Crothy

The Power of a Gift

Last night I was rummaging around in some papers looking for a receipt and found something I was not supposed to find.  It was a gift that was given to me that I was totally unaware of.  If I told you what it was, many of you would think it was nice but no big deal, some would think of it as a big deal, but for me it was overwhelming!  Not because of the value of it, that is irrelevant (it usually is) but because it moved me to worship my Heavenly Father.  I woke up this morning with a renewed heart to give and love with the hope that my gifts and my love would point people to glorify God.  If you think about it, that was what the Cross was all about.  Yes, it was to pay the penalty for our sin, but beyond that, it was a love gift to point us and bring us to God.  That is the power of a gift, it moves you to God.  Thank you God for your unspeakable gift of Jesus and for the earthly gift you gave me last night, keep reminding me it is all about You.

Group Life at Journey

I recently told someone that I wish I would have known years ago what I know now about community.  Years ago, I knew community was important but it was more in my head then in my heart.  Now that God has buried it deep within my heart, I am more convinced than ever that if you are not involved in community, you are probably growing at a very slow rate spiritually.  For example, you may feel you are a very compassionate person after watching a Hallmark commercial crying like a baby on the couch, but jump into a community of people and you will see how compassionate you really are and how much further you need to go.  Look at marriage.  You may think very highly of yourself, that you are a terrific 'catch,' but after a few months into your marriage, you find that it takes more than you ever dreamed of to be loved and to love another.  Dynamic growth happens in the context of community.  Obviously, you can be in community and not embracing it, but if you are giving yourself to others in an environment of community, you will be blown away by your growth.  I promise you.  If you aren't plugged into one, Taste of Groups is this Thursday night at 7:00pm at the NE Campus and it is the perfect start to community life at Journey.

I Don't Know

This past weekend our team had the opportunity to speak into another team of church planters that are getting ready to launch a new work in Jupiter, Fla.  They had a lot of questions and I am sure we didn't give them all the answers, but it was fun hanging with them.  As we talked with them, I was quickly ushered back in my mind to when we first started Journey and how many questions faced us at every turn.  Our favorite response was, "I don't know."  It wasn't that we didn't know how to 'do ministry.'  We all had 20 years of experience of 'doing ministry,' but this was different.   We were leaning on our time with God, listening to His voice, and then just responding.  I don't think that has changed much with our leadership team at Journey but sometimes I think we are impacted by this expectation to have it figured out now that we are established as a church.  I honestly hope we never figure it out.  I know that there is greater responsibility with a greater number of people, and it is a weird feeling not to have certainty about something, but my prayer today for me and for you is that we don't allow the expectations of others to move us into having to know all the answers and have it all figured out.  I simply want to hear God speak to me and respond to what He says.  Hopefully the result will be that people will continue to be blessed through God's work at Journey through us.  It really doesn't have to be more complicated than that, does it?  I don't know.

Encouragement

I was hanging out with God this morning and found myself after a little while burning up my phone with text messages to other people that God was putting on my mind to pray for.  Just started texting away and realized I could honestly do that all day, the list is endless.  Everybody needs encouragement.  When was the last time somebody encouraged you without a prompting from anybody else.  Recently one of the guys on our worship team prompted the entire worship and tech team to lavish praise and thanks on another member of the team.  It was very cool to watch that mail start flying.  We all love to be encouraged.  This morning God impressed upon me one of the elements of being His child is to encourage and pray for others.  Simple and something most of us know as believers, I know, but who are you speaking words of encouragement to?  Start with your family and move outward.  What you will find is that it increases your compassion quotient. Very cool how God works that out in you.

Give me this day . . .

I just returned from a week in Honduras working with Roger and Marilyn Reech and the Garifuna people.  It was an incredible week where we were able to work on and dedicate the training center that so many of you at Journey have invested in.  I cannot begin to tell you of the countless blessings of the week and in the coming weeks you will undoubtedly hear many stories.  We had a great group of 14 and Mark Harvey again did an outstanding job of leading the trip.  I will save a future blog for the impact it made on me, but for now, my thoughts this morning went to the Lord's Prayer.  In that prayer that Jesus teaches his disciples, He comes to a point in the prayer where He encourages us to pray, "Give us this day our daily bread. . ."  Not only does that point to our dependence on HIm for what I need today, it also points to the attention I must give today.  As great as last week was, that was last week.  God has blessed me with a new day today to proclaim Him here in Raleigh, my home.  For each of us, whether we succeeded or failed yesterday, last week, last month, etc., today is a new day.  Ask God for what you need and give attention to the minutes He gives you today.   

The Worlds Worst Blogger

I don't know if I actually hold that title but I am working hard at it.  My last blog entry was January 12 and I would guess that isn't very good.  It isn't that I don't have much to say, but rather, it is where blogging ranks in my list of priorities.  It just isn't high on the list.  That is why it is so funny to me that Smooth hooked me up with Twitter today.  In fact, when I say 'hooked me up,' I mean he came in asked for my phone, took my phone away from me, set everything up, took my picture, and set everything in motion.  He is 'helping' me move forward in this ever changing world.  Where would I be without my friend Smooth.  So, now I have an iphone, a mac, facebook, a blog, and Twitter, not to mention the responsibility to keep information current on a few areas of our web site.  Frankly I was over my head when I got my mac and now, well, it's either sink or swim.  Who knows, maybe I will 'get' all this stuff and become a better communicator.  Maybe Twitter will be something that I really enjoy.  Only time will tell.

Community.

At Journey we say that growth happens best in the context of community.  I continue to become more of a believer in this statement the more I grow.  In fact, last Thursday night, we began a four week gathering called 'Taste of Groups.'  It is an opportunity for people to come, check out what groups are about, and then at the end of the four weeks form a new group or jump into an existing one.  It was a great night.  About 25 people started the process with at least 10 more committed to coming this week.  For me, the night was an incredible confirmation that people want to connect and grow.  If you haven't plugged into a group at Journey, make plans to be there this Thursday night at 7 over at the Northeast Campus.  We finish promptly at 8:30pm and childcare is provided.

Blessing of a Phone Call

My daughter called me today.  'Okay, so what?" would be the likely response.  Caitlin is in her second semester at UNCW and she was walking back from class and thought, "I haven't talked to my Dad yet this week."  She dialed the phone and we talked for about 30 minutes about her first week of class, her roommates, her boyfriend, and a few other things.  I got off the phone after telling her I loved her and just basked in the blessing that my daughter loves me and wants to talk to me.  It wasn't that there was a shortage of things to do or think about at school.  It was that she thought about me and without a prompting called me.  It may sound that I am surprised.  I'm not, just blown away by the blessing of God through my daughter.  And then I thought, how awesome is the thought that my heavenly Father loves it when I communicate with Him.

Happy New Year (Jan 1, 2009)

It is 11:57am on January 1, 2009 and I am still in bed typing this blog.  I cannot remember when the last time was that I stayed in bed until Noon!  It's awesome!  Some of you are reading this and saying, "What!  You are a loser, you just wasted half of the first day of a new year!" Whatever.  You may be right.  For me, I would say it was a great start to the New Year!   I have read my Bible, several chapters of 'The Go-Giver,' added a few applications on my i-phone, read some articles on-line about group life, read some blogs of others, and now am blogging myself.  Bottom line, I have been challenged greatly by reading over the last few hours.  I am also overwhelmed with how much I don't know. My prayer today, "God, I am already over my head before my feet hit the floor.  Help me to pursue You in this coming year, responding to Your voice, and walking in obedience to what You have for me.  I am ready."  Happy New Year, I pray God will overwhelm you with who He is.  I better get out of bed now.

Grace for the New Driver (Dec 24, 2008)

Yesterday I pulled up to a stop light and next to me was a brand new driver.  It was obvious.  He had a panicked look on his face, cars were beeping behind him, the light was green, and he wasn't moving.  He was looking all around trying to figure out what to do and people were flat out mad, holding their hands up, yelling inside their car, etc.  Instead of extending some grace and understanding, the drivers were unforgiving and forgetful of when they were in that position.  Then I thought about how crazy it would be for a new driver at Christmas.  Let's be honest; there is little patience and little mercy on the road during Christmas and we an be flat out hateful to others if they don't measure up to what we expect.  Aren't you glad God isn't like that when we freeze up at the 'stop lights' in our life.  He extends mercy, grace, forgiveness, and directs us forward.  Ease up on people around you, you haven't arrived either.