Moving Forward!

My office is like 95% done! I know I keep saying that but it's been a working progress! Tonight Erin and I may go to Forth Smith and get an office chair, seats, and maybe some small decor stuff! It looks great! I will get some pictures up once it all gets done. Last night we ended our American Idols theme and it went good. We set up the chairs different for youth and made our own cool worship zone area, it was fun! I think it may have shook up the norm on Wednesday but it's always fun to mix it up and keep things fresh and different. We are starting a new theme this next month called The Stand where we deal with Standing Up for Christ/Standing Out from the crowd/Standing On God's strength/And finally Standing With others! It's is going to be a lot of fun! It's so important for teenagers and even adults to Stand strong in our relationship with Christ! So many things pull at us and yet there is only one thing truly matters when it's all said and done, and that's the relationship we had or didn't have with Christ! I want to live a life that stands for Christ even when all else falls away! It's been busy and it is only going to get busier so we are ready for ALL that God has.

Holy Smokes!

Holy Smokes! Dennis Jernigan was amazing Sunday night! The worship we were apart of was perfect for where we are at! Everything Pastor Jeff has been speaking about concerning worship was solidified Sunday night. I can't think of a better fit than what Sunday night was for us! Dennis did such a great job leading us into the presence of God, it was so easy to just go to the throne room of heaven! The awesome news is that this is the starts of a whole new level for us as a church. God's presence did not leave with Dennis it is deposited here among Journey church and the hearts of our great people!!! I can't wait to see us go to new heights in our worship here! God is doing amazing things and we just want to be swept away with it! Well, all I need is the trim in my office and it's ready to go. Pastor Tony installed ALL my recess lighting in the office here and it looks great (he is awesome!). I think he got shocked a few times, but that's just taking one for the team! As soon as my trim gets on I can unpack all my boxes and set up all my stuff, YEAH! Hopefully today or so I can get this trim in. Well, we had a great time meeting Dennis and hanging out with him Sunday. I hope that we take this experience and let it lead us into new realms of encountering GOD!!!

I Can't Think Of A Fun Title, So Here It Is

Today at church was great! My mom and dad, sister and nephew are here in town and they are staying until Wednesday morning. Tonight Dennis Jernigan is here doing a worship night at our church, it is going to be awesome! I am going to head up to the church in a bit to start getting set up. I have been trying to get new stuff on our website for JSM, I have so many cool ideas. We really want to be online quite a bit with what we do. I would love to have a short 3-5 minute video we make each week online. The video could have interviews of students, leaders, stuff about the current theme and other cool stuff. We are making a studio at the church that has green screen, production lighting, and other nice equipment. I can't wait till we get rolling with everything so we can do a lot of cool cutting edge media stuff online. Check out our website for Journey @ journeychurchonline.com Well, I better get going to make sure everything is good for Dennis tonight, it will be a great night of worship!!!

Going At It!

Yesterday was a great day, the MC students made lunch for all of the staff and our families. We went to the park and they had a bunch of great food for us! I am so thankful to be here among such caring and loving people. I also played a little golf with Pastor Jeff & Pastor Tony, just 9 holes. I did not do very well, but that seems to be the case ever since I picked up a club, we had a good time though. I made a chip shot from like 20-30 yards away, it was nuts! The ball went in the air, hit the flag pole and fell in! I planned it all along that way. Anyway, I feel like my Spirit can't contain all that is in my head to do. I am on overload with ideas, vision, and passion to do all that God has here, it's awesome! Today I am going to go at it again and try to unpack a little, plan, work, and continue to get my office finished. My parents are coming in tomorrow with my sister and my nephew Nate. They are staying for a few days, so that will be a lot of fun! I think we are going to show them our new house and eat at Poncho's Mexican Buffet since we are so close to one (there are only a few in the country and we happen to be close to one, my family and I love it!). Well, I am going to get at it! Here are some pics of my new office. I did this really cool square design that Erin and I came up with. They are all different shades of gray with a cool pattern. Here are before and after pics!

Getting Ready!

I am getting ready for tonight's service! It's spring break here so hopefully we have a decent turnout tonight. We are really trying to focus on raising up the core students right now so that we have a good solid base of students to build upon. The students here are awesome and so personable. Tonight we continue our series American Idols and I have a great message to bring the students. The title tonight is Made to Worship. We will talk about why we were created, and that's to be worshipers of our awesome God! I am telling you my office is so close to being finished. We have so much to do here and so much to get started. Our first big event is our girls night which Erin is putting together with some other leaders. It is April 6th and they are staying the night here at the church, it is going to be awesome. The next thing is our guys night April 27th and we are staying here at the church as well. It will be so good to hang with the students all night and build relationships. I sometimes wish we could time jump about 6 months from now and be rolling, but I love the process to getting there. This weekend Dennis Jernigan is going to be here and it is going to be awesome! God is doing great things, we just want to join Him in all that HE is doing!

Working!

All right! Today was a first staff meeting, and it was great! I love the organization of everything and how Journey operates. We got my lighting for the office today as well as my trim. The students are painting my trim as I write now. We had like 8 students come out today and help paint the church trim and clean up the Zone & the new studio/media room. Erin is meeting with the women planning an awesome event for the church coming in May. My office is so close to being finished, oh my gosh I can't WAIT! I am so excited to start remodeling the zone, building our worship team, building our leadership team, building our student leadership team, organizing events, planning Wednesday services, reaching new students, and discipling the existing students. God is doing great things here and the church is awesome!!! We love everyone here and love being in our new home, Sallisaw, Oklahoma. Anyway, I need to get working again and at some point go home and eat before tomorrow comes. Serving Christ is the best thing in the universe and I love every moment of falling more in love with Jesus!

Worship

Yesterday after church my family and I ate some lunch, then went to the office and put my furniture together. I have 2 bookshelves left to piece together, then touch up some paint and I will be set. Church was great yesterday, Pastor Jeff had yet another awesome message, and God was doing something in the hearts of the people. This series on worship is such an important part of the church. Before anything in life we were created to be worshipers! We were not created to produce and work, we were created to simply be in a passionate relationship with God! God is not looking for worship He is looking for worshipers. John 4:23 says, the time is coming when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of WORSHIPERS the Father seeks. God is seeking for true worshipers not just worship. Worship is something we do, being a worshiper is something we are...a matter of the heart. This weekend Dennis Jernigan is coming to Journey and we are doing a night of worship to end the series. Not many people know Dennis but he is a huge name in the worship world. He wrote the famous worship song, "You are my all in all" and many others people would recognize. It's funny because when I first got saved Dennis Jernigan was the first worship CD I listened to, and it started my journey as a worship leader. Now in this small world I live a few hours away from his hometown here in Oklahoma and he is coming to our church this Sunday, cool huh! Anyway, today is the last day my sister and her family are in town with us and we are going to hang out so I gotta get ready, adios!

Office Almost Finished!

My office is almost done, thank God! I finished painting all the walls. I am doing this cool gray square pattern on the walls, it's pretty cool. I need to clean all the carpet and then put all my office furniture together. The furniture is in about 6-7 BIG boxes...so it will be just great! Tonight my sister Julie and my brother in law Tim, Kayla and Matt came in town. They are staying until Tuesday early morning. Oh yeah tonight Erin, Zion and I ate at what is probably the best Italian food place I have ever had...Bravo! The meal was awesome, we have never talked about a meal like we did with this one. Actually, we are still talking about it and it was hours ago. I am shamelessly advertising Bravo... the best Italian food in the south. Well, hopefully I can talk my family into putting together my office furniture tomorrow and I would be able to unpack next week. I will post some pics of my office as soon as it is functioning.

Another Great Day!

We finally settled on the house we want! Erin and I love it and Zion loves being there as well. Hopefully we can get in by the end of April, but time will tell. Today we are setting everything up with the bank and contracts and all that fun paper work. Last night Erin and I primed my office until 7pm or so, then went and meet with the people that own the house we are buying. We got done with 2 coats of primer and I hope to paint on Thursday and Friday. My office furniture should come in on Friday, so I hope to be set up, unpacked, and ready to go by next Tuesday. I can't wait to get locked in and start some organization so we can get the ball rolling with everything. We have so many ideas and things we feel that God wants to do here. Tonight is our 2nd night of American Idols and I have a great message on Daniel 3. We are going to talk about bowing down to idols in our life and how to stand for Jesus. It should be very good, I feel it in my Spirit. My hope and prayer is that our students come to know the greatness of God and the amazing life He has called them to.

Great Day for a Great GOD!

Today at church was great! Pastor Jeff never ceases to amaze me at his ability to communicate in such an effective way. I am so honored to be serving him as my pastor! I couldn't have tailor made a better fit for us than here in Sallisaw, we are right where God wants us! After church we had baptisms at the Thompson's house and that was really cool. They had a fantastic home-cooked meal that was amazing to say the least. Then we came home and got ready for our student leadership meeting at our house @ 5p.m. We had 24 students who showed up that were interested in being on the student leadership team. We communicated to them that this team was not just about picking up trash, setting up on Wednesdays, and doing "stuff", it was about being faithful examples of what a true Christ follower is. We said, "Leadership is not something you do, it's something you are!" We challenged the students from 1 Timothy 4:12, to be the ones that step up to the plate and become the leaders in this youth ministry here at Journey. I hope and pray that they grasp the vision and become all that God has called them to be to their generation and the world at large. We have an amazing group of students that we love so much. Every time we get a chance to hang with the students we love them more and more. God is up to great things for a great people here at Journey and we are excited! We can't wait to see what God has in store for us, it will be awesome! What a great day for a great GOD!

"End of the Spear"

Today Erin and I got some things together to buy a house we really like. Hopefully everything will work out and we can get it, but we'll see. It needs some updating but it should be fun. The house is really nice and has a good back yard to it. Erin and I watched "End of the Spear" tonight and it really touched our hearts. The story is about the plane driver for Jim Elliot who went into the amazon jungles to reach a vicious brutal tribe. I don't want to ruin the story for those that don't know it, but it is one of the greatest missionary stories of our time. I encourage everyone to watch it! Tonight Erin and I talked about how the movie impacted us so much. One of the lines the kid says to the dad before he flies out is, "will you use guns if they attack you?" and the dad replies, "Son, their not ready for heaven, but we are." I can't believe the compassion this guy had for the lost. What a selfless thing to believe, that the lost are worth it all to Jesus. Sometimes we get so caught up in being "better Christians" but we are already saved and there are people dying and going straight to Hell if we don't reach them. I know we need to grow in our own relationship with Christ. To many times it's all about us going "deeper" and more "revelation" and our "problems" as a follower of Christ rather than reaching the ones that don't even know of the greatness of our God! I think there are times more so than not that we need to stop getting so wrapped up in our story and start reaching those that don't even have a story, if you get me. The movie is great and is a real eye opener to compassion, evangelism, the Sovereignty of God, purpose, destiny, love, forgiveness, trust, sacrifice, just about everything you could think of. It's time to win people to Jesus and stop playing around in our christian huddles. Let's see the love of Jesus overtake this world, and let it begin in our towns, AMEN!

Talent Show

Tonight Pastor Tony and I are judging the talent show here at the local school. I wish we could talk and judge them like American idol but I think it's just us writing on paper what score we give them. Last night went good at JSM (journey student ministries). We started the American Idols theme and it was a lot of fun. We are doing our very own live American Idol we have 4 contestants and everything. The students vote at journeychurchonline.com under JSM - student ministries for their favorite idol. This Sunday we are meeting with all the students that want to be a part of the leadership team for JSM. We had like 20+ students interested in being a leader so that is really cool. We will see which ones really have a heart for it this Sunday afternoon, it will be fun. I can't wait to get my office finished so I can get all my stuff unpacked. I feel a little unorganized since all my books, computer stuff, etc... is packed away in boxes in my garage. We are going to start podcasting our messages for JSM hopefully by this weekend. We have the first 2 Wednesdays ready to go, so we will get them up soon. We love being here with this church and being here with the people. It has been so fun and exciting getting to know everyone and hanging out. I can't wait to see what God is going to do!

Interesting Day

Today is the first night of American Idols and I am excited to get another night of youth under our belt here at Journey. We are doing our very own live American Idol tonight with 4 contestants that will perform tonight with our very own judges. The students will be able to get online and vote for their favorite "idol". Check it out tomorrow @ journeychurchonline.com and go to the student ministry section. You will be able to see highlights videos and vote. Today Pastor Jeff, Pastor Tony and I are going to a farm to collect horse Semen at a breeding stable, don't ask why except that that's what I told we are going to do. I guess this horse is a championship horse that is known, and his offspring are worth a lot (should be a interesting experience). Well I need to get the message going for tonight, finish the American Idol intro videos, finish bio sheets for the students, get worship lined up and printed for tonight, schedule leadership team meeting, schedule a girls night and a guys night, and much more, so adios! God bless!

Laying Tile

Man, what a great few days it has been. We have been laying the new tile in the worship center and foyer and it looks goooooood! I can't wait to see it all done with the new carpet, it is going to have a great feel. Nothing but the best for our King Jesus! Today Erin and I went with Pastor Tony and Mrs. Erin to look for office furniture and I think we found it. Hopefully when the office gets done this week we can start moving in next week. It will be great to get all set up and have a place to work from. Right now I just hang with Pastor Tony and the MC kids in his office, it's fun though. Well I am taking a break now from laying tile so I better get back out there and start up again. What a great God we serve, life is so fun knowing that Christ is the reason for all things. God bless!

God is always working!

Yesterday was Erin's birthday and family surprised her by coming here to Oklahoma. She was at home and they drove in and knocked on the door to sing happy birthday, she was so excited. They are staying here for a few days to hang out with us, how cool!

Pastor Tony and I judged the audition for the talent show coming up next week here at the local school. There were some great acts, it was a lot of fun. Next week we get to judge the real show and we can't wait. It's a great opportunity to get to know the students and get our foot in the school system. It's cool how God sets up divine appointments even when we don't know it, for example: Monday when Erin and I transfered our license we were waiting at the license branch and we meet a girl in the high school that was waiting to take her driving test. We got to invite her out to youth and talk with her a bit, she was really sweet. Well when we were judging the show this girl got up and sang (she was good too!) I asked her if she remembered me and she did, so how cool is that? God is always working we just need to always tune in. I believe that every moment is an opportunity to be used by God to encourage others. I just have to remind myself every second that this life is all about Christ and His purpose, not to drop my head and only be about my so-called-purpose. God is up to great things and we can't wait to see them.

Last Wednesday went great! Pastor Tony interviewed Erin and I as we shared our testimonies. It was a real laid back night of just getting to know the students and building their trust. We surprised Erin with a birthday cake and sang happy birthday to her, she is the BEST! Anyway, next week we are going to start a mini series called, "American Idols" that is going to deal with worship. We all worship something in this life, but who or what is the object of our worship? We will deal with what it means to truly worship our awesome God!