Valentine's Day Fellowship

    I must admit to something that some may say is pathetic or most will say is rebellious, but I have never had the pleasure of celebrating Valentine's Day with someone of the opposite sex, let a lone 9 of them. This past Thursday, Valentine's Day, I was brought on a trip to Sedona to meet the leadership team of Journey Church back in Missouri. Now, I know most of my readers already know whom I am speaking of, but this was my first introduction to this loving family and boy did I feel the love!
    We met at Grasshopper point with Steve Lummer and Jason Dyer sprinting from the car to embrace each member with a long over due reuniting. With this being my first time meeting the guys and Jamie Wray, a beat wasn't skipped to give me a proper introduction. I couldn't help but laugh as I watched all these adult men gab to each other like a group of boy crazy girls. As the talking became more relaxed we made our way down Grasshopper Point and found a nice, quaint spot to begin our devotion.
    Pastor Steve led with an introduction to our church logo and the representation it gives to outside eyes. This breakdown of our logo was taken from Pastor Steve's blog : stevelummer.com

WIND – WATER – WOOD- FIRE

  The WIND - The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” John 3:8 (niv)

  The WATER - Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” John 7:37,38 (niv)

  The WOOD- “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2 He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. 3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 4 Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. John 15:1-4 (niv)

                                                       The FIRE - Our God is a consuming fire. Hebrews 12:29
OUR CULTURE – WE CRAFT IT, WE FRAME IT, WE DESIGN IT ..WE DEFINE IT ….WE LIVE WITH IT!

Wind – our commission, what God has called us to be as a people.

Water – our community of faith and how it is intended to flow.
Wood – our connection – How structure always submits to the Spirit..
Fire – our communion – Relevance to our culture and reverence for God are not optional.

    Now I must admit, during this devotional I was snapping shots of the crew for our website and this blog, so I caught bits and pieces of the discussion. Which is the reason why I linked this devotional to Pasto Steve's website. Anyway, as the speech progressed with each man sharing their own experiences out here in Arizona, we closed with a prayer and a group picture. I can't quite explain the true feelings each person felt while they were out here in the desert but something truly Godly happened. A new bond was not only created between these men but an old one was strengthened as they venture back home to Missouri.