Walk This Way -by Danny

It’s that time again. CAMP TIME! Next month, we have our Journey Youth camp and Journey Kids camp. First of all, if you are of age and our not registered for these experiences you are truly missing out. I am lucky enough to get to be a part of both. Today though I will focus on the latter, Journey Kids Camp.

We will be using the next two months of Sundays to set up what I think will be a fantastic experience for our children and volunteers. Last year was my very first kids camp and it was a great personal experience. This year we will be using the same format, so anyone who volunteered last year will have a great heads up on how this year will be ran.

This year, starting this month, we are focusing on faith and this theme will extend into July all the way to our camp July 25-29. Walk This Way will explore the life of the Apostle Paul; when he encountered Christ and his ministry. We have some awesome crafts and games to help illustrate the truths of what kind of impact faith in God can have on someone’s life. Not to mention our live drama team, video teachings, and worship.

I encourage you to get your children to this camp. I also encourage you to volunteer. I know kids ministry and especially kids and youth camps have a bad rep, but I will reiterate what I said before: if you are missing these two ministries in your life you are truly missing out. You can register for Walk This Way at journeychurchmo.com.  If you have any question about kids camp don’t hesitate to hit me up on Facebook or email or whatever. If you cannot be a part of our camps please join us in prayer that lives our impacted, futures are changed, and dreams are born.

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on twitter and instagram @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on Twitter @Journey_MO

The Sweet Life — by Danny

Yeah, that’s me at one of the top rated beaches in America, with a chocolate chip cookie in my mouth and sunshine and the ocean at my back. I am not going to lie … it was a pretty sweet moment.

What you don’t see is my wife who had to talk me into driving the two and a half hours to get to this beach. You don’t see my friend who requested a pic of me eating a cake by the beach while listening to “Cake by the Beach.” I didn’t have any cake so he settled for a cookie. LOL. What you can’t possibly see from this picture is the fact that my friends allowed us to stay at their house and take over their car for a week for FREE.

There is no way you could possibly figure out from this shot that while I am out of town, I have friends covering any needs that the Children’s Ministry has while I am out of pocket. There is also a friend who is checking on my house and animals so that I don’t have to worry about them and I can enjoy my time off, but you probably can’t see her in the picture, either. Without each one of these people in my life, this moment doesn’t happen.

Whether you are on a journey or have reached a destination, it truly is the people that make the best moments. It was pretty sweet to be on the beach, but the thing I love the most about my life are the people I have in it. These same people know that they can count on me to be there for them when they need me. It is so important that we surround ourselves with positive impact people. Can you look around your environment and know that the people who inhabit it are on your team? People will say “Man you are so lucky to have friends like that.” It is not luck that brings great people into your life. It is a choice to not to settle for people who drain and abuse you.

I believe isolation is the biggest enemy to progress and happiness, but surrounding yourself with people who drain and abuse your relationship is a close second. You can’t have the sweet life without loving people surrounding you. Jesus even surrounded himself with core people so that He could live the sweet life while He was here and even after He rose.

One of my favorite chapters in the Bible is John 21. One of Jesus’ last moments on Earth, and He decides to chill with his friends and eat some breakfast. There is nothing sweeter than having legit friends who care about you and who you care about. There are great people in this world that can change yours for the better.

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on social media @Journey_MO

Bumpers — by Danny

It only took three chapters and six verses for man to sin. Three chapters in, and we are already looking for the shortcut and making bad choices.

I love the fact I can make my own decisions, but sometimes I wish God would just throw me down the right path. I wish He would just sit one door in front of me and say “Go!” Alas, He wants us to choose to love Him. He wants us to choose to follow Him. He wants true love not forced love. As we pray for guidance, though, he will carve out a proper path for us … a path that will lead us straight toward our destiny, our dreams.

The issue just like with Adam and Eve is that before we are even on our way down the lane we choose to put the bumpers down. You know what I mean when I say bumpers? I am talking about the guards they put up in bowling alleys for kids and … most of the time, me. They prevent your ball from going in the gutter. They guide the ball toward the pins.

What we do, like our predecessors though, is we say to God “I want to do it this way” or we fail to surrender an area of our life on account of fear. Our fears and paranoia will force us to do crazy things. We fear God’s path will somehow hide some fun and exciting things from us. We are so paranoid that by following the bumpers we will in turn miss out on some great opportunities that by our logic God has either missed or withheld from our path.

Let me tell you something: God is not putting up boundaries in your life for you to suffer. Just like bowling bumpers, the only thing outside God’s plan is the gutter. Sure, you will run across some good stuff in the gutter, but you cannot get a strike with a gutter ball. What I mean is you will never see the full potential of that aspect of your life.

If you live outside of the boundaries of your marriage don’t be shocked that your marriage is falling apart. If you live in the gutter when it comes to your prayer life don’t expect to recognize God’s voice in your everyday. We need to understand that God has set a path before all of us, but we are responsible for choosing which way we roll.

“So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”
Romans 12: 1-2

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on social media @Journey_MO

Once I Was 30 Years Old — by Danny

Once I was 30 years old and that story has been told. Soon I’ll be 40 years old and I can’t help and wonder what that story will sound like. The past 31 years have been amazing … I mean I can really only remember like 20 years vaguely, but it has been an exciting ride.

I think looking in the rearview mirror briefly is a good thing. Look at what you have accomplished, look at how much you have changed, look how much the world around you has changed; it can be mind boggling to reminisce. You start to ask questions like “how did I survive and thrive under those circumstances?” or “I could not have made it without this person or that person.”

We can also look back and see a lot of missed opportunities. Some missed opportunities are not because we didn’t want to do them, but because there is no pause button. Life rolls on and the world keeps spinning even when life looks like a blur and you feel like you are caught in quicksand unable to keep up.

What do you do with all that is left undone though? That’s the question. What do you do with all of the undone dreams and unanswered questions? I believe in evaluation through prayer in these circumstances. What I mean by that is are these questions and dreams affecting my purpose. Has their time passed? Is this still something God wants me to still do or still be asking?

If you look in the rearview mirror, you have to be able to allow some things to fade into the distance so you can get to your final destination. Give up the good for what God has waiting for you. If you seek His answers in your time of confusion, you will get clarity. I don’t want to have 40 pass me by and I am still on the side of the road focusing on landmark moment I should have passed at 31.

Keep rolling. You are just getting started, but you might have to drop some baggage (even some nice looking baggage) along the way. If you want greatness you will have to sacrifice average.

While you’re thinking about all that, take a look at this music video of a new song I kind of like. It was my inspiration for this blog — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LHCob76kigA 

Enjoy the ride.
Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and instagram @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on social media @Journey_MO

Unsteady — by Danny

Stick around. It’s going to be good! I’m talking REAL GOOD. That is what I want to say to you today.

If you are facing an uphill battle for your dream, just hang on a little longer baby! We can get so unsteady crossing that ancient wooden bridge that serves as the pathway over the chasm of doubt and unbelief that separates us from now and our future. That is what it feels like sometimes, right?

God says, “Go over there,’ so you start walking and all of the sudden you’re at this rickety old bridge that connects you and you are literally steps away from greatness, but you can tell those steps are going to be … um, you know. We take that first step and hey it’s not so bad; you are still close enough to turn around, so we continue on and then bridge begins to sway … boards begin to creek and moan. You turn around and notice you are now pretty far from land. The wind begins to blow pretty hard. Things start to happen that were not in your “vision” or “plan”, but you know it is God pushing you forward.

Now it’s crunch time; this is where you have to start fully relying in faith that God will do what He has promised you. This is where the talk becomes walk.

Let me encourage you today: if you are in this spot, let God be your rock. Let God be your staff. Let God be your standard. Let God brace you. The more you lean on Him in this time of uncertainty, the more you will become certain it is His will. When you come to your bridge do not be frightened, be encouraged; your mountaintop is within reach. You just have to reach out and grab it!

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on social media @Journey_MO

Our Kids are Orange — by Danny

We have officially kicked off our 2016 Kids Ministry transition to Orange. Orange is a great strategy for meshing teaching in the home and the church. Using this strategy and its wide range of resources, we will be able to equip parents with material to bring the lessons taught Sunday to life every day of the week.

We want our kids to learn how to have a lifestyle that incorporates Christ and His teachings all week long, rather than just attending a service. This strategy, if used properly, can really enhance the dynamics of family time in our households.

See the video below to get a feel for what this strategy is all about! We are currently using First Look and 252 Basics, not xp3 which is included on the video.

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter and Instagram @00brooksy
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The Yellow Notepad — by Danny

This is my yellow notepad. It is my guide for every week. It tells me what to do and what I have finished. If it is on the pad, it needs to be done as soon as possible. Do you have a yellow notepad or something like it? Maybe it’s a white pad or an app or a spouse. (LOL) Brittany is my bonus notepad a lot of the time, too.

We are entering December, which is a very busy month for most people. Whether it is organizing the company Christmas party or preparing for family to stay at your house because it is your turn to host, it can be a very stressful time. Yellow pads fill up fast right about now. We have presents to get, food to prepare, and events to schedule. The pressure to check off each item is sometimes unbelievable. The pressure to over commit is also very strong.

It is OK even during the holiday season to say no. Sometimes I have hard time saying that word so … lets all say it out loud together just to get some practice in and the awkwardness out … ready 1 … 2 … 3 NO! Great job everybody. Come see me on Sunday and I will give you a sticker for participation. Ha. But seriously, I’ve got stickers. Enjoy this season! Be involved, but build boundaries for down time. You will find more joy and be more of a joy to be around.

Make time to fill your heart and not your hands. Spend some quality alone time with Jesus this year. You will be amazed at how He can clarify things for you. He can streamline our wants and needs so we can accomplish more in less time and cut out some of the things that don’t need to be there in the first place.

“Are your hands fuller than your heart? For the heart regulates the hands, if your heart is full, your hands will handle things better.” – Charlotte Gambill

Danny

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Living For Likes — by Danny

Have you ever posted something on social media like a Sierra-filtered selfie, an artistically situated plate of food or a special angle pic of your cat expecting to break the Internet but instead only getting two likes? No? Oh, um, me neither.

Sadly, the truth is I have. This is not a plea for more likes on my photos or for more friends. One of my favorite pastors to listen to and read is Craig Groeschel. He just dropped a great podcast on this very issue. Check it out if you get a minute, but for now here is my take on it.

In today’s social-media-driven world, we find ourselves being who others want us to be rather than who we were made to be. We hide certain posts because we did not get the response we want, thinking to ourselves, “maybe if you guys don’t like it maybe I won’t like it anymore, either.” We hold off on posting inspirational things we feel led to post because we know the video of the guy getting hit in the junk will pull double the comments. We get a portion our self worth from the amount of likes and comments we receive. The trouble is there are never enough likes. There are never enough comments. When we peak on one post, we NEED to drop another one and fast! The satisfaction is temporary.

There is no need to filter who you are. We compare everything we see with what we have and feel like we are not good enough. Steven Furtick said it this way: “We compare our behind-the-scenes lives with other peoples highlight reels.” It is so true. As you scroll Facebook and see Caribbean vacations and steak dinners, you look around at your boring house and sloppy joes all the while starving your self-confidence and feeding envy.

The screen begins to veil our eyes of what the truth really is and that veil hardens our hearts with envy. When we are living for likes it brings out darkness from inside of us. We become envious of everything that is getting more screen attention than our “thing.” It is time to remove the veil and free ourselves to be ourselves.

¹⁶ But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. — 2 Corinthians 3:16-17

The truth is we are all longing for that freedom … that no-strings-attached you-love-me-the-way-I-am freedom. We are settling for I will live in constant chains doing what I think will get me one more thumbs up, retweet, or heart. Let Christ remove the veil and show you how valuable you being you really is. He loves you forever and always just the way you are.

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on Twitter @Journey_MO

Cyber Christians — by Danny

Social media and the Internet have brought us a new avenue of outreach and growth in our everyday lives. There are a lot of encouraging posts and uplifting messages as I scroll through my Facebook and Twitter feeds that help me start my day off right.

But there are also a lot of posts of negativity and gossip. Social media has broken our society of something that we used to value … self-control. It has been an outlet for where there is almost no accountability. It has also made some of us a bit schizophrenic, a state characterized by a state of coexistence of contradictory or incompatible elements, in the way we act online compared to the way we act in real life.

Where there is no accountability there is no need for self-control. In one life, real life, you know stealing is wrong, lying is wrong, being hateful and mean is wrong, so you most like avoid doing these things because you know the consequences will be coming soon. In the other life, the cyber life, these rules blur because of self validating thoughts like it’s not hurting anyone really, I will never meet that person anyway, or because by the time I see them again they won’t remember. The biggest problem with that is eventually your two lives mesh into one. One train of thought will overtake the other.

There is also the opposite effect happening where we can look online and see posts of inspirational memes and scripture, but they are not lived out in our real lives. People will post in awe of God’s goodness, but we live like He is not interested in what we are doing or where we are. We shout with pictures on the power of scripture, and walk around with defeat in our voice and on our face. It is almost like the person we are online is the person we want to be and the person walking around is the person we are stuck being.

This is craziness! Jesus is not scrolling through your posts hoping to see you posting amen in all caps and then living in unbelief. Jesus isn’t looking for your Facebook rants in His defense. Social media can be a tool … a great tool. It should be a reflection of you, which should be a reflection of Christ. But, if you are trying to reflect Christ online while not being yourself in real life you might as well power down because honestly, you’re not fooling anyone. It’s a joke we are all tired of laughing at.

Come out from behind the screen and start creating real life change as well! Get involved in your church, join a small group and serve somebody. Be the person you should and can be.

Danny

Friend Danny on Facebook or follow him on Twitter @00brooksy
Follow Journey Church on Twitter, YouTube and Instagram @Journey_MO

Adventures, Old & New — by Brittany

Over the past three years, Danny and I have been truly blessed by his job at Southwest Airlines. It has been both a great provider of income and benefits for our family. We have had so many traveling opportunities that would just not have been possible without his job there. I mean really, who could not be blessed by free flights?

About six months ago we really started to feel God pulling him away from Southwest to be more involved with the church and when we started to feel drawn to be the full-time Journey Kids directors, I can honestly say that I was terrified. I mean, didn’t God provide Danny with this amazing job that has not only been a blessing to us but also to people around us and now he wants us to walk away from it? I was torn between choosing to stay with what God had given us or moving on to the new thing that He had for us. One night as Danny and I were talking, Danny kept asking me, “Do you trust God?” It reminded me of the story in the bible about the rich young ruler.

Someone came to Jesus with this question: “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?”

“Why ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. But to answer your question—if you want to receive eternal life, keep the commandments.”

“Which ones?” the man asked.

And Jesus replied: “‘You must not murder. You must not commit adultery. You must not steal. You must not testify falsely. Honor your father and mother. Love your neighbor as yourself.’ “I’ve obeyed all these commandments,” the young man replied. “What else must I do?” Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go and sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”

But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.

Matthew 19:16-22

I remember as a child hearing this story and thinking, “That man is so dumb! How could he not know that this is GOD talking to him and what GOD has is way better than what he may have?” I couldn’t help but think, what ever happened to that rich young ruler? What would have happened if he had done what Jesus said? WHO would he have been and WHAT COULD HE HAVE DONE FOR OTHER PEOPLE?

Yes, God blessed the rich young ruler with everything that he had up to that point. But the blessings that were in store for him far outweighed the money and property that he had. He couldn’t see past his present to God’s future for his life.

God is so good and his blessings are evident everyday in our lives but sometimes he calls us away from things he has provided for us to grow us and move us on to new blessings and to allow us to be a blessing to others in different ways. There will always be growing pains as we mature and our faith is stretched but in order for us to grow we have to let go of the old and allow God to do a new thing in our lives! What is the “new thing” in your life that God is trying to do? Will you trust Him to provide in this new season of your life?

Isaiah 43 is my absolute favorite chapter in the whole bible so I will leave you with just a piece.

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand‑new.
It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert, rivers in the badlands.”
Isaiah 43:18-20

Brittany