Journey’s Student Ministries had a huge Wednesday night. Momentum set a personal best attendance record with 307 people. 280 teenagers and 27 adult leaders. Great job to everyone on the Big Mo team. Ryan tells me the bus and van were loaded to capacity. Next  Wednesday we will move to multiple youth services. The Jr. High will begin at 6.45p and High School starts at 7.30p. The new series also premieres next week at Momentum. ‘The Dell’. A reality series in the vein of MTV’s The Hills.I can’t wait to see it.

   If 300,000 people show up to fill the Capital Mall and no one reports the story, did it really happen ? Last Thursday Washington DC was filled with Pro-Life people from all over the country and very few members of the Old-Media bothered to mention it. The New York Times whose motto is ‘All the news that’s fit to print’ did not even cover the story. Not one word.How embarrassing for them. What a shameless display of the MSM’s obvious abortion bias. But to answer the question that led this paragraph, YES. It really happened. 300,000 Americans gathered to pray and say that unborn children are people too. They have been given by their Creator certain rights that  some in this country don’t recognize. The Pro-Choice movement has a firm grip on Washington DC, and the Mainstream Media is in compliance with their wishes. But does that silence the cry of 45 Million aborted babies since 1973 ? Can anything silence their cries?
   Unborn children are human beings who are alive from the moment of conception. That’s a fact. I’ve heard the arguments from every angle of this debate. A thousand times over, I’ve  heard them. But what keeps me in the Pro-Life camp is this, if we take the right to life away from one class of people, then EVERYONE is vulnerable. Unborn babies have the right to LIFE, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. The moral high ground is always held by those who defend the weak. Pray for the unborn. Pray for the at risk mothers. Pray for Crisis Pregnancy Centers. Don’t stop believing.

        That strange title is actually the name of the series we are doing in February. It’s all about the hardest work you’ll ever do, Relationships. Meeting a person, falling in love, planning a wedding, building a life and raising a family, all the while maintaining a good relationship, borders on the miraculous. My own parents were married for nearly 50 years so I kinda feel like I need to live up that example. I plan on loving one woman for my entire life or for her entire life, whichever the case may be. We made that deal with each other and both fully intend on keeping it. But, making the commitment turns out to be the easy part. Keeping it requires a great deal of work. Happiness is no accident and a happy marriage is built on a series of choices. A person can choose to be happy. So can two people. If you are waiting for another person to fulfill you, you’ll be waiting a long time. No one has the power to make you permanently happy. No one.
      In part one of this series of talks we are going to cover how two people who are so DIFFERENT can build a life together. Your differences can actually make your relationship stronger. Really.
      We are going to produce a series of skits using the characters from Shrek, thus the title of the message series. Which one is the Ogre in your relationship? The answer may surprise you. ‘How I Married an Ogre…’ premieres every weekend at Journey.

    Every Dreamer Takes Risk, was the topic of the fourth and final episode of ‘DREAM ON’. You can listen to the message this week when it’s uploaded to the home page of journeyfellowshipchurch.com . The team had a blast this month with the skits and music. We all love presenting illustrated sermons.  Here are a few pictures from the weekend…

   I received several of the ‘20 Random Things About Me’ request on Facebook, so I thought I would cover the subject on my blog. So, here it goes in no particular order.
 

1. I love writing on large white boards with many different colored markers.
2. Vanilla ice cream is my favorite flavor.
3. I was a member of the Future Farmers of America in high-school.
4. I am strangely drawn to the Smoky Mountains. (very mystical)
5. Tight spaces really freak me out.
6. I have a pair of jeans that fit just right.
7. I believe the most vulnerable people on the planet are unborn children.
8. I became a Christian by listening to a street preacher.
9.  My IPod is loaded with country music.
10. I learned a lot about leadership from watching Star Trek episodes.
11. I learned how to swim in the Tickfaw river.
12. Grape snowballs are the perfect food.
13. I cry way to easy. (Very therapeutic)
14. My dad bought me a shotgun when I was 12 years old. I still have it.
15. I own a 1988 Belarus tractor. All the instructions are in Russian.
16. I look forward to watching the sunrise. Everyday.
17. At the movies, I like to pour a bag of Reese’s Pieces into my popcorn.
18.  I love the smell of fresh cut grass.
19.  I still remember our family address from when I was in the second grade.
20. I love hanging out with my best friend and our 5 kids.

  On January 20, 2009 the United States of America will witness a peaceful transfer of power. Two men from two different political parties will gracefully meet and exchange seats. George W. Bush will become a regular citizen and Barak Obama will become the most powerful man on the planet. And not a single shot will be fired. Rare event in the affairs of men. There is something special about this country. America is amazing.
   We will watch the very first African-American become the leader of the free world. This is indeed an historic event. I think it’s a good idea for one day,to put aside our political differences and celebrate what we can agree on. Things like the flag, God Bless America, apple pie, moms, Independence Day, the First and Second amendment(and the whole dang constitution), pick-up trucks and Super Bowl Sunday.
   Congratulations to my new President. May God bless him and May God bless the USA.

   This series we’re doing this month has been so much fun. I really love this whole DREAM ON topic. Rachel and the Creative Team has brought the characters from The Wizard of Oz to life. We’ve been telling the stories from the perspective of ‘after’ the visit to the Wizard, and Dorothy’s struggle to cling to her Red Shoes. The Red Shoes represent her dreams. The witches represent the forces in this world that try to steal your destiny and the Lion, Scarecrow and Tin Man represent the people we turn to for help. In the final episode next week Dorothy will face her greatest enemy of all. Herself. Here are the four topics we covered this month:
    1. Every Dream has an Enemy
    2. Every Dream Needs a Plan
    3. Every Dream Requires Faith
    4. Every Dreamer Takes Risk
  
    Here are some pictures from the first three weeks of ‘DREAM ON’….

     We have set some goals for 2009 at Journey. With two new campuses to serve, one on each side of the lake, there is a sense of urgency in our hearts. So we wanted to be aggressive in our plans for this year. Here goes…

     2009 Goal Card
   What Do I Do Now?

INVITE 10,000 guest to Journey
INSPIRE 2,000 people each weekend at Journey campuses
INSTRUCT 1,000 believers at Journey events
INVOLVE 250 people in the Journey family of leaders
INVEST 100 Journey leaders to the nations in short term foreign outreaches

    Journey hosted about 100 pastors for an all day event today. The 2009 AG Regional Tour was on the North Shore today. Four Sections from the greater New Orleans area gathered to handle business. There were ministries from many different communities represented. From the college campuses to prison outreach to inner city work and foreign mission fields, it was definitely some of God’s best. Deven Ferguson from SAGU was there. All my Chi Alpha buddies showed up. Pastor friends from both sides of the lake came too. It was a great day. Thanks to all the Journey team who were on top of their game. I love this church.

   Many years before the world could be Googled at your fingertips there was the World Book Encyclopedia. I read some where that Google gets 31 BILLION hits per month. That’s like 5 hits for every human on the planet. Unbelievable, huh? Where did all those questions get asked B.G. (Before Google)? I’m not sure where everyone else asked their questions  but I relied on the World Book Encyclopedia. You may remember those dinosaurs from the Twentieth Century. Most families that could afford a set had them on display in the family room. Either they were there to be used to by the children to study or they were there to impress the guest. We didn’t have a set at my house, but much to my delight our neighbors did. 
   Our neighbors, the Hoyts, also happened to be one of my Dad and Mom’s best friends, so we visited often. And I would spend the entire time there not playing with the other boys but thumbing through the pages of the World Book Encyclopedia. Now that I’m telling you about it , it sounds bizarre, but it’s true. I don’t know how the World Book made it’s way to my neighborhood but maybe the Hoyt’s bought their Set from college students working door to door to ‘pay their way through college’.Who know’s? My memories of going to our neighbors house to visit and read those lovely books date back to the mid 1970’s.  Seems like so long ago.
   They came in a set of 22 volumes and it seemed like I was just getting started on a great article when my mom would call for us kids to go home. I hated when she did that. I’d think to myself ,’woman you’ve got to be kidding’.So I would hurry and read one more page and I would drag my feet hoping Mom would get caught up talking a little while longer.The World Book now comes in many forms, including Online and DVD. But nothing will ever top the feel smell and sight of those wonderful books. ironically I Googled ‘World Book’ to fact check my memory while writing this blog entry. That’s kind of crazy. I Googled the Encyclopedia. What?
   The Encyclopedias hold a special place in the America of my childhood. I’d like to see if the library still has those books on their shelves. …..hmmmmmmm. I know you can do  Google search there but can you touch a dinosaur like a set of encyclopedias?
     The World Book was to my generation what Google is to this one. Yep, World Book was the Google of the 1970’s.