Some things catch your attention. Most things do not. The vast majority of the details of life go by unnoticed. That’s probably a good thing because it would be overwhelming to a person to notice everything that happens around him. But some things do get through. Things like ‘catchy sayings’. Have you heard a proverb or an insightful remark that spoke directly to you ? Me too. So I got to thinking about ‘catchy sayings’ and came up with this list.
  1. Love people when they need it most and deserve it least.
  2. How much faith does it take to believe in a God who cannot fail ?
  3. Be yourself.
  4. Dance like no one is watching.
  5. The Kingdom of God is built on relationships.
  6. Do unto others….
  7. Even God takes a day to rest.
  8. When the student is ready the mentor appears.
  9. Faith is the evidence of things unseen.
 10. Character is as important as talent.

   This was an awesome day. Rachel and I had the great honor to spend a few hours with the team that is building Phase One of the new Journey Campus. The Journey team met with our General Contractor, our Civil Engineer, our Architect and some of the sub-contractors. Work is progressing well on the 138. (That’s what we call the 138 acre Journey campus). I was on site today around 6 PM and took some pictures. The new board fence is up. Sub-surface drainage is going in and there’s a lot of red clay being trucked to the site. I stood on the red-clay that will be under the foundation of our new worship center. It was cool to stand there and dream. The future “Lake” is staked out and the pre-fab steel building is on order. Wow, what a week ! I love this church. These pictures were taken on May 23, 2007 at 6 PM.

   Journey hosted the annual Youth Fest at the North Shore Harbor Center today. It’s an end of school celebration for our Student Ministries. Hundreds of teenagers from the city came out for the fun. Here are some pictures that I took early Wednesday evening as the fun was just starting…..

What are your favorite things about life? Add your thoughts in the comments section below.
These are some of the things on my top 100 list……How about you?
   1. Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream
   2. Andy Griffith Reruns
   3. That New Car Smell
   4. Texting with my Pastor Friends on Monday
   5. Rain on a Tin Roof
   6. Gravel Roads
   7. The Sound of My Kids Laughing Together
   8. High Speed Internet Connection
   9. Caramel-Mocha Frappuccino from Starbucks
  10. Brad Paisley Music

    I wrecked my first car taking some of my friends home from school. I turned too fast, lost control and stopped in the ditch with my car facing the other direction. When we crawled out of my Chevy there was a farmer on a tractor right across the fence. He offered to pull me out. I still love tractors. (That reminds me I haven’t spent enough time on my tractor lately. I will have to correct that soon.) My car at the time was a 1967  Chevy II. Thats Roman Numeral 2. Odd name for a car, I know. But she was a beaut.
    She cost me all of two hundred dollars. And it was the first faith goal that I ever set. I started preaching at little churches when I was 16. And at one of those meetings I suddenly announced to my tiny auidence that i was going to buy a car by a certain date.  I think I said January 21,1980. But thats a guess. Not sure what I was thinking because that gave me only a few weeks to do it. After church I came to my senses and realized just how impossible that goal would be. I didn’t have any money or prospects on a car. I was filled with dread for opening my mouth. I tried to think of a way to back track but I came up with nothing. So I had to stick to it. I had two weeks to buy a car, or everyone in my world would know that I was all talk. Two weeks. Golly Beaver….
    Over the next two weeks the planets aligned in my favor. Everyone believed it was going to happen. With that automobile, I would be able to drive myself to all my preaching engagements. I was going on tour. Dude. That rocks. Each time that I would speak the pastor would give me a small offering. Usually around 10 dollars. I was in the big time. 13 days later I had amassed a whopping total of 150.00. Not much help, I needed divine intervention. And that is just what happened.
   This is how the story ends. I was walking down the street in my hometown and one my neighbors stopped me. She had heard of my quest and wanted to help. She had a car for sale and wanted to know if I was intrested. I told her that I only had 150 bucks. She said she could come down to 200 dollars. I made the deal on the spot. She said she would hold the car until I got the rest. The next day I brought her the last fifty dollars. Thanks to a generous donation to the cause from my Mom, the little car was mine. Exactly 14 days.
    That’s the car I drove when I took Rachel on our first date. It rained really hard that night. And since the floor boards were rusted out, every time we hit a puddle of water our feet would get wet. I just knew she would never ride in my car again. But she did. And she still does. That old car taught me some valuable lessons. Life. Faith. Love. Not bad from a 1967 Chevy II.

‘   I am listening through the Bible this year. Leviticus is tough. I just finished the third book of Moses with a fresh insight on how impossible it was for any man to keep all the Law. I need a nap. Each passage made me appreciate the life of Jesus. He fulfilled it All. And He began a new Covenant based on faith. Faith. A relationship with God based on mutual love and trust IS Christianity. Paul said, ‘faith comes by hearing the word of God.’ As in any relationship conversation is a two way street. Listening. Talking. Believing.

  As I was driving back from the new campus today I was thinking of some of the things that I love. So I made a mental list. Here they are in no particular order. At least these are the ones that I remember from the drive home.
   1. Rootbeer Floats
   2. The smell of fresh-cut grass
   3. Text-Messaging
   4.  Mild Cheddar Cheese
   5.  The quiet of the house when everyone is asleep
   6.  Watching a movie on the Big Screen
   7.  Laughing at a funny story
   8.  Getting the mail
   9.  Sunshine
  10.  John Grisham novels

   I was on the future campus today. What a beautiful sight ! The east entrance is drivable. It’s strong enough to get the heavy equipment to the site of the building pad. Also I walked through the preschool wing. Right now it’s only red clay, but I can see it. There is also a sign that says “future home of Journey Fellowship Church”. Cool. Here are some pictures hot off the digital press. I love this church. These pictures were taken May 14, 2007 at 6.30 PM.

   At Journey we call The Big Day in May -BDiM. It all started in 1997, when our church was less than a year old. We planned our first big event to reach out to our community and offered free boiled crawfish. About 150 people showed up that first year. For those of you not from south Louisiana, boiled crawfish is a great way to make new friends. (Believe it or not). That first BDiM ,a decade ago, kicked off a Journey tradition. And now it’s time for the 2007 edition.
   This year we are boiling TONS of free crawfish. And we are gearing up for thousands of people to be at church. It all happens May 27th at 10 AM at the NorthShore Harbor Center in Slidell, LA. This big event takes place on Memorial Day Weekend so we will honor those who serve or have served our country in the military. And you know what I really love about the BDiM ? After all these years it’s still FREE. It’s going to be a Big Day in May….

   Today was one of those days that you just know you’ll treasure forever. It was Mothers Day and Lisa Whelchel was our guest speaker.( Her husband Steve Cauble was with us also). But there was something special about the whole morning at Journey. Our Set-Up Team was on the job at sun up. And they stayed after church for a complete tear down. And everything in between was magic. Worship captured my soul today. Rachel and the Journey Band were in top form. I was carried away into such a tender moment with Jesus. Then, during altar ministry the connection with the folks coming for prayer was very intense. And finally the word Lisa brought was right on target. Thirteen people made a decision to become Christ-followers. I’m not quite sure if that explains it though. It was intangible. Eternal. Divine. It was one of those days. Here are few pictures from this morning.