Jeff Jackson Live

I am down in Memphis, TN and Little Rock, AR this week meeting with potential partners for our church plant.  These churches are looking at helping us financially and bringing mission teams to our area.  With this said here are some random thoughts reflecting on this last week and the weeks ahead:

• Our church rocks!!
• Last Sunday was probably the most moving series I have experienced at Journey
• I am so pumped for our new marriage series starting next week.  www.canihaveanewmarriage.com (bring your friends)
• I love pastoring journey church!!
• I truly believe we are on the verge on a major breakout of the Spirit in our church and our community.
• The BEST is yet to COME!
• Can you believe there are already Christmas decorations up??!!
• I believe Sunday will rock your world when we study the foundation of marriage!!!!

That’s all for now…pray for me as I travel and meet with pastors and PRAY for SUNDAY we WILL see lives transformed by the Gospel!!

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No matter where your marriage is or was we have all been challenged in our marriage.  Some of you reading this today are ready to call it quits in your marriage.  On November 14th at Journey Church, we are starting a new series called “Can I Have a New Marriage.”  This series will take a look at what the Bible has to say about marriage.  We will find that most marriages that are struggling have a JESUS problem and not a MARRIAGE problem.  Join us on November 4th that will change your life and give you the best marriage on the face of this planet.

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I will have been married for 7 years this January so for some people I may not have enough “real life” experience to blog about marriage.  They are probably right…if I were just giving you my opinion.  The Bible gives us some core essentials that every marriage should have.  Here is part 1:

1. Unconditional Love – Ephesians 5:25 tells husbands to love their wife as Christ loves the church.  I know lots of men who will take a bullet for their wife but complain about spending time together watching a chick flick…does this make since?  Jesus Christ DIED for the Church.  He gave ALL so that we may have LIFE.  He DIED knowing people would REJECT Him.  He PROVIDED when we didn’t even know we had a NEED.  Are you seeing the sacrificial side of Jesus and how unconditional love should be in our marriages?  Unconditional loves says, “I will love you not matter what you do!”  Men, it starts with you and your wife will follow.
2. Respect – I have seen lots of husbands and wives that don’t even respect each other.  You can tell by the way they talk to one another and treat each other in public.  Philippians 2:3 says it all…view others more significant than yourself.  If we could do this then we would respect our spouses and we would see affinity in our marriages.  I believe that if we understood what respect is and how we use respect in marriage we would dramatically change the amount of divorce in America.

Work on these cornerstones in your marriage and we will discuss part 2 soon.

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God is making some amazing moves in our church.  He is going to use us for His greatness and glory.  However, as we continue to grow we will experience growing pains.  Here are 3 thoughts that will kill our growth:

1. “My old church never did that!” – If you are saying this because there is something that you don’t like then this is a thought that can kill growth.  Think about it this way, 3500-4000 are closing their doors permanently this year so if we did everything like we use to then we will close our doors!  Our methods might be different but our theology will not change.
2. “There are too many people here, I just don’t know anyone anymore!” – There will be a day when you don’t know everyone at church…(you might already be that person) we should be excited about this.  We should also still go out of our way to make people feel welcome and attempt to get to know them.  This is why small groups are so important at journey.  Small groups is the glue that holds it all together and a great place to experience biblical community.
3. “The worship is too loud and I don’t know the songs!” – Did you know that the music we play on Sundays is not for YOU?  I know, probably not what you wanted to hear.  If we think that the music is for us and to make us feel all good and gooey inside then we are destined to kill growth.  Our worship is for God and God alone and we should be praying that God ACTUALLY hears our worship.

Church,  God is at work and we need to make sure we don’t allow our human nature to mess it all up.  I am excited for what is to come because I do believe we still have the best to experience.  Lets just make sure we stay on track and in tune with God.

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This is a mandate to all Journey Church members…let’s do something big for God’s Kingdom this week.  What can we do?  This is only Tuesday and we have the rest of the week to do something big for God’s Kingdom.  I am thinking of something radical, something different, something that will point people to Jesus.  I have been recently reading the book Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick and the book’s premise is challenging the readers to make audacious moves for the Kingdom.  He uses the story in the Bible about Joshua and how God made the sun stand still because Joshua prayed and believed that God would deliver.  I want the Faith that prayed that prayer.  The Faith the heals the blind, restores marriages and raised Jesus from the dead.

The same God of the Bible and the God that made the sun stand still is the same God that will do anything we ask him to do if its according to His will.  So what do you want God to do?  Lets take our place in the middle of God’s movement.  Will you join me?

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Tomorrow, Pete (our family pastor) , Cole (our get it done in every ministry guy) and myself leave for the Newspring Leadership Conference.  Where we will hear from some great leaders encouraging and equipping us in our leadership roles.  I hope to learn lots of great things.  Since I have lots of down time while I travel, specifically in the car, I always try to do lots of downtime and spend quality time with the Lord.  Here is what I would like to accomplish this week while on the road:

• Plan out our next sermon series after Mark
• Brainstorm some outreach we can do in the spring
• Finalize something big we are doing this Fall (I am busting at the seams to tell you…soon!) FYI lots of people will give their life to the Lord through this outlet.
• Work on our Vision Tour for the Spring (we are bringing pastors to our area to let them know about Journey and other church planting opportunities)

Please pray for our team as we head out tomorrow.  Pray that God will teach us  techniques to apply at Journey.  Pray that God will reveal the next big thing for us!

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Today, we celebrated our Grand Opening at Journey Church and I am just blown away.  God was so good to us and I am so proud of our church.  I don’t think I saw one visitor not greeted and welcomed to our Church.  Worship was awesome…Jesus was preached…what else could you ask for?  Today at least 5 people that we know of surrendered their life to the Lord!!! God is good.  I am so honored to be your pastor and once again couldn’t imagine ministering with any other people.  I love my Jesus and I love my church!

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Apart from the obvious, my relationship with Jesus, incredible wife and daughter (and the one on the way), I wanted to tell you why I am so excited that our Grand Opening is just days away.  Here they are in no particular order:

• We moved back to this area just for this day.
• I have been waiting for this day for three years.
• I personally believe God is going to move in such a huge way on September 12 that the only explanation is Him and that is AWESOME!
• I get floored every time I see people from journey sharing Jesus with people and ministering to their needs and on September 12th that will happen.
• September 12th we go public and our community will see Jesus through our church…WOW!
• Jesus promises that if we elevate Him, He will draw all men to himself!!
• September 12th will be the clearest Gospel presentation I have ever preached and people are going to place their faith in Him that day.
• I couldn’t imagine fighting this battle with different people…journey you ROCK!!
• God is awesome, has the power to save and willing to do so!!!!
• September 12th will not only be significant for journey church but also will mark spiritual transformation for those who place their faith in Him

I could go on and on but you get the picture.  Now let me know what floats your boat?  Why are you excited about our Grand Opening?

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Most of the time we go through life not expecting anything to happen. The sad culmination is that when God does show up unexpectedly we are so caught off guard we miss the blessing.  What if everyday you started with the thought, “Today God is going to reveal Himself to me.” Would your prayer life change?  Would your weeks become shorter because you wouldn’t be drawn down but the mundane things in life?  I believe that we would be set free to serve our Lord to our greatest capacity if we prayed and lived with expectant hearts.  Every ordinary day has a miracle waiting to happen and I want to experience everything that God has to offer.

As we move closer to our Grand Opening at Journey Church we need to expect God to show up and take care of business.  Lives are at stake here.  Decide to change, to be different and experience God in the fullness of His Glory.

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I truly believe the best is yet to come at Journey Church. God has been in the process of positioning us for a huge movement from God and here is why:

1. We have been faithful in the little – On March 14th we started with nothing, at least equipment.  However, we had the most dedicated team in the history of church planting.  We continue to elevate Jesus in our community while intentionally making disciples.  Matthew 25:23 tells us that if we continue to be faithful God will give us more Kingdom responsibilities.
2. God pours out His favor on those you seek Him – Jeremiah 29:11, probably one of the most misused verses, tells us that God has plans for us to prosper, plans of a future and hope.  If we keep reading in Jeremiah 29:13 we see that we will find God when we seek Him with all of our hearts.  I can only imagine that when we experience God’s presence the only outcome can be a movement that changes our community.  God will respond to prayers of restoration so remain faithful and God will deliver his promises.
3. God is not done with His Church and neither are we - Matthew 16 assures us that the enemy will not over take the church so until the day that Jesus returns we are not going to stop elevating Jesus and disciple the saved.

Do you believe the best is yet to come?  If we continue in obedience, step aside and let God move then we will truly see great things in the future.

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