Journey Podcasts

For all of you itunes subscribers who download music and podcasts to your ipod, The Journey is now on itunes. If you desire to subscribe to our account and download the audio file of our sermons, click here: Journey Podcasts

Once you subscribe it will automatically update the sermons each week every time you open your itunes or plug in your ipod. Now, if you are interested, you can listen to the Journey's sermons each week, though you may be live out of town or attend another church. Enjoy!

Readjusting Your Swing

Last night Kaleb and I went to the driving range to hit some golf balls. I texted a friend who lives near to the range and asked him if he wanted to meet us there...he also happens to be a really good golfer. As we are hitting balls he begins to migrate over to where I am to watch me hit. He is noticed the "hiccups" in my swing that are keeping me from hitting the ball the way I could. He begins to make some adjustments to my grip, my stance, and a couple of other things. Before you know it, I'm hitting the ball pretty good. Once I got my driver out and started working on it, it all went downhill again. We worked on it until we ran out of balls and he left me with this statement, "You going to have to work on it. The changes won't be as awkward if you keep doing them."

Let me ask you a question: Are there things you are doing in your life right now that are the equivalent to having a bad grip or wrong stance? Are there some things in your life that are keeping you from living at the highest level? Something I realized last night is that making adjustments in your life is not easy, just like making adjustments in your swing is not. It helps to have people in your life who know what they are talking about who can point things out to you to help you, not ridicule you. We also have to commit to practicing these new habits and lifestyle consistently or we naturally fall back into doing what we know. More often than not, doing what we know will lead to nasty slices and shanks.

Pitch Tents or ...

One of my biggest fears is slipping up on a Sunday morning and saying something stupid. Its not that I use all types bad language while I'm not speaking, rather, I'm scared of the possible dyslexia slip-ups that can occur when trying to pronounce or say particular words. One of the all time classic slip-ups has to be this guy...check it out.

The Promise and the Payoff

What does it mean to have a dream? When I think of a dream I don't think of what occurs while I'm sleeping throughout the night. I think of the future that will exist tomorrow and I try to imagine how I can shape that. Dreams and visions are simply pictures of a desired future that you spend your present time trying to build into a reality. In others words, the promise (dream and vision) and the payoff (the coming to fruition). The promise could be to have kids and the payoff is holding your baby. The promise could be to start a successful business and the payoff could be hiring your first employee and cashing your first check. The promise could be to get your degree and the payoff is walking the line. The promise could be to see a Jesus movement to sweep our region and the payoff would be the changed lives, healed marriages, and people saved.

I heard a speaker say that in between the promise and the payoff there is a process. Sometimes the process is hard, sometimes we fall, sometimes we fail. The process is the day-to-day grind that you endure in order to get to the payoff. So often we want to skip the process and get straight to the payoff, but the process is what shapes who you are becoming. How you lead and work during the process will determine if you make it to the promise. If your behaviors, habits, and work ethic during the process are not sufficient, you will never make the payoff, and if by some chance you do, you will never stay there. It doesn't matter what the endeavor is, the process is a grind that requires discipline, commitment, and perseverance. When those things exist, the payoff to the promise will come.

Questions: What promise (vision/dream) in your life are you running after? How are you doing throughout the process of that promise? Are you prepared to work and fight for years before getting the payoff? What roadblocks in the process could deter you from the payoff?

Reading Challenge: Acts 27-28

We are at the end of our journey. We have covered the entire book of Acts, tracing the origins and roots of the church and mission of the Kingdom of God. I have loved reading your comments and insights throughout the time and encourage you to continue to leave your thoughts and feedback on Savage Generation.

Today's reading is from Acts 27-28

Chapter 27:
This is another amazing example of Paul's faithfulness to what God told him. He used every situation as an opportunity to share with others about God. I wonder if I was sailing on the ship if I would have been willing to heed Paul's advice to stay on the ship. You have to believe firmly that God's Word can be trusted in order to stay aboard a ship that you are told is going to wreck and be destroyed, yet they did it and survived. Reflection Question: How often do we ignore God's directions because it defies what seems to be logical?

Chapter 28:
When Paul and them land on the island, Paul is bitten by a snake as they gather firewood. This is horrible. He's been beaten, mocked, ran out of town, but now he's bitten by a snake. However, the snake bite doesn't hurt him and everyone is amazed. This leads to the people of the island giving them great hospitality during their time there as they prepare to sail again. Once in Rome, Paul is speaking to people about Jesus and proclaiming him as Lord and Messiah. Scriptures tell us that some believed and others did not. And then the final verse in Acts sums up most of what we have read, "31Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ." That was Paul's mission. That was his objective and he spent his life up until his death doing it. Reflection Question: Am I willing to boldly and without hindrance share the message of Christ with others, recognizing that some will believe and others will reject?

Reading Challenge: Acts 25-26

Welcome back everyone. We have two days left of the book of Acts. I hope you have learned a great deal and have a deeper appreciation for the origins of the church and its early mission.

Today's reading is from Acts 25-26

Of these two chapters there is one exchange that I believe is the most fascinating. Paul is giving his defense before Agrippa. Agrippa calls Paul crazy, but Paul tells him that he is both sane and reasonable.Then Paul asks him if he believes the words of the prophets, to which Agrippa answers,"Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" 29Paul replied, "Short time or long—I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains."

I love how Paul didn't care who it was, he was willing to unashamedly share his faith and his desire for Agrippa to come to that faith. Take-away: Do I have the intensity of Paul for sharing with others the hope of Christ? Do I truly want to see people reached as much as Paul did?

Your thoughts?

A Tribute to Michael Jackson

This is how I like to remember Michael Jackson. The dude was an icon, I still love hearing some of his early music. Oh yeah, and don't forget the moonwalk!

Ferris Wheel Fiasco

Okay, so what is your worse fear when it comes to riding a Ferris Wheel? You may give a couple of answers, but my guess would be that getting stuck at the top of the ride would be right up there at the top. Well...my worse fears came true. Last night Kaleb and I rode this monster Ferris Wheel in Orange Beach. It is so big that you sit in a covered cart. As we get to the top of it the Ferris Wheel stops and we don't move for nearly 45 minutes. At first I just assumed they were loading some people in, perhaps somebody got sick, I didn't know. Finally, Katrina yells up from the bottom that the Ferris Wheel is broke. I'm thinking to myself, "broke, hmmm, that could mean a number of things. A bolt fell out, a cart broke, and the motor stop, the hydraulics quit working...anything." In that moment, I had a couple of things going on in my mind that I had to deal with. All said and done we were on the ride for an hour and forty-five minutes. We were the last ones unloaded off the ride. A couple things of note:

First, I'm claustrophobic and that cart was tiny, and I was stuck in it. I couldn't let my fears get in the way because I had to keep my son from freaking out (who did incredible and didn't get scared). We also had to assure these little girls in a cart beside us that everything was going to be okay. 

The second thing, and I don't want to over-dramatize the event, but it forced me to ask the question: if this were it, I'm I ready to go? The answer is yes and no. Yes, I'm ready to die if it comes to it, because I have assurance of my eternity because of Christ. I've lived a full life and a very blessed life. It wouldn't be my choice of how I would want to go, but I'm ready. The answer was also no. I still feel very passionate about living out the vision God has given me for my life. I still feel there is work to be done. I have a family that needs me and a little girl coming who needs a dad. I'm not ready to go yet because of those things. 

Here's what I left that experience thinking about: some things are more important than my fears (staying calm for my son and assuring the girls beside us that we were okay) and we don't have control of any situation, it could all change in a moment -- live like it is your last. Go after your dreams, live out your passions, and love those around you. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 24

Welcome back everyone! We are nearing the end of our reading challenge. Stay the course and continue to watch as this dramatic story of Paul's future unfolds.

Today's reading is from Acts 24

This passage is one of those interesting, often unread passages in the Bible. Paul once again finds himself speaking before a group of people about faith in Jesus. I think its comical that most of the people Paul was defending himself to believed that they had Paul in their control, but in Paul's eyes, he was in the best possible place: in front of a captive audience who he could share about the hope of Christ with. One of the people who he finds himself in front of is Felix, a high ranking Roman official. Felix is intrigued with Paul's discussion of the Way, for he was already familiar with it. Felix continued to have Paul summoned and talked to him about faith in Jesus. We never here about the end result of these sessions they shared together, but we know that God both ordained the encounters and worked through them. 

My take-aways from this passage: 1. our trials, tribulations, and rough circumstances may simply be opportunities for us to demonstrate or communicate our faith with others. 2. we don't always know the fruit of our sharing the hope of Christ, but God works through these encounters and peaks the curiosity of the listeners. 

What about you? What stood out from this passage to you? 

A Couple of Books to Read this Summer

Two books I'm going to pick up for my summer reading list: Pastor Dad and Death by Love. Pastor Dad is a book that talks about the primary role of a father to pastor their child/children. If you follow the link to it it is a free downloadable book that is quick and easy to read. The second book is serious business. Instead of explaining it, the video will tell it all. I know once you watch it you will be immediately recognize yourself or others. Take a look.

Reading Challenge: Acts 22-23

Welcome back everyone. Today's reading is from Acts 22-23

Chapter 22

Paul was giving a sermon through his own testimony of what God had done in his life. We often think that we need to be deep scholars or theologians to share with others about God, but the reality is we can share God with others through our story. I find it amazing that the crowd was listening intently until Paul mentioned that God had sent him to the Gentiles. The word "Gentiles" sent them into a rage and immediately shut them down. This raised several questions for me: what are the words today that will immediately cause people to lose interest? Are we ready to share with people the things they don't want to hear? 

Chapter 23

This chapter is similar to Chapter 22 in the fact that Paul is addressing a captive audience. As Paul looks around and sees that his audience is half Pharisee and half Sadducee he begins to taylor his words specifically to that reality. He takes the route of speaking of the resurrection of the dead because his knows the Sadducees and Pharisee's were divided deeply about this. In this way, he could begin to gain supporters who would hear him out. The interesting thing is, the Pharisee's were not in agreement with Paul's claim of Jesus' resurrection or that Jesus was the Messiah, they were only concerned about being right over the Sadducees. We must be careful that we don't find ourselves in meaningless arguments over doctrine and theology that we miss opportunities sitting in front of us. These two groups were not even paying attention to the life changing message Paul was sharing, they were simply looking to prove their points over the other group. 

What things stood out to you from these passages?

Reading Challenge: Acts 21

We are coming up on the home stretch of the study. We have already seen some amazing things happen as Paul and Barnabas travel the Mediterranean world. I hope you are learning much from our early Christian brothers and sisters.

Today's readings are from Acts 21

There are many things in this passage that could be discussed. For me there were two major images that I could not get past: 1. the group praying on the beach together. 2. Paul reminding those trying to keep him from going to Jerusalem after he received the prophecy of his fate that "the Lord's will be done." 

I love the image of Paul and the disciples of that region on their knees at the beach praying for Paul. It an image that imagine was filled with tears, laughs, and earnest pleading to the Lord. I envy their connectedness to each other, and I long for their willingness to humble themselves before the Lord and petition Him. I also like Paul's resolve to do God's will despite the dangers facing him. It didn't matter to him that his life was in jeopardy as he went to Jerusalem. Even when his companions were trying to keep him from going forward, he had to remind them of what mattered most: obedience, not safety. 

What things stood out to you?

Reading Challenge: Acts 19-20

Welcome back everyone. We continue the Acts Reading Challenge today. I'm in Gulf Shores staring at the beach. It is neat to get a perspective of the Scriptures being out of your normal context.

Todays reading is from Acts 19-20

Chapter 19:

I love a couple of parts in this chapter. The first one is when Paul arrives in Ephesus and begins talking about the Holy Spirit and the believers there do not know what that is. They were still operating under the baptism of John for the repentance of sin. It is probably because I'm in a different place, but I imagine this being like me showing up here and going to a church and the people not having the Scriptures or not have known about baptism. I think it is interesting to think about what this must have been like for Paul and his traveling companions as they never knew what they would encounter in each city they arrived in.

The other part of the story that is eye-opening is when some followers of Jesus cast demons out of the man in the name of Jesus, that preaches of. The funny thing is, the demons say we know Jesus and Paul, but who are you, then they put a beat down on the people. A couple of things stand out: first, messing around in the business of casting out demons comes with some responsibility. Second, if you're not in the right place spiritually, messing around with demonic things will get you beat up. 

For space purposes I'm going to leave Chapter 20 for others to talk about. What stood out to you from these passages?

Living Faith

A lot of people talk about "having faith," but some people's faith is based on a belief system or a one-time decision for Christ. Living faith is when we not only trust God for our salvation when we surrender our lives to him, it is when we live each moment by a type of faith that believes things change when we pray, healing and miracles still happen if we open our eyes and open our minds, and that God is still active today. A living faith doesn't see the Scriptures as the story of what happened back then, but sees the Scriptures as the origins of our story that is still being written today. 

A living faith is less about some prayer you prayed years ago and is more about how God is transforming you right now. Faith that is real, living, and active is the kind of faith the world needs to see. A faith that spouts off dogmatic statements and creeds is not living, but dead. Those who choose that kind of faith live in graveyards. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 18

Happy Friday to everyone. Glad you are today. I hope the reading challenge is inspiring and revealing to you as see the origins of the early church and watch how the events unfolded. There is so much to be learned from.

Today's reading is from Acts 18

This chapter demonstrates how quickly things were moving as they preached the message of Jesus. They were continuously traveling and trying to get to as many places as possible. One of the more interesting thing that stood out to me is the fact that God was bringing people to Paul who will later continue pushing forward the message even after Paul's arrest. Last chapter we seen Timothy come to Paul. This chapter we have Aquila and Priscilla from Corinth. And from Ephesus Apollos comes. It just reminds me that the more we look to serve God and the more we are willing to be obedient to His mission, He will provide laborers for the harvest. He did it for Paul and will do it for us.

Your thoughts on this chapter?

Reading Challenge: Acts 16-17

Amazing thoughts yesterday everyone! Continue to read we a cautious eye and an open mind to what God may be saying to you right now through these passages. They are rich with instruction for us. 

Today's readings are from Acts 16-17

Chapter 16:

I'm amazed that after all the discussion from Ch. 15 about whether or not the Gentiles should follow Jewish custom and so forth that Paul decided that Timothy should be circumcised...interesting. It is neat to see how Paul came upon Timothy in this passage too because we know later that Paul ends up writing two letters to Timothy, one being the last one he would ever write. I also love the story of the "Macedonia vision." I feel that God still opens up doors like this and give us direction in ways like this. For example, we have had many people asking for us to plant a Journey campus in Hartsville. This is kind of like a Macedonia call. 

Chapter 17:

My favorite story in Acts 17 is the story of Paul going to Athens. I could preach an entire sermon and write a week's worth of blog post on this chapter. So...I'll let you give your thoughts and comments on this chapter and throw my thoughts in as you guys toss it around.

Thoughts?

The True Gospel

What is the true gospel message? This past week's sermon explored this question and we examined the difference between religion/spirituality and the true gospel. I invite you to watch the message below...perhaps what the true gospel is will become more clear to you from this. Plus, this can give you a glimpse of what a typical Sunday at the Journey is like. Enjoy.

Reading Challenge: Acts 15

Welcome back everyone. Great thoughts over the past few days...very insightful stuff. 

Today's reading is from Acts 15

This is one of the most important chapters of Scripture in the entire Bible. The decision being made at this council held the potential to unleash Christianity into a force throughout the world, which it did, or it had the potential to kill the movement dead in its tracks. The decision as to whether the Gentiles would have to follow Jewish customs and Mosaic law was the issue being decided on. If they would have made the decision for the Gentiles to have to be circumcised, follow the food laws, and follow Jewish customs in order to become Christians, my guess is that the movement would not have made it very far; in fact, none of us would probably be having this discussion today. 

Question: what issues today and decisions we are making as followers of Jesus could potentially be a stumbling block for other people to come into the faith? Are we creating unnecessary hoops for people to jump through or are we sharing liberally the grace that has been made available through Jesus? We have to be careful about how our decisions as people and churches can have many ripple effects.

Saturday's Cornhole Tournament

The smack talk has been going on now for weeks...

People have had boards made so they can perfect their game...

Many have order uniforms...just to emphasize the absurdity of it all...

Now...the only thing left to do is: THROW SOME BAGS!!!!!!

This Saturday, the 1st Annual Journey Cornhole Tournament kicks-off with Registration @ 10:30am and the games begin @ 11am. This tournament is $30 per team, $15 per individual. The location is the Journey Church, Lebanon Campus: 212 Leeville Pike, Cumberland University. 

All proceeds...and I do mean ALL proceeds go to mission endeavors. They will go to a new church plant getting started in Richmond, VA and will support a church planting missionary who is going to China. There will be food, drinks, and other great things going on. There will also be childcare available for a donation price for those parents who need to do something with the kids. 

Who would have thought that registering to have a fun day of throwing Cornhole Bags could actually go to furthering God's Kingdom and supporting these great causes? Plan to join us Saturday. 

Reading Challenge: Acts 13-14

We are at the half way point as of today. In fact, from this point on we are going to see the explosion and birth of the church as most of the story follows Paul in his missional endeavors. 

Today's readings are from Acts 13-14

Acts 13:

What an incredible time this must have been! Paul and Barnabas had been staying in the Antioch church when one day while they are praying and fasting the Holy Spirit informs them that they are to go out to the rest of the world. This is amazing. This is an opportunity for us to witness first hand the movement of God in its infant stages. I love how when we read it we don't hear them asking all kinds of questions or arguing about what to do, they simply go. This is a lesson for all of us: 1. we need to be in constant prayer and yes, maybe even fasting. 2. When the Spirit of God speaks our next response should be obedience, not questioning. 

Acts 14:

In Chapter 12 we seen how King Herod was struck down for letting people worship him as God. In this chapter Paul and Barnabas deflect the worship and tell them that they are merely men. The thing that stood out to me in this chapter was their faithfulness to the task of sharing the Good News. Notice that Paul was nearly stoned to death and dragged outside the city. The Scriptures say that he got up and went back into the city. That is courage! That is conviction to a mission! That is the type of commitment and boldness the church and her missionaries once again need to embody. 

What were your thoughts on these chapters? 

This is why you should come to The Journey

This is why you should be coming to The Journey. This is an example of the creativity and humor that we use in order for people to connect with the message of Jesus. Enjoy!

Reading Challenge: Acts 12

Welcome back everyone. I hope everyone had a great weekend. We continue in our Acts reading with Acts 12. We are going to cover some ground this week, so be sure to read carefully and comment if you so desire. 

Wow, there are lots of things happening in this chapter. It begins with the death of James, the brother of John (the beloved disciple). James was part of the inner circle of Jesus and he is the first of the 11 faithful disciples that has died for being a follower of the Way. Peter is then arrested, but has a miraculous experience happen as an angel appears before him and rescues him. Why is Peter rescued and James not? These are questions we will never have answers to. Perhaps Peter's mission from God had not been accomplished? Either way, Peter escapes and continues his mission of making Christ known. 

The part that may have stuck out to me the most was the death of Herod Agrippa. It says that Herod was struck down dead because he accepted the worship of other humans, instead of giving glory to God. How much of this happens in our world today? Athletes, musicians, PASTOR'S, and others often accept the praise and worship of others instead of deflecting it to God. In what ways have you failed to deflect worship from you back to God?

I'd love to hear your thoughts and take-aways.

Sunday Evening Reflections

Once again, the only thing I can begin by saying is: WOW! Today was such an amazing day at The Journey. I'm blown away by the overwhelming presence of God in our midst each week. I seriously didn't even have to preach and we could have all left filled with God because of the amazing time of worship. I feel so grateful to be a part of this church.

A couple notes of interest:

* be in prayer for a big meeting we have this week with a lot of highly influential and well-resourced churches about planting the Hartsville Campus. A lot of things are coming together around this campus.

* today was a great day at the Mount Juliet Campus. We had a good crowd and a great atmosphere and spirit of anticipation. We are working really hard to build a strong, vibrant and growing campus in Mount Juliet. Today was a great reminder that God is at work.

* the Cornhole Tournament is this coming Saturday @ the Lebanon Campus starting at 10:30am. Be there and be prepared to go down. My partner and I are: Team Old-school. You are not going to want to miss my outfit...then again, once you see it you may wish you would have missed it.

Great things going down right now at The Journey. God is good....and it is only going to get better!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

End of the night reflections with Kaleb after his first Nashville Sounds game.

Kaleb's First Nashville Sounds Game from Erik Reed on Vimeo.

An Inside Look at Peter's Twitter/Facebook Log

Okay, so yesterday I posted a blog that imagined what Jesus' twitter/facebook status updates would have looked like. We used the Matthew 16:13-28 passage as our reference. 

Today, I want to take a sneak peak at what Peter's must have looked like from the exact same story. Take a look...

Peter's Twitter/Facebook Updates:

• been traveling a lot lately...Jesus sure does like to walk 1:06 p.m.
• Jesus is asking us who people are saying he is... 2:19 p.m.
• Oh no, he just asked us who we think he is and nobody is answering 2:42 p.m.
• Sweet! I just answered the question right...I knew he was the Christ 2:49 p.m.
• Jesus just mentioned something about building a church...what is that? 2:52 p.m.
• Hmmm, been following Jesus around for a while now and he just mentioned something about dying...??? 4:45 p.m.
• Wow, Jesus just called me Satan...that sucks, really bad! 5:20 p.m.
• Jesus just talked about denying ourselves if we are to follow him...this guy is on an entirely different level!  7:16 p.m.
• Trying to reflect on all I've heard and seen today...it has never been a mistake to follow Jesus, but its tough 8:31 p.m.
• Good night to all, I've got to get some rest...I'm sure tomorrow will be as eventful as every other day 9:13 p.m.