Last night Journey hosted a Night of Worship. That’s our first one since the storm. The presence of the Lord was so wonderful that we didn’t want the night to end. The Journey band led us in about 15 songs. And we also baptized 10 brothers and sisters and observed Holy Communion. During the service 31 new leaders graduated from the StepsClasses. Congratulations to you all. I have really missed these Night of Worship events. I’m so excited that they will be a part of our schedule when our new campus opens. Enjoy the pictures. I will let you in on a little secret. Our awesome sound engineer Marc Hewitt recorded the worship. Rachel is going to produce a new CD of the Journey worship band. We are calling it Destination:Adoration….It will be released late summer…

   This month our focus has been on worship. And the Sunday series has borrowed from the American Idol television show. We call our version ‘American Worshiper’. It has been so much fun. I wanted you to see some of the pictures of the opening skit. Here they are…

    Dr. Richard Miller who is the Academic Dean at the School of Urban Missions and a regular attender at Journey Fellowship stopped by for breakfast last week. I’m always amazed by his knowledge of Scripture. He has a Bachelors in Bibical Studies and an earned Doctrate in Old Testament. He’s the man. Dr. Miller helped me build my message series on the DaVinci Code. Resident expert. Thanks for your time at breakfast friend. Here is a photo that I took of us after the meal.

    I had breakfast this morning at Cracker Barrel with my Partners in Prayer. Thats about a dozen men who pray for me and my family on a daily basis. We also all pray for the vision of Journey regularly. I know many of you pray for us .Thank you. Its takes a large team to accomplish a dream as massive as ours. 100 acre campus.
     Cracker Barrel was awesome this morning. Half restaurant and half old country store. Lots of good friends. Can life get any better ? I submit that it cannot. We prayed for the upcoming events at Journey. Like Mothers Day with Lisa Whelchel and of course The Big Day in May. We also prayed for the new campus. I got up early today and went out to the land. Thats a beautiful sight. We just recieved the final permit from the Corp of Engineers. We can now clear the rest of our first 14 acres. That is exciting news. I can’t wait to pass on the Interstate and see it all cleared. The first half is already cleared and you can see it when you pass Exit 74 on Interstate 12. Look north about one mile east of the Lacombe exit. I took a few pictures this morning. Check them out below. In the top right photo you can see in the distance the 7 acres we will be clearing next. I took these pictures Saturday morning April 21, 2007 at 7 AM.

   This weekend we will host our first Night of Worship since the storm. Sunday night April 22, 2007 at 6pm will be a great celebration. Journey will be at the North Shore Harbor Center with awesome music, communion, baptisms and leaders graduation. These nights are magical. We will offer childcare for preschoolers and the rest of us will be in the worship center together. I will be taking pictures to post here. Get your smile on…

    Our new series is called American Worshiper. I am teaching on worship this month. So we borrowed the American Idol look to open the message. We even had a visit from Paula, Randy, Simon and Ryan Seacrest last week. It was hilarious. But I forgot to bring my camera so you’ll have to use your imagination. Pastor Ken played a good Simon. Or is it a ‘bad’ simon ?
    Worship can be a very misunderstood topic. Worship is about intimacy with God. It is not about ritual. It’s about connection. There is no one style that the Father is looking for. He’s inviting you to experience Him in a Heartfelt and  Authentic way. The Old Kings english called it spirit and truth. Heartfelt and Authentic. Maybe you’ll be the next great American Worshiper. Check it out Sunday morning at 9am & 11am.

   Crawfish. The men of Journey were invited to our house for crawfish last night (Thursday April 12). Ronnie Williams was the lead chef. Good stuff. Pastor Mike Montana led us in worship. More good stuff. I really enjoyed spending some real time talking to you all. Since we do not have our new building yet , my backyard doubled as a gathering point. These are the good old days that we will talk about someday. Good stuff. I love this church. Pictures below…

  Journey celebrated Easter in royal fashion this year. We held three incredible services at the NorthShore Harbor Center. I am so proud of the cast and crew and the creative team. You guys did a superior job. Thank you. Also thanks to all of you who worshiped with us this weekend. Over 1300 people attended the production. More pictures below…

   Jesus was an extraordinary human being. He was at once both God and man. Fully human and fully Divine. No wonder the prophet Isaiah called him Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. We call him Savior. Friend. Lord. This is Easter weekend. Christians around the world are celebrating the greatest single event in human history. A man defeated death. A simple carpenter from a one-camel map dot town that was ordinary in every sense of the word defied death, paid the penalty for sinners and opened the door to eternity. Extraordinary.
     The Journey team wrote an original production called extraOrdinary. In it we tell the ancient story of Easter as if it happened in the 21st century. The resurrection is not only the greatest thing that ever happened. It is the only thing that really mattered. All of human destiny is tied to that one single moment. A Man conquered the grave. And all who follow him will too. Extraordinary.
     These pictures below are from the load in day on Friday, the dress rehersal on Saturday and the first production on Saturday night. It’s almost time to get ready for Sunday services. Enjoy…

     We have been spending a great deal of time and resources lately on church planting. My friend Kendall Bridges is planting in Dallas, TX. The Freedom Church launches on June 3, 2007. While another friend Randy Goudeau will launch in New York City on Easter. His church will be called The Gathering. And now we are about to mother another new church on the North Shore. Journey is proud to welcome to the family Pastor Jimmy Malone. Jimmy will be planting this new church in the Fall of 2007. He will be serving on staff with us until then. Pastor Jimmy preached for JFC last night. (Wednesday April 4, 2007) He did an awesome job. We welcome Jimmy and Vanessa Malone to Journey Fellowship Church…This picture below was taken after Wednesday night service. You can see the chairs behind us. We are still a portable church while we build Phase 1 of our new campus.