Stressful Love 10/22/2009
 
I talked with a friend last month, and he made a statement that has been on my mind for the last several weeks.  My friend, Marshall, said, "I've noticed that the things that stress me out the most are also the things that I love the most."  Wow!  That is so true.  The top 10 factors that bring me the greatest amount of stress are also the top 10 passions of my life.  Maybe you aren't following me.  Let me give an example.

I love being a pastor.  I get to help people in their greatest times of need.  I get to see their life find purpose through their relationship with God.  I get a front row seat as He builds His Kingdom before my eyes.  While it is the greatest thrill on earth to be used by God in a mighty way, it is also most stressful.  I feel the weight of being God's mouthpiece.  I feel the immense pressure of being a visionary on His behalf and when people in my flock hurt, I hurt alongside of them in a transcendent way.

Okay, I recognize this experience is unique to me in comparison to the typical reader so let me give another example.  How about you guys who love golf?  Does it bring you any stress?  When your fade turns into a slice or when every putt seems to lip out, does your passion turn into frustration, anger, or stress?  How about parenting?  I love my kids, but they bring about a great deal of stress.  My 9 year old daughter is the love of my life, but she stresses me out to no end. She is already asking me when she can have a boyfriend.  I told her yesterday that she already had a boyfriend (her daddy) and I wasn't ready to breakup yet and probably won't for a long time.  I can only imagine what it is going to be like when she is a teenager.

How about marriage?  Your Career?  Your favorite sports team?  Why is it that the things we are most passionate about bring about the greatest amount of stress?  I think about Jesus on the cross, which must have been the greatest moment of stress in His incarnate life.  Why would he endure such stress?  Why endure the whips, the mockery, and the abuse?  If my illustration is implied to Jesus' death, the implications would say that Jesus had an unquestionable, deeply passionate love for God's children.  So much so that He would endure such excruciating stress that made the pores on his brow sweat blood.  Oh how He loves us!
 
 
There are so many things to be excited about at the Journey Church.  We are seeing life transformation happen in families, individuals, and in our community.  Next month we will be having our third baptism service as we celebrate the milestones in several of our family members lives.  Also, we are seeing 85% of those adults in our worship service attending a small group each week.   This tells us that the people in our church are serious about growing in their relationship with Jesus.  We are currently planning multiple mission projects.  This month we will be hosting a movie night at a local elementary school where we hope to engage with hundreds of unchurched families in our community. 

We are also excited about the recent growth in our worship services.  Each month since June we have seen our average monthly attendance rise.  Because of this growth, we have been forced to plan for our future.  We plan to move into our new location in the beginning of 2010.  These plans are going to require a lot from us.  A major theme at our church lately has been sacrifice.  We know that our people are responding because over the last few weeks we've seen our church sacrifice in a major way.  We had our "First Offering Sunday," last weekend where we raised over $35,543!  Added to the money that had received before the first offering service, we have raised a total of $49,891!  That is real sacrifice for a church made up of families, new professionals & college students.

We still have a lot of work ahead of us.  In the next 4 months we will be building a stage for our new santuary, painting a building, constructing a riser system, and decorating an entire interior.  We are also about 20% below our total pledge goal, which represents about $40,000 more in pledges that we need over the next two years.  If we could identify 10 givers who would pledge $3,000 and 10 givers who would pledge $1,000 we could reach our goal.  If you could play a part in these plans, please let us know by turning in a Rebuilt Pledge card.  We can accomplish this together!
 
Building Update 09/17/2009
 
This post has been delayed because we have been waiting on a few final answers to come in that I wanted everyone to be made aware of.  Over the last three weeks we have been receiving pledges from our church family.  The responses have slowly trickled in and while we have two more Sunday's to hear back from our people, we are about 60% towards our goal.  If you haven't sent in your pledge card please do so over the next two weeks.  On Sunday, October 4th, we will have our first offering Sunday.  The following Monday, we will make several decisions that will effect our final plans for the building.  So it is imperative that our support network communicate to us the sacrifice they are willing to make in the next two weeks.  We are taking every precaution to be good stewards of the resources that God is bringing to us.

Over the last three weeks we have been working with the architect to finalize the drawings for the building.  We are very excited about the final layout of the building. The worship center will seat around 300 adult worshipers and the children's space, made into a jungle theme, will have a kid's worship center and four rooms to give our infants, toddlers, & preschoolers a safe and exciting environment to grow in.  Now we wait to get all the plans approved and gain permits so that construction can begin.  This is a very exciting time.  While these plans have been going through the finalization process we have witnessed our church both grow and gain momentum.  The last four Sundays we have seen an average of about 130 worshipers at our Sunday gatherings and nearly 90% of those adult worshipers have gotten involved in a small group.  God is blessing us greatly and we must remain faithful to his calling.  The road is going to be exciting, with its share of bumpy terrian, but together we will see Him work mightily right before our eyes.

Keep praying.  Keep sacrificing and keep serving with all your heart.
 
 
This Sunday we talked candidly about the God-sized challenge that is ahead of us at Journey Church.  As we plan to move into our new space in 2010, we have a lot of work, sweat, and tears to invest in order to make this happen.  One of the biggest tasks will be to raise the $225,000 it will take to sustain this plan.  Over the last two weeks we have met with the leaders of our church (small group leaders, servant leaders, and elders) asking them to lead our church in sacrificing for this project.  I am happy to report that these 12 family units committed to over $62,000 over the next two years.  Since Sunday, after receiving more commitments from both inside and outside our church, we have received $98,000 in pledges.  This is a fabulous start but we still have a ways to go.  Over the next five weeks we are asking our people to bring their pledge card to one of our worship services and place it in the offering plate.  If you are one of our out-of-town family members we ask that you also pray about this challenge, and if you decide to be apart of our team, please mail in your commitment card to PO Box 3392; Summerville, SC 29484.  Everyone in town can either pickup a pledge card at the information booth or download it here or on our website. Please be considering what you can do to help us reach our goal.  For a full explanation on our plan please download this weeks sermon.

We will continue to post information on this webpage each week as things develop.  We will announce plans, update our status, and make requests from this webpage.
 
Honduras 08/13/2009
 
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Wednesday morning around 4:30am, I finally crawled into my bed after 21 hours of bus & plane rides, layovers and van rides.  It was some tough traveling and delays were possibilities at every stop, but God was faithful to get us home.  This traveling was the culmination of a great mission trip by an impressive team.  The team was commissioned to do VBS ministry, door-to-door evangelism, abstinence training to youth, painting, sports evangelism, and we were asked to lead a church planting conference for local indigenous church planters (see picture for a few of the church leaders we trained).  My team was exceptional.  They served with a sacrificial heart, persevered through roadblocks, showed flexibility, and had the gospel at the heart of all they did.  We were fortunate to see God draw 22 people to himself through our ministry!

I would like to share two stories that touched my heart.  First, I met a little old lady in a village who had an infection in her foot.  She gave us permission to enter the house and her bedroom because her daughter wanted us to pray for her.  Our team knelt at her bedside and prayed for her.  Before leaving we ask, "Do you believe that Jesus has the power to heal your foot?"  Said responded in the affirmative so we pressed on, "Have you also trusted Christ to forgive your sins and be your Savior?"  So said, "No, I haven't."  We pressed even further with the gospel and she obliged us to share.  To my joy, she said that today she would like to give her life to Jesus.  We prayed and celebrated together.  In itself that is a great story but the most amazing part happened as we were leaving.  The daughter stop me and said (through a translator), "Many missionaries and church members have stop by to talk with my mother but every time she told them she was uninterested in receiving Christ.  I am so happy that you came.  My mother saw something different in you."  How cool is that?  God sent me around the world to have a divine appointment with a little woman named Norma.  She was unwilling to hear the gospel from others but God was set on gathering his harvest through me!

Second, there was a young man at our church planting conference (he is the 2nd person from the left wearing a black shirt).  This kid couldn't have been more than 12 years old and he was at a church planting conference!  We spoke every day for 8 hours and his focus was completely unhindered.  He was soaking in all that he could.  As Neal McGlohon rattled off complex-metaphorical concepts about church planting, he never lost focus.  I was amazed as he took pages of notes and plowed through his Bible passage-after-passage.  I was reminded that God is doing great things through this generation and he hasn't given up.  He is moving in the hearts of young men and woman to change the landscape of our world, our nations, and our communities.
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Change is Coming 08/03/2009
 
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A change is coming.  After nearly three years of ministry, two borrowed venues, countless prayers, and an unknown amount of fasting, the Journey Church is moving to our own location!  In January of 2010, we will move into our 9000 square feet venue (pictured above).  We are so excited about this opportunity for so many reasons.  First, it will meet our future needs.  Our new location off of Treeland Drive in Summerville will have a 300 seat worship center, 5 large children's ministry rooms, a coffee bar, and plenty of parking for new guests.  If you would like to view our rough drawings, click here.  Second, the location provides us with ample opportunity for growth.  The location of our venue is viewable from Interstate 26 and is set between two key interchanges leading to Hwy 17A and College Park Road.  Our location will give us exposure allowing us greater opportunity to impact our community  Finally, we have a special opportunity to see God do an amazing work before our eyes.  Someone once told me, "Will, if you want to witness God do something great you must put yourself in a postion where God alone is your solution."  We are trusting God to provide the resources to bring about his vision.  We are trusting that God is going to form a special team to sacrifice together to see his vision realized.  We are trusting that God is going to draw us closer to Him, and closer together, as we continue to Journey together.
 
Moving Forward 07/31/2009
 
The last six months have been an exciting, yet challenging time for the leaders of our church.  We have for some time been closing watching our church grow and trying to plan for the future.  We began praying towards what seemed like our next, necessary step.  As our eyes met around a table in my house a few months ago, we knew that our next step was going to be a great risk and would challenge our trust in God.  We began to fast and pray together.  As our prayers continued, our search began for solutions to our growth problems.  Over the past few months we felt like our diligent search has brought us to an exciting new location for our church.

Two Sundays ago we called our entire church to pray and fast asking God to open up this door, all-the-while asking him to close the door if it wasn't his will.  The feedback that we have received for our people, the advice we have received from strategists, and the confirmation our elders have received from God has overwhelmingly pointed us towards this plan being God's plan for our church.  We encourage all who can to be at our gathering this Sunday at 5:00 PM as we share more details with our church family.  If you are one of our out-of-town family members, I will post more details on this website as we inform our church of new information.

Bottom Line:  The Journey Church will be moving to a new location in 6 months.  We will need everyone on deck, to assist, serve, give, pray, sacrifice, and work to get this job done.  I couldn't be more excited about our future.  God is going to do great things before our eyes.  Are you ready?  If you are with us, please comment as so below.
 
 

If you were at our gathering service tonight, you heard that the Journey Church is nearing the embarkation to a great step of faith.  In the world's eyes, this would be a great risk.  Our church has grown substantially over the last few years and as we continue to grow we face new obstacles that come with growth.  Over the last 5 months our leaders have been fasting, praying, and searching for God's direction for our church.  We have known for about four months that God is calling us to take a 'Risk' that would require us to trust Him in a way that we have never been privileged to do before.  Many of you have heard me say that my life-quote is, "I want to attempt something so great with my life that it is doomed to failure unless God is in it."  Well, the plan you heard tonight has that kind of weight to its decision.

This week is about our entire church seeking God's will for our church.  This week, I want to ask you to pick a day to fast and pray.  Eat dinner the proceeding evening and then skip eating breakfast and lunch the following day.  About the same time you finished eating dinner the night before, break your fast with a dinner that evening.  This is a 24 hour fast (Remember: drink water or juice throughout the 24 hours).  Every time you get hungry, pray for this decision.  Ask God, "Is this your will for the Journey Church?  Would you be more glorified and worshiped in our community if we go forward with this decision?  What part would you have me play in this process?"  I want you to pray diligently that day and then come back to this blog and write what you heard God confirm in your heart in the comment section below.  What God lays on your hearts will help our elders find confirmation that this is the direction that God is calling our church towards.

Let me encourage all our out-of-town Journey Family to do the same with us.  Listen to the sermon online and fast and pray with us.

 
Feeling My Age 07/08/2009
 

Do you remember the chastising remarks that old people once gave to you like, "One day when you grow up, boy, you will understand."  Or maybe you heard it this way, "You don't know anything until you're thirty!" 

Today I got a chance to hang out with a few ministers who have all played a part in my development.  It was encouraging to sit at the table with this fine team men.  One of them, my former pastor, I called a few months back. I called Pastor Paul in Mount Washington, KY and told him how much more I respected him now that I have sat in the seat that he has sat in for years.  I admire him, and other ministers in a way that I hadn't previously.  I didn't know about the sleepless nights, the constant feeling of pressure, or the tremendous weight of being the mouthpiece of God.

Pastor Paul and I talked frankly about leadership, vision casting, and contentment.  Every time I get around a minister who is paces ahead of me I realize, "There is wisdom after experience."  The old sayings that I despised about wisdom coming with age is becoming more and more true.  God has sent me seasoned men who love me, who want to see me succeed, and who will talk honestly to me about ministry.  I may not have recognized it before, but I stand on the shoulders of so many men who have sacrificed greatly so I can succeed in ministry.

 
My Love 06/29/2009
 
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Well, over the last several months I have sent out onto the wonderful world wide web a little update, or you might say, thoughts on each of my children.  I thought it only appropriate to conclude this series with some thoughts about my wife.

Tarah and I went on a special date a few months back.  For this special date we had to answer some questions.  What kind of date has assignments you may ask?  Hence: a special date!  One of the questions said, "If you had to get something tattooed on you to describe your spouse, what word would you choose?"  Tarah chose, "Trustworthy," to describe me.  Pretty good, right?  Well, I couldn't be topped but I also couldn't delay in my response.  I didn't want a delay to be misread as unpreparedness.

My mind started with, "Hot!"  Tarah is one beautiful lady.  She is all the girls' envy.  After birthing a kid and 30 years of life, she still has a perfect figure.  But I wondered if I said, "Hot," if I would be thought of as shallow.  My mind hurried to, "Fun."  Tarah is always the joy of every party.  Just last night she got several girls together to watch her wedding video.  One girl saw it for the seventh time!  How do you get people that interested in home videos?  Well, you have to have an infectious attitude, which my wife has in the bag.  But I didn't say that because I thought it might be read by Tarah as a little simplistic.  Looking into her eyes now at the table I knew I must rush.  Too much delay would give the wrong impression.  I added a, "Well, let me think," to buy an extra moment.  "Adventuresome," I thought.  Tarah has always been up for any challenge and adventure that I have put before her.  From adopting two kids and birthing a child all in five months to moving 600 miles away to start a church with little to no means of security - she has always been willing.  My fear was that all these words wouldn't do.  I had to choose one?  So hard.  Then I thought of my favorite thing about Tarah in one word.

"Nurturing."  Maybe not what she expected (and maybe not what you expected from me) but I love the fact that Tarah loves me.  She loves me through thick and thin.  She cares deeply about our kids, our home, and my well-being.  Okay, yes, this response does make me sound like a momma's boy but I love that Tarah takes care of me and nurtures the goodness out of me.  I love that she cuts my toe nails, fixes me breakfast, and pops the zits on my back (that is all true).  She is the love of my life and the greatest gift that God has ever given me.