Journey Up 2.0, the mini-series, the ½ time, concluded this weekend. It was an intense 3 weeks. It was fantastic & hard. I loved it and am glad it’s over. Weird!
• I love worship & we did a less of it during this series. We made the most of it, our team was at it’s best. But honestly, I missed the songs that we had to cut. The Lord isn’t limited, however, and once again this week the presence of the Spirit seemed to come over us in a couple of specific moments.
• Ed Thompson’s My Journey – what a cool story Ed shared & he did it with such a Christ-honoring, “all glory to God” spirit.
• IMPACT CARD VIDEO – There are moments when I say to myself or often to someone around me, “THIS!!!! …is why we do this.” Seeing that video of all the life change that you all wrote down at the Rally wrecked me, every time.
• COMMUNION & COMMITMENT – It seemed so natural to take communion together that we would have felt funny not taking it this weekend.
• PERFECT PASSAGE – I was blown away by how prefect this passage was for us. II Corinthians chapter 8 reflects a situation that is uncannily similar to ours. I don’t know why I took such comfort in the fact that Paul had to lead them through their offering, encourage them to finish strong & continually clarify motives.
Allow me a few personal reflections on Journey Up.
The generosity of the people of God & their willingness to sacrifice for His sake never fails to astound me. I’m often humbled as I hear stories of what & how people give or plan to give. Frankly it’s humbling to speak on this subject for this very reason.
But speaking on money is difficult for me. I know it’s not for every pastor. For me it is, especially when it is specific. J-Up is obvious, it’s humble, it’s necessary, it’s the farthest thing from grandiose. Still I find it difficult. Honestly, I strained all my mental muscles trying to both keep our eyes on the real issue – VISION, FAITH, COMMITMENT – and still lead us to a specific place – renewed commitment to J-Up. I wasn’t fully satisfied with any of the messages, but I do trust God to speak to His people (we are HIS people after all) sometimes in spite of me.
Another challenge for us at Journey is the thing we call “INVITE TEMP” – a series like this in a church in which people know that the services will be accessible to their friends who are not yet followers of Christ can have a chilling effect on Invite temp. I know it’s necessary. I know it can be good for people to see what they are getting themselves into. But it’s a challenge.
Personally, J-Up 2.0 was good for me & for us as a family. We had gotten a little off track with our own pledge with all the landmark events (a wedding comes to mind). It was good to refocus & get going again.
