The Spirit of Life... the Essence of Truth... the voice of God. He has always been here, and will always remain. And when you are alone, lost, and afraid, He will carry you home. Come explore the power and comfort of the one who resides within...The Holy Spirit.
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I debated sharing this , but here I go.
In describing the end times Mat 24:12 Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold.
I wonder - have we reached that day - a day where it is ok to say anything we want about anybody without recourse? What ever happen to the day where the office of President, or Pastor was respected even if we didn't fully agree with the person? We have seen it happen time and time again lately where people say stuff that is downright hurtful!
To top that off many times it comes from people who claim to be Christians.
We recently asked our congregation/past attenders to share their heart with us that we might continue to improve, do better, be more Christ Like, better serve our community.
One response blew me away - "This church is great at performing community service, but you can give all you have to the poor and still not know Jesus. I know the history of your beginnings and this church was founded by a guy that is simply a good networker. He would have made a great Amway associate. He is a people pleaser and is only interested in doing what people want in order to generate enough income to keep the shallow gatherings going. There is a difference in being a preacher and being a minister"
Wow, who writes that kind of stuff and claims to be a believer? and of course wouldn't leave their name as well. :) Go Figure..
Feel free to bash me, I am cool with that, but these statements obviously come from a place of pain and lack of knowledge about me and Journey Church. We certainly speak the truth in love, deal with tough issues, put Jesus first in our own lives and challenge others to do the same. Yes we give to the poor, we reach out, and have been blessed to see people come to Christ every week. We seek to walk out our core values of loving God, loving others, and serving the world in Jesus name! How could one say we don't know Jesus.. If not - we have really missed it!
A shallow group of believers- wow that is a pretty harsh thing to say about the 650+ people who call Journey their church home on a weekly basis, who love God with all their hearts, and live their lives to make a difference in the lives of others. Who gather together regularly to pray, seek God's face, grow in small groups, give to the poor, help orphans, and much much more.
As I read that statement, I honestly pray for the person who would have such feelings in their heart. If I personally did anything to offend you please contact me, I will do whatever is needed to make amends. Our heart breaks to see people hurting so much that they would write such a thing..
Lord forgive us our trespasses. Help us to keep short accounts, and Jesus help us to surrender all to you for you are our Lord and King.
I am fired up about some new technology put out with huge thanks from the folks at lifechurch.tv . If you have not checked it out already I highly encourage you to check out http://www.youversion.com it is a social networking version of the bible that can be accessed from the internet or any web enabled smart phone.
They recently added a feature which will definitely spell the end of the printed church bulletin and the future of the Electronic Smart Phone Enabled church bulletin with full blown interaction during the course of the service.
Youversion recently announced its "LIVE" version which churches may use to build an order of service that will be accessible from any smart phone or web browser. When the service starts the participant can flow through every aspect of service on the web enabled device.
They can submit Prayer requests, tithe online, fill out electronic "Get Connected" cards and then while the pastor is preaching they can follow along verse by verse, note by note, and even take notes themselves. Electronic polls with live feedback can even be posted and responded to on the smart device.
You will want to take advantage of this powerful new technology.
Here is what you have to do.
1) Tell your pastor to create a church account on youversion a "GROUP" for the church. Once a group has been created the Pastor can begin to add events or services which congregants will be able to view them online or on the phone.
2) Congregants/Participants- go online to http://www.youversion.com and create an account. Once an account has been created goto your church's group - example = http://www.youversion.com/groups/journeychurch
sign up to be a part of that group - This will enable you to view services online and use the social networking features of the online bible.
3) If you have an iPhone or smart device download the Youversion App Bring your smart phone to church and click on the "LIVE" button from within the youversion application. If the phone doesn't automatically find the service by GPS, type in the zip code 32065 and it will find the event, click on the event and follow along with the service flow live.
Enjoy!
I have grown to really like the teachings of Pastor Francis Chan from Cornerstone Church in Simi Valley. His first book Crazy Love was simply incredible and a must read. In his latest book he challenges the church and believers in Christ to take a fresh look at the Person of the Holy Spirit.
He challenges the readers thought processes on what we believe and what we think with regards to this powerful topic. Comments like shouldn't the Holy Spirit filled believer look like and live radically different than an unsaved person? If true why is it that in American Christianity today, there seems to be so little difference between people who claim the name of Jesus and those who do not?
Could it be that we are walking in our own power? vs living our lives in the power of the Holy Spirit?
This summary is not meant to be a book review - Starting this week at Journey Church we are going to do an in depth study on the topic of the Holy Spirit. We will examine basic theology about the Spirit, Why you want Him to be at work in your life, How can you grieve the Holy Spirit, The Spirit Filled Supernatural Church, and the gifts of the spirit.
Chan's book would make a great companion study to this message series. Use the link above and get a copy of your own.
If you would like to take part in this series join us in person at Journey Church. You can visit our website www.journeychurch.org for service times and directions. If you want to watch us online during any of our regular services you can do that too. http://www.livestream.com/journeychurch
What you see is not all there is. The Bible says, "We are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." (Eph 6:12, NLT). Join us as we study spiritual warfare, angels, demons and the Holy Spirit. Together we'll uncover the SuperNatural.
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What you see is not all there is. The Bible says, "We are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." (Eph 6:12, NLT). Join us as we study spiritual warfare, angels, demons and the Holy Spirit. Together we'll uncover the SuperNatural.
MP3 File
What you see is not all there is. The Bible says, "We are not fighting against people made of flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world..." (Eph 6:12, NLT). Join us as we study spiritual warfare, angels, demons and the Holy Spirit. Together well uncover the SuperNatural.
MP3 File