Monday morning

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)