Mark's Journey

Alive!

So yesterday was Easter.  I'm sure that meant lots for several of you.  Easter eggs, candy, family dinners, church, and jelly beans.    And we celebrated the greatest event ever...that Jesus (who was fully dead) came back to life.  He woke up from the dead to wake us up.  He came to awaken new life into us.  We can have hope.  Because Jesus came back to life, we can be with Him again, follow Him, and let Him lead us.  We celebrated that yesterday.

What about today?  Did you know that event wasn't just for one day?  It is to be celebrated every day...even today!  So as you are at your job, parenting your kids, paying your bills, dealing with a relationship, and going here and there...He is alive today.  He is here for us.  Are you following Him today?

He didn't rise so we could only celebrate an event.  He rose so we could follow Him each day and be in relationship with Him.

Dead

Yesterday was Good Friday and we reflected on the pain, suffering, and death Jesus experienced.  He did it to take our place as payment for sin.  Today is the next day.  Back then, when it actually happened...he was still dead that next day.  No breathing, no heart beating, nothing.  It was over.  It was finished.  The one who came to earth and said he was God has been killed.  Wow...that must be some God, right?

But the story doesn't end there.  He did something even greater.

As you go

When we volunteer to serve or help out, we sometimes think "if I have time", or "if I can squeeze it in."  I get it.  I have thought that way before as well.  But the reality is sometimes we get into a pattern or habit that we give God our leftovers.  We give him what's left of a tired, full, busy life.

When I read the Bible, one of the things I see over and over again is that God asked people to give Him their all and make Him their first priority.  That means we need to not give God what is left, but to arrange our life around serving Him first.  That means we may need to say no to other things.  We may need to not have our kids in every activity possible, we may need to spend less time in on our entertainment, we may need to drop some other activities even if they are good.

God wants us to be taking His message and light into the world around us "as we go" about our life and are involved in other things.  But we do need to keep in check our motive.  Are we doing things and planning our lives around God, serving Him, and being focused on His mission?  Or are we only planning things around what I want to do?

13.1 miles

About 8 years ago trained to run a mini-marathon (13.1 miles).  I had a schedule to follow for several months to build up to that level.  When race day came I was ready.  I was in the best shape of my life.  My goal was to keep the same pace and not walk any of the race...and finish.  I did pretty well until mile 11.  I started to feel weird in my body.  I realized that I wasn't dehydraded because I drank water regularly but I was lacking some "type of nutrient in my body".  So at the next station I drank gatorade instead.  It was like my body instantly recovered.  I felt better and finished strong.

But when I crossed the finished line, I was exhausted.  I had given it everything I had and had nothing left.  I gave my best.

Let me challenge all of us who regularly serve at The Journey, whether you are on staff or volunteer--we need to give it everything we've got.  We need to serve our best.  And when we finish or have given some time, we need to be able to say... "I gave it my best."

I am not saying this because we have any specific problem or I see people slacking.  I see lots of people who are all in and give so much.  We are so thankful for how you serve God and make a difference in people's lives.  This is a reminder that what we do is really important.  The stakes or high.  Eternity is on the line.

More tomorrow on serving with our best.

What kind of person are you?

This week I am reading the last part of the book of John in the Bible, about the death and resurrection of Jesus...and the events leading up to it.  In reading chapters 12-13 it is amazing the various people that were around at that time, just before he died:

• Some were just part of the crowd.  They were just curious and observed from a distance.
• There were religious leaders who were ready to kill Jesus.  They were so caught up in themselves and had so much pride that they were not willing to see Jesus for who he really was.
• His disciples, who had been with him for 3 years.  They were about to be put to the test to see if they would keep following him, even though things were going to get rough.
• Judas, who was about to betray Jesus...basically use Jesus to gain something for himself. 
• Peter, who said he was all in.  But Jesus tells him he's going to deny Jesus when the pressure was on.

So, if you were there in that day, which kind of person do you think you'd be?

Who would you hope to be?

Be honest...based on how you see Jesus today, who are you most like?  And what is your next step to move beyond that to actually believing and following Him?

 

 

Death to life

Every year at this time (the week before Easter) I like to read in the Bible the parts that lead up to Jesus death and resurrection on Easter Sunday.  If you are interested, start reading John 11.  You can read about a chapter each day for the next week.

In John 11 we read about Jesus bringing back to life this guy names Lazarus.  He had been dead for 4 days, and Jesus raised him from the dead.  Two thoughts:

(1) That's crazy!  Could you imagine?  (Seriously, if you haven't read this, go read it now!)  What would that have been like?  What would you have thought?...Here is one---Maybe there is more to Jesus than I think there is.  Maybe I should pay attention to what he is saying.

(2) He did the same thing for us. In our sin, we are dead.  Death is our penalty.  And sin leads to a life of death.  But Jesus, through his grace and forgiveness, brings us back to life.

All aboard!

In the next 6-12 months we are attempting some new things at The Journey.  If you've been around the last few weeks you have heard about two of them...Networks and a second Journey campus.  These are about taking the love and message of Jesus into our community, serving people in need, and taking next steps.  That is where the train is going.  And God is the engine that is out in front taking the train there.

But here is the deal...we need you on the train.  It means some of you will need to step into more of a leadership role.  Some will need to step into a volunteer role. All of us need to take steps to grow in our relationship with Jesus.  As a staff, we need to lead in ways we've never done or experienced before.

But God is bigger than all of us.  And with Him, all things are possible.

Don't miss the train!  ALLLLLLL ABOOOOAAAARD!

Easter Plans

As you begin to think about Easter Sunday on April 24, here are 3 things to keep in mind:

1. Eating a chocolate bunny is not cruel to animals
2. Plan on inviting someone to The Journey.  When you invite them, meet them there, show them around, and sit with them.  Treat them like a guest in your home.
3. Consider coming to the 8:15 am or 5:00 pm service to help make room for our others at the more often attended services.  Now if you are inviting someone and they are only able to come to the 9:30 am or 11:00 am, then by all means meet them and come at one of those times.  But you may want to let them know that at 8:00 am we are having a free Panera breakfast.  And after the 5:00pm we are having pizza, peeps, pop...and an Easter egg hunt for kids.

Weekend Review

Big, great weekend for lots of reasons:

• The weather was incredible...finally!  I got to hang outside a lot and do some yard work.
• My family and I went to help on Saturday morning at a breakfast served to people in need in Muskegon.  They had a kids program and needed some volunteers.  We had a goal over spring break to do something that was about serving others.  My boys were awesome as they invested in those kids' lives.  I am thinking about if The Journey can help them in some way.
• We had a neighborhood hang out in our yard Saturday night.  We did walking taco's and some other food.  Then we moved across the street as another neighbor had a campfire.  Great hanging out with some cool people.
• Sunday at The Journey...I had some great conversations with new people.
• Some volunteers stepped up to serve big yesterday...if that was you, thanks!
• I got to eat Panera on stage yesterday!
• We had a Kenya meeting last night for the 17 going in June.  Momentum is building for that!

It's Monday...Ready, set, GO!

 

Want to change? (3)

There are probably lots of things that contribute to helping people change and grow in their relationship with God.  This week I have blogged about how others can help us do that as well as staying deeply connected in our relationship with Jesus.  Abiding in Him is huge.

One more thought on this:  Another thing that helps us to take steps to change is when we look to make a difference in the lives of others.  This is rooted in our relationship with God because one of the things He asks of us as we follow Him is to serve others, help others in need, and bring light into other people's lives.

Ephesians 2:10 says "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

I think there are lots of reasons to serve and help others and why God tells us to do that.  But here is one:  when we look to serve and help others we take our eyes off ourselves.  We become less self-absorbed.  We don't worry and stress about our own issues and problems as much and we gain perspective.  We may even begin to think we don't have it so bad.  Unfortunately we live in a culture that promotes being consumed with ourselves and it is all about focusing on ourselves.

It is time to go counter-cultural.