This was a truly epic weekend at Journey. I felt like God set this up a while back.
The message planned that would conclude the God-O-nomics series was, HARD TIMES, SOFT HEART. The subtitle really told the story in the form of a question: “Can I be struggling and be o.k.”
Last Sunday I ran into my friend Mark Oestreicher between services. He had just returned from Haiti. (Check out his blog for lots of good stories, videos, reflections). During the worship I had the thought that we should do an interview with Marko about Haiti – a magnified answer to the question. Who is struggling like they are right now? I knew from his emails from Haiti that God was doing something like revival there. Everyone I talked to loved the idea and Marko was more than up for it. So we did a 20-minute interview and then concluded it with a few ideas from Philippians 4 – another case study is struggling and being o.k. (Which is what the most famous verse in Philippians – 4:13 – is really all about).
We had another great time of worship. It’s amazing how therapeutic it is to reflect on struggling in the context of the glory of God.
MORE ON HAITI – We have one of our people heading to Haiti on a medical team. The people at the Friday night service, which she regularly attends, took care of her expenses getting there and now we have an opportunity to send lots of basic medical supplies. Who knows all that God is going to do with this.
I’m off to the desert for a couple of days of much, I mean MUCH, needed solitude.
