart. John is a leader, no doubt. And I knew then, that he would be someone invaluable to the Journey. And he has been ever since. He's straight up a volunteer (as are the rest of his team) and he puts as much time in around there as any of us who are full time staff. He has been doing research (on his own and without anyone asking him) on mixing sound, lights, video editing, and computer programing, because he knows that what he's doing right now is going to help shape the vision of the church and help him to influence more people in finding their place in serving. John, I'm excited to have you on my team. I love you, man, and couldn't do my job without you. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.

I told you a lot about John, because the rest of the team are pretty much his friends, that he's either recruited, or just helped out when they need it, giving them direction on the team. The attitude of his team is: Get it done, cause it's not about us! It starts with John and then trickles down into everyone on that team. They are an amazing bunch of people.

Jessie Dillard is one of our audio engineers and computer guys. He's about to get married, even though the rest of us have told him he's crazy!!!! Just kidding Jess! Andrea is a wonderful, beautiful girl, and I'm excited for you. Can't wait for the big day. Jess has been there since the Journey opened its doors. He's a, "I'll do whatever you need me to do" guy. Absolutely irreplaceable!

Jason Harding is probably the newest member of our team, but has jumped right in, taking the reigns by the horn and blazing the way! Jason started coming to the Journey, having a background in sound. He told his wife that he would start coming to church with her as long as he didn't have to get involved! Yeah right! LOL. Jason is just like me. He can't stand to sit around and do nothing when it comes to music and sound. I think it was about two weeks after he started coming that he approached me and said, "hey, you know I have some experience in sound, and if you need any help, I could probably jump back there and do something!" He's now the head audio engineer of Providence campus!

Kevin Burton...... well, what can you say about Kevin? LOL. Kevin is probably the craziest dude I know. It's a good thing he gave his life to Christ, cause God only knows what kind of brigade he'd be leading if he hadn't! :) This guy would literally take the shirt off his back for anyone. And I mean anyone. He says he's only part time with the team, cause he likes to serve in other areas, but there has never been a time when someone got sick and couldn't show, or we just needed another person in the booth that day, where he didn't jump in, at a moment's notice and run with the show! Kevin, you are my hero!

Austin Burton (Kevin's cousin), same thing. Austin is also one of those guys who's constantly asking questions of, where is God moving me, and, how do I get there? Austin started out just standing back there, taking it all in, and then he began to start working with the computers, then the filming, and then audio mixing. He's a good friend and I'm very proud to have him on the team. I can't wait to see what God does with you man! (Side note: his little girl and my son are boyfriend and girlfriend. Just ask them. They'll tell you. They're three years old, by the way!)

Special mention to a couple guys here. Alex perry, and Billy Reed. They are two of the most awesome guys you are gonna ever come in contact with. They predominantly take care of filming all of our services. I think I showed them how to turn on the camera, focus, and zoom. They pretty much took it from there. And we're not talking about a camcorder here. This is a pretty high-tech, sophisticated, piece of filming machine! And if you watch our sermons online at the website, what you see is their handiwork. Thank you guys for all you do.

Finally, Kim Raffield. But certainly not least! Kim is the daughter of Cindy and Don (who are on my praise team). Kim runs our computer at the West campus. She is a joy of a person to be around. She sits back there, with all of those other knuckle heads I mentioned above, and keeps them in line! She is a strong, seasoned Christ follower. She brings a lot of maturity to any team that she's on, though she's still a very young girl. She's quick to learn, and when tech stuff starts going awry, she's "on like Donkey Kong!" Not too much gets by her, if anything. And those guys back there need a lady to keep them straight. Thanks Kim for all you do!

So, there you have it. The Journey's A/V squad. There are a few others that jump back there from time to time and help out. And I love, and thank, you guys too. But I wanted to mention the folks who are there week in and week out. They sit back there, push buttons, ride faders, click mouses, film...... oh, and don't forget, they set up every week on saturdays, just so we can have church. If you are a Journey-ite, please go tell them thank you. You wouldn't be sitting there seeing all the cool stuff and hearing all the good sounding music without them. And they rarely, if ever get credit. So today, I wanted to do that. I am more blessed than anyone I know for having these guys (and girl) in my life. They make my job easy. Please say a prayer for them today. Ask God to bless them. Ask God to continue to give them the drive and the want to see His kingdom furthered. And ask God to reveal to them how much they are needed. Cause I don't ever want them to feel like what they do doesn't matter. It does. And to be honest with you, there's no way to measure how much it does! Cause that measurement..... doesn't exist!

I love you guys with all my heart. May God bless you and your families.

-robbie

The Songs from Catalyst Service yesterday:

Salvation Is Here (Hillsong), Lift High (Eddie Kirkland), Glory To God (Fee), Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin), All Because of Jesus (Fee)

12:18 a.m.

2009-04-25T00:18:00.002-05:00

Hey all,

Well, the title is not something enigmatic. It's just that it's 12:18 a.m. and I'm sitting on my couch watching NHL live, trying to figure out what I missed today in the world of Hockey! I should be in bed, but...... ah! Sleep is overrated!

This week I've been helping West Elementary do their production of Fiddler On the Roof. Those of you who've been following my blog for awhile now probably remember me talking last year about their production of Annie. These kids are so talented it's stupid! No kidding. They are great. I've grown to love them as if they were my own.

West Elementary is where the Journey has been meeting for the last three years. It's been a cool place to be. They let us permanently install all of our lights and sound, so even though we have been a quote unquote "set up/tear down" church, there have been a lot of perks for us. I'm kind of sad to say that this week has been our final "hoorah" there. As most of you know, we are moving into our permanent facility. We will still have another campus, the Providence - Rutland Elementary campus, but our first campus will be moving into what we are going to consider our central hub. This has been a long time in the making for us. We started in a strip center on the corner of highway 109 and highway 70. We had about 50 people and a lot of dreams. Fast forward to today, we have a bunch of people... two campuses... and still a lot of dreams!

We have been sooooooo blessed. I'm excited to see what God is going to do with our church over the next couple years. Something that has happened recently is, we're finding out that if you want to experience the growth that you ask God for, you must be willing to expand your circle. This transcends into everyday life, I think. If you own a business and want to grow, you can't just expect the same 9 or 10 people who started it to continue to manage it. Eventually, you're going to have to bring other people into your leadership folds. You are going to have more things that need to be done. You're going to have to delegate tasks more effectively. And you're going to have to have the mentality of.... do only that which you can do. What that means is, if there is something that you don't have to do, and someone else can, and you're not allowing them to, cause you're afraid they're going to take your job, or get credit for something that you could have taken credit for, then you must be willing to let it go and let them do it. If you don't, then you're being selfish and stifling the growth of the organization. What that all boils down to is this:

Are you a selfish person, full of pride? Or are you the person who is more concerned about satisfying your own wants and desires? Here's the interesting thing about those questions. It may take you awhile to learn this, but it is a fact. And you can count on experiencing it. If you are that person, eventually, your growth will stop, you will become irrelevant, and the very thing you tried to protect will either leave you behind and you'll be forgotten, or it will just wither away and not matter anyway.

This principle holds true in everyday life also, not just in business. Ask yourself how many times you kept things for yourself at the cost of a relationship, or seeing the joy and happiness on someone's face because you made them feel needed, or gave them the opportunity to experience something that potentially could change their lives forever.

I'm happy to say that at the Journey, we are constantly looking out for whoever God brings us, in the way of a leader. We understand that if we are going to be the church that we beg God to be, every day, we can't do it with just the people who are there right now. And God is bringing cool people within our midst. I'm excited to see how they will be raised up and take charge of whatever piece of the mission that God has gifted them for.

Bottom line...... Pride and selfishness will destroy your life. No, that's not cliché. It's fact. No matter how good you think you have it. It will destroy you. You will wake up one day, head in hands, feeling like there's no way out, or no solution. You will wonder if your life really matters, and why did it have to happen to you. Remember this.... two things, and then I'm done. First of all, it had to happen to you, because you caused it with your choices and your own selfish desire. Number two and most importantly... There is a God out there who has been pursuing you since the day you were born into a broken and hurting world. He is a God of Grace and Mercy. And He wants you to know that He loves you, and though you think you're at the end of your rope and have nowhere to go... He's right beside you, hurting with you, crying because you, His child, are hurting. All you have to do is ask Him to make it right. And He will.

If you're reading this and this is you, and you have questions. Please comment or email me. You can reach me by just clicking here --> The Journey. Just go to the page about who we are and click on my email. I would love to talk to you about this. If you think there's no way this can be you, cause you're not some poor pathetic schmuck! And you have your act together and you don't need the peace and understanding of a Saviour, I guess I'll just be talking to you later, rather than sooner! I don't mean that to sound like a smart aleck, but let's just say.... I warned you.

Make sure you check out Erik's blog. You can join in on the discussion that we are having this month. It's a conversation going on around 1 and 2 Samuel. Good stuff and a lot of people are weighing in.

Talk to you soon. Love you all

Robbie

Monday, Monday

2009-04-19T21:16:00.002-05:00

Ok, vacation is over, it's raining out and I'm back at work. It's definitely MONDAY!!!! YUCK!

Anyway, today is my wife's and my anniversary. 13 Years! And contrary to the foreseeable joke... it hasn't felt like 30 years! It has gone by quickly and I have enjoyed every year. I love you, Tiffany!

So yesterday was a great day at the Journey. We had a lot of the people who came for Easter, come back this week. I'm very excited to see people coming back. I know that God has some cool plans for them and can't wait to see how that pans out. I'm gonna try to take it easy today and not do a whole lot, but I do have some stuff to catch up on from being on vacation. And we're trying to get into the new building asap, so I've got some stuff to do for that as well. I hope you all will come visit us once we get into the new building. I'll keep you posted on how that's going... but hopefully, it's only going to be another 3-4 weeks. Yippeee!!!!

So, I've got a few scriptures that I've been really delving into these past weeks. A couple of them are really intriguing. I'll share some thoughts on them throughout the week. I'm also gonna give you guys a peek at some of the songs that we are going to be teaching over the next couple weeks and why we are going to teach them. So, I'll talk to y'all soon. Have a good Monday. I'm gonna try!

Love you all,

robbie

Here are the songs from the catalyst service yesterday:

Chains (Molly MacNeil, this is an original. Hopefully we'll get it on the CD when we record it!), Everybody Praise The Lord (Lincoln Brewster), Oh, Praise Him (David Crowder Band), Indescribable (Chris Tomlin), Kindness (Christ Tomlin), You, You Are God (Lincoln Brewster).

All Good things Must Come To An....

2009-04-16T12:22:00.002-05:00

Well, I would say end, but that would go against everything I believe in. Usually, I get depressed and think about the long drive back from the beach. (Which is where we are now) But today, I'm looking at things differently. I have a lot of stuff to do back home, and while I don't necessarily look forward to doing a bunch of tasks all the time, this is going to be good stuff. The Journey is in a season of big-time change right now. Our church body, our locations, our attendees' location (with us moving back into Lebanon, many people are going to change locations of which service they attend too) and even our leadership. This past week, Shawn, one of my best friends and the campus pastor of Providence, decided he didn't need to be a cop any more. God wanted him to be a full-time pastor. So... like any of us would do, he quit his job and totally went into full-time ministry blindly! Awesome, huh? I mean.... that's what I did. No biggie right? LOL. You gotta be kidding me! Of course it's biggie. I mean, yes, I did do that too, but my situation was a little bit different from Shawn's. I won't go into all of the details, but suffice it to say, he and Miranda are taking a big leap of faith. I'm very proud of them for hearing God's call in their lives and answering. I'd love to tell you all that I came running the first time I heard God call me into ministry, but I'd be a big fat LIAR!!!! I acted like I didn't hear it for almost 5 years. But eventually, I came around to seeing things His way!

- Just a side note here: that is always gonna happen, just to let you know. No matter who you are, where you're at, or what you do, God will get to you and make you see things His way, by one of three ways: 1, through His word... the Bible, the Gospel. Hopefully, you'll hear the truth and allow Him to convict you through the Holy Spirit and become His follower. 2, Through relationship. This is also not bad. Kind of confusing some times, but still very fun and interesting. What happens is, someone you know allows God to affect their life and then they start changing. You don't know what's going on... and it usually freaks you out to the point that you have all these questions (starting with... why can't I be happy like that?) And then it happens. Through the work being done in someone else's life, you see what having a relationship with God means and it intrigues you! Then you start going to church, and bible study (which leads to even more questions.... we'll talk about that later, but still all good stuff!) and then it happens. You have an encounter with God, where you hear His voice and He tells you to come to Him. And you will..... or you won't. Sometimes we choose not to. But be careful! Do that enough times and He'll stop asking you to come. Then you're in big trouble! (we'll get into that later, too!) Finally number 3. This one isn't fun, usually. It hurts a lot, and usually comes when your life is completely wrecked and you have nowhere to go. This one is called circumstance. Sometimes God will allow you to experience life in its absolute worst form, in order to make you see that there has always been a better way, but you just kept ignoring it. This one is one that I wish on no one. Unfortunately, it's usually the one that's most effective, and the most widely experienced. (we'll talk more about that later)

---I feel like that has become my new saying..... "We'll talk more about that later". Dude, if we actually did talk about everything that I say we'll talk about later, we'd be here for days on end! So.... we'll talk about all of that stuff later too!

So, here's my question. Why do we continuously turn away from God. We acknowledge that He's there, that He created us, that He's obviously smarter and more powerful than we are (I mean... c'mon! He created the universe!) But we won't trust Him that the life He wants us to live, is the best one we could ever experience. Why do we do that?

It would be like a heart surgeon telling you, "you are going to die unless you let me put this brand new heart, never before used, and uniquely created for your body, into your heart cavity." And then you saying, "well.... I know this one is broken and it causes me a lot of problems, and no matter how hard I try I can't control what it does, but I really like this one. I think I'll pass. I'm gonna keep this one."

Are we really that stupid and selfish? The answer, unfortunately.... is yes.

Love you all

Robbie.

is anybody there?

2009-04-13T22:50:00.003-05:00

Ok. I'm doing a survey. Does anybody read blogs?

This is kind of a throw away blog. I'm really in search of info here. If you are someone who reads blogs regularly, this one anyway..., please comment. I'd like to know who is reading these.

I'm in Destin Fl. with my lovely wife this week. The beach is beautiful, peaceful and quiet. That's something that I haven't experienced in awhile...... quiet! It's awesome! Cason is at the Grandparents and she and I are just relaxing. I love it here. Here's what I've observed.....

God is an artist. The scene here is something that, not matter how hard anyone tries, they cannot replicate the beauty that is at the beach.

You realize how much you love your kids when they aren't around.

No matter how many shrimp you eat.... there are always a million more out there!

And just when you thought the world is chaos... you go to the beach and God shows you how peaceful the world can be.

I've been soooo stressed out and in need of a vacation. For me, the beach is where it's at. Find some time to go where you can recharge your batteries. If you don't, you can burn out. And the ones you love will suffer for it. Tiffany and I have needed to get away for some time now. And as much as I love my son, Cason, she and I have needed to get away to re-connect.

Make sure you make time to get away with your wife or husband and re-kindle that romance. If you don't... you're just spinning your wheels.

I'll talk to y'all next week. The crashing waves and beautiful scenery are calling. I'm gonna go take it all in.

Love y'all,

Robbie

Bad blogger... Good Dad?

2009-04-03T20:37:00.003-05:00

Well.... I have no excuse! I'll just go ahead and admit that I suck as a regular blogger. I mean, who am I trying to kid? I haven't posted in two weeks, the last time I posted it was after about a week and a half of not posting, and I'll probably not post again for another week! So what's the deal?

Well, many of you may see this as an excuse, but nonetheless, it's my reason. I've really been trying to prioritize my time. The other day Cason was playing on his toy computer. It does some little games and allows him to feel like he's a big deal! In the middle of it, he decided he wanted to play like he was the dad. He said, "Hey daddy, I'll be the daddy. You be the little boy. Now say, 'Hey daddy'." I smiled and said, "Ok. Hey daddy." Without missing a beat, he said, "What! Baby, I'm trying to work. Hang on for a second!"

Well, right there I felt the proverbial dagger go straight through my gut. Now, he laughed and thought it was funny, but I definitely didn't. I realized that I do this. (obviously!) And I know that we often have to work and can't just drop everything. But we can make better use of our time. I haven't blogged in awhile because, I usually try to blog when I'm watching TV, kind of like I'm doing right now. (But Cason is up stairs playing his drums, so it's ok) But usually, he's right here, sitting beside me and wanting my attention. I've realized that he isn't going to be this little and want my attention forever, and I need to take advantage of it while I can. So, I'm going to try to blog more regularly, but I'm not going to do it, unless I can fit it into my daily schedule and not during my time with him and Tiffany.

This past week, I feel like God has really been speaking to me. I'm really excited about this cause I feel like it's been awhile since I've been still enough to hear Him. As usual, He found a way to get to me through a song. Hillsong's "With Everything". If you haven't heard this song, go to Itunes and download it right now! It may be the best song I've heard in a year. Thanks Jeff Bode for turning me on to it.

At the end of the song, it builds into this massive crescendo and then lets loose, full force. The first time I heard it, I got this lump in my throat and almost welled up with tears. I couldn't figure out why. Everyone knows that music can be extremely emotional. But a lot of times, we can't define why it gets to us like that. So I spent some time, looking through scriptures and analyzing the song, and praying about it. This is what I think I've found out.

In the song, the place that gets me, is when the entire group of singers stop singing words and just cry out with a melody singing, "OH.... OH, OH" (kind of hard to explain, unless you've listened to the song.... so do that!) Anyway, what I've come to realize is, sometimes when we sing, we have unbelievable words that express everything we're feeling at that time. But sometimes, there are no words. And all we have is the ability to cry out. It's at this time that I think, perhaps, we connect with God at the deepest levels. See, we may not have the words, but the Holy Spirit, living within us, has the ability to cry out to God, using our voice, what we cannot say. And when we just let go and sing the melody with an "OH....OH, OH", our hearts sing the unspoken words that the Holy Spirit then carries to our Father. In that moment, if we are focused on Him, it can be one of the most powerful experiences we can have. I truly believe this and plan on explaining this a little bit further when we teach the song at The Journey in the near future. Cause..... we are definitely doing this song! And soon.

I know that what I've just talked about may be kind of hard to grasp, but I promise you, if you pray about it and think about it, you're gonna come to the same conclusion.

Well, Cason is back from the world of pretending to be Manú Caché. (For those of you who are saying, 'Who??????', he's one of the baddest drummers God ever struck breath into! So, I'm going to go for now. I'll hopefully talk to y'all soon. Maybe we can get a little more into what I was talking about. I would really like your input. If you're reading this, please leave a comment or just tell me your thoughts.

Love you all,

Robbie

catching up

2009-03-09T10:41:00.002-05:00

Hey everyone! Happy monday.

Hope everyone is well. I woke up this morning and checked the weather and... can you believe it? We are actually going to have two weeks in a row of nice weather! Unbelievable!

This is both good and bad. Cause I have about three days worth of video editing to catch up on. So, while the weather outside is great, and I would love to be out playing golf... I'm going to be enjoying the nice day by looking outside my window!

So yesterday, we had a great day at the Journey. Erik continued with his "Savage Generation" series. Hopefully, by this afternoon, you can go on the website and watch both week one and two. (The video editing that I was talking about). Our Providence/Rutland campus is in full swing. Each week we are seeing more people show up! We are sooooo excited about being there. Thank you, God, for giving us the opportunity.

I don't have any thing profound to talk to you all about this week, but I do have a question. Something that I heard from Erik this past week. Do we exist for God, or does God exist for us? Ok, I guess that's a little deep. I'll let you guys think about it. I have some thoughts on it (imagine that!) but I'll save them for later. Have a great week everyone.

Oh, yeah.... I almost forgot! Tiffany and I found out that we are going to have another kiddo running around soon!!!!! I'm going to be a daddy again!

Here's the song list from yesterday's Catalyst Service:

"Salvation Is Here", "Let Me Sing", "Healer", "Savior King". We kind of had a Hillsong fest yesterday!!! What can I say? Those guys are on point!

Monday, Monday

2009-03-02T09:00:00.002-06:00

Hello, everyone!

Yesterday was a great day at the Journey. We officially launched our new campus at Rutland, in the Providence community. We had a great time, and a great turnout. It was the first time that Erik started his new series "The Savage Generation". It was really good. I hope to have the video up on the website by Wednesday evening so y'all can watch. I promise, you won't regret it!

So, this past week, I spent a few days in Washington DC. DUDE! It's freezing up there!!!! I took some pics of the monuments, walked all around the city, visited the Capitol and the Supreme Court, and had an impromptu meeting with the Worship Pastor of National Community Church, Steph Modder. For those of you who don't know a lot about NCC, they are a multi-site church like the Journey, only they've been doing it for about ten years! They meet in theaters all over the DC area. Pastor Mark Batterson is their Lead Pastor, and his podcast and videocast from each week reaches over 80 countries. They're kind of a big deal!!!

They own a coffee shop there called Ebenezers. It sits over on Capitol Hill, next to Union Station. They've been voted DC's best coffee for a couple of years now. I have to tell you, though I'm not much of a coffee drinker... it is better than Starbucks! I know a lot of you coffee snobs out there are saying, "NO WAY!", but it's true! I had some, and it is.

Anyway, I just wanted to give a shout out to my new friend Steph, and thank her for taking the time to sit down and talk to me. She's been doing this for a lot longer than I have and has a wealth of information that I plan on gathering and using. She also told me that she's getting ready to release an album in the near future, so y'all be watching for that.

Here's my question for you all to ponder. Why do we think that our churches are in competition with each other? Are we not serving the same Jesus? Why do we have to try and be better than the church down the street, instead of praying that God would blow the doors off their building and bring multitudes of people into their folds? We know that everyone has different likes and dislikes when it comes to houses of worship. If we know that the style of the Journey may not be for you, but Sacred Heart Catholic church is where you hear God speak to you, then why do we put down other churches and talk bad about them? I don't remember reading anywhere in the Bible that, "For God so loved the Southern Baptist Church, He sent His one and only Son, so that if you go to a Southern Baptist Church, you can be saved". Never read that anywhere! Have you...? Didn't think so. (sidenote- the Journey is SBC affiliated, so I'm not just randomly picking out Southern Baptists!)

Here's the deal people. The church has got to put aside it's worldly, petty differences. Do you know that Christianity is flourishing everywhere outside the United States? We have become a post-Christian nation. The reason is because the church is too busy trying to tell everyone what we're against, rather than what we're for. And just in case you forgot what that is... it's love, compassion, truth, and bringing the only message of Hope that can truly change this hurting and broken world. You know, often times we read the book of Revelation and dream up these grand ideas of what we think the end times is gonna look like. And that's fine. It's a cool-weird book! I love to read it too. But just like in most things, we tend to skip over the mundane boring stuff that actually has implications to our life hear and now. The first few chapters of that book talk about Christ judging the Church! He talks about the churches that He finds favor with, and those that He chastises for their neglect of their mission. I fear that a lot of us are going to be on that second side. It's not enough to say you believe that He is the Son of God and that He died for our sins. We have to start bearing His image, here and now. Instead of tearing down other churches, why don't we start looking at our own and ask if we're doing what He would be doing if He were here.

Ok, I'm off my soapbox! Hope you all have a great week. I'll talk to you all later.

Love y'all,

Robbie

Here's the song list from the last two week's catalyst services (since I was outta town and din't post last weeks!)

Feb. 22:

All Because of Jesus (Fee), Glorious One (Fee), Lift High (Eddie Kirkland), Amazing Grace/My Chains Are Gone (Chris Tomlin)

March 1:

Doxology/Oh Praise Him (David Crowder Band), Sing To The King (Cindy Foote), Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin), Oh, How He Loves Us (Eddie Kirkland), Thank You, Jesus (Robbie Cheuvront... that's me! Still working on getting this stuff recorded. Hopefully soon)

Here we go... conclusion

2009-02-10T09:40:00.004-06:00

Well, it's Tuesday, I'm fighting off a sinus infection, my wife is outta town, my son has more energy than ten of those little bunnies running around banging on that stupid drum promoting batteries, and though I'd like to stay in bed today and do nothing but watch The Price Is Right and the Travel Channel (i love that channel!), I must get back to the grind.

Two days ago (Sunday) we, The Journey, launched our second campus. We are now officially a multi-site church. If I were to go into the details of everything, we'd be here for three days... literally. Suffice it to say... it went splendidly. We had over 100 adults and I'm not sure how many kids... but there were a bunch! We had no technical difficulties, thanks to my awesome tech team that I mentioned in my last post, and as my Grandpa says, "No one passed out or threw up!", so it was a great day! I hope that if you live in the Nashville area, and you don't have a home church, you would come and check us out. You can visit us at the website to see what we're about, just click the link above. It really is a cool place. You'll see everything from people wearing shirts and ties to shorts and flip-flops. No kidding. It's very laid back and non-threatening. But know this... you may hear a message that will challenge you to think about your life, and music that will move you out of your seat and unabashedly praise the God of the universe!!

Anyway, finishing up. Who-or what- do you worship? That was the question that I asked in my last post. I hope you've had some time to think about that. And more importantly, I hope you've found an answer. Look guys, and gals... this isn't rocket science. God has specifically said that He is looking for those who will worship Him in truth and in spirit. In a nutshell, I believe that means this: we worship Him by living out the truth... that Jesus is the Son of God, that no one comes to the Father, but through Him. That means, that you live your life knowing, believing, and acting as if it were the truth. It means that you make every decision based on the fact that you've prayed about it, that you have a relationship with Him, that your life is recognizable that you don't live for yourself and you put others first. That you hold to the teachings of Jesus and love people unconditionally, that you love the Father with all your heart, soul and mind. That you expect people to hold you accountable to the things you say you stand for. That you don't walk away from conflict, but you deal with it in a loving, humble way. And finally, God's spirit, the Holy spirit, lives within you, bringing out all of the above listed traits. That when you gather with your brothers and sisters in a worship experience (i.e. church), nothing comes between you and God the Father. You don't worry about what John or Mary sitting beside you is thinking because you raised your hands during a song, or if people are noticing that you're singing off key. Those kinds of things are pride driven. And the greatest story of pride and it's results, is also the most famous one... the fall of Satan. For those of you who don't really know what that story is, here's the cliff's notes: Satan was the most beautiful, spectacular angel that God ever created. It is told that He was the angel of worship, that his entire body was one giant musical instrument. He was revered in heaven and complimented on his beauty so much that he became prideful. And then he started believing all the things he was hearing, to the point that he saw himself as equal to the Father, or perhaps even better. You've heard the saying, Pride comes before the fall.... well, guess where that comes from. Satan's pride caused him to turn from God and God allowed him to fall from grace, literally.

So you see, pride can be the destruction of your life. I've personally witnessed it in my own life, and in others. I've watched entire families torn apart because of pride. I've watched as people have chosen enormous amounts of physical pain because of pride. And probably the saddest of all, I've watched people turn away from God because of pride.

Now you know why that scripture bothered me the way it did, that day I read it. Because, like a light going on in my head, I got it. I'm not saying I mastered it. I'm saying I understood it, for the first time in my life. And it bothered me. Cause I was in no way worshiping God in truth and in spirit. I was worshiping Him on a superficial level. And I read it right there...."The Father is looking for those who will worship Him that way". To me, that meant that He isn't looking for those who go through the motions, who superficially go to church on sundays and then live as though He doesn't exist the rest of the week. I don't know about you, but I want God to look for me, and see me worshiping Him, knowing that deep inside my heart, I love Him more than anything else in my life, and He is who I live for, and without Him I am an empty creation that has no purpose. But with Him, I am the only thing that, in the beginning when He created, He said was VERY good. Not just good, but VERY good.

In the immortal words of Forest Gump.... That's all I got to say about that.

Love you all,

Robbie

Here's the song list from this past Sunday:

"How Great Is Our God" (Chris Tomlin), "Happy Day" (Tim Hughes), "Glory To God" (Fee), and "I Surrender" ( Lincoln Brewster ).

Here we go...cont.

2009-01-26T10:07:00.001-06:00

Hello, everyone. Hope you're having a good day!

Yesterday was a great day at the Journey. We spent the week prior getting a lot of tech stuff fixed and changed out. We kicked off our catalyst service, holding our breath, and praying like crazy that it all wouldn't go kaputz! But, as always, God is good! And everything went off without a hitch... well, I hit a few clams on the guitar, and forgot a couple words... but outside of that, it was awesome!!! My tech team is phenomenal!!! These guys don't get the recognition that they deserve, most times. So, I want to take a minute and just let them know how unbelievably awesome they are. John Ayers, Jessie Dillard, Jason Harding, Kim Raffield, Kevin Burton, Austin Burton, and Billy Reed... you guys (and girl!) are the best. You always give above and beyond what anyone asks of you, and you do it selflessly and with determination. You guys literally make what we do on Sundays possible. Without y'all, we'd be standing in a room with an acoustic guitar and a megaphone. I love you and thank you from the bottom of my heart.

So, when I finished last time, I think I was telling y'all about how we were created to worship. If you're saying, "What is he talking about?" right now, you need to go back and read the original post, "Here we go".

So I have a question for you. Ready? What do you worship? Ahhhhh... don't answer so quickly. This is not something that you can just blurt out! You need to think about it. This is something that I had to think about for a long time.... months. Because it's not just the idea of "worship", as we think about it. See, when we think about worship, we think, "what do I give my faith to?", meaning, am I a Christian, a Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim...etc. But here's what the last year has taught me. Every act that we do; everything that comes out of our mouths; every conversation that we have, is an act of worship. We may not look at it as such, but ultimately, it is. If we were created for worship, then it stands to reason that everything we do is a contributing factor to it. Man, this can get complicated! Not really. Here's the simple explanation for it:

IF... and that's such a big word for so few letters... if you do anything....anything!.... without God in the center of your life, then you are worshiping something other than Him. So what does that mean? Do you have to become a reclusive monk, doing nothing but reading your Bible and praying all day? YES!!!! No, I'm just kidding! But that's what people think it means. It just means that God has to be infused into the center of your life, in every aspect of it. If the most important relationship that you have in your life is not with Him, then you're worshiping something else. Not to regurgitate every sermon that Pastor Erik Reed has given, but this is good stuff... "Why would you trust the most important thing in your life, your salvation, to a God that you won't trust for your every day life?" That's a big question. I hope it disturbs you for awhile!!!! Don't dismiss it lightly. Think about it. Ask, "what does that mean to me?", and then ask yourself again, "What do I worship?"

That's some pretty heavy stuff, so I'll leave you with that. We'll continue later. Have a blessed week, everyone. May the love of God and his Son surround you and bring peace to your life. And if you don't know what that is or what that's about, may They disturb you in every aspect of your life, until you're forced to confront it, and deal with it!

Here's the songs from our catalyst service yesterday:

"Let God Arise" (Chris Tomlin), "Beautiful Jesus" (Kristian Stanfill), "Healer" (Hillsong), "How He Loves Us" (Eddie Kirkland), "Indescribable" (Christ Tomlin)

hope and change

2009-01-20T22:58:00.003-06:00

Well, today was the day. Our first African-American President was sworn into office. Man... what an amazing thing to witness. Some day... I'll be able to tell my great grandchildren that I was there and watched it all. (well, not THERE, but here, watching it on TV)

I have to tell you, my political views are conservative. But nonetheless, Mr. Obama is now my president and I will be an advocate for him. Not because I just want to jump on the bandwagon, but because he is our leader. He will be faced with decisions that you and I cannot imagine. Please, Please, pray for him. He needs it. No matter what your political views are. Pray for him. Cause here's the thing. It's not his job (according to our constitution) to do all of the things that he says he would like to do. If he can do it... more power to him. I wish him well. But it's not his job. It's his job to protect and defend this country. All that other stuff... feed the poor, care for the needy, bring compassion, hope and change... That's the church's job. (according to Jesus, anyway!) Again, you don't believe me... read the book. It's all in there.

The point is this. The church is asleep. It's time we WAKE UP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I would love to get into this in depth, but I promised y'all that I was going to rant about worshiping in truth and spirit. So, tonight, I'll say farewell. I'll talk to you all soon.

Pray for our new President. And may God bless him and keep him well for the next four years. May He grant him the wisdom to do the things he needs to do, and the courage to do them.

Blessings

-robbie

Here we go

2009-01-19T15:18:00.003-06:00

Tonight is the community meeting for the new campus that The Journey is launching at Providence, in Mt. Juliet. I'm excited! We are finally moving forward with this thing. I can't wait to see who God brings into our folds, and how they are going to be helping to shape who we are!

Please be praying for us tonight, and over the next couple weeks, as we move into this time.

So, a couple weeks ago, I taught a new song at our Catalyst service. It's called "Lift High". You can get it on itunes. The version that I have is by Eddie Kirkland, who wrote the song with Steve Fee. Both are Worship leaders at North Point (an absolutely incredible church in Atlanta). I love this song!!!!!

All throughout scripture, particularly in Psalms, we're told to exalt the Lord, to lift our voices to Him, to sing our praises. This song epitomizes all of that. If you are a worship leader, or just someone who really studies worship, this song should be in your top five in your ipod. The lyrics are simple, yet profound. I think I told you all about how my life was changed last year, when I happened upon a verse that I'd read a thousand times, but for some reason, that particular time, God made me stop and read it again, and again, and again. What ended up happening is, I spent the better part of a year living with that verse and trying to dissect it, and praying about it, and asking God to reveal to me what it truly means. The verse is John 4:19-26. It is also the verse at the top of this page! In it, Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman when they get into a discussion of worship. He tells her (I'm paraphrasing) that God is not concerned with people who aren't willing to worship Him in truth and in spirit.

So, I spent the next several months praying and searching and asking God, what does that mean? To worship in truth and in spirit? I can tell you, the more people you ask, the more answers you get! But after a year of searching, this is what I feel like God is saying. Take it or leave it, but if you're going to leave it... then be responsible and pray about it until God gives you your own answer. Don't just leave it. You may have to give an account for that someday :) !

Anyway, this is what I came up with. We were created in His image. We were created for His purposes. That purpose is to love. For Him to love us, and us to love Him- completely, wholly, and without restraint, or restrictions. Therefore, we were created to worship. Erik Reed, the lead pastor of the Journey put it this way. He said, "We are created to worship. It's part of our genetic makeup. And we WILL worship something, whether it's money, sex, our job, or any number of a million other things. We WILL worship something. You just have to decide who, or what, it is that you will worship."

Often times in church we ask people to raise their hands or to sing out loud with us or to clap their hands. And the funniest thing happens. Many people get this horror-stricken look on their face, as if they are being asked to rob a bank or slap a complete stranger in the face for no good reason. Now, I'm not chastising anyone. I know that people have different personalities and some are introverts, some are extroverts. But that doesn't matter. I would suggest that if you are holding back, and God is prompting you to raise your hands, or fall to your knees, or to lift your head to look to the heavens, it is because of pride. Bottom line... you're afraid of what other people will think of you. When you let all of that go, and respond to the Living God, and allow yourself to worship Him, with no obstacles in your path, then, and only then, will you worship Him in truth and in spirit. Now, there's a whole lot more to it, but it's gonna take awhile to get through all of it. So, I'll leave you with that for now. We'll get into the rest later.

Know this though, I'm not saying that in order to worship God you have to lift your hands during praise and worship at church. DID YOU HEAR ME?????? :) That is only one component of the whole picture. That component is being obedient to God's voice. That doesn't mean that God is calling you to raise your hands or shout out loud or whatever! It just means that if you sit there, and you desperately want to do those things, because you know that, that is the outward expression that you feel like you want to show God, but you're afraid to because of what someone might think or say about you.... then YEAH! You're being prideful and it's keeping you from worshiping Him in truth and in spirit. And that means you're going through the motions and He isn't even going to acknowledge your efforts. (That's not me talking... it's Him. Says so in the book! Look it up!)

Over the next few posts, I'll continue to get into this a little bit more. I hope you find this interesting, and I hope you'll stay with me to hear about it. But more than that... I hope it disturbs you in a way that will cause you to ask, "what does it mean to worship in truth and in spirit?" And more importantly, "Do I worship Him that way? Or do I worship something else completely?"

Love Y'all,

-robbie

Here's yesterday's songs from our Catalyst service:

"Salvation Is Here" (Hillsong), "You, You Are God" (Jeff Dio), "Lift High" (Eddie Kirkland), "Lead Me To The Cross" (Hillsong)

bad blogger

2009-01-17T10:15:00.002-06:00

I know! I know! I know!

I'm a bad blogger! :( Sorry! I know that I haven't posted in like a month. I'd like to use the excuse that I've been too busy... but I think we all are busy and I've just not been disciplined. I'm going to try and right that!

I have been busy though! And it's an exciting kind of busy! In less than four weeks, The Journey is launching its second campus. This is something that we've been working on for over a year now. And now that we are about to launch, it's amazing to watch all the pieces fall into place. We are going to have our community meeting, Monday, at Rutland Elementary. This is where the new campus is going to meet. John Griffin and I have been to more music stores and supply stores in the last two weeks, than I've ever been in my life. LOTS of stuff to get, in order to make this thing happen.

The Journey has always been a church that has wanted to plant churches and start new campuses. We feel that it is important to NOT spend millions of dollars on buildings and expect people to come to us. We've always taken the command by Jesus, to go into all the world, literally. So, our philosophy is to start new campuses in locations where people are, to go to them, not ask them to come to us. And now, after having helped to plant a church, The Summit Church, in Seymour Tn., we are about to embark on the second aspect of our vision. The Journey will open its doors in the Providence Community, in Mt. Juliet Tn., on February 8th. We are excited to see what God is going to do in that area. I'm looking forward to working with Shawn Allen, the campus pastor there. Along with Erik and myself and the rest of the Leadership team, he will head up all of the operations and everyday workings of that campus. We're excited to see Shawn get to do what God has called him to do, be a pastor. Please be praying for him and everyone who will come through those doors.

The next few weeks are going to be fun and hectic! As always, I hope that you all are doing well. I'll talk to you all later.

Blessings,

robbie

Back Among The Living

2008-12-16T13:59:00.003-06:00

Hey Everyone!

Wow, it feels like it's been three weeks since I posted last! Just kidding! I know it's been at least that. Sorry. I've been trying to finish up this semester of school and juggle family and work along with it. I just haven't had the time to post.

Anyway, just wanted to keep this short and let everyone know that I'm back and hope to be posting more regularly. I know I've missed getting you guys the songs that we've been doing over the past couple sundays, so I'm gonna list them all here together. I'm not going to differentiate between weeks, I'm just gonna list them.

I'm excited about Christmas this year (well, I'm excited every year, but this one in particular. My son is almost three years old and he's all about Santa and celebrating Jesus' birthday!) Erik has started a new series called "Operation World Rescue". It is the Christmas series for the Journey. Please, if you don't have a church home, come visit us. Check out the link to see where we are and when we meet. Also, don't forget, you can watch all of Erik's talks online at the website too. I try to get them posted by Wednesday of the next week. SO, MERRY CHRISTMAS to all! Here's the song lists.

"Lead Me To The Cross" (Hillsong), "You Are Our God" (Me, Robbie Cheuvront), "Glory To God" (Fee), "From The Inside Out" (Kristian Stanfill), "Behold" (Me again! I really am trying to get a CD together for you all. I know you keep asking me!) "Jesus Paid It All" (Kristian Stanfill), "Jesus Is Alive" (Fee), "My Savior My God" (Aaron Shust), "Healer" (Hillsong), "Let Me Sing" (Todd Fields), "Let The Praises Ring" (Lincoln Brewster).

monday morning

2008-11-17T09:11:00.008-06:00

Hey everyone.

Yesterday finished up a long weekend. We had an incredible day at the Journey. Erik Started his new teaching series, "Love Sick". It was really good. I hope to have the video posted to the website by Wednesday. Jeff Bode and Alex Perry were hilarious! If you don't know what I'm talking about, you're gonna have to watch the video.

That brings me to my next subject. Our celebration service last night. Jeff and Alex both have been serving at the Journey, relentlessly, for over a year now. They are two, high-capacity, highly motivated guys that I'm blessed to be friends with. These guys will do anything at a moment's notice if it means helping someone out or just making sure the job gets done. I give you both props! Last night was a celebration of all our volunteer staff. We had a big chili cookoff and then gave out some pretty cool door prizes. I think there was an ipod, a digital camera, and a few gift certificates to places like Mojave Rock (day spa). After that, we gave out our Journey Awards. These are special recognitions to certain individuals that have made a HUGE difference in the way the Journey has moved in the past year. I want to congratulate all the recipients, but also say that everyone, who has served, is more than appreciated. I was privileged to be in the room when deciding on who was going to be the actual recipients. I can promise you... it was VERY hard to decide. So many people have been instrumental in what we do.

After the awards, we ended the night with a bunch of music. Man, I love my praise team. They are some of the most talented, God seeking people I've ever been around. You guys make my job easy! I love you all and am so blessed to serve with you. That goes for my tech team too. Last night Jon Ayers pulled me aside and told me that what he had the chance to see that evening had stirred something in him even more than there was already. Jon is my tech team leader and is an awesome guy. He told me he wants more! He wants to learn as much as he can about video editing, filming, mixing (video and audio), and computer softwares. He is majorly on fire for what's going on in that place. It just goes to show that when you put God at the center of your life, you never know what He's gonna do with it. Jon is a guy who, up until this past year, was just someone who came to church, liked what was there, but didn't know where his place to serve was. He got introduced to the tech team, and what do you know? He found out that he had, not only a talent for that stuff, but a calling on his heart to really KNOW it. And now, he's the leader in that area. (which, by the way, for those of you who don't necessarily know what a tech team does, everything you see or hear on a sunday morning, they're responsible for! Without them, we'd be standing in the middle of the room with an acoustic guitar and a megaphone!) I'm excited about where Jon is going and can't wait to see him rise up in his leadership and bring people like himself into the folds.

We finished the night with an awesome moment! Every week, during praise and worship, we have about six or seven little kids (and I mean little-we're talking 2 to 4 year olds) who sit on the front row and play air guitar, jump around, dance, raise their hands in the air and sing every word, as loud as they can. Every one of them have a little guitar that their parents have bought them. (Guess I'm going to have to start a music school!) The parents tell me that they all sit at home and act like they are leading worship. My son is one of them! We'll be sitting here at the house trying to watch "The Amazing Race" or something, and Cason will get his guitar out, stand in front of the TV and start banging away on it! He'll say, "Alright everybody! Welcome to the Journey, everyone raise your hands! Let's sing, Church!" Tiffany and I spend the next ten minutes doing what he says. (If we don't, we never get back to "The Amazing Race"!) But we also do it cause it's awesome!!!!! It's amazing to see God work in his little life, and we want to encourage that as much as we can.

So, anyway, the kids all have a favorite song. It's called, "Sing Sing Sing". It's by Chris Tomlin. If you've never heard it, get on itunes and download it. It's probably my favorite song too! It's a jammin', rockin', full on slamming praise song. When it was time for the last song, we asked all the kids to come up on stage. (They all had their guitars with them, by the way. They figured that since it wasn't a normal sunday service, they would bring them and jam with us on the front row!) We played "Sing Sing Sing" to close the night out and they all did it with us, on the stage. There were so many cameras going off, I felt like we were being chased by the paparazzi! I'm going to be honest with you, I thought the doors were going to blow off that place! It was BANGIN'! Everyone who was there was singing at the top of their lungs, including the kids. I actually pulled my ear monitors out so I could hear it, full force! It was incredible.

I just want to say to all of the Journey. You guys make what we do, as a pastoral and leadership team, worth every ounce of energy and time we spend. I can't imagine ever doing anything but what I'm doing right now. I thank you for the privilege of serving you, and serving with you. Let's keep praying that God will ignite this Jesus Movement that we've so desperately been praying for! I love you all.

Here are all the songs from yesterday:

Glory To God (Steve Fee), He Reigns (News Boys), Jesus Is Alive (New song by Steve Fee- don't know where you can get it yet, sorry), People Get Ready (Song I heard at an IHOP conference again, don't know where to get it), Everybody Praise the Lord (Lincoln Brewster), Breathe On Me (Todd Fields), Your Love Oh Lord (Third Day), Saviour King (Hillsong), God of This City (Chris Tomlin), Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin).

Catching Up

2008-11-11T15:42:00.002-06:00

Hey all! This week, I've been trying to catch up. The last time we talked, I was about to have a garage sale. Just an update... it went off without a hitch, and we made about three hundred bucks, selling junk! (well, not all junk)

Anyway, Tiff's outta town this week, so it's just me and the little man! I love these times. I know it can be overwhelming to be the only parent in the house, especially when the little one has been sick (Cason has been sick all last week. Thankfully, he's much better this week!) Anyway, I love it when he and I get a chance to just spend time together, by ourselves. He's such a mess! He's always into something. But I love to see his ingenuity. He can look at something and figure out how to get into it, mess it up, or just be creative and play with it for an hour before getting bored! It makes me sad though, to some degree, because I know that one day soon, he won't want to just play with his trains and watch his cartoons. I only hope that I build into him in such a way that he will still want to hang around me!

Well, I don't have that much to say today, so I'll go for now. I'm sorry I didn't get the chance to post about the songs from this and last week, so here they are. I'll talk to y'all soon. Have a blessed Day!

-robbie

Songs: "King Of Heaven" (I have no idea who sings this. Someone gave me the CD with no name of the artist, and I've never heard it anywhere else), "Kindness" and "Sing Sing Sing" (Chris tomlin), "Oh How He Loves Us" (Eddie Kirkland), "Glory To God" (Fee), "Let Me Sing" and "Breathe On Me" (Todd Fields),

garage sale

2008-10-28T19:34:00.002-05:00

Saturday, we are having an end of year garage sale. So, tonight, my wife and I are spending the evening cleaning out our closets, Cason's toys, all the junk piled up on the shelves in the garage, and anything else that's not nailed down! WE HAVE TOO MUCH CRAP!!!!

It's amazing to me how stuff can pile up over the weeks, months, and years. I mean, I'm finding stuff in my closet that I haven't worn in like three years. But every time I think about throwing it out, I think, nah... I really like that shirt, or that pair of jeans. But yet, I still fail to wear them.

Sometimes I think our lives are like that too. We keep junk piled up inside our hearts, habits, anger, sadness, a grudge... etc. You know the kind of stuff I'm talking about. So tonight, I made a decision to clean something else out. Me. I'm going to take an inventory of what's hanging around inside there. I know that I've got stuff that, if someone could just pull it out and put it on display, I would probably be embarrassed or guilty about. As someone who walks with Christ, I know that these are things that I'm not required to carry around. And I know. Sometimes its hard to admit you're holding a grudge, knowing full well that its not the person's fault that your holding this grudge. It's yours. It's pride and selfishness. And I'm not just talking about grudges either. I'm talking about all of it. It all stems from selfishness and pride. All of it. And if you're someone who is, right now, sitting there reading this, getting angry at me for calling you out, then it just proves my point. You are a selfish, prideful person. And you better get it under control or it's going to eat away at you from the inside, until there's nothing left except the shell of the person that you used to be.

I'm not saying these things because I'm better than you. Everything I just said up there, that was for me. I needed to tell myself that so tonight, when I'm spending some quiet time with God, I'll have something to think about when I'm trying to talk myself out of cleaning it out! But if you fall into the same category as me, than take it as I was talking to you too. Cause here's the news flash: We are not, cannot be, and will never be without fault. We will always have things in our hearts and in our lives that we will need to deal with. Want to know why? Cause we're human. And we're weak. But that's Ok. There is a cure!

2 Corinthians 17:9-10 says this,

9 But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

C-ya all. Many blessings! I've got some cleaning to do.

2008-10-27T09:31:00.003-05:00

Yesterday was a great day at the Journey. I'll, hopefully, have Erik's talk up by tonight. If you have never gone to our website and watched any of his talks, you need to watch this one. He asked the tough question of whether or not we are ungrateful. And you may think you know the answer to that, but watch the talk and then see if your answer is still the same. He challenged us, right there in service, to write down some things that we are grateful for. Everyone had a piece of paper and a pen given to them, and he took about five minutes out of his talk time to do this. I, unfortunately, didn't have the opportunity to, since I have to float around between the Tech Booth and the stage. So this morning, I wanted to make my list. This isn't complete, but it's the first twenty. Just as he asked us to do, in his talk, I'm going to be adding to this list regularly. Thanks, Erik, for an eye opening sermon. I love you, man. You always challenge me, and I need that, if I'm going to be someone who makes a difference in this world.

1. I'm grateful for my salvation, that I serve a God who loves me unconditionally. 2. I'm grateful for my family, particularly my wife and son, but my whole family. 3. I'm grateful for my friends and meaningful relationships with people who care about me and my well being. 4. I'm grateful for my country, and the men and women who selflessly defend it and all the freedoms that I enjoy. 5. I'm grateful that I have a nice house to live in. 6. I'm grateful that I've been provided for my whole life, by God and by my family, so that I have never had to go without any necessity. 7. I'm grateful for my education. 8. I'm grateful for having a job that I absolutely love, and desire to pour myself into completely. 9. I'm grateful for my talent and the fact that it has allowed me to support my family. 10. I'm grateful for the prayers that I know people send my way. 11. I'm grateful to live in a place where I'm allowed to pray openly, and people are allowed to pray for me and others openly. 12. I'm grateful for great leadership in my life from those who have mentored me and are still doing so. 13. I'm grateful for my health. 14. I'm grateful that I have all five of my senses, that I can see the beauty, smell the sweet, taste the spicy, hear the music, and touch the soft. 15. I'm grateful for pizza (I know that sounds bunk, but I swear, I'm grateful for it!) 16. I'm grateful for technology, that I can call my wife at anytime, or my mom who lives 500 miles away. Or I can DVR a show that I want to watch for later. Or that I can take pictures of my son as he grows up and be able to look back and see how he grew. 17. I'm grateful for warm weather, especially after five months of cold! 18. I'm grateful that I have clothes to wear and a warm bed to sleep in. 19. I'm grateful people who are dreamers and bring us amazing ideas and inventions. 20. And this one is kind of a joke and is definitely for Shawn... I'm grateful for great hair! :)

Make a list guys. Add to it. Just like Erik said, it will change your outlook on life. I'm going to, because I have way too much to be grateful for, and I don't deserve most of it.

Here's the songs from Yesterday: How He Loves Us (Eddie Kirkland), Breathe On Me (Todd Fields), Enough (Chris Tomlin), I Stand Amazed (this is an old hymn, but our version is like Kristian Stanfill's), How Great Is Our God (Chris Tomlin), Thank You Jesus (me, Robbie Cheuvront).

Hanging with the little man

2008-10-25T11:50:00.003-05:00

So, yesterday, Cason stayed home from his preschool and we hung out all day. It was awesome. I'm trying to do this more often, when I have the opportunity.

Right now, he's at such an impressionable age. It's so cool just to have conversations with him. His little brain is so active right now. He's like a sponge! I can tell him something, and he will not forget it. It's kind of annoying, actually! LOL. Like for instance, when we got up yesterday. We just hung out in bed watching Mickey Mouse and Handy Manny. He leans over and puts his head on my shoulder and says, Dad I love you. I say, I love you too buddy. He says, so.... when are we going to go golf putt! (That's what he calls putt putt golf. I told him on Wednesday, that on Friday, he and I were going to spend the day together, just hanging out, and we could go "golf putt".) It was pouring down rain, as anyone who lives here knows. I told him that it was raining and we'd have to wait. But earlier that morning, when Tiffany and I were talking, before she went to work, we were talking about the weather. He heard us talking about how the rain was supposed to let up by the afternoon.

So, he says, yeah but the rain is supposed to stop when I get up from my nap! Now, how can you argue with that!

The point is this. I'm so blessed to be able to spend time with my son. I know a lot of people have hectic schedules, and I do too, but sometimes other people can't take a day to just hang out with their kids. But.... sometimes they can and don't. I talked before about priorities. I was fortunate to have parents that loved me and took time to spend with me. Some of you didn't. But that's not an excuse for you not to do it with yours. If you don't, one day you're gonna wake up and your kids are going to be grown up, and you're not going to know them. And what's even more sad, They're not going to know you.

Whether you can take a whole day or not, you CAN take time. And I can promise you, the time you take for them, will bless your heart tremendously. And it will build into them something that nobody else can. We live in a busy world where kids are neglected and left to grow up on their own. One day, you're going to be old and need someone to take care of you. Wouldn't it be nice to know that your children are taking care of you because they love you and want to, instead of because they have to? And besides, at that point, you're going to wish that they had time to spend with you, in the midst of their busy schedule!

Blessings

Mickey Mouse Re-Cap

2008-10-24T10:23:00.011-05:00

So, I finally got my pics downloaded into the computer. I'll share some with you all, but it's hard to pick out which ones to post. We took like 300 pictures. Ah, the beauty of digital cameras! When we bought this thing, we bought a 2 gig chip for it. This is a great camera. It takes like 8.5 megapixel photos. You would think that at that high of a resolution, you wouldn't be able to take a lot of pictures, even with a 2 gig chip... Wrong! At the highest resolution, it will still take 489 pictures. So, now we have this game that we play. Every time we go on a vacation, we try to see if we can take so many pictures that we have to download them, in order to finish out the trip. We've yet to accomplish this!

Anyway, here's some fun pics.

This is us hanging out with Mickey and Minnie.

As you can see, I'm weighted down with all of the media gear! (2 still cameras and a video camera!)

Me and Cason with our 3-D "Bug Eyes". Getting ready for the "Bug's Life, 3-D Adventure"

This, by the way, is probably one of the most awesome things to do at the Animal Kingdom park.

My little man... learning how to be a lady's man!!!! (He gave them both a kiss, by the way, before we moved on!)

Probably one of the most fun times we had at the Magic Kingdom. The Mickey Mouse Club House Show. All the Disney morning characters from, Mickey Donald Goofy Minnie & Daisey, to all the little Einsteins, and Handy Manny! All the kids get up and dance and use "Tootles" (the magic mouse ears) to help solve the big problem of the day! It's a really awesome show, and lots of fun.

Snack time. Desperately wanting some ice cream. It was hot.

So we got some! YUM!!!!!!!!! Well, that's enough for now. I'll post some more another time. Needles to say, we had a blast. Cason had sooooo much fun. But I can't lie. I did too! I absolutely love that place! I'll talk to y'all later.

Blessings!

back to school

2008-10-21T16:48:00.004-05:00

Well, fall break is over. Bummer! I was really enjoying just hanging out with my family and getting some things done around here that have been getting neglected.

So, today I got up and got ready to go to class. Remember when I told you about all the papers and tests and stuff that I had to do in advance, in order to go out of town? Well, today I had to try and remember everything that I had done, so that I could check with my professors to make sure that I got my grades, and didn't miss doing anything. So all day long, I went to class, feeling like I forgot something. You ever get that feeling? I mostly get it when I'm trying to get out of the house, running late for something, and know that there are like four things that I'm supposed to have with me. I always feel like I'm forgetting something!

Anyway, today made me think about, once again, priorities. I had a long talk with Erik yesterday, just about some personal things. He and I are accountability partners (along with Shawn), and we were just doing our normal, "how you doing?" thing. But, there was an issue that came up that dealt with priorities. I won't go into details, but it directly relates to where we're spending our time and resources. This is something that I'm really having to repent of. For the longest time, I've stayed out of certain things in life. For instance, I leave taking care of all of the bills and budget and money things, like making sure the check book is balanced, up to Tiffany. I mean, why not! This is what she does for a living. She is the executive director of a multi-million dollar company (meaning, she deals with million dollar budgets every day). So why not just let her do it? She's good at it. I'm not, nor am I particularly interested in it. But here's the thing.

There is no way I can be the spiritual leader of my household, if I have no idea what's going on with something as important as our family finances. I'm not saying that I'm going to jump in there and start changing things, cause that's just going to lead to something that Dave Ramsey would have a massive coronary over! But I am going to show her that I care about every aspect of our family, and that I don't expect her to have to do something without my support and willingness to be involved. Fellas, I know that if you look hard enough, you'll find an area in your life like this. Ask God to reveal it to you. If your desire is to be obedient, faithful, and God's man for your family, then you need to be shown these areas and do something about them. It may be that you just have an issue watching your kids for two hours so that your wife can go the movies with some friends, or doing the dishes cause she needs help around the house. Whatever the case may be, Christ said to love your wife like He loves the Church. I cannot see how that means anything less than complete and total sacrifice on her behalf. And if you're not willing to do it, then you have a pride issue. And that's something that will come back and bite you in the you know what! I'm talking to myself as much as any of you. It's pride that has kept me from thinking that I didn't need to be involved in things like this in my family.

Proverbs says: When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. And it also says: Pride only breeds quarrels, but wisdom is found in those who take advice.

Blessings!

sunday thoughts and songs

2008-10-19T19:51:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone! Well, today was a really good day at the Journey. Erik, the campus pastors, the elders, and I all had a chance to talk this afternoon. We all thought that there was a really cool energy there today. Thank you, God, for showing up. I know that people's lives were changed, and I am honored to have been a part of it. Please, come join us for the remainder of this teaching series, if you don't have anywhere else to be. Even if you do, still come join us! You won't regret it. God has really put some cool stuff on Erik's heart. You'll be glad that you came. Remember too, you can go to the website and check out the previous week's teaching, if you missed it live. Hopefully, I'll have this week's talk up by Wednesday, at the latest. You can check out all of the videos at www.thejourneytn.org Then just go to resources and video library.

Well, as I told you all before, we went to see Mickey Mouse this past week. It was awesome. Cason really had a great time. I'm still in the process of downloading the pics to my computer. As soon as I have all that squared away, I'll post some. But before I forget, Here's all the tunes from last week and this week.

Last Week: Savior King (Hillsong United), Holy Is The Lord (Chris Tomlin), All Who Are Thirsty (Kutless), Salvation (Matt Redmon), and He Loves Us.

Now, I have to interject here! This song, "He Loves Us", is a tune that I heard this past week at the Catalyst Conference. Rarely, there comes along a song that changes my life. And even more rarely, there comes along a song that I wish I had written. Most of the time, I am excited for someone, in that, God has birthed a song in their heart and has gifted them with it to share with the world. I know that Jealously is not a good thing, but I'm jealous of this song. I wish that God would have put it on my heart to write. And because of that, I feel the desperate need to make sure that everyone I come in contact with, knows about this song. There are a few youtube things that you can check out on it, as well. One of them (and I'll post the link here) is the actual songwriter, and the story of the song. The version of the song that I heard at Catalyst was by Eddie Kirkland. He was the worship leader for that segment. You can go to itunes and, at the store, search Eddie Kirkland. It will be the first song that comes up. Again, it's called, "How He Loves Us". Here is the youtube link to see how the song was written. Click HERE.

Today's Songs: Let The Praises Ring (Lincoln Brewster), All Because of Jesus (Fee), Glorious One (Fee), How Beautiful the Blood Flowed (Kristian Stanfill), We Shine (Fee)

Ok, so I'm somewhat of a Fee fan!!! Who cares! If you're going to itunes or anywhere else to get this music, you'll understand when you hear the songs. This band is absolutely anointed! Steve Fee (the lead singer and band's namesake) is one of the most awesome people I've ever met. And I've had the pleasure of leading worship with some of his band guys. They are all men who are on fire for God, and what He wants to do in this world. If you don't know about these guys, I highly recommend that you check them out. You can do that HERE!

Talk to you all soon. God bless and have a great week!

-robbie

the mouses house

2008-10-17T22:02:00.002-05:00

Well, it's Friday night and I'm in Atlanta, staying at a hotel. Why, you ask? Well, this past week, we went to Disney World, perhaps one of my favorite places on planet Earth. It was awesome! Cason had a blast!

We left Sunday, after church. Tiffany's parents, her sister and her husband and six kids (that's right! I said SIX!), and we all went to see the mouse! As soon as we got there, it was on! The very first thing, as we got off the tram from the parking lot, there he was, Mickey Mouse, in the flesh... or I guess you'd say, in the costume! Cason was freakin out. He absolutely loves Mickey. So, we stood in line for about ten minutes and got our picture with him and Minnie. I'll post some pictures later, after I download them. And then that's where it all went BUNK, to quote one of my favorite sayings!

Remember, I told you, Tonya and Gerald, Tiffany's sister and brother in law, have six kids. (Ok, I should probably explain a little. They technically have three. Two boys and a girl. They are precious, like all children are! But for this trip, they had their two nieces and nephew with them. Brave! That's all I can say about that.... Brave!) So, we get to the front gate of the Magic Kingdom, after the pictures. I get our tickets out, Steve (Tiffany's father) gets their tickets out, and Gerald starts pulling out pockets, takes the back pack off and unloads it (no tickets). Goes to the stroller, pulls out the other backpack, unloads it (no tickets), hollers over to Tonya to get the tickets out of her purse. He remembers that the tickets are there. That's where they last were.... No Tickets. (you see where this is going, right?)

fifteen minutes later, after basically ransacking every piece of clothing, bag, purse, pocket, stroller compartment and any other possible place that the tickets could be, it is finally determined that they left their tickets back at the condo. (Six kids! Lot's of stuff to get ready to go at seven in the morning! Apparently, tickets were at the bottom of the list and didn't get checked off prior to departure!) Long story short, Gerald, looking like someone shot his dog, begrudgingly made the journey back to the condo and retrieved the tickets, which were sitting on the coffee table! From that point on, for the rest of the week, we were basically like a herd of turtles, wondering through the four parks, riding everything we came in contact with, and taking in every show available to the masses. It really was a great trip. I'm kind of sad we had to come home. There's something about watching the Magic Kingdom Castle fade in the distance, knowing that you're headed home, that leaves a sad feeling in your heart. It's such a cool place. Everyone there is soooooo concerned with weather or not you're enjoying your stay. The people who work there (they're called cast members, by the way) are some of the happiest people I've ever met. They go out of their way to see a smile on your face.

It got me to thinking... what if the Church was like that? What if we went out of our way to see a smile on someone's face. What if we did everything we could to make people forget how crummy everyday life can be sometimes. What if we actually did what Christ called us to do... to love one another and bring hope and joy to a hurting and broken world? Why is it that a place like Disney world can achieve this, and the greatest organization ever created can't? Something to think about!

I hope you all had a great week. We sure did. I'm looking forward to getting back and seeing all our friends, but I can't wait to go back! I know Cason can't wait either!

Obviously, I've been out of pocket this week, so I'll try to post on Sunday the tunes from this week and last week. I'll see you all at the Journey!

God Bless.

sunday thoughts

2008-10-06T09:36:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone!

Well this week is going to be a busy one!! As most of you know, Tiff and I are going to take Cason to see the Mouse! Yee haw- 12 hours in a car with a two year old! Does anybody else think this is the equivalent of committing psychological suicide?

But first, let me tell y'all about yesterday. We had a great day at the Journey. Shawn Allen, one of our campus pastors, was our teacher yesterday. Erik has been on a three week break (well not really... he's been working in the kid's area. So you could really say, he's been doing even more work! Thanks, Erik, for your willingness to serve- and lead by example!)

Actually, Erik asked several of us on the leadership teams to spend some time with the kids these past weeks. Our teachers needed some breaks and some help, themselves. I personally got to go hang out with the 4-5 year olds. Man, those kids are CRAZY! :) They are so full of energy and just go nonstop! But they love coming to kid's church! And that's awesome. I was in there with Ginger Reed, our children's ministry leader. She does a great job. If you guys have a kid, you should go tell her how much you appreciate her. She's awesome!

Unfortunately, I wasn't able to spend the entire time back there. About twenty five minutes into it, I got a text from my tech booth saying that they were having "issues". Imagine that! Technological issues at the Journey........ noooooo. Who'd believe that! :)

Anyway, back to Shawn. Shawn is one of my best friends. He's a great guy with incredible insight into people and ministry. I'm blessed to have him in my life. And his wife, Miranda, is one of my praise team leaders, as well. Tiffany and I adore them both. And yesterday, Shawn got to finish the Elements series with "Purposes". Shawn, you did a great job, dude. Sorry about your muffler! (I'm just glad I'm not riding to Catalyst with you!) For those of you who are saying..."muffler?", go to the website and watch it. It's hillarious! As always, go to resources, then video library, then "Elements-week three, Purposes".

So, back to the Mouse! Tiffany and I are going to Disney with Cason, leaving this Sunday after church. This makes my week long! One, because I'm more excited to go than Cason!!!! (I love that place, dude! I'm the biggest kid of all!) Two, because before we go, I have three class periods of homework and tests (four to be exact) that I have to take and turn it by Wednesday of this week. Fun huh? So, here I am, talking to y'all, when I should be writing an essay on "claim of Cause" for Ms. Cynthia Wyatt, my english professor. (six pages, by the way!) So, I'll leave y'all with this:

Jesus talked all the time about trying to do things and live this life through your own strengths. He even said, apart from Me, you can do nothing. Now I don't think that he meant that without Him we will all stand stagnant and litterally do nothing! Most of the time, well pretty much all of the time, when Jesus spoke, he said things so that you would have to delve into it to get the meaning. This is what I think he meant: He is God, God in the flesh. Therefore, He created us. Apart from His creating us, we couldn't do anything, because we wouldn't exist! Therefore, apart from Him, we can do nothing. But I also think there's a deeper meaning as well. If we do things of this world that are not centered around Him, then what we do is meaningless. Now, that doesn't mean that nothing has meaning, it just means that in the grand scheme of things, if it's not centered around God's will for our lives, then it's in vain. The bible says that all of our works are like filthy rags. There's nothing that we can do, no amount of works or efforts to attain our salvation. Because it has already been done for us. We just have to accept the grace that has been extended to us. So, if you're going around doing things without God at the center of your life, does your life have meaning?

Love y'all. Here's the songs from yesterday.

You Are Our God (Robbie Cheuvront, Erik Reed), Mighty To Save (Hillsong), Let God Arise (Chris Tomlin), Because You Are Holy (Robbie Cheuvront), He Reigns (Newsboys).

r u kidding me!

2008-10-02T22:04:00.002-05:00

Ok. Here's the deal. I've got like ten minutes to post this cause I have to do two weeks worth of homework, tests and papers and have them ready to turn in by this wednesday!

Tiffany and I are going to take Cason to see the "all powerfull mouse!" (that's disney world for those of you who are running a little slow today.)

So, naturaly, my professors won't allow you to make up any work whatsoever. This means that I have to do it all (two week's worth) before I go. So, yee haw!!!! Let's git-r-done!

Hope you all have a great rest of the week. Oh, and by the way, I have officially posted earlier than Erik Reed!!!! So, give him a hard time!

Here's the songs from this past sunday.

You Alone Are Worthy of My Praise (Big Daddy Weave), Oh Praise Him (Crowder), Thank You, Jesus (written by me. still don't have an mp3 available. working on it.), I Surrender (Lincoln Brewster).

poli-sci, history, and golf

2008-09-24T22:32:00.003-05:00

Well, the title should really be, "How much crap can four college professors pile up on you in one day!" Man, college is weird. I find myself enjoying my education, unlike when I was in high school. It's actually fun. Being an adult, one who has gotten to see the world and get some life experience, it's amusing to see all of these 18 year olds who couldn't care less if they were there or not.

Erik, who is ahead of me in our educational journeys, told me, when I decided to go back, that it would be fun to watch. And he was right! I actually have an appreciation for the classes I'm taking. However, and this is hard to admit, being the RockStar that I am :) , I am finding out that I'm somewhat of a nerd. I never realized how much I enjoy learning. Especially English. I've always had a passion for writing, and as a lot of you know, I have written one novel already and am in the process of writing my second. All the while, I'm working on a book deal. Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer for me. I need it! Anyway, I'm a nerd. I like school! Go figure.

But here's what I don't get. Do your professors get together and decide that you don't have enough to do on certain days throughout the semester? Cause it seems like it! I mean, I'll go a week or two without any homework or tests and then... BAM! Three tests, two 800 word papers (with MLA citation and researched documents), and a pop quiz to boot! All on the same day. What's wrong with these people! Couldn't we spread this out over a few days!!! :)

Well, I've spent most of the day, well all of it, actually, studying for the three tests that I have tomorrow, writing the papers, and preparing for the pop quiz that I actually got some inside info on, that's being given tomorrow in one class! Since I'm writing this at night, you all probably will be reading this as I'm sitting in one of said classes, grinding it out!

Now, I've been in school now for three semesters, so this isn't new. It actually seems to be the norm. And I'm fine with that... BUT, this particular day is not the one that I wanted to have to do all of this during. You see, after my final class tomorrow, English, I'm headed to Birmingham with Shawn Allen (one of our campus pastors) for a golf trip for a few days! We've been planning it for like four months now. And the last thing that I want to be thinking about, the day before I'm about to go on a trip to play like..... 700 holes of golf!!... is three tests, two 800 page papers and a pop quiz!!!!!!!! I have a wicked hook in my driver that I've developed! I'm trying to FIX MY SWING, PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, I'll be gone for a few days, so I'll talk to you all when I get back. In the meantime, you all stay out of trouble and have a good week! And if you think about it, say a prayer for me and Shawn for safety during our trip. We'd appreciate it. If you really have nothing else to do, say a prayer for my swing!

Blessings!

Robbie.

Sunday thoughts and songs

2008-09-22T18:36:00.007-05:00

Hey everyone! Hope everyone is well, this fine Monday!

Not a lot to report on. Kind of a bland day, actually. I'm going on a golf trip with my friend Shawn this week. We are pretty stoked! Gonna be a good time. I'll have more to report on that next week.

Anyway, this week we started our teaching series called Elements. It's a look into the discipleship process at the Journey. I'm going to do something different this week. I'm going to put the bumper video for the series on this post. I don't usually do that, but this one's kind of fun! It took me almost an entire week to build it! So, you guys enjoy the video, I'm gonna go watch some football!

Talk to you all soon. Here's the song list from yesterday.

How Great Thou Art (my arrangement), Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin), Sing To The King (Cindy Foote), The More I Seek You (Gateway Worship), and in the last service... Sing Sing Sing (Chris Tomlin).

Here's the bumper video!

sunday thoughts and songs

2008-09-17T14:37:00.002-05:00

Well, I know I'm a couple days behind on this but, I've just had a few other things on my mind lately that I wanted to talk about, such as the whole schedule thing. (refer to last post)

Anyway, the big reason I haven't posted on this past Sunday is because, I just needed some time to digest it all. This entire past weekend was something very different for me. I won't go into detail, but suffice it to say that I was stretched beyond anything that I've been used to since I've gone into ministry. Don't worry.... It's all good! Just, taxing.

So, my thoughts.... well, let's see. Everything that could've gone wrong technically, did. (But what else is new!!! That's every Sunday! LOL.) I guess I can sum it all up with this: I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that something's going on in this region. And it's a really good thing. I have talked with several of the leaders at the Journey and they all feel like they sense it too. I believe that God wants to do something really amazing around here. And we're seeing the results of it.

I want to give props to my praise team for their willingness to just go with the flow this week when everything went "crash and boom!". The funny thing is, I told them that it was going to probably happen! All the ingredients were there! Great praise songs, a killer message, and people willing to get out of the way and let God be God!

So, my thoughts... It's amazing to be a part of a church where there are no pretenses, where people aren't all about serving themselves, but about serving the hurting and broken world around us, and where God is moving!

God bless and see you next week.

Here's the songs from Sunday.

Indescribable (Chris Tomlin), Everlasting God (Todd Feilds), Lord You Are Good (??? there are at least 100 versions of this!), Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble (Hillsong), and Saviour King (Hillsong)

Time

2008-09-15T09:41:00.003-05:00

Hello everyone! I know it seems like I've been on a sabbatical! I mean, John Griffin has posted twice since I have! Now, that just can't be happening!!!!!!! I'll try to do better!

Well, school is going full swing. I love my classes, but my professors are bent on giving out busy work, which is awesome! Cause, you know, I have like tons of time to sit around conjugating 140 spanish verbs for homework! (For those of you who are a little slow to catch up... that's sarcasm!) Man, has this month been busy! We've got two new campuses that are being launched at the Journey, Catalyst conference is coming up, we're taking a family vacation to Disney World, and then there's the everyday business of school, being a husband and a father! Probably sounds kind of like your life huh? Busy!

That's Ok. Busy is good. To some extent. What I'm having to learn is this: Prioritize your schedule. If you don't, you're gonna make a lot of people mad. And you still may not please everyone, but there's only so much you can do! So prioritize! God is first, always, no exceptions. Then your family. This is the hard one. I know a lot of times I take for granted that my family understands my busy schedule and that they are Ok with me not spending as much time as I should with them. WRONG! This is the root of all of your other problems, if you don't get it right. Tiffany told me last night that she feels like sometimes we're just passing each other on the way to do something else. I've spent the whole morning thinking about this. And what I've come to see is, that's unacceptable. She and my son need to be the most important thing in my life, outside of my walk with God. Finally, the last thing on the list is, work and all other things that demand time.

So what's the solution? Well, I'm not Doctor Phil. So, I can't give anyone the clinically correct answer. The only thing that I can offer you is this. Take an inventory of your life. Look at where you spend your time. Are you spending time with God? Are you watching your family as they pass you by while you're on the way to another "something that I gotta do"? If so, you may want to spend some of that precious time you have to decide whether or not it's worth missing out on the important things!

God bless,

Robbie

SEC East Champions?????

2008-09-05T20:06:00.005-05:00

Vandy! 2-0... who'da thought! And I was there to see it!!!!

Last night Erik and I went to the Vandy game. It was awesome!!!! We sat in the student section, since Erik is a student there now! It was soooo cool. We were about fifty feet from Spurier. He had that stupid grimace on his face for most of the game. That is always fun to see.

So, as I am a new UT fan, two things I've learned: 1. You always root for the SEC when someone from the SEC is playing a team that UT isn't going to have on their schedule. Here's why. You don't want to have a looser team like Clemson make it to the national championship just cause they're in a conference that sucks and they have no other competition in! The SEC is the strongest, most dominating conference in college football, and even though I'm still a WVU fan to some degree (that's where I grew up), I have to admit... the SEC is the big daddy! And we'll take care of each other in inter-conference play. 2. Everyone hates Spurier, except the Game Cocks (I guess you have no choice if he's your coach!).

Anyway, all that to say, I'm excited for Vandy, despite rules number 1 and 2. I've lived in Nashville for 15 years now, and I can't remember them ever having a great season. They deserve to have a good year. And even though I'm now an official UT fan, I've gotta have a heart for the home team. Good luck Vandy! Great game last night. Congrats! Looking forward to seeing you do well this year.

I want to encourage all of you, once again, to make sure that you have yourself in some kind of accountability circle. As you all know, Erik and I are each other's accountability partners. Last night was great cause, we not only got to hang out and watch a great game, but during the drive to the campus, we had a chance to catch up on what's been going on in each other's lives. I mean, we work together and all that, but we don't get the time every week to sit down and just see how each other is doing. Last night was the first time in about a month. Man, did we need that! It was nice to just get to vent to each other and encourage each other. I gotta tell you. There's no way you can keep all the stresses of your life kept up inside and not have someone, that you can trust with everything, to talk to. It's not healthy. It will literally drive you mad. So please, everyone, if you're not in some kind of relationship like that with someone, or even a couple people if you want, get there. If you don't know what that looks like, you can always email anyone from the Journey's team and talk about it. You can reach all of us by email at the website. Just click here.

See you all this sunday. If you live in the Nashville area and don't have a church home, please check us out at the website listed above. We'd love to have you come visit us. We are a "come as you are" church. I can promise you, you're not going to find one perfect person in the whole building. We've all got our problems! But I can promise you this: you will find people who understand that while we're not perfect, there is a perfect God. And we have a blast seeking Him out! If you don't live in the Nashville area, and you don't have a church home, I would encourage you to seek one out. You're missing out on the life that you were created to live!

Take care everyone! Blessings.

2008-09-01T13:23:00.003-05:00

So, yesterday was a good day at the Journey! We had tech problems (like that's anything unusual!) but everything else went great. You know, actually, I don't know what I'll do the day that I walk in there and absolutely nothing goes awry! I may fall over and die right then and there! However, I would imagine that, if that did happen, it would mean that Jesus is not far behind in making His return!

Seriously, though, it was a great day. I was challenged about giving in a way that I hadn't been before. Man, I gotta tell you, Erik really has been growing as a teacher and speaker. There is no doubt that he is right where he's supposed to be. Nor is there any doubt that God is growing him tremendously. I'm privileged to work beside him and get to see it. Hopefully, I'll have this week's talk posted on the website by tomorrow evening. That's the plan anyway! I'll keep everyone posted.

Tonight is the first night of UT football! I have decided to give in to the old axiom: if you can't beat 'em, join 'em! Starting this evening, I am officially a UT football fan. I've fought it for 15 years now, but I just don't have the energy anymore. The die-hard UT fan will wear you down. I've come to realize that the only way I can get through another college football season, living in Nashville, is to jump on the bandwagon. So, while I can't quite bring myself to go out and paint my Jetta orange, or buy one of those ridiculous orange hats that has a big T on it, I will be pulling for the Vols. I'm afraid, though, I've subjected myself to a whole other set of problems. Apparently, I'm now subjected to bashing from all other S.E.C. fans. But that's ok. I'm a big boy. I can handle it. So, even as John Griffin (a massive Alabama fan) and Clyde Rountree (an even bigger Florida fan) have pointed out.... I've picked a bad year to be a Vol's fan. Well, guys, I guess I wouldn't be a true fan unless I said.... "You guys can go ahead and get your baby lotion out. Cause, when UT spanks that hiney... You're gonna need it!

Here's the song list from yesterday. Hope to see you all next sunday at the Journey. Please remember to pray for all of those in the Gulf coastal region. I've heard of instances where the church prayed tornados and entire weather systems out of an area!!! Blessings!

Let God Arise (chris tomlin), Salvation (passion worship band), Thank You Jesus (written by me, can't get it online yet. still working on it), Kindness (chris tomlin), How Great Is Our God (one of 10,000 versions! my favorite is probably tomlin)

back to school

2008-08-26T18:32:00.002-05:00

Well, today was my first day back at school. It was a good day! I have several of my previous professors, all of which I liked a lot! It's kind of been the theme this week, back to school. Erik started his masters program at Vandy, and Shawn went back to school this semester also. I guess we on the Journey's staff just can't get enough of writing papers and taking exams!

we had a great Sunday, this week. If you missed it, you can check it out on the website. Just click here. Go to "Resources" and then "Video Library". It's amazing how God is growing people. I'm reading other people's blogs and just having conversations with them, hearing them talk about how they are in a season in their lives, where God is just taking them to a whole other level. I'm finding that in my life, as well.

For the first time in my life, I'm consumed with getting to know Him more. This has been a long process that started about two years ago. I have always considered myself as someone who tried to follow what God wanted for my life. But as I look back on the last several years of my life, I see that, that wasn't always the case. There was too much of me and not enough Him. I've never understood it, really, when John the Baptist said, "He has to become greater, and I have to become less."

Here's the thing: I've never, until just recently, been someone who fasted. Erik really introduced this concept to me several months ago. And it wasn't just about giving up food. I always knew that part of it. But I never understood the purpose of it. Again, this past Sunday, I got to hear it again with fresh ears. (this was the topic of his sermon). And it's funny, again today, he and I had a conversation about the results of fasting. This is a discipline that I am committed to learning more about and practicing more often. I can't wait to see how God continues to grow me!

Here's my challenge to you: Just as Erik talked about, I will ask you to prayerfully consider fasting. Do some research. Find out how to fast properly. And start small. Maybe just give up a single meal. But do it. And do it with the purpose of focusing on God, and what He wants to show you during that time. I promise, you won't regret it.

Here's the song list from this week. Blessings!

Happy Day (Tim Hughes), Forever (Chris Tomlin, live in Austin), Mighty To Save (Hillsong), Hungry (Joy Williams), All Because of Jesus (Fee)

crazy

2008-08-19T16:26:00.003-05:00

What a crazy couple of days!

I hope you blog-hopped around and read all the Journey people's blogs about Sunday. It was good stuff. Crazy stuff!!! And it's just the tip of the ice-berg. We had our staff meeting today at the office (Panera Bread Co.), and talked about all the things that have been happening at the Journey, and what is yet to come! Again, crazy stuff!

If you read Erik's blog, then you saw a few sneak peeks into the new campuses. I am sooooo excited about how God is moving in this region. We've been talking for a long time, around the Journey, about how we feel like God is stirring in this area. We have been praying for a Jesus movement to sweep across this place. And we're starting to see it! People's lives are being changed, doors are opening up, and Jesus is at the center of it all!

Erik talked about prayer Sunday. I hope you got to see it. If you didn't you can click here and watch it. Go to the resources tab and select video library, DNA-Prayer. You can also watch a new video, just posted, showing all the baptisms that we had Sunday!!!! CRAZY!!!! Anyway, I would like to challenge you all to take your prayer life to a new height. I know I'm going to, after hearing that talk! Hope you all have a great week! Talk to you soon!

couple things to pray for:

leaders of not only your church, but other church's leaders as well.

other churches! (if we want to see this Jesus movement happen, it's going to take all of us working together. we are not in competition with other churches!!!!!!!!!!

pray that God would show you what HE wants, not what we want.

that John Griffin would update his blog, more than once every quarter!

Sunday thoughts

2008-08-18T16:49:00.003-05:00

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

weddings

2008-08-07T16:41:00.002-05:00

So, I've got two weddings to sing for this weekend! Yeah! They're both friends of mine, so I'm extremely excited for them!

My wife and I were married twelve years ago. Sometimes I think.... wow! Dude, we're getting old! But then, I look back and try to remember twelve years of marriage. The funny thing is, I can't! Cause it doesn't seem like twelve years! She and I have been through a lot together, but the time has just flown by. They say that time flies when you're having fun! We are a living testiment of that! I love her more today than I did yesterday! And I know that tomorrow, I'll love her even more.

If you're planning on getting married, or maybe you are already married, let me give you some advice. I think that after twelve years, I can safely give some advice!! :)

1: Guys, it's always your fault. Even when it's not... it is! And I don't mean that to be sarcastic or funny, though it is! What I mean is, you are the spiritual head of your household. God will hold you responsible for everything. So, no matter what... it's always your fault!

2. Do not, under any circumstances, go to bed mad at each other! Remember what no. 1 said? it's always your fault. So suck it up, appologize, tell your wife how much you love her, give her a kiss (and mean it!), then go to sleep.

3. and I'll leave you with this. Have fun and enjoy each other. There is absolutely no excuse for "Well, we just fell out of love". That's crap! I don't care how you cut it, it's crap. If you loved her enough to marry her, then you still love her today. You may be blinded by whatever's keeping you from seeing that, but the fact remains, you still love her! And, if you keep God in the center of your marriage, and put Him first, then there's no way you can fall out of love with your wife!

My grandmother passed away two years ago. It was one of the saddest days in my life. She was an amazing woman. It devestated my grandpa. But he said something to me a few days later that I will remember till the day I die. He told me, "You know, Rob, everyone kept saying how bad Grandma looked before she passed, and that you could see how worn down she was." He then said, "But that didn't make sense to me. You see, I couldn't see that. Cause everytime I looked at her, I saw the most beautiful seventeen year old girl that I fell in love with fifty years ago." And then he finished with, "I hope that when you're my age, and you look at Tiffany, you won't see an old woman that time has taken its toll on. I hope you see the beautiful seventeen year old that you fell in love with!"

Good luck, Amber and Trent. And Good luck Joey and Marcella. I love you all and am praying for you! Enjoy each other, and may God bless your marriages!

Tiffany, I love you!

-Robbie

Day Off!!

2008-08-04T09:59:00.005-05:00

Hello, everyone!

Today, we are taking the day off at the Journey. Yippee!!! That's a good thing, cause I feel like I've been hit by a bus! I got a call last Monday, from a dear friend in N.C. He is a worship leader there at a church called Pinnacle Church. He told me that he had a wedding that he had to play for and needed my help. So, with almost no notice, I had to cram to learn two hours worth of music, drive to N.C., play for this wedding, drive back to Nashville (the same day, Saturday), and then get up for church yesterday morning. Needless to say, by two o'clock yesterday afternoon, I was whooped! (Kinda felt like a Bama football player!!! Ha, Ha, John!) I fell asleep on the couch and then was pretty much in a funk for the rest of the day, after I woke up. So today, I'm just hanging out and recovering. (Getting older sucks! I used to be able to get like three hours sleep over four days and still be jammin!)

So yesterday was amazing! We commissioned our three campus pastors and their wives, Shawn and Miranda, Clyde and Christine, and Todd and Theresa. Man, I'm really excited about what God is doing in those guys' lives!! We had extended praise and worship. That was like the most songs we've ever done in a normal service! The band was sick! (remember, Danny, that's a good thing!), Miranda and Molly were singing their rear ends off!, the tech booth guys and girls were straight on point!, and God's Spirit was HEAVY! Once again, I saw people just jumping up and down, waving their hands in the air, eyes closed, heads thrown back, singing-shouting-and-praising the Creator!!!! I was so overwhelmed that half way through the third song, I almost couldn't sing. God's presence was so evident, it litterally took my breath away.

We are going to be having a praise and worship night at the Journey soon. I'll let you all know when, but you can also check out our new Website. Same address, new site. Just click on the link, if you don't already know what it is. And it will be posted there, as well, once we settle on the date and time. Please invite your friends and families. It is going to be a full-on, lay-it-all-down, time of seeking our Father's face. You won't want to miss it!

As I promised before, here is the list of songs that we did yesterday. I hope all of you have a blessed week! We'll see you sunday! Don't forget, Erik starts his new series, "DNA", this week. It's going to be a very interesting subject. I know you won't want to miss it!

Songs:

Doxology, I Stand Amazed (in the presence), Savior King, King of Heaven, Sing Sing Sing, Your Love Oh Lord, God of This City, Everybody Praise the Lord, Let It Rain/Jesus Is Coming, He Reigns

getting ready

2008-07-31T09:18:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-28T09:24:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-27T19:36:00.004-05:00

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

2008-07-25T17:38:00.004-05:00

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

2008-07-23T10:26:00.002-05:00

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

2008-07-22T13:37:00.004-05:00

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!

2008-07-21T10:21:00.004-05:00

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

2008-07-18T11:01:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-14T23:43:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-14T12:02:00.005-05:00

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

2008-07-10T12:08:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-07T21:48:00.003-05:00

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

2008-07-06T14:31:00.002-05:00

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!

let God arise

2008-06-30T12:10:00.003-05:00

yipeeeeee! summer semester is done, dude!!! i took my finals today. hopefully, i aced them. glad to be done, so i can enjoy the summer. i think tiff and cason and i are going to try and get away for a weekend soon. we need it.

yesterday was an awesome day at the Journey. the bransfords were there, to update us on what's going on out in the mission field. man, i want to go on a mission trip so bad i can taste it. maybe that's where tiff and cason and i can go! Thailand!

i taught a new song to everyone yesterday, aslo. it's actually not new, just new to the Journey. it's called, "Let God Arise", by Chris Tomlin. if you don't know this song, go to itunes and get it! while you're there, get "Sing, Sing, Sing" as well, also by Chris Tomlin. this is a song that we'll be teaching this upcoming sunday.

so yesterday, before we started, i was taking a moment (like i always do before service) and just talking to God. it's been awhile since God just literally gave me a "word", meaning: something specific that He wanted me to say to everyone. i mean, i get the sense of things that He wants me to do, or things to talk about, but to literally give me the actual words, in sentence form, that's something all together different. yesterday, He did just that. that word was this: "today, we are going to take back some ground for the Kingdom!"

now here's the funny thing. earlier in the week, i had a conversation with cindy, our piano player. we were talking about spiritual warfare and the new teaching series that erik is about to start. she made the comment about how we are to engage in this warfare and take back ground. i thought that it was a really cool statement. apparently, God did too! because when He gave me the word, it was in that context that He showed it to me.

now, here's the even funnier thing! i asked my wife, if she heard me say that. she said no. that in and of itself isn't a big deal. she never hears anything that i say!!!! :) just kidding, honey! but i asked a few other people if they heard it too, and they said no, also. i wasn't asking them because i thought i did something so cool or said something soooo brilliant that i wanted everyone to recognize it. i asked them because i wanted to know if it had the same impact on them that it did on me.

here's what i believe: i don't know if ANYONE heard it. but i know i said it! and i believe that it wasn't for anyone at the Journey to hear. i believe that it was for someone else, and he knows who he is! no need to give him any more screen time than that!

here's what i know: a lot of churches talk about spiritual warfare, and what it is, how to combat it, etc. not a lot of churches talk about how to engage it! there are a lot of people at the Journey who are excited about this teaching series. there are a lot of families at the Journey who are ready to engage it! i know that erik's teaching series is going to open a lot of eyes!

here's my challenge: WAKE UP! whether you want to admit it or not, there is a war going on for our souls, one not of flesh and blood. scripture tells us this. Ephesians 6:12. don't just sit there and let the battle go on around you. get engaged. read the book of Ephesians. there's a lot of great stuff in there. you'll also learn how to equip yourself!

i thought about what my "one prayer" would be for the church, as we went through the whole "One Prayer" series these past four weeks. after hearing this Chris Tomlin song, "Let God Arise" again, i know what it is. my one prayer for the church is that we would get out of the way, and let God be God. stop trying to do the things that only God can do. that we would learn how to be servants, who lead, not leaders who ask to be served. that we would LET GOD ARISE!

family

2008-06-19T23:13:00.004-05:00

so, this week has been interesting for me! my mom and sister, and her three girls came to visit. have any of you ever seen Everybody Loves Raymond? that's my family! no kiddin. and if you've met them, you know i'm not lying!

seriously, i love my mom and sister, and my nieces, but i do have to say, it's been hectic. my mom and i got into a deep discussion today. about seven years ago, my parents got divorced. it was really hard on my mom. she went through a lot and still deals with it today. she's battled some clinical depression, and still has her bad days. i recently had to take a psychology class. i never thought that i would like it, but i was kind of surprised. i actually did. and i learned a lot in there. one of the things we talked a lot about was depression. it's a very serious, and dangerous thing. if you have someone you know, love, or even just acquainted with that exhibits the symptoms, DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT. encourage them to get help. it's not just a mood thing. it's a serious, medical condition where the brain doesn't function normally. there's a lack of serotonin which causes feelings of low self worth. this can lead to thoughts of suicide or worse, actually going through with it.

i don't usually like talking about something this serious, but the reality of it is, that's life. life is serious. and short. the good news is, my mom is a Christ follower (thank God....literally!) it helps her get through some tough days. but she's also smart enough to know that taking the right medication is key.

the question she asked me today was this: how do you find joy when there seems to be none to find? DEEP!

even people who are Christ followers are susceptible to this. the Bible says that our enemy is like a thief who walks around seeking to steal, kill, and destroy. i heard a great pastor one day talk about this. he said that satan seeks to steal our joy, kill our character, and destroy our relationships. i believe that's what Jesus meant when he said this. here's the scripture, if you'd like to see it. what i tried to talk to my mom about is this:

every day that we wake up, we need to give our lives to Christ. we need to remind ourselves that we no longer live for ourselves. when we do this, we admit that we can't do it on our own. and this enables us to find the joy that God has set aside for us, through Him who was raised.

if you find yourself having nothing to be joyous about, look to the One who is the Author of joy and happiness. walking with Him can restore your soul. He can fix the brokenness. but only if you give it up to Him and allow Him to do it.

i wish you all joy and happiness

-robbie

sunday thoughts

2008-06-15T13:45:00.002-05:00

we had a great day at the Journey today! we got to preview what is possibly going to be a format that we will use for our multi-campus strategy. Video Teaching! the cool thing is, just as a campus pastor will act, Erik acted as in the role of a campus pastor today, as if it were "the norm" for us to have video teaching. what encouraged me the most was, we had people come forward when Erik invited people to come. it just proved to me that it doesn't matter the teaching method. if God's people are willing to open their hearts and recieve His message, then it doesn't matter who teaches, or how it's presented. the Holy Spirit will do His work regardless!! And to me, that's just awesome!

i wanna give a shout out to all the guys that joined us this weekend for the men's "advance" (real men don't retreat!). we had an amazing time and God was good, as always! i truly believe that men's lives were changed. and as a result, our families, our marriages, and our church are going to benefit! I'm soooo hungry for what God wants to do right now! my "one prayer" for the church, is that we would have the ability to humble ourselves and allow God to do what it is He wants to do. but more than anything, i pray that we would actually, physically, see it.

blessings to you all,

Robbie

p.s. if you're on my praise team, make sure you're reading Psalms! we are going to spend some time talking about it between services next week. if you need a reading "track" or "schedule", email or talk to Cindy. she has a great one

Where have Y'all been? :)

2008-06-13T12:35:00.005-05:00

HELLOOOOOOOOOO!

Well, I'm back among the living, again. Wow! Most of you have probably tuned out on me by now. If you are reading this, please tell all your friends that I'm back. And I promise that I will try to post daily again.

So, what's been going on? Well, I've filmed 14 baptism videos, edited them, filmed a "God of This City" video, edited it, written two speeches and given them (for my com 100 class), gone to the beach (for work, though i did get to play a little!), dropped my algebra class (i'm so lost, even Todd Bates couldn't help me!), helped my wife pull off a conference in Franklin for her work, filmed it, edited the video and burned a DVD for her to have to use, finished the Annie Jr. project for West Elementary, put together Erik's power point for the end of his teaching series, had meetings with Miranda to prepare her to lead worship (while I was gone), rehearsed the band with Miranda (so she could lead worship while I was gone), watched way to much "Dora the Explorer" with my son, told my wife I loved her (every time I passed her in the hall on my way to do something!), and spent four days vacuuming my pool (which was horribly green) so we could get in there and cool off! Other than that, not much going on around here!

I hope all of you have had more free time than I have had these last couple weeks. I actually thought about blogging every day! LOL. Just never got around to it. But I know all of you have been keeping up with what's going on at the Journey, and reading Erik's blog, so there's not much you don't know about. I just want to say that God shows up in mighty ways! Over the past two weeks, I've watched a couple people step out and take huge leaps of faith. I've seen a former Atheist's life turned on fire for God, so much that, I believe if he keeps it up, he's going to rival Paul! It's amazing what God will show you, if you ask. I've been praying for awhile now that God would spark the movement that Erik and others of us at the Journey have been talking about: the Jesus movement. If you guys are Journey-ites, hang on to your hats! I think it's coming! We've seen several glimpses of it these past weeks. I think that if we continue to pray, and stay obedient, we're going to see it!

Well, gotta go for now! I'll holler at you all tomorrow. Gotta go get ready for the men's retreat. We're leaving this afternoon. Gonna be great, too! Erik has got some really good stuff he wants to talk to all the men of the Journey about. I know he's gonna put some really big challenges out there for the men of our church. Keep us in your prayers!

Adios mi amigos

props

2008-05-19T10:17:00.002-05:00

Hello, everyone!

I'm taking the day off today, to just relax and spend some quiet time with God. I just wanted to take a quick second to give a shout out to my tech team at the Journey! These guys have full time jobs and yet, they always find the time to get everything done! You guys rock! Thanks for your willingness to serve. We couldn't do it without y'all.

Peace!

soup sandwich

2008-05-18T22:58:00.006-05:00

Ever hear of one? Well, if you can imagine it... visualize it... you think of a big mess! Welcome to the Journey! Man, I tell you what. I it's not one thing it's another!

As most of you know, we at the Journey provided all of the sound and lights for West Elementary's production of Annie Jr., the musical. Many thanks to all who helped out with it. I had the pleasure of working with the kids all week. It was awesome. I have to tell y'all, if you missed the play, you missed one heck of a show! These kids are some of the most talented kids I've ever worked with. The little girl who played Annie could start on Broadway tomorrow, no kidding!

So, back to the soup sandwich. The breaker box, in the gym at West, is older than me! (let's just say that it's more than 25 years old!!!!) Every Sunday, we have a breaker, #7, that constantly trips. The lights get hot and kick the breaker. No biggie, right? We just send someone back there and flip it back on. Well, with ten minutes to go, during the final night of the performance of the play, we started smelling something burning! Not good! It had finally had enough. It burned itself out. Well, this caused a slight panic in the faculty of the school. We finished the show, but immediately evacuated the building afterwards. The fire dept. showed up, checked it out, ran a camera up the line, inside the box, and determined that the fire was gone, but that the gym would need to be shut down until an inspector could come out and assess the situation. Tanslation: The Journey is now homeless!!!!! Soup Sandwich!

So, at 10:30 p.m., I get a call from John Griffin, after finally getting home and settling in, telling me that we cannot meet in the gym in the morning for church! The next thing I know, we have a big, fat, phone tree going on, trying to figure out what we're doing in the morning, which is less than seven hours away!

Long story short, We ended up in the cafeteria, completely transferring everything, except the permanently installed lights (that weren't working anyway cause of the breaker box!).

You have to understand that we at the Journey are not phased by this! You see, stuff like this happens to us all the time. And to be honest, it was kind of to be expected this week. Here's why.

There's something really cool that's been going on at the Journey lately. I truly believe that God is doing something there. Last week, we had four people come forward, unscheduled, and get baptized. It was an awesome Sunday. This is just one example of the lives that are being changed around here. The only way I can explain it is, we have started expecting God to show up and do it! Plain and simple. We serve a God that doesn't stand still. He is always moving, working, and we just want to be a part of it. And we realize that it's being done through none of our own doing! We've adapted the mentality of, "Get out of the way, and watch God work." Our only job is to show up, be willing to serve, love the people He brings into our body, and watch the amazing work at hand!!!!! And our enemy cannot stand this!!! And if you don't believe in spiritual attacks, you have not experienced God. I can promise you, when you allow God to start working in your life, and in your church, you will experience them left and right. Paul talks about it all throughout his writings in the Bible. But don't worry! You don't have to take it! If you are a follower of Jesus, you have your own arsenal!

Like Erik said today, in his sermon, Christianity is not about religion. It's about relationship. And though relationships can be messy, the one He brings is the one that can bring peace and stillness to the chaos that can be the Soup Sandwich!!

Blessings!

A Long Week

2008-05-14T23:43:00.002-05:00

Well, the day off came and went. Really fast, too. What's up with that? Why is it when you finally get a day off to do nothing but lie in bed, watch TV, and eat junk food, the whole day goes by in like two hours! Work days seem to go by, as if they lasted 30 hours!

Anyway, this week, the Journey will be helping out West Elementary to present Annie Jr., the musical. I've got to tell you all, these kids are ridiculously talented. The little girl who plays Annie could, seriously, do it professionally. But it's not just her. All of the kids are great.

So, what's going on in the world today? Not much. Politics are getting way out of hand. Gas prices are up. Stock market's down. The world's going crazy, huh? Yeah, it just seems to get worse as the days go by.

In a world where everything changes by the minute, it's nice to know that we serve a God who is the same today as He was yesterday, and will be the same tomorrow! And if you don't know Him, then you don't know what it means to live the life that you were created to live.

My prayer for all of you is that you would learn how to live that life!

-Blessings

Day Off!

2008-05-12T10:38:00.005-05:00

Well, today is monday! Usually this is a busy day for everyone! It's back to the grindstone, as they say. I hope you all have a great Monday!

For me, though, today is a day of rest. Thank You, Jesus!!!! Yesterday was such an incredible day at the Journey. If you read any of my friend's blogs, you'll see what Erik had to say about yesterday. He's right. God is doing some crazy stuff these days!!! I can't wait to see what's going to happen over the next few weeks. If you are a Journey-ite, please remember: This upcoming week starts our two service format!!!!! 9:00 and 11:00. Erik is starting a new series called, "The Radical Jesus". If you are one of our friends who lives far away and can't be there, you can always check out the website and either listen, or watch the series! We'll see you there! It's going to be a great three weeks, I can promise. I've already heard a snapshot of the series. Great stuff!!! I promise!

I hope this week finds you all blessed and content! Here's something to ponder over:

Psalm 32. It's good stuff. Of course, anything from that book is good stuff!!!

Hasta!

-robbie

Holy Buckets!!!!!

2008-05-11T13:49:00.005-05:00

Well, I'm back among the living!! So, how have y'all been? For any of you who attend the Journey, you got to see the new media system that we have implemented. This is referring to the MAC nation post, for those of you who don't have a clue of what I'm talking about. And it's also the reason that I haven't posted in a week.

I have literally spent about 70 hours this week, learning the entire MAC operating system and the software that we are now using and how to use that, as well. All week long, every time I saw any of my friends, they would remind me that John Griffin has posted twice since I have!! For those of you who are familiar with John's blog, you'll know that he's not someone who posts frequently.

So, as a penance for not posting for so long, I'm going to go mow my yard and balance the chemicals in my pool! Two things I never look forward to doing!

So now that I got that out of the way... Those of you who know me, know that I love to say, "Holy Buckets!" like some people say, "holy cow!". It is exactly what it sounds like: a proclamation of astonishment, or disbelief. Today at the Journey.... HOLY BUCKETS!!!!!!!!!

God was at work in a mighty, mighty way today. I can only imagine what He was doing in other churches around the world, cause at the Journey, He was rollin'. :) Today was a celebration Sunday for us. We gave props to the graduates of our congregation, commissioned new staff (this is the Journey's membership process), dedicated some babies, took the sacrament (communion), and then, Baptism!! Here's where Holy Buckets comes in!

Jamie Kimbro, a young lady who has been coming to the Journey for awhile, got baptized today. It was awesome! Everybody shouted and clapped their hands and praised God! But then, Erik asked anyone who had given their life to Jesus, and hadn't been baptized yet, to come forward, if they felt led to do so, and he would baptize them.

Here's where we need to stop for a second! I have a friend who was, and I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to say "was", an atheist. A few months ago, his wife started coming to the church with his kids. After seeing something different about her and his kids, he began to question what was going on. He came to the Journey one sunday with his wife. God did a number on him!!!! He came up to Erik after the service and told him he that he wasn't a Christian, but he kinda enjoyed the service, and would Erik mind if he came back. Fast forward to today. Jeff, my formerly an atheist friend, Alex Perry, another one of my best friends (also a Journey-ite), and I have been having a Bible study for a couple weeks. We've gotten to talk about a lot of cool stuff and get into some good questions. All the while, I'm watching God do a complete overhaul in my boy, Jeff. I mean you could see it in his face. He looked like there was just some major torment and angst going on inside his heart.

Well, today, when Erik opened it up for anyone to come forward and give their life over to Jesus, my boy, Jeff came walking down the aisle. HOLY BUCKETS!!!!!! When he came up out of the water, I saw more people crying and laughing at the same time, than I've ever seen.

You see, there have been a ton of people praying specifically for Jeff. And what's more, there's a lot of people who cared about Jeff enough to pray for him. Today, the kingdom of Heaven grew. And it's because someone cared enough about Jeff, and how he was going to spend his eternity, to get to know him, to love him, and allow him to see what God was doing in their life, so that Jeff could see what a changed heart, and someone who followed Jesus, looked like.

I'd love to tell you that I'm the reason Jeff came to know Jesus. But the truth is, God is the reason. Jeff was born with the desire to know Jesus intimately. It just took some people like me and a few others to care about Jeff enough to tell him. Who do you care about that doesn't know their savior? Are you more concerned with ramming Jesus down their throat, or do you care enough about them to love them, build a relationship with them, and let them see Jesus in you. You see, we can't save anyone. And if we try, we fail... miserably. Today, Jesus- the Son of God, the Risen Savior, the redeemer of all, saved Jeff. We just loved him and told him who Jesus was and what He was doing in OUR lives, and that there was a God who loved him more than all of creation, and created him so that He could love him. Today, Jeff found his Creator. And it was one of the most awesome things I've ever witnessed. HOLY BUCKETS!

God bless-

robbie

The Mac Nation

2008-05-02T23:05:00.002-05:00

Well everyone, the Journey is officially part of the Mac Nation. Today, John Griffin and I spent the day at the Mac store. We asked a lot of questions, we listened to a lot of answers, and then we asked more questions! After it was all said and done, we walked out of there with our brand spankin new Mac Book. I'm actually doing this post on it. I must admit. It's very overwhelming at first. For those of you who are already part of the Mac world, you know what I'm talking about. It's basically like learning how to use a computer all over again.

I'm really excited about this because, as we move forward, the Journey will be on the front edge of technology. We now have the available software to be able to create really cool videos, professionally record music, and give a presentation that is very technologically advanced! I'm excited to be learning the new operating system and will probably be up for the rest of the night playing around. And this is why I must bid you all adieu!

God Bless!

scorecard 2

2008-05-01T23:48:00.003-05:00

Hey everyone, not that you care, but I'm officially out of my first semester of college!!!! Robbie 4, 1st semester 0! Anyway, I have a marvelous four weeks off and then, it's back to the grindstone!

So, a couple of guys that go to the Journey and I started a Bible study tonight. I'm really looking forward to spending some time with these guys, getting into God's word. We spent some time reading the first couple chapters of John, then we talked about what we'd read. It's awesome how different people get different things out of scripture. This is such an awesome way for God to reveal new things to you about something that you've read several times. If you're not in a small group like this, I would encourage you to do so. You don't have to be a Bible scholar to do it. I can promise you that! None of the three of us are. But what you will find is, that personal relationship you always hear about with Jesus, it's the best way to get to know him!

Do yourself a favor. Even if you're not in a small group, open the Book! Take time to read it. Watch your life be transformed!

Talk to y'all soon!

-robbie

The Scorecard

2008-04-29T14:15:00.001-05:00

Soooooo, I finished three of my four finals today!!!! Yippeeeeeee! One more to go. I'm pretty sure that I did extremely well on all three of them. I'm sure of this because I actually knew the answers to all of the questions! So, the scorecard reads Robbie-3, 1st semester of college -0, undecided-1! (updated scorecard available after 2:00 p.m. Thursday)

A very cool thing happened to me today. For those of you who know me, you know that I am a writer, as well as a musician. As a matter of fact, one of my majors is English. I've written a novel, and am working on my second one. Today, my English proffessor asked me to stay after the final. She wanted to talk to me. Uh-oh! Immediately I thought, "What have I done?", right? Well, with a little bit of nervousness, I stepped out into the hall and waited. She began to remind me of something she'd mentioned early on in the semester. My school has a publication that comes out once a year and gets used all throughout the following year by the entire English department. It is a compilation of the best essays and journals of the students from the previous year. This, from what I understand, includes all levels of English classes. And I believe, though I could be mistaken, that she said they only pick ten. Today, she asked me if I would mind if they published one of my journals! Of course I said no. I'm holding out for a book deal! JUST KIDDING! I was very excited and said yes. So, I will now be, officially, a published author!

I share this with you all, not to brag, but to say that it feels really good when you are validated for something you've accomplished. So often we talk about this world and being "of the world" in our Christian walks. Mostly we hear that you should be "in the world" and not "of it". I agree... from the biblical standpoint and what Jesus taught. However, this does not mean you shouldn't be happy with yourself for accomplishing something that betters you. God honors hard work. He is our Father, and just like any parent, He's proud of us when we succeed. What we have to remember is, He's given us the ability to do the things we do. And everything we do should be done to honor Him. So, I would just like to say, "Thank you, Father, for the gifts you've given me. I pray that everything I do would bring you honor and glory."

Blessings,
-Robbie

orange sherbet

2008-04-28T23:00:00.005-05:00

thank you all for the recipies! i find it amusing that you all would take the time to actually look it up and send me the "how to's"! you all crack me up! i am so blessed to have people in my life that make me laugh.

while i love the fact that you all make me laugh, i do hope that the other five questions have caused you to open your bibles and read God's word. whether you answer the questions by posting or not, i hope that you will ask yourselves internally. Alicia, thanks for the comment. I miss and love you and Rob dearly and we need to hang out! The pool's gonna be open soon!!!!!!!!

to all my friends at The Journey, Peace!

-robbie

How Do You Worship?

2008-04-26T14:12:00.004-05:00

Hello, all. My trip to Atlanta was successful. We played for a married couple's conference at a place called Woodstock, strangely enough! Anyway, I'm back and right back into the mess that is my life! I listened to some cool stuff on the way there and back. Ed Young and Erwin McManus. Two Amazing speakers, from two completely different churches, both knocking it out of the park! You all should check them out. Just follow the links.

Last month, I started reading the Gospels again. I'm getting ready to host a bible study for a few guys and I thought, what better place to start, right? Here's the cool thing. I've read the Gospels... I can't tell you how many times. It amazes me that, each time I read them, God always gives me new insight on something.

John 4:19-24 is that something. Click the link and read it. It's goooooood stuff.

Here are some questions I would love you all to answer. You can post your comments or just email me. If you are on my praise team and tech team, I really would like you to answer these. We will be talking about them over the next few weeks. God Bless and I love you all.

1. What does Jesus mean when he says, "Salvation is of the Jews?"

2. If the Father is "seeking such to worship Him", does that mean that He is not interested in those who do not worship Him in truth and spirit? Can't you just sing the songs and be a good Christian? (think about this...it's kind of a trick question)

3. What does it mean to worship in truth and spirit?

4. Is worship something we do on Sundays or is it more?

5. What is your job as a worshiper?

6. How do they make orange sherbet? (I just always wanted to know that!)

Atlanta

2008-04-24T17:35:00.003-05:00

Today i finished my first semester of school!!!! I'm so excited that I made it. Now I just have to figure out how to register for next sememster! Lol.

When I finished my last class, I headed to the parking lot, jumped in the truck, and headed for Atlanta. (No, I'm not here partying!) I'm actually here to play for a married couple's conference for one of the North Point campuses. It was a pretty uneventful drive, but on the way down, I listened to my Ipod and the new Erwin McManus teaching series. The title of was, "Everyone Matters". Very cool! If you don't know who Erwin is, or what Mosaic is, please click on the link. You should check it out. He's one of the biggest Christian Circut speakers out there.

Anyway, I made it here with no problems, except traffic! But that's to be expected from Atlanta. Right now, I'm sitting in my hotel room writing this post and wondering, "What the heck am I doing for dinner? I'M STARVING!!!!!"

love you all, cya when i get back!

Robbie

remote controls

2008-04-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

when i woke up this morning, i felt rested for the first time in almost three days. most of you know that the Ignite conference was this weekend. it was an awesome experience, and i want to thank everyone who was involved from the bottom of my heart. you all were amazing, and erik and i couldn't have done it without you.

my wife and i had a fun discussion this morning! the batteries in the remote downstairs went dead. i asked her where she'd put the new ones. (i knew she had bought some at wall mart this week.) she told me they were gone. all being used, she said. i said, well, guess we're going to have to wait. she looks at me like i'm stupid. "why don't you just go get the ones out of the one upstairs?" she says. i say, "because i already did that the last time. there are no batteries in that one."

now, here's where i have to stop and explain some things! two years ago, we got a DVR. when we did, the satelite guy showed up, installed all of the equiptment,and gave us a new reciever and new remote! which means, for those of you who are getting ahead of me, we have two remotes exactly alike, and one new one!

ok, let's continue. for this to make sense, you need to know that i was downstairs in our bedroom last night doing homework. she was upstairs with cason getting him ready for bed. i never went back upstairs before i went to bed.

i say, "i already took the batteries outta that one". she said, "no you didn't. i was using it last night. you were asleep when i came downstairs." i say, "no, i mean when the batteries in this one died last time...i took the ones outta that one then."
again, she's looking at me like i'm stupid. she says, "so just go get that one upstairs and use it."

now meantime, cason, our son is waiting for someone, anyone, to turn on Mickey Mouse!

i say, "that one doesn't work." she looks at me like i'm a complete and total idiot. she says, "am i speaking mandarin chinese? i just used it last night! it works!"

at this point this is getting ridiculous. we both go upstairs, so i can show her that she's wrong, and so she can prove that i'm an idiot (and let's be honest. most of the time, i am an idiot!)

the moral of the story is this: guys, women don't care about remotes, batteries, sportscenter, or anything that we love about our TVs. she was right. the remote upstairs works. (for that TV.) she had no idea, nor did she care, that i was talking about the other remote, the one that's been in the drawer for two years that went to the old reciever. what they do care about is communication. i don't care if you're doctor phil. if you're a guy, you need to work on your communication with your wife. Christ said we need to love our wives like He loves the Church. the Church is His bride and He would do anything for her. as a matter of fact, He did. He gave his life, so that she may have life eternal.

remotes don't matter. the woman you pledged your love to does. let's all work on our communication and let her know how much we love her. I love you Tiffany!

God Bless!

Band Tryouts...Check this Out!

2008-04-18T08:52:00.001-05:00

If you are like the following tryout you are about to see...don't ask to be a part of The Journey praise band...please!

intercession III

2008-04-17T16:11:00.007-05:00

I had lunch with a friend of mine today, Sawn Allen. Great guy, for a cop! just kiddin' Shawn. Anyway, we talked a lot about the Ignite Conference and what God was doing with it. He's going to be our MC, our "Ryan Seacrest" (is that how you spell Seacrest?). Towards the end of our time we began to talk about all the awesome things that are going on, and about to be going on, at The Journey. We kinda got into this discussion of intercession. When I mentioned to him that Satan was THE angel of worship, he looked at me and said, "Where'd you hear that?!". In the book of Ezekiel, particularly verse 18, you see him giving a judgement, basically, that the LORD has given him for the king of Tyre. In this judgement, he is comparing the king to Satan; describing Satan. In this particular verse he mentions the "unrighteousness of your trade". And this is where we get our first glimpse of what I'm talking about.

Now, I've heard many people talk about it, the book, Dante's Inferno, mentions it, and many scholars and authors have written about the fact that Satan, or Lucifer as he was called before his exile from the kingdom of God, was the Worship Leader of Heaven. Both the books of Ezekiel, and Isaiah, talk about Lucifer and what he looked like. Depending on which translation you use, you will see that his wings (remember he is an angel) were as pipes from an organ, long and shiny, reflecting like gold (I'm paraphrasing here!). And I'm currently on a hunt through the Bible to find the piece of scripture where it actually talks about Lucifer's role as the rockstar. I know I've seen other scripture where it says his entire body was a musical instrument. I just need to find it! And I will!

Until then, we need to keep in mind that Jesus talks about worship in Heaven and the type of worshipers that the Father seeks to worship him. John 4:23 tells us that Jesus says true worshipers, those who worship in spirit and in truth, will be the ones that God listens to. WOW! Don't you want to be that guy? I do! Can you immagine the power that you have bestowed upon you when you worship God with truth and in spirit? You have the power to interceed on behalf of those, your brothers and sisters, who may not even know him yet. And if Lucifer was the worhsip leader, can you immagine how infuriated he is when he sees those of us who worship in truth and spirit? You have to understand, scripture says (Ezekiel again) he was THE MOST annionted cherub in Heaven. He had access to the mountain of GOD. He had God's ear. And now, we do.

The scriptures say that Lucifer was the most spectacular created being in the world; God's most annointed. But the scriptures also say that he is only an angel, worship leader or not, and I have authority over the angels. You do too. Read the scritpures. So, if God made Lucifer his most beautiful, spectacular, most annointed creation... and then scripture says I'm more revered than even the angels, and He makes everything glorious, and I am His, then in the fantastic words of David Crowder, "What does that make me!"

Ignite Conference

2008-04-16T14:53:00.001-05:00

ok, i lied! well, not really....ok, yeah, i lied!

i'm not going to talk about Satan and worship today. i'll do that tomorrow. today i'm going to talk about the Ignite conference and Ignite Humanity, all of which is consuming my every waking moment this week!!! But that's a good thing.

This Saturday, starting at 9:00 a.m., Erik Reed and I (the co-founders of Ignite Humanity) are hosting a conference at New Hope Baptist Church. YOU NEED TO BE THERE!!!!! it's going to be a blast. if you want to know more, just click the link!

so today, i wake up to my son inches from my face, pinching my nose, hollaring in his sweet little two-year-old voice, "Wake Up DADDY!!!". the next thing out of his mouth?... "I wanna go Ashton's house!" to find out who Ashton is, check out my friends, the Perry's blog.

the next forty minutes of my life is a broken record: ME: we can't go to Ashton's house, you have to go to school today! (pre-school) CASON: daddy, i wanna go Ashton's house! ME: we can't go to Ashton's house, you have to go to school today! CASON: daddy, i wanna go Aston's house!... you get the picture.

so here's my thought for the day. why is it after you become a parent, you are willing to sit and talk to a two-year-old who has zero comprehension skills and yet, you will continue to do the Abbot and Costello skit with them for almost an hour, beleiving that somehow God will intervine and make them understand? this is what your mother refered to when she said, "I can't wait until you have kids!"

God Bless!

intercession II

2008-04-16T00:18:00.000-05:00

so, we left off with a cliffhanger! i love them. anyone who watches "Lost" loves a good cliffhanger! in my last post, i had some ideas as to why we may feel disconnected from worhsip. i didn't get into them, but i told you i had them. so, here it goes.

i said that all throughout the bible, we find talk about intercession. Moses interceeded on behalf of the Isrealites, the book of Samuel talks about the Philistines being defeated through intercession and sacrifice, and Joel prophesied about the intercession of worshipers, moving in front of the army. AHHHHH! now that one really interests me. why? well, because i'm a worship leader. so, me and some of the people from my praise team got together for lunch the other day. we had a great talk about what was going on at The Journey. we've had some incredible worship these last couple weeks. everyone has been telling us how much God has been ministering to them. and we've felt it too. but this Sunday, it was different. and it's happened several times. here's how it goes: we meet in the morning and pray together, before we do anything else. during that prayer time, we ask God to use us however He sees fit. we ask him to help us remove ourselves and just be a vessel that He can work through. and what do you know, we begin to lead worship and everything feels weird. the band's firing on all cylinders. the tech team is right in sync with us. the atmosphere is great. the people we're looking out at have their hands raised, their eyes are closed, and they truly seem to be worhsiping. but we feel completely disconnected. so why don't we feel that annointing, that saturation of God's spirit? after the praise set, we all meet out in the hall, before we go take our seats to hear Erik's message. it's unanimous. every one of us feels like we were pulling teeth up there just to get through it.

guys, this has bothered me in the past when it's happened. i never talked about it with my team, cause i truly felt like there was something that i did wrong; that it had nothing to do with them and i needed to deal with it. i would search my mind. relive the past week. where did i fail? did i not spend enough time in prayer? did i spend enough time in preparation? is there something in my life that's standing between me and that intimate place with God? am i the only one who felt like that? well, this week, i found out. i wasn't the only one who felt it. the whole team did. and they went through the same questions that i did. so what's the deal?

as we talked about it, God started to reveal some stuff to me. and it was really cool because, as soon as He gave me the thought, someone else would immediately confirm it. God was telling them the same thing at that exact moment. and not just one or two of them. i'm talking everyone!

The Journey is a church that is trying to reach the unchurched. we have been blessed with many spiritually mature Christians, but we have a lot of people who are new in their faith, or are just plain spiritual infants. and i've talked to a bunch of them. as they grow, they are struggling with decisions that they need to make on a weekly basis. whether it's actually becoming a Christ follower, or just learning what it means to be obedient. whatever the case is, they're in a vulnerable place. this is because our enemy wants nothing more than to attack them and make them feel unworthy. if he can cause confusion in their minds, then he can make them doubt that they are worthy of growing, or even accepting grace. THIS IS SPIRITUAL WARFARE, for any of you who are oblivious to what's going on around you! And they are not equipt to deal with it just yet. (well, they are, but they may not know how. that's a whole nother blog series we'll get into another time!) thus, intercession.

as Joel prophesied about the worshipers interceeding for the army, we too are interceeding for those who are in our congregation who may not be aware of the war going on around them, or just don't know how to combat it themselves. remember, we asked God to use us however He needed!

i believe, and this is what God has revealed to me, that when we feel that stress during worhsip, that disconnect to the rest of the audience, it is because at that time, in our pure worship, we (though maybe unknowingly) are waging the war for those who Satan is trying to attack. Pure worship is something that cannot be defeated. it's what we were created for. strangely enough, it's what Satan was created for, as well. some of you are saying, "WHAT????" i promise, it's true. i'm gonna talk about it in the next post. if we are in that place of true worship, without even trying to, we are paving the way for the angels of the LORD to rage their battles. and i think this is where the disconnect comes from. we are sensing the tension of the battle going on around us at that time. i truly believe that if God lifted the veil for us to see the realm in which this war is being fought, we would see it litterally in front of us, in the sanctuary, around the non-believers, and immature. want proof?

this week, a woman gave her life to Christ during our service. my wife had the pleasure of talking to her a little, and praying for her. the woman told her that she had been struggling with her life all week. she'd been in a place of confusion, doubt, hurt, and not knowing which end was up. she said that by the time we had gotten half way through our worship, it all went away and she knew she needed to come forward and ask someone to pray with her. she needed to give her life to Jesus, and she wanted to know how!

talk to y'all soon! God bless,

robbie

intercession

2008-04-14T16:12:00.000-05:00

What is our job as worhipers? Well, i'm sure many people would say many things. And they'd probably be right, for the most part! But I'd like to focus on something that probably not a lot of us are aware of, or maybe even not comfortable with. Nonetheless, it's true. And whether we like it or not, as Christ followers, we must accept the fact that we are called to intercede on behalf of those who God is ministering to.

Intercession is something that a lot of people aren't that savy about. I am one of those people. But the Bible talks about it, so it must be important! Here's what I've realized. If you are a person who is a worship leader, or a praise team member (that inculeds tech team and band), and fully commit yourself to worshiping God on Sunday mornings, you are vulnerable to spiritual attack! And this goes for any of you who are wholly worshiping God, whether it's in your seat or by serving in another ministry area. Especially if you are someone who is constantly seeking God's face all throughout the week. I'm going to let you in on a little secret. If you pray for God to use you, to work through you, and you are sincere, He's gonna do it! And the scary thing is, you may not even know you're being used. But if you pay attention, and you ask for God's discernment, it may be very clear to you how you were used. This is something that happened to me this week. While exciting and energizing, it's also very unsettling. And here's why. I'm not a tough-guy! I'm not going around looking to pick a fight. But here's what God revealed to me this week. (and it was confirmed by several people that i look up to spiritually) As someone who is a worship leader, someone who is seeking after God's face, when I've asked Him to allow me to serve Him, when I've said, "Use me, Father, for whatever you want to do today", that's exactly what I have been doing. Walking around picking a fight.

Let me ask you a question: Have you ever been involved in worship and you just feel like there's this barrier between you and everyone else? The answer I'm looking for is not one that can be given honestly, unless you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that you were not distracted of your own accord. I mean if you came to worship, bent on seeing God's face that day, laying down your life, and picking up His cross. Have you ever experienced that? I have. And it's very disheartening. Or, at least, it was! That was until I realized why.

Over the next few days and weeks, I'll be posting on why I believe we are subjected to this. If you want to know my thoughts, please tune in next time and may God bless you more than you can endure!