We closed our month of dedication this past weekend with special guest John and Debbie Lindell. They are the Lead Pastors of James River in Ozark, MO. John is a phenomenal speaker and a great friend. Journey has been blessed to have a big sister church like James River. They were instrumental in our survival after Katrina wiped us out. We had a blast, ate some New Orleans cuisine, preached three times and enjoyed our time together. Thanks John and Debbie.

    Well it is finally here. The worship CD from our very own band has been in the works for months now. Last night we released it with a huge celebration at the Night of Worship. Not only is it available on standard CD but it also comes on a 1 gig thumb drive with added features. Pick up a copy this weekend at Journey.

   This weekend will conclude our dedication services. John Lindell will be speaking Saturday night at 6pm and Sunday morning at 9 and 11 am. He is the Lead Pastor of the 12000 member James River. www.jamesriver.org . John is a dynamic speaker and an incredible leader. You’re going to love him. Then on Sunday night we are hosting a Night of Worship at 6 pm. Rachel and the Journey Band- RESONATE will be debuting a brand new CD. Available on standard CD and on a Thumb Drive with a few extras loaded in. Sunday night we will honor 81 new leaders joining the Journey family, as well as baptize dozens of new believers. We will close the night with Communion. A fitting way to end the dedication of our 140 acre campus. We are gearing up for 2,000 people over the weekend services. I love this church.

   We just completed the second of our 3 week dedication plan. That will be a total of 8 Worship Experiences over Three weekends. We will complete the series next weekend with special guest, Pastor John and Debbie Lindell who are the Lead Pastors of James River Assembly in Ozarks MO. www.jamesriver.org . When all is said and done over 3000 people will have joined us for the dedication of the 140 acre campus.
   The services this weekend were awesome. Easter is such an amazing event. The resurrection is THE foundation of the faith. My and your eternal soul rests on that hope. And we celebrated Easter in royal fashion at Journey. Three services. 1338 people. Dozens of first time decisions. We also laid hands on SIX outreach team leaders, who will be leading over 100 members of Journey on summer outreaches. We are sending teams this summer to the Philippines (twice), Brazil, Mexico (twice), and Jamaica. The first team leaves Thursday.
   I also challenged our church to remain focused on the Great Commission. It would be easy for us to get self consumed with our new campus and become inwardly focused. So today we did the ridiculous. The impossible. Something that keeps us on the edge and depending on God. We gave away the entire weekends tithes to other ministries and church planters. Here is a list of the projects we adopted this weekend:
    1. Build a new church in the Philippines
    2. Home of Hope in Cebu City  (They rescue little girls who were sold into sexual slavery)
    3. Hope General Hospital (offering medical care to the poor in Manilla)
    4. New church plant in Denham Springs, LA  www.thefreedomchurch.com
    5. Macedonia church plant. Mark Orfila is planting a new church in The Biblical city.
I want radical giving to always be a part of Journey’s DNA. This weekend keeps us focused on our mission of reaching the world.
   This was the best Easter we have ever celebrated. And we have had some great ones. I love the spirit that was in all the services this weekend. We are off to a fine start as we launch into our second decade. I’m on such a high tonight. The afterglow is sweet. I want to say a special thank you to all of the volunteers who served this weekend at Journey. Thanks for coming early and staying late. I couldn’t do this without you. I love you dearly. 
      Happy Easter. P.D.

   There is so much to love about the new campus that I decided to come up with my own Top 20 things I love about the new Journey campus.

20. Bigger staff offices
19. The Lake
18. Fully lit parking
17. The kitchen
16. Coffee with the team
15. Custom wall paper in the preschool
14. Paved Parking
13. Flat Screens
12. Huge check in area
11. New Meyers Sound System and DigiDesign Board
10. The Video Wall
09. New Chairs in the Worship Center
08. Storage Closets everywhere (still need some more)
07. Awesome new Cafe
06. Carpet Ball tables in Fusion…(that game is addictive)
05. Stage lighting and smoke machines
04. New Journey sign on I 12
03. 140 acres…(room to grow)
02. Interstate Frontage
01.  You

    We are launching a brand new worship time this Saturday night at 6 PM. That will bring our weekend total to 3 worship Experiences. Saturday 6 PM. Sunday 9 AM & 11 AM. We were full in both Sunday services last weekend so this is just the right time to add a third. The three Experiences will be identical with ministry for everyone in the family. If you’re looking for a Sunday off to sleep in or catch up on the spring cleaning, Experience the Journey at our newest time slot Saturday 6 PM. Can’t wait…..

   We took hundreds of pictures last weekend during the dedication services. I’ve had a real hard time choosing a few to post on the blog. But here they are. I may post more later because there are so many amazing pictures. Dominique sang “Build it Anyway” with a video clip of our history since Katrina playing on the video wall. I cried. God is gracious to turn our tragedy into triumph. I love this church.

   On Sunday March 16, 2008 we dedicated our new 140 acre campus. Both the 9am and the 11am services were full. What a day ! We took a load of pictures of the days fun that I will post later. But I want to say a huge thank you to all of the people that believed in the vision at Journey. It is because of you this day was so special. One of our many special guest was my very first Sunday School teacher. Shirley Martin. She helped me take the leap from believer to fully devoted follower of Jesus. I can trace many of the good things in my life back to her influence. I will always be in her debt. And I hope that I can help other people the way she helped me. Dedication Sunday was amazing. Here is a picture of me and Dr. Wood. He is the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God. Thank you Dr. Wood for sharing our special day. Much love.

   On Sunday March 16, 2008 we will dedicate our new 140 acre campus. Phase One is complete for the most part. ( Landscaping remains to be done and a few other details ). But the big day is upon us. It is dedication time. This event is traced back to Solomon dedicating the new Temple in Chronicles. We have a huge day in store. The 9 and 11 am experiences will be filled with the Journey family and some special guest.
   Dr. George Wood, who is the General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God will be speaking at both services. My Pastor Doug Fulenwider will be in the house. Rachel’s Mom and Dad are coming. My very first Sunday School teacher will be there, Shirley May Martin. This lady helped transform me from a believer into a disciple. That goes back to 1978.  30 years . Our Contractors, the Architect and Engineers are coming too. The Journey staff and leaders will be out in force. This dream came to pass because so many people believed , prayed, and gave to it. Thank you all so much. For those of you who have labored behind the scenes, never seeking the spotlight, I am amazed by you. For those of you who have been with us since the first year, wow, I’m so impressed by your commitment to Jesus. For all those who survived Katrina and rebuilt with us. Thanks for not giving up on the dream. To my family, Rachel, Ryan, Christian, Gabrielle, Cade and Camden. It’s been the best years of my life so far. I’m so glad that God let us be a part of this Journey together. To all of you who are joining the team now, welcome aboard. These first eleven years are done. Here’s to the next 30 years. The Journey starts now. I was on the campus a few hours ago so I took some pictures on Dedication Eve. Well , here you go…

   We moved into the new campus a few weeks ago with most modern amenities except telephones and the Internet. In the 21st Century that is equivalent to moving in without running water and electricity. Man have we been living in the dark ? We have survived though. Cell phones and wireless cards have connected us to the outside world. Barely.But it has been our only connection. The story goes like this. The electrical contractor ran the underground conduit for the communications room many months ago. But when they tried to pull wires through it, it didn’t work. After long delays and much troubleshooting it was discovered that the pipes were not properly joined together in several places. So eventually it was decided that a new pipe would have to be bored underground and under the new parking lot. That job was accomplished last Friday. Well, yesterday (Monday) after weeks of living in the dark, AT&T was finally able to connect our new campus to the outside world. We should be getting our new phone system installed throughout the building this week. If you have tried to call us recently, I know it has been a pain. We’re very sorry. But there is hope on the horizon. And rumors are we should be connected to the World Wide Web soon too. Most of our church business is conducted online. So we have been limping along as of late. But now we are exiting the Stone Age. Call us soon. Or you could email us too. TTYL.