Happy New Year to all, yeah it is only NYE right now but this is my New Years post.
Church was awesome this morning, I was out in the hallway as people were coming in and it hit me that there were more people in that hallway than what were at Journey Church a year ago. How cool is that!? (to steal a popular phrase) Get a glimpse into the first year of Journey Church by checking out Auld Lang Syne (Live Big Mix)
This has been a tremendous year, not void of its challenges and can we say stress but I think we are all stronger for it. Being a parent, being married, three job changes, insurance companies, finances, laptop cords, chicken pox, and children who continue to grow up no matter what we try to do to stop them. I am glad to see 2006 come to an end and a new year just over the horizon. A fresh start, a new start. Time to lose weight, eat healthier, exercise. Spend less time online and the computer and more time in the word. Thanks for the challenge Scherm! A year from now I want/will be smaller/weigh less, stronger, in less debt, closer to my wife and kids, and closer to my Savior. 2007 will be the year that I Live Big!
So yesterday I meet with a friend for lunch who I had worked with/for a couple of months ago. When I was interviewing for the job he was interested in my ministry background and to be honest it was almost like we already knew it other. We had a couple of short conversations during the 3 months I worked at the same company but never got a chance to sit down and really talk.
So yesterday we finally got to sit down for a burrito (actually a bowl and tacos) and talk about life and church and etc. B asked about Journey and I gave him an over view and then asked him about his small group. It turns out that B and I have a number of crossed paths… he is a part of a small group network/community that I have followed the blogs of some of the people involved, the ironic thing is that his small group community has been dealing with a lot of loss this past year some of which I have followed through some blogs I read and some of it that was within my own social community. The more we talked the more we discovered how our lives are connected by so many one degrees of separation that it was just unreal.
There have been a couple of times in my life like this where after getting a 10,000 ft view you see all the tracks that crossed over. It is amazing to me how interconnected our lives really are. It makes me wonder what greater purpose this will serve.
I would love to go into more details so you can fully grasp the depth of this but out of respect for others privacy you will have to ask me about it in person.
I really haven’t spoken much, if any, on here about the church we are a part of (other than tech stuff)… Journey Church launched on January 15, 2006 with a core group of about 40 adults (with kids there were 50-60 total, yes we really help boost that number). Last year we had our first public service on Christmas Eve and saw around 225 people, this year for Christmas Eve we had two services (its been almost 3.5 years since I was at a church that did 2 services on Sunday - wow do you get tired! especially when we wake up an hour before the alarm!!) and we had a total attendance of 530 between the two services (with an overlap of about 90, we had more than 200 new faces come in). Did you catch that???? A group of 40-60 people to over 500 in one year, many of us even now keep saying, “How does this happen?” all knowing that they answer to that is a very loud, “God!”.
Now some people may get all bent out of shape about numbers and how you shouldn’t drive yourself by numbers, and they are right, but what we are about is changing lives, neighbors, communities and ultimately that will be summarized by numbers. Within those 530 on Sunday, at least 7 of them made commitments, which means that in almost 12 months of Journey’s short history over 70 people have made committments to Jesus Christ and some 25 have been baptized. How can you not just be amazed by what God is doing, especially when you are in the midst of it.
How does this happen? - It’s a God thing!
First, I would like to say thank you to The Donald for assuring us that standards don’t mean anything anymore.
Second, I don’t want to make light of someone’s misfortune but it is really ironic to see some one standing on a corner with a “will work for food or wages” sign while standing in front of a hugh “Now Hiring” sign for a local grocery store.
Third, can anyone explain to me how you can call tech support (company not being named) and request for your case to be requeued to an East Coast tech so it can be worked on first thing the next morning, to have it be assigned by a West Coast tech who is now on vacation. Then you call back to get someone from the East Coast assigned and give them the specific number to call you at (mobile phone) and are told they will call within an hour. Then after almost 90 minutes you discover that they called your office number. Oh yeah, and all of this is documented in the case notes, including what was asked for and how they did the opposite. Nice! Not to mention the local engineer for the unmentioned company is sitting here the whole time just shaking his head at how all of our time is being wasted. So much for pro-actively trying to get stuff setup so we can be productive.
`Raymond’ dad Peter Boyle dies in NYC
As a fan of ELR I was shocked to read this morning that Peter Boyle had passed away. However I was even more shocked to read in his obit article that, “Through his wife, a friend of Yoko Ono, the actor became close friends with John Lennon. “We were both seekers after a truth, looking for a quick way to enlightenment,” Boyle once said of Lennon, who was best man at his wedding.”
How cool/weird is that!
It is sad to hear of his passing but he will thankfully live on in syndication.