wogblog

That’s the way it is with the Son of Man. He did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many people.” Matthew 20:28

I have to confess to you that for many, many years I was really more concerned about the overflow in my life than the outflow. Let me explain. I was one of those pastors who kept thinking and kept teaching that “there must be more than this”. My comments were focussed at, what I called, the church machine. In my mind, the church had become something of a machine that had to be maintained so that it could function … just to exist. I kept seeing most people just wanted to “go to church” so that they could say that they “went”. There was no passion, no commitment — just a machine that opened it’s doors each Sunday for education, worship, and preaching. The common thing said on the way out was … “ba bye, see you next week”. I grew tired of that and began to search for something more. I did find the power I needed with a great experience with the Holy Spirit. It was empowering and I led my church to experience that overflow in their lives. It was cool, for a while. There was passion. There was commitment. That’s where it stopped. I could not figure out for the life of me why it seemed to still bottle neck on Sunday morning. Our crowds grew. People were flocking … inward.

Fast forward 5 years. Yes, 5 years! Here I am, pastoring a new church start up … but with a new focus. It’s not all about getting your shout on. It’s not all about getting a good worship set in on Sunday AM. I am involved in a project … not a machine. My project … to learn to live in the outflow of God’s grace, kindness, and generous love to others.

The benefits … well, they are pretty cool. One, benefit … I am serving because I want to and not because I have to. Two, stories. Stories of hope and help … “they overcame … but the word of their testimony”. Three, something comes back to me when the outflow happens.  Now, some might see that 3rd benefit as a reason to serve … I will tell you that if that is your reason … you won’t get what I am trying to explain. Luke 6:38 takes over and the bumper crop that you are experiencing is overwhelming.

Where is Journey Church headed? Out not In. Giving not receiving. Opening doors. Serving.

Want to join us?

Oh, what’s the deal with the picture of the lawn mower. I read a story about a pastor who calls himself … the lawn pastor. He mows the yards of people for little or no money for the benefit of serving them. See, it’s the small things that push the gospel forward.

wg

Oh, it’s the catch phrase of the decade. Stop going to church and “be” the church. We need to preach this. We need to live this.

Yesterday Lori called me and told me that her employer, First Methodist Church in McKinney, might need to use my 16 ft. trailer. She said she volunteered it for “us”. Then she said … I volunteered you to … to pull it with your truck. I was excited … didn’t know what I was going to do with it … but it sounded adventurous. FUMC had been collecting stuff to go to Galveston Island … diapers, toilet paper, peanut butter, water … in fact 3 trailers worth. She called back and said they needed a covered trailer and alas mine is not a covered trailer. They left yesterday to distribute.

It’s true that Journey Church does not have a lot of people attending at this point. We average 10 on Sunday morning. It sort of reminds me of Steve Sjogren when he started a Vineyard church in Cincinnati. After 18 months … they had 37 people attending.

Then Sjogren returned to the Gospels and saw that Jesus served everywhere he went. Then the 37 went into their community to serve, including scouring the restrooms at local bars while disbelieving employees looked on.

That’s right … he gathered up his little band of people and they started cleaning toilets in bars. 18 years later … 7,000 people go out every Saturday for 2 hours to serve others. Serve Fest is what they call it.

You want to know why I started Journey Church … this is why. To serve, like Jesus.

wg < —

I read a very interesting blog this morning here. In Austrailia, several church leaders have come together to basically … “market” Jesus. I have my opinions about church marketing … but they are always in a state of flux, so I am open (most days). So, they hire Angus Kinnaird, a self-described “non-believing humanist.” Ok … now I am very interested. Why would they hire an atheist to help Australians get back to church?

Kinnaird says —

“I’ve had lots of clients wanting to update their image,” says the Melbourne strategy director of FutureBrand. “But I don’t think I’ve ever come across one that has quite as many problems as the church.”

So after his research … what does he come up with? Jesus! That’s right … the strategy of the campaign to get people to go to church in Australia … is Jesus! What a novel idea! Brought to you by … a non-believer.

Why Jesus? “That was the only place we had to go,” Kinnaird says. The research shows that the church is almost an insurmountable obstacle to the campaign. “The church was seen as the problem, not the solution,” he says.

The blog goes on to say that other campaigns focused on Christianity have failed.

“The problem we detected from our research was that a lot of Australians see Christianity as being for losers,” Kinnaird says. “Focusing on personal crisis as the reason for talking to the church would simply reinforce the existing perception that the Christian church is a place for people who have failed.”

The problem? Isn’t that the whole message of the gospel? We have failed and come short. We need something. We can’t get it on our own. I know we would just like to “spin” the church into something that is really cool and hip … but really, how are we going to get by of the message of Christ who says … to be first, you must be last. Jesus is the answer. The church has done a bungling job of getting that message out … but, when it’s all said and done … “those that lose their lives … will find it”.

(quotes from church marketing sucks)

<< — wg

The misty moors toward Pilot Point. Yesterday morning gave me this picture out my back door. Everything green and the fog laying on the ground like elevated snow. Looks like you could scoop it up with a shovel.

We are so blessed to be able to live in such a pretty place. 3 miles east of the Pilot Point on a ridge that looks down on the city of Pilot Point. Actually you can’t see the city from our place … but you can see Hwy 377.

I love this place. Pastoring a church in a little town, getting to know the people, and meeting the challenges of a growing business! I have my plate full! I am sort of shocked that I have not found any other Pilot Point bloggers. (except for James and Mer)  There has to be some more out there … somewhere.

have a blessed day! < — wg

It’s official, at least in my mind, fall is here. Even though temps will climb back to 90 for a few more days … fall in Texas arrives when big Tex goes up at the state fair.

Tex gets some new duds this year. Sporting new jeans and new shirt … someone said that he got a face lift in the off season … sheese … everyone is getting cosmetic surgery.

As a kid … the state fair was something I really looked forward to. Being in the marching band … we also got to march in the Cotton Bowl parade … always behind the Bud trailer with the Clydesdales. Our nice white shoes. eeeewww.

Ah, the promise of cooler weather … someday. On another note … in watching the Cowboy game last night they kept saying that it was humid on the field and that the Green Bay players had to get oxygen and take on IV’s …. BUT IT WAS 65 degrees. Our guys are used to it being 95 and humid … I guess that were just loving the temp.

Go Big Tex.

<< — wg

(photo from AP)

This post is an open invitation for churches or other relief organizations to use our help!!

As some of you know, we helped a family fleeing Ike last week house their 4 horses for several days. That family left last Saturday to return home to no power … but minimal damage to their homes … but the barn was gone. They were from the Kirbyville, Texas area. We have not heard much media coverage in the Dallas area from Southeast Texas … mainly Galveston and Houston.

I am a pastor of a local church and I want to help coordinate help to the Kirbyville … Jasper County area. My goal is to try and get as many other local churches involved in any type of relief needed. We are just like every one else … we have a little more time than we have a little more money … so our talents and skills will have to do for help. I know a number of carpenters, electricians, plumbers, and a bunch of semi skilled or non skilled folks who could come help in any way.

I have contacted “somebody cares” in Houston … but do not know any other way to contact local pastors in the Jasper county area. If someone could contact me today … I would try and get in touch with as many pastors in our area prior to tomorrow as possible … to find out who could come and when. We just need someone in the area to tell us what you need and how to get there.

Please contact me through this email address … give a phone number … I will return your call.

wgooden (at) yahoo.com

wayne gooden – pastor, and all around good guy.

(this is a reprint of a previous post, please excuse) Being a preacher for a bunch of years lends itself to times of hearing stories and seeing images in your mind … linking that together in some sort of logical form … for the purpose of teaching that truth to others. Today, while we rode the Goldwing, this truth came to me.

First off, it is no secret that the modern church has became spiritually obese. By that I mean … most believers think that the purpose of the church is to “feed them”. I have a visual of the Mike Myers character in the movie Austin Powers … saying “get in my belly.” That is not the purpose of the new testament church.

I can’t tell you how many living rooms I sat in … visiting prospective church members when I could recite this line from 90% of those visits. “We left our previous church and began visiting your church … because we just were not being fed.” In my mind I was going “oh great, if they come to my church I will have another mouth to feed.” I always wanted to stop those very sincere folks and ask … “how old do you have to be as a follower of Christ before you start feeding yourself?”

Anyway, today I got this visual of a FORK and began to think about the four prongs of the fork and began to ask myself … How do I know if I am getting spiritual nourished as a believer? I also remembered a cliche that has been around for several years … stick a fork in it … it’s done. Here’s how you will know if you are “getting done.”

F = Are you making FRIENDS and being friendly. Jesus said, “I no longer call you slaves … but friends.” Let’s not confuse the term friends and fellowship together. Fellowship is a church word that describes an activity. Friendship costs something … time, effort and love.

O = Is your OUTLOOK on life going forward?

R = Are you RETURNING to others better than what you receive?

K = Are your actions and attitude kind? Do you invent acts of kindness toward others?

This is a simple straight forward way of finding out if your Christian Education is just increasing the size of your head … or increasing the size of your heart.

I hope when others stick the fork in me … they can say … he’s done.

wayne gooden

It’s no secret that in our part of the world that high school football is “the” place to be on Friday nights. Here is a shot of a high school field in Delcambre, La by AP Photographer, Richard Alan Hannon. This photo was taken last Saturday. Wow.

Having school in South Texas after Ike … is sort of hit and miss. The lack of power is still the issue as thousands of utility workers from all over the country work around the clock to restore power. A lot of bloggers from this area report their food supplies running out, kids being restless, and major concern about their money running out by having to eat out.

Texas Baptists have always come to the rescue in disasters … they report serving 234,285 meals to folks during these days.

My alma mater East Texas Baptist University has been in the news quite a bit with helping Ike evacuees.

I did want to report that … the port of Galveston is suppose to re-open next Monday …. for cruise ships.

Youth Groups in the areas are stepping up and helping in small and big ways.

<< — wg

Can you imagine taking a cruise, getting news that a hurricane is headed to your home port … where you parked your car? Ouch. You can imagine the 2000+ cruisers who were told that they would not be making it back to the Port of Galveston … they were going to New Orleans … or you can just stay on the boat. Those were the options … then they had a ridiculously short time to make arrangements to get home … Carnival Cruise Line would be no help in this matter. Sorry. They did open 12 phone lines and give 30 free minutes of Internet to the 2000+ passengers to find their way home. Oh, and what about all those folks who drove to the port of Galveston to board the ship. Pretty sure their cars are gone or totalled … who can tell them … you can’t get in and Carnival … again, no help.

The blogs and the forums criticize people for taking a cruise during hurricane season. Here’s a flash … why sell a cruise during hurricane season? People reported calling Carnival and asking if the cruise would be cancelled since mandatory evacuation was imminent … Carnival said, you can cancel … and you will lose all of your money.

It’s true Carnival probably could not help you find your car … but at least there could have been better communication in letting people know instead of just option #1 … get off the boat and find your way home … or option #2 … stay on the boat and maybe the port of Galveston will open back up (of course that didn’t happen). It’s a bad deal all the way around. Messed up vacation. Mad people. Bad PR. No win situation for Carnival … no matter how you water it down.

<< — wg

Galveston mayor Lyda Ann Thomas is facing a category 5 media storm in her town. Newspapers from all over Texas have reported the latest blast of disgruntled council members. Criticising the mayor for extending her emergency powers another 7 days. Local media reporters say that the city manager should be in charge and others say that the city should be governed by the council.

Oh me.

Here’s a lady that has faced more than she had ever bargained for and she is still leading. Granted the “look and leave” program was not a good idea … but, she was concerned that the citizens of Galveston wanted to get in and see their homes and businesses. The logistics were a nightmare. The knee jerk reaction to shut it down … made it worse and frustrated people even more. Ok, good idea … not so good planning. She has done some pretty good things in the past few days. Let’s not throw the baby out with the sea water.

The media loves the story of failure and pain. It sells. I have to give this to mayor Thomas … she stepped up to an enormous catastrophic disaster and has faithfully stayed at the helm. Excuse me … but she does not strike me as a crazed power crazy politician. Honestly, right now there needs to be “one” in charge. I am sure she is using her resources as best as possible. These are trying times for her as well as the local government and the people of Galveston. In the words of John Stossell … “give her a break.”

<< — wg