How do you feed 100,000 hungry children ? I spent the last three days with Wayde Goodall president of Mission of Mercy and some leading pastors discussing the answers to that question. We had an amazing time in Scottsdale, AZ. but the burden for hurting people tempered our time together. Wayde presented some upcoming projects that Mission of Mercy is planning. That ministry is touching thousands of lives. I’m happy that Journey Fellowship Church is working with Wayde. Our family supports three girls through MoM. And the JFC congregation supports nearly 200 more kids. For $30 a month you can feed,educate and disciple a child. This is a worthy ministry to support. Find out more at : www.missionofmercy.org Below are some picture that we took on our last night together. This is me with Wayde and some of the pastors that inspire me.

    The heavy equipment has been delivered to the 138! Ground clearing has begun. I was out on the property today. It is still a little wet but we can see progress already. Phase 1 will be the Student Ministries building, that we will use also on the weekends. Check out the 3D animation at www.journeyfellowshipchurch.com then click on the campus link. I love these giant Tonka toys.

   It is amazing how the variety on the candy aisle grows during Easter. Two of my boys and I stopped by Toys R US on Monday to visit the Giraffe. You know what I’m talking about ? Toys. While there we hit the candy jackpot. I brought home a bag of Robin Eggs. They taste like Whoppers (the malted milk balls not the hamburger) but look like bird eggs. Oh yeah ! Easter is sweet ! Speaking of Easter we are gearing up for a special production here at The Journey. It is entitled “extraORDINARY”. There will be three shows at the Northshore Harbor Center. Saturday April 7th at 7pm and Sunday April 8th at 9am and 11am.  It is an original play that tells the Easter story in a modern setting. Lots of other activities are planned for that weekend. Sweet !

   Last Sunday Joel Johnson from Acquire the Fire spoke at Journey Fellowship Church. He brought a great message to us about reaching this generation. He said there are more than 30 million teenagers in the USA. That would be the largest generation in American history. The more startling statistic though is only 4% of them are Christ followers. It really stirred my heart about reaching this generation. We have about 5 years to turn this number around. The church must bring the message of the Gospel to these young people in a language they understand. As Tommy Barnett says, “The message is sacred but the methods are not.” 
   This was also Mardi Gras weekend. And it reminded me of how hard this world works to seduce our children. I believe the most effective way to reach a generation is to present the message n a RELEVANT way.  Our best resuls come when we redeem cultural themes to tell the ancient story. Young people are searching for what’s REAL. What is more real than the Creator of the Universe and His plan for redemption ? Here’s to the next 5 years. Thanks Joel.

   A group from Momentum (our student ministry)went to Acquire the Fire tonight. And they are bringing home a guest. Joel Johnson who is one of the speakers at ATF will be speaking for Journey Fellowship Church this Sunday at both services. Joel works closely with Ron Luce. Should be a real treat. www.battlecry.com

   Our youth ministry “Momentum” hosted the Night of Champions tonight. It was sponsored by the FCA. Incredible night. Our college band Far From First led in worship. www.myspace.com/farfromfirstla They were awesome ! I’m a little biased though. Great night all around. Over 100 students responded to the altar call. I’ve posted some pictures below.

   I am reading a fascinating book . It’s a biography by Neal Gabler entitled, ” Walt Disney-The Triumph of the American Imagination”. It tells the story of the Disney family traced back to the Old World. Walt Disney was a product of his family. Just like you.
  A family is the smallest unit of a community. It is a community unto itself though, made up of a collection of individuals. Everything we are was shaped by the people we identify as our family. It is there in the laboratory of family that we learned how to live. Here is a quote that I plan on using this weekend. “Family is a laboratory where we learn how to love and be loved, fight fair, forgive and trust and most of all where we learn how to be a person.”
   That is a huge assignment for any lab. To teach another human being how to be a person is more than most sane people want to take on. But the drive to procreate is in us all. And the logical outcome to procreation is new humans. Now you may be thinking “I need to a refresher course.” Your family probably came up short on teaching you how to be a person. Most do. Probably all. But you can learn from your family no matter how well they did or how miserably they failed.
   Jesus said to get into the Kingdom of God, a person needed child-like faith. That’s it right there isn’t it ? Wild-eyed wonder. Complete trust. The faith of a child. Maybe that’s why Walt Disney captured the American culture so deeply. He refused to grow up. How about you ? How is your child-like faith ? (Matt 18:2-3)

    Our all new audio system is in the house. Today the new sound system was installed in the Harbor Center. We have been using  makeshift equipment since the storm. This new system was designed for the new campus we’re building on I 12, but we are going to be able to use it now. There will be a learning curve because of the new technology but this Sunday we will launch the new system. You should hear a difference in quality. ; ) Check out the pictures below.

   We took JFC on the road last week. Our home most of the time is the North Shore Harbor Center in Slidell. It is a great place for us to use until we get our new campus built. A trade show was held there last weekend which put us on the road again. Thanks to all of you who took the trip to The Grand Theatre with us last Sunday. The place was packed to the rafters ! Pastor Ken brought part 1 of our new series on family and marriage since I was speaking in Lafayette. This Sunday we will be BACK AT THE HARBOR CENTER , and resume our two service format. 9am and 11am. I’ve posted some pictures of our latest road trip below.

      We are in Phoenix at Tommy Barnetts Pastors school. This the 30th year for this event. Inspirational ! The opening session was held in the Phoenix First Assembly worship center. See the pictures below. We are loading up on good ideas. Taking lots of notes. I went to Dale Lanes workshop today. He is the Executive Pastor for Phoenix First. He and his wife have been in ministry with the Barnetts for 35 years. That says so much about this team here. They have accomplished more than seems possible. That got me to thinking about building a team. It seems that every ministry that does the impossible was powered by people who made a lifeime commitment to a common vision. Starting with Jesus. Listen to this quote:
  ” A small group of committed people can change the world. It’s the only thing that ever really has…”