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iPad

Pastor Doug — Tue, 25 May 2010 05:05:59 +0000

In the last two weeks I made the transition from PC to Mac. I’m writing this Blog entry on my new iPad. I think I love this new world. The iPad is pretty sweet.

ALL ACCESS 2010

Pastor Doug — Sat, 01 May 2010 14:51:27 +0000

   Rachel and I along with some of the pastors and staff from Journey attended the All Access 2010 conference this week in Baton Rouge. It was nice connecting with pastors from all over America and around Louisiana. There are some amazing churches in our generation who are reaching the unchurched and building the Kingdom of God. We were inspired by the vision at Healing Place Church and spoiled by their hospitality. As the culture changes, the methods the church employs to tell The Story are being reexamined.
    I had some great conversations with world class leaders and down home friends. We worshipped to the sounds of Hillsong United and learned from speakers like Robert Morris and Greg Surratt. By Thursday night my mind was on overload. So much to glean from and meditate on.
    The church is the ONLY hope for this world.

24 Hours of Prayer

Pastor Doug — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:42:55 +0000

   Journey is using the ‘under construction’ Prayer Trail around the Lake on our campus. When complete the walking track will be 1/3 of a mile around with seven prayer stations. The stations will be based on the prayer Jesus prayed in Matthew 6. The walking track will be lit and offer benches to sit on and meditate or talk with friends. But as I said it’s still under construction.
   We are using the trail today for our first 24 hour prayer focus. The day of prayer began at Midnight on Friday and continues til Midnight on Saturday. My favorite moment was at 3 AM on Saturday when about 11 of us gathered on the Bridge for worship. It was quite an experience.
   I love this church.

Alice’s JOURNEY to Wonderland

Pastor Doug — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 22:41:54 +0000

    I am reading the Lewis Carroll classic, ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’. Well, I was inspired to read it when the family and I went to the Grande to see Johnny Depp in the new Alice movie. It was a fun two hours. I left with a load of ideas.
   You see each January we kick off the new year at Journey with a Series on VISION. It’s a Reach Up month for us and we usually do several illustrated messages during that time. So I’m always looking for new characters to tell stories through. And this book is full of interesting characters. Full.
   So I’m hard at work on the January 2011 message Series. I should probably get back to Carroll now. In 9 short months we will be living a new adventure in Wonderland. I can hardly wait….

EASTER 2010

Pastor Doug — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:20:34 +0000

Journey recently completed it’s best week since Hurricane Katrina. The storm in 2005 literally took everything from us. Everything. That is, everything except the dream. As it turns out that’s all you really need. Well that and lots of hard work. The Sunday after the hurricane less than 100 of us gathered to worship in the parking lot of our former shopping center. We didn’t start over that day we continued the dream.
   That was less than 5 years ago. 55 months to be precise. In that time Journey has built a new campus on Interstate 12 but most importantly she has built a community of believers. This past week in 6 Experiences we served 2305 people, witnessed 80 Decisions of new Christ followers, and water baptized 27 new Believers and welcomed dozens of first time guest. It was an amazing week.
    In a way Easter represented a new birth for Journey.

    I love this church.

DREAM A BIG DREAM

Pastor Doug — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 01:51:45 +0000

   Big ideas make the world go around. Most of us humans spend so much of our time surviving that we forget to dream. Somewhere between childhood and adulthood, in the midst of a persons development into maturity, he stops dreaming. Just stops. I wonder why we equate adulthood with ‘putting away your childish imagination’?
   What if you could combine the wisdom of maturity with the imagination of early childhood ? Yeah. What if ? I think most of us stop dreaming because dreams usually leads to disappointment. Disappointments are painful. Thus the equation becomes
(Dreams = Pain). So we stop dreaming to avoid pain. But maybe pain is an important part of the dream process. Pain is not to be avoided but embraced. It’s a bit misguided to pursue pain but a wise person looks at pain as a transformational part of dreaming.
   I’ve met a few dreamers in my life, and I’ve read about many others. And I have concluded that dreamers are a strange breed indeed. But this world would be a dark place without them. Most things that inspire us come in the form of some dreamers idea or action or word. Dreamers think about doing the impossible. Dreamers attempt the impossible. Dreamers fail at their attempts and dreamers accomplish things that were once considered impossible. And then they inspire a new generation of dreamers.
   The original DREAMER said on the first day of creation, ‘Let there be light". And there was light. On the very first moment of the very first day HE attempted the impossible. HE did what had never before been done. HE forever ruined us for the ordinary. And the spark of the Divine is still burning in the heart of each of us. But most of us never notice.
   Ordinary people can dream. I know this because on the outside each person appears to be ordinary but on the inside there flickers a flame of the IMPOSSIBLE.
   Dream A Big Dream.

A Few Things That I Learned In Dallas

Pastor Doug — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 03:52:08 +0000

   A few years ago I was invited by the leader of our Fellowship to be a part of his cabinet. It’s a largely honorary position among a group of some of the most innovative Lead Pastors in the Assemblies of God. In 2008 Dr. George Wood, who is the head of the AG, was at Journey dedicating our new campus. That’s when he invited me to join the group. I’m really glad that he did because I spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday with some great pastors at the Cabinet meeting in Dallas.
   On the first night, I ate dinner with Dave Roever. He was badly injured in the Vietnam War and has since turned his misery into an international ministry. Dave will be speaking at Journey in May 2011. It will be an event to remember. He’s a real war hero and he told me some pretty amazing stories. I also sat next to Charles Hackett, the former head of US Missions for our Fellowship. Charles and I talked church planting for an hour or so after dinner. He’s 78 years old and a very innovative thinker.
   During the day we listened to some incredible leaders speak about transformational change that’s coming to the 21st Century Church. I’m encouraged about the future of the church. The next generation of believers that we are reaching now will have the technology and resources to reach the entire world with the Good News. But first we must reach THIS GENERATION. Which is the reason for this post.
   During the early morning session on Tuesday, Rod Loy spoke about children’s ministry. And he said a few things that captured my imagination. In fact I’ve been thinking about it ever since. To paraphrase Rod, THE BATTLELINES HAVE SHIFTED. The church must wrestle for the hearts of elementary aged people. If we are to reach this world with the message of redemption, then we must succeed with sixth graders.
   Imagine that, the fate of the world is in the hands of 12 year old children. Yeah, imagine that.

Chick-Fil-A Leaders Simulcast

Pastor Doug — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 12:56:51 +0000

The Chick-Fil-A Leaders Simulcast is coming to Journey Fellowship Church. Tickets go on sale this Sunday in the Cafe at Journey. Lots of early bird price breaks available so bring your whole staff. Speakers include, John Maxwell, Tony Dungy, Mark Sanborn(author of The Fred factor), Dr. Ben Carson, Delta Airlines President Ed Bastian and many others.
This simulcast will be broadcast live at Journey on the 20’ video wall in HD with Surround Sound on Friday May 7, 2010. The event will last all day with a lunch break. Make plans to attend now. The theme of the day will be Leadership. It’s a great opportunity to train your entire team with the teaching of some of today’s greatest speakers without the cost of out of town travel.
Topics will include:
1. How to create strong team cultures.
2. New ideas for creative problem solving.
3. The keys to connecting with others.
4. Best practices for leading in challenging circumstances.

This promises to be an incredible event. You can buy your tickets at Journey or at Cross Gates Athletic Club. Group rates and early bird discounts available. You can read more about it at chick-fil-aleadercast.com .

History Maker Sunday

Pastor Doug — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 17:12:35 +0000

   We are so blessed to have our new campus open. After three years of being a mobile church (thanks to Katrina) and meeting in a dozen different locations, it’s great to have a home. We are so grateful for those of you who stood by the dream for so long. This 140 acre campus on Interstate 12 is a reality because of your faithfulness.
Today we are planning for the future and are preparing for the next decade of growth at Journey. On Sunday April 25, 2010 we will launch the History Maker campaign. On that Sunday we will receive an Offering to launch the campaign. And also the families at Journey will have the opportunity to make a 3 year commitment to the Vision. Would you pray and prepare with your family how you can participate in History Maker Sunday.
   We are building a legacy for the future. This Campus will serve generations to come as a place to, win people to Christ, build strong families, train leaders, and plant new churches. The investment that you make in this vision will carry on until Jesus comes again.
    Thanks for believing in the vision at Journey.

Believe. Serve. Pray. Give.

Haiti Update

Pastor Doug — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:52:48 +0000

Our partners in Haiti are still responding to the victims of the earthquake. Convoy of Hope, which is an international relief agency, has fed MILLIONS of meals to the folks in Haiti in the last 29 days. They have two distribution points in Port Au Prince and each morning thousands of people line up to receive food for the day. Journey is honored to partner with Convoy in bringing food to the hungry. For pictures and more info you can link to www.convoyofhope.org Pray. Believe. Serve. Give.