REPENT.

It’s a hard word.

To say…and to hear…

The emotions that it uncovers and the images that it projects are of a street preacher with no compassion or mercy screaming the word at the top of his lungs telling everyone they’re going to hell if they don’t repent.

But I have a different thought today… something Jesus said in Matthew 3.  To bear fruit in keeping with repentance…

Repentance ENABLES us to bear fruit.  We cannot bear fruit that lasts without repenting.  And not just the one time at the point of your salvation kind of repentance… the kind I’m talking about is  repenting that is a CONTINUAL process.  It’s foundational to the Gospel being reflected in our lives.  The more we grow to reflect the Gospel the more we recognize and become aware of God’s Holiness AND aware of our own sinfulness.  The more we are aware of our own sinfulness means the more need I have to repent, to change my mind, change my heart.  The greek word is “metanoia”.  It means to turn around, turn away from and turn to something.

Repentance isn’t just acknowledging our sin… “yep, I messed up.  Blew it again”, but it’s seeing our sin as God sees our sin… really seeing our sin and having it affect us so much that it causes a change of heart, not just a passing acknowledgement. 

When we really think about our sinfulness, what it cost God’s son on the cross, and how we’re completely forgiven, exonerated from the penalty of our sin because of the sacrifice of Jesus… It should do SOMETHING in us.  It should move us and motivate us to produce fruit.  Fruit that comes from a heart that is completely transformed, not perfect by any means, but transformed by the power of God to live and walk in a way that reflects the holiness and grace of God.

I need to repent.  Not just once when I come to Christ.  Not just when I blow it and sin big.  Every day I need to examine my life, my motives, my actions, my words… to see if there is “any wicked way in me”. (Psalm 139:24).   Trust me… there will be.  And instead of glossing over it, dismissing it, or managing it behaviorally, simply REPENT.  Turn from it.  Turn toward Christ.  Renounce it.  Close the door on it.  And receive His grace that He has given so freely… and then bear fruit, not that comes from your manufactured works… but that is an overflow of a repentant heart.

What are things in my life RIGHT NOW that I need to repent of?  In my distant past?  Is there anything (sin) that I’m holding onto that keeps me from bearing fruit?

Ask the question… is my sinfulness, known or unknown, keeping me from bearing fruit?   What could happen if true repentance occurred in my life?  Fruit bearing that multiplies exponentially. 

If you know of a family with children or teenagers who is not currently plugged into a church... do them a HUGE favor, bring them to Journey with you and introduce them to our amazing team of Children and Youth workers.  I promise you they will thank you for it!

I can't believe that Easter is just one month from today.  It's going to be a amazing day at Journey and I want you to know well in advance of a couple of things.

1.  We are beginning a new series on Easter Sunday called "FEARLESS".  It's based loosely on a book by Max Lucado and we're going to be drilling down on some of the fears in our lives that keep us from living the full and meaningful life that Jesus talked about in John 10:10.  Very soon  I will send out a survey asking you a few questions about fears that you face and how you deal with them.  Look for it in your inbox in the next week.

and

2.  Use our Invite Cards to invite your friends to Easter Sunday at Journey Church.  We always have a stack of cards in the back on the HOPE table.  Pick up 5 or 10 and use them throughout the week.  

• They work great to start a conversation about our church.  Just hand it to someone and tell them you'd love for them to be your guest at our church on Easter Sunday.
• When you're out at a restaurant, leave an invite card with your tip.  (But you BETTER TIP WELL!)
• If you're at a drive thru, (bank, fast food, etc) say "thank you very much for your service, I'd like to invite you to our Easter service at Journey".  
• If you really want to make an impact at a fast food drive thru, pay for the person behind you and leave 2 cards-- one for the drive thru worker and one for the person behind you in line.  
• When you buy groceries strike up a conversation with the clerk-- you can call them by name because they are usually wearing a nametag.  
• These are simply ideas... notice they all involve interaction with another human being.  We believe that a person will visit our church because someone invites them, not because they find an invite card on the urinal in the bathroom (or on the back of the toilet-- sorry ladies, no urinals in the ladies room).  

As Easter approaches, I'll talk more about using invite cards.  Next time I'll talk about setting a personal goal for inviting people.  Meanwhile, I'd love to hear  how you've used invite cards in the past.

Matthew 25 is a favorite of mine.  The parable of the Talents.  I've read it hundreds of times.  Each time it seems like I get something new.  Here are some of the things He's been teaching me about this particular passage:

Matthew 25:14-30

God grants each of us different abilities, resources, and skills based on what we are capable of. God doesn't give us anything we can't handle. If you feel God is calling you to do something, you shouldn't have to worry about if you can do it or not.   In this passage, there was GREAT RISK involved with the 5 talent guy and the 2 talent guy.  Sometimes, God puts us in situations, that force us to take risks and rely on Him to accomplish what he has set in front of us. We must get past a "play-it-safe"" attitude. God wants us to take risks, to exercise your faith and trust in him to succeed in what He has given you to do. Sometimes, we've got to go out on a limb to see God move. Think about the gifts God has given each of us. In what ways can we put  our faith into practice to use those gifts for a CRAZY RIDICULOUS  increase in the Kingdom of God? Nobody can stop someone on a mission from God. Am I willing to go out on a limb today?

I heard Perry Noble say once-- Sometimes the difference between where we are NOW and where God WANTS US TO BE as a church  is the HARD DECISION we have to make. 

·       A hard conversation

·       A course correction for myself or someone else

·       Firing a volunteer or staff member

·       TAKING A BIG RISK… even in the face of fear.

What would have happened if the 5 and 2 talent guys would have lost EVERYTHING?  That kind of stuff happens.  But the master PRAISED and REWARDED the risk they took. 

The 1 talent guy gave to master what was his. 

He simply “LOOKED AFTER IT”… He didn’t manage it well according to the master’s wishes.  The master was interested in growth and multiplication… not protection and preservation. 

 So here are the questions I want to ask of myself and our church.  Would you ask them of yourself too?

What RISKS do I need to take?

What Risks do I need to lead our church to take?

What risks are God calling me to take personally?

How often do I operate out of FEAR and Hide my talent in the ground?

DO I HAVE THE EMOTIONAL AND SPIRITUAL COURAGE TO CLIMB OUT ON THE LIMB AND TAKE THE RISK?

How do I lead our people (who are not risk takers naturally) to take that risk?  SHOW THEM THE REWARDS AND THE DESIRED FUTURE AND THE “PLEASE THE MASTER” ATTITUDE.

These are some HARD QUESTIONS... I know the answers... the hard part is taking that risk, that first step.  Sure there is risk... you might lose everything... Here's what my thoughts are:

What if it kills the church

what if people leave

what if we go broke

what if it doesn't work

what if we make people mad

All those are legitimate questions... But all are based out of FEAR.  Yes each one could happen.  But... What if... 

What if God comes through and doubles the size of our church?

What if God gives us more people to replace the ones who might leave?

What if someone sees our big risks and wants to invest in a Big Kingdom venture?

What if we learn from what doesn't work and continue trying and innovating? 

What if the people we make mad are the ones who are standing in the way of a Mighty Move of God in our church?

 One of our Values as a church is BIG FAITH REQUIRES BIG RISK.  He's given each of us different amounts of talent, resources, abilities, and strengths. Are you just "looking after" the talent God gave you, or are you investing in, taking BIG RISKS, making BOLD MOVES so that God can show up in BIG ways?  Let me encourage you to do that this week.  

It's scary, it's risky... but we cannot live and operate in a spirit of fear.  Paul told Timothy that God hasn't given us a spirit of FEAR but of POWER, LOVE and SELF- DISCIPLINE. Don't let fear keep you from experiencing the INCREASE* God wants you to have. 

*I'm not talking about the prosperity gospel kind of increase.  I'm talking about being stretched in our faith and allowing God to take us places we've never been before so He can use us to do greater things than we've ever done before and we can experience more and more of His grace.  

• Fun day yesterday at Journey.  I'm so grateful for our volunteers who set up each week and allow me to walk into a room that is ready!  Thanks to Helene Whaley and her crew.  
•  Props to Greg Merritt and his cleaning crew at Lee Scott... they always do an amazing job getting the school ready for us.  I've loved our partnership with LSA.
• I had to make a run to the office twice yesterday for things I forgot.  I have to start using Things on my iPhone for specific Sunday Morning tasks.  I love Things.  It's a great Getting Things Done Application.
• My voice was HORRIBLE yesterday... I felt like I was in Jr High again, but people said they couldn't notice once I got into the message-- That's a God thing!  
• Trey was struggling with his voice yesterday too... You couldn't tell it when he was singing, but when he would talk it was rough.  Hope we don't have another weekend like that.
• I'm excited about the Velocity Conference Main Sessions coming out today on churchplanters.tv.  Still processing lots of leadership thoughts from the conference.  
• We have an MTL (Ministry Team Leader) Meeting tonight.  I love getting together with our ministry team.  I want to do a better job of honoring the work they do as volunteers or part time paid staff.  I heard someone say once that leading a volunteer organization is the toughest job in the world.  I agree!  but it also is one of the most rewarding!
• I'm encouraged and excited about what God is doing in some of the new families that we have coming to Journey.  We have been praying for God to bring us the people who can jump in and serve immediately.  We still need more.
• As a result of some of the things God has been revealing through the conference last week and my conversations with some of our people, I'm beginning a 10 day fast today.  Liquids only.  I'll be spending a LOT of time praying for our leadership, our ministry areas, our next move as a church, some Big Audacious Goals as well as our opportunity to impact our community on Easter.  Anyone want to join me?  

I took the most notes from the last 2 main sessions and Pete Wilson's breakout.

Pete Wilson (The coolest hair at the conference)

I met Pete a couple of years ago at his church in Nashville.  He is one of the most humble, relational guys I've ever met.  He talked about community... and used 3 phrases ... they might sound familiar to Journey Church folks because they help unpack one of our core values-- Love people irrationally-- the 3 phrases are:  Everybody's Welcome, Nobody's Perfect & Anything's Possible.  We both ripped those phrases off from Bill Hybels or Rick Warren or somebody... but it helps them communicate their desire to build Community.

• Has your church created environments where people can belong before they believe?
• The sins you find most appalling to God are the ones you don't struggle with.
• Anything's Possible-- This is what separates the church from the YMCA, Cracker Barrell and the Bar down the street.  
• Authentic community is messy.  There is a price to be paid.
• Most people like the idea of it, but if they get uncomfortable, they may bail.

David Putman-- The Gospel for the Kingdom

• When will the Gospel be enough?
• Jesus began his public ministry with 1 word--REPENT

Darren Patrick--The Gospel for You and Me

• Your ministry is a direct result of your theology.
• Preach the gospel to yourself first
• You must decide is the bible about you and what you must do or is it about God and what He has already done?
• Tie every sermon back to the gospel.
• The gospel is more than just a way INTO the Kingdom... it's the way OF the Kingdom.
• Tie everything back to the person and work of Jesus Christ.

Matt Carter-- The Gospel for the City

• He talked about his model of ministry not being North Point, Saddleback, or Willow... but Metropolitan Tabernacle in the days of Spurgeon.  
• Spurgeon built low income housing , 17 homes for the elderly, homes for single moms, schools for rural pastors.  
• they began to have an economic educational and cultural impact on the city.  
• If they left the city of London, the city would have grieved.
• If our churches closed the doors... would it matter to our city?  would anyone even notice?

Rick Warren

• What RISKS are you going to take this week?
• Don't take early losses seriously.  
• focus on membership and discipleship... God will grow it to the size He wants.
• It's not bad to be a small church... it's disobedient to be a small minded church.
• build your life on three things:
• • Integrity
  • Humility
  • Generosity
• 3 antidotes for the 3 greatest traps in Ministry 
• • The lust of the eyes-- temptation to HAVE-- Possessions-- Salary
  • The lust of the flesh--temptation to FEEL--Hedonism-- Sex
  • The pride of life. --temptation to BE-- Position--Status
• Every advertisement is based on one of these 3
• We are tempted with our Strengths.
• Integrity-- wholeness
• The antidote for lust of the eyes-- Generosity...
• You can't expect people to give sacrificially unless I'm giving sacrificially
• False Humility is really pride.
• We grow through models... never apologize for being a model. But be humble.
• Lead people from "Come and see" to "Come and Die".
• Build people and God will build the church.
• Give yourself to the Global Glory of God.
• If you're going to make it to the end you will encounter 6 phases of faith.
• •  Dream--God gives you a dream
  • Decision- you decide to go after the dream.
  • Delay--there's always delay in the fulfillment of a dream.  God's more interested in you than in your dream.
  • Difficulty--problems arise... don't give up.
  • Dead End-- deadlines pass, feel like vision has died... but God loves to turn crucifixion into resurrection.
  • Deliverance-- (see Jn 11--story of Lazerus).  When you are at a dead end.. it's because God wants to do a miracle!

UNBELIEVABLE STUFF!  Over the last few days I've been processing it, trying to figure out what it means for me personally, for my family and for our church and our community.   One thing I'm sure of... God wants Journey Church to be more and do more to bring the Kingdom of God to Auburn, Opelika and Lee County.  I'm excited to see how that fleshes out in the coming days.  

Some things I wrote down in my journal and on my heart from the Velocity Conference:

Shawn Lovejoy:

• Insecurity is a big problem for pastors.  Satan knows that if he can get pastors to doubt themselves, it's a slippery slope.
• When leaders get insecure we start comparing ourselves, we start copying other leaders and we start condemning other leaders.
• 1Sam 17:38-40-- Don't wear someone elses armor.  
• Fulfill YOUR ministry. 

Alan Hirsch:

• There's no such thing as an unsent Christian.
• 95% of churchs are trying to become what will reach only 40% of the population.  What about the 60%?
• More of the same is organizational insanity
• We must develop a Missional Imagination
• The Church must be missionaries first
• Plant the Gospel, don't plant churches.

Steven Furtick

• The most important ability you'll need to insure success is your ability to sense what God wants you to do next along with the courage to do it and the leadership to talk someone into doing it with you.
• Mark 11:6-- Jesus Told Me To!
• That phrase can get you INTO and OUT OF a lot of trouble.
• Is Jesus telling you to make a costly personal sacrifice?  a painful relational shift?  repent of a specific sin.
• It's the thing that no one sees that produces the results that everyone wants (he quoted Craig Groeshel)
• Jesus is calling you to take a "CS" step of faith (Crack-smokin')-- that means when someone looks at what you are attempting for God, they'll ask, "what's he smoking?"

Dave Gibbons:

• 7 Cultural shifts  
• •  from multicultural to 3rd culture
  • economic shift
  • techology shift
  • shift in how vision is disseminated
  • from being majority to minority by 2042
  • from professionalism to activism
  • from the West to the East.
• We want numbers, not potency!
• Move from Building Campaigns to Building People!
• 7  application points
• • leverage the power of the Holy Spirit
  • Communal living
  • teach adaptability
  • have campaigns to build people, not just buildings.
  • measure the right things... plant seeds and be faithful... it's God's job to bring the increase.
  • look at a new target (redefine your neighbor)-- What about the elderly and children?
  • Fathers coming home (by the way-- he showed a video about Soldier fathers surprising their kids at school-- not a dry eye in the house!)

Jeff Murphy:

Jeff is my good friend and he planted MyChurch in Columbus, Ga.  He has an amazing story of how God led them to shut a church down.  And then go through a process... a very painful process ... before God used him to plant MyChurch Columbus.

• You have to "Get Broke".  You can't break yourself.  God has to do it.  
• Every Struggle has a purpose-- it's for your sanctification
• God wants to give you a limp.  This will remind you constantly of Him.
• Be You.  Otherwise you're just spinning your wheels.
• God loves you PERIOD.

More Tomorrow!

My head is still spinning after Velocity at Mountain Lake Church.  Thanks to Shawn Lovejoy, David Putman, Jenny Rodder and the whole Mountain Lake staff and volunteers for creating an atmosphere for God to move mightily.  I'm still processing all that I heard and experienced.  It will take some time.  However, I wanted to give you a glimpse into a few things that God really used over the last two days to speak truth and breathe life into me.  

• I get pumped every year because I remember sitting around a table at staff meeting in the early days of Mountain Lake Church (I was on the ministry team for a time before moving to Auburn and planting Journey) and talking about a conference that would one day happen.  The first name that surfaced jokingly was the "Clueless Conference" because as church planters we all feel pretty clueless at times.  I'm glad they didn't go with that name... and for certain, Shawn and David have a clue.  They are two of the greatest allies a church planter could ever have.  
• I loved it because my wife Sonja got to go.  It is always WAY better when she's with me than when she's not.
• I got to share the conference with some of our team.  My goal is to get everyone on our ministry team, paid and volunteer as well as our Strategic Leadership Team to the conference.  It's great for inspiration, training and team building.  
• I get to see more people in my "tribe".  I love being around church planters.  We all get to compare fashion... who has the latest cool print on their shirt and wonder if the trend will ever be to tuck our shirts in... who knows... it could happen!
• I drink from a fire hydrant from guys like Rick Warren, Steven Furtick, Shawn Lovejoy, and others.
• I learn from people who are doing some great things like Pete Wilson in Nashville and Jeff Murphy in Columbus, GA.  
• I meet new pastors and old friends... I even got to see my old youth pastor (and I do mean old!) Tom Hudgins who was up from Clearwater, FL with his son in law, Matt Laughter. 
• I left there with a journal full of notes, a heart full of passion, a renewed sense of calling and clarity... and I'm scared to death... because it means some uncomfortable things are coming next.

What's next... I could have come back like many others who attend conferences and put the notebook on my bookshelf next to all the other conferences I've attended... and quickly jump right back into doing the work... Sunday comes in a few days and I have to prepare a message and have some meetings.  

BUT

I'm going to do something different... I'm going to listen... intently... purposefully.

I'm going to go back through my notes prayerfully and look at all the actionable items I wrote down this year.  Then I'm going to beg God to show up in power as we attempt to get CRAZY for the Kingdom and for the sake of the Gospel.  

I have a feeling we may make some people uncomfortable, maybe even mad... some may even leave.  I don't ever want that, but I know that God is calling us to be and do some radical things and it will be hard work.  So, Journey Church, get ready... God is about to do something awesome.  It may not result in huge numbers, but then again it might.  It may not result in more resources to use to impact the kingdom, but then again it might.  Here's what it will result in... Total absolute abandon to the Kingdom of Me and a renewed focus on the Kingdom of HE (Jesus... as if that weren't obvious).  Not sure what all that looks like right now, but I will tell you that over the next few weeks we will all be challenged greatly.  I hope you're up for the challenge because on the other side there is a "Well done, good and faithful servant" just waiting for those who are willing to take the trip with us.

Tomorrow I'll share some of the specifics, quotes, and principles I learned from the people at the conference.  

Lot of first time guests! Awesome worship and I had a whole lot of fun preaching.  Plus a big shout out to my son, Seth who played the drums today.  He's way more talented than his mom or me!

I even interviewed the Prince of Darkness.  Check it out here.

I am headed to Atlanta for the Velocity Conference from Churchplanters.com.    I love this conference.  It's going to be an awesome couple of days because I'm going to get to hang out with some great people like Jay Howell, Steve Redmer and my awesome wife, Sonja.  I'll try to post a time or two while I'm there.  

Big things are happening at Journey and I can't wait to see all that God wants to do!

I love this time of year because the Velocity Conference from Churchplanters.com happens the last week in February.    I went to the very first one just before we launched and was encouraged.  It was just what I needed to prepare me for the adventure I would take as a church planter.  That first year it was just my wife, Sonja, and I.  But the next two years we took our leadership team and staff and it was invaluable to have them there.  They got to be around some of the best leaders and experience awesome worship.  I had an opportunity to be sharpened by Shawn Lovejoy & David Putman and others at Mountain Lake Church.  But the conference is special to me for a different reason.  I was on staff at Mountain Lake in the early days.  Back when we met in a primary school and then a high school.  We did crazy stuff back then.  I remember it was probably  my most creative season of ministry.  (I still have copies of videos we did that I could use to blackmail Shawn, Chad, Rodney and Casey).  Those were great days. Together we prayed for God's favor and saw God do things we never could have imagined.  My faith was stretched, my leadership was sharpened, my heart for church planting was cultivated.  That's why I love this conference.  

This year we're taking some of our ministry team.  These guys have never been and I can't wait to see how they experience what I believe to be one of the best conferences around.  Now that I've told you all this-- here's the bad news-- It's sold out.  Just found out this morning.  But the good news is, you can watch the main sessions ON DEMAND starting March 1st.  I'm going to gather some of our team that didn't get to go to the conference and we're going to watch some of the sessions together. If you can't be there, the next best thing is to follow along on twitter (journeypastor) or check my blog out Monday night or Tuesday and I'll post some of the notes.