I don’t consider myself, what they call in the church world, a prayer warrior but I do pray for others.  Sometimes in my past I have been asked to pray for someone’s healing.  I have prayed over backs that have gotten better and once a buddy of mine had a hurt knee and when some of my friends and I prayed over him he had no pain the next day.  I kind of looked at it like  a 50/50 shot of someone getting better.  You know, maybe God will heal Him and maybe not, it’s all His choice.

I say this because I have prayed many times over my wife when she has been ill.  It seems that when I pray for her that He either doesn’t listen to me or it’s just something that she has to go through.  My wife gets this real bad cough every time she gets sick.  I mean like coughing 24/7 and you can’t sleep, your throat swells up, you choke, your ribs hurt, and cough medicine doesn’t even touch it!  When she was pregnant with Avery her body got so stressed that she couldn’t even carry full term.  It is stressful for everyone around the house and it takes her a long time to get well.

Yesterday she was trying to rest and actually got a little rest during the day when she had been up the whole night before.  As we were lying in bed talking she was lying real still not moving, afraid she might start coughing.  As soon as she got up she started with a full blown out coughing attack.  She couldn’t breathe and just started groaning, “no,no,no…”  She started crying because she was so worn out and tired of coughing.  After comforting her and calming her down she laid down and I started to pray for her.

Yes, your thinking is right, I didn’t want to because I was thinking, “What’s the use?”  I place my hands on her back and told God I believed He was healing her and to please let her rest and clear up this stuff that is making her cough.  She went to sleep and did not cough one time and slept all night till I had to get her up in the morning.  She has been good all day and is finally recovering.

So, I ask you, what was the difference this time?  Was it the belief that He would do it?  I think that’s part of it but I also believe that it was part of the hurt I carried for her and the wanting of to take this away from her as in I wish I could do the coughing for her.  It was  a totally empathetic moment and a belief in God along with knowing He loved her to.  The best part of it was to let her know that the reason she slept was because God put her to sleep.  Wouldn’t you like some of that lullaby action?

It was a cool site to see. There was a sea of black and white Journey Group T-shirts encircling the room.  There was excitement in the air and I must say that there was a sense of camaraderie among our leaders.  I felt like for the first time that they could see each other and they actually knew they were in this thing together with a bunch of other people just like themselves.  We are preparing for a fight here in Cartersville and we will go after those that need to be in a Journey Group.

We had about 50 cards turned in today which I thought was a real good number.  This was just the first day for sign ups and it is going to take a while for our folks to get use to seeing us out there and feel comfortable seeing us.  I suspect that we will have even a greater turn out over the next couple of weeks.  For about a third of our attenders the last month has been there first experience with Oak Leaf, so they are still trying to figure things out.

So here’s how we can help them.

I need the Journey Group Leaders to remember the first rule of ‘Reach’…Invite.   It is about you introducing yourselves to these people, getting to know names, finding things in common, and then asking them to your group.  It is that easy.  Your groups will grow as you begin to pray that God will put you in touch with those that need to be in your group then begin to look for those encounters.  Stop to say good morning when you walk by that face you don’t recognize.  These folks are waiting to see if we are the real deal.  They are waiting to see if we are going to be the church and not just play at church.

I am stoked about what is happening around here and I want to hear your stories about your encounters with these folks so make sure you send me your stories.

Josh Proctor and Mike Jenkins, thanks for jumping in this week and helping out at the House of Rock and for tearing down this week.  Your dedication shows in all you do.

Mike Mills, besides doing coffee all day thank you for stepping up and helping at the tables all day this Sunday, you are inspiring.

Coaches thanks for being there all day and hanging out with your leaders.

I would not want to be any where else than besides serving with you right here and now!

Besides being the Journey Group pastor at Oak Leaf I am currently the Campus Pastor at Carmike theaters where we meet on Sunday mornings.  Along with this comes all the great volunteers I have the opportunity serving with as well as all the free coffee I can drink .  This position requires us to begin the whole process of taking Oak Leaf from a one campus run church to a two campus functioning church.  There all sorts of unique challenges in doing this because we want to be one church in multiple locations.  Here are some of the things that we could use your help in if you are ready to take the challenge and serve with us here at Oak Leaf:

*  Crew folks – These are the people behind the scenes putting stuff together in the morning and tearing it all down in the afternoon.  They are responsible for all our Kidventure areas, lobby, stage, and anything technical.  You can contact me if you want to be a part of the front lines on Sunday morning.

*Kidventure volunteers – This is a group of people that are crazy about kids and are trying to make sure that they have a great time on Sunday morning as well as learn something about God.  There are opportunities available during all three hours of our Sunday morning.  You can contact Jonathan, our family pastor, if this sounds like you.

* Faces of Oak Leaf – I really don’t know another name that suits these guys because this is exactly what they are.  If you like to smile and are friendly then this is the place for you.  You can try your hand at being a greeter, check-in specialist, usher, security, information representative, and my favorite coffee person.  You can contact Mitch, our connections pastor, if this sounds like a fit for you.

The key here is don’t wait for us to ask because there is always a need for new volunteers.  This is not because we have a big turn over rate but it is a philosophy we have.  By serving, you are connecting to a place that is doing some amazing things in Cartersville.  This is the way to get to know others quickly and many rewarding relationships are built during this time.  If you have been thinking about it then here is your invite.

Come help us, “Lead people from where they are to where God wants them to be”.