Mark's Journey

Throw off

In the Bible, Hebrews 12:1 says "...let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverence the race marked out for us."  When I have heard that verse other times, I general think of the one part that says "throw off THE SIN".  It makes sense.  Sin is bad so get rid of it.  But it also says to throw of everything that hinders.

What if there are some things in our life that hinder us in the race marked out for us, but they may or may not be sin?  Some things just slow us down...they slow down the pursuit of our relationship with Jesus.  What are some of those things that could hinder us and our stepping out into a relationship with Jesus?...not being able to give up control, concerned about what others may think, not knowing all the answers, fear of the unknown, letting go of other relationships that may harm us...

Anything else you can think of?.....

Yesterday @ The Journey

Big day yesterday.  But a good one.  It was nice to have a summer like day.  I think that puts people in a good mood.  The message yesterday was about the most important thing in life and what we are all about at The Journey...a relationship with Jesus.  Keep taking your steps with him.  Follow him.  Also, we got to introduce Ben, our new Journey Teens Pastor.  We are glad he is here.  Make sure you introduce yourself to him sometime.  I thought yesterday was one of the best days of our bands yet.  They sounded so good.  And at the end of the day we had our final Kenya planning meeting.  The team is ready to go and we packed a bunch of supplies.  I was so tired last night and crashed...but then got woke up by some lightning and wind.  So in need of much coffee today!

All kinds of Journey stuff

There is lots happening right now at The Journey and some things I am focused on.

• The Kenya trip is rapidly approaching.  There's lots of details when doing a trip like this.
• I have had lots of meetings, groups, and appointments in the last couple weeks.  It is such a privilege to be able to spend time with people and talk about next steps.
• We are investing some time in some people to have them help lead in the future.  Good stuff.
• Working on some changes to the coffee bar.  Stay tuned!
• 300 second party this Sunday after each service.
• Serving with Love Inc. tomorrow helping plant a garden for people in need.
• Ben, our new youth pastor, is here in town.  Can't wait for you to meet him.
• Network planning has begun.  We are rolling it out in August, but lots of planning to make it happen.

19 years...lots more to go!

Today Jen and I are celebrating 19 years of marriage together.  I love that I get to say that.  19 years of marriage includes a lot of things.  So here are some things I believe about Jen, our life together, and some thoughts on what has made 19 great years so far:

• I love Jen more each day.  Really, it just keeps growing over the years.
• We never go to bed mad at each other.  Really, we never have.  We stay up late and figure it out no matter how tired we are.
• I try to buy her flowers once on a while.  I really like to do that on non-special-occasions
• She make me a pie once in a while.  I love fruit pie and she knows it.  She does it not because she has nothing better to do, but because she loves me and takes time to do things I like.
• She is my best friend.  Seriously, if I have free time and want to go do something, I want her to go with me or she's the one I want to hang out with.
• We laugh a lot.
• We pray together and talk about our relationship with Jesus.  We encourage each other that way.
• We are not perfect.  We do and say things we shouldn't...probably quite often.  But we both recognize that, admit it, and ask for forgiveness.
• We try not to add stress to our lives by living a fast-paced-action packed life.  It leaves margin in our life for unplanned things and the surprises of life.
• We don't have any debt(except our house). If we didn't have the money we waited until we did before we'd buy something.
• We don't revolve our lives around our kids.  We love them and give to them.  But Jen and I were a family first...then they became a welcomed member of our family.  They are not the center.
• We try to have regular dates...just her and I.
• We have regular get-a-ways...just her and I.  Usually 1-2 nights away.

I am so blessed.  I definitely married up.

Justice?

This morning we woke up to hear that Osama has been killed.  I am trying to wrap my mind around not just this fact, but also the last 10-15 years of things he as done and the USA's search for him.  I end up with more questions than final answers:

• For those that have lost loved ones from his actions, how does this leave them feeling?  How does his death impact them more than others?
• What does God think of Osama?...I mean really think.  God created all people and loves each one.  He even died to pay for every one's sin.  Yet, the Bible talks about justice and consequences for sin.  I read on Paul's facebook today a verse from the Bible... "Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles" Proverbs 24:17.
• I am glad the God is bigger than all of us and I trust him to know all and understand all.
• Part of me is glad and feels... "good, justice is served".  Part of me feels sad that death had to be an answer to a problem in our world.
• I think our military is incredible.  It is amazing the kinds of things they can do and ARE WILLING to do on behalf of the country they serve.
• The guy who shot him...I wonder what he is thinking right now.
• I'd love to see people who are followers of Jesus all over the world step it up a notch in truly living out the mission of Jesus...extending love, mercy, grace, hope, peace, generosity, etc. to the world.  There will always be evil in the world.  But the church is the only hope to bring true light amidst darkness.