This is awesome...

I know I haven't posted in a really long time. I am going to begin to fix that, and make this a more regular habit.... However, I have something far more important to share with you!

The David Crowder Band was in town last on Saturday. Jenessa and I took a few of the Journey Students up to the concert. We met up with a bunch of other folks, and ended up with quite the Journey contingent.

What I am about to share with you is something that is very rare... it is not often that two people so identical and yet so different are gathered in the same area. Nonetheless, I give you Will + Crowder:

Nice Day

I had a really nice day today. For starters, the Bengals weren't picking in the top 15-20 of the NFL draft for the first time in a decade or so... that was nice. The Reds have the best record in Baseball... that's nice!

Moving on to something of substance... This evening Journey had its first ever Marriage Dinner/Seminar. Jenessa and I attended, and had a really great time. It was wonderful to hear some teaching about marriage and intimacy. We talked a lot about how we might better notice and fulfill certain needs in each others lives!

One of the more "non-marriage" related points that caught my attention was the statement that "Strong churches don't make strong families... rather, straing families make strong churches." What a true statement... As I look around Journey Church, there is no doubt that we are a strong young church because we have strong, solid families who lead the charge!

After the dinner, Jenessa and I headed over to Kidd Coffee, where we ran into what turned out to be a Journey Young Adult party. We had the pleasure of introducing them all to a wonderful game called "snaps". It was great to see the range of emotions on their faces: confusion, frustration, displeasure, hope, more confusion, understanding, success!! What a fun game... good times were had!

Back on the horse....

What a strange expression that is... We don't ride horses, why are we getting back on them? 

Life has been a whirlwind the past couple of weeks (seee below posts).... It feels good to be on the otherside of everything though. I have spent the past couple of days just getting back in the groove of things around home and office. I have some critical tasks that I need to get in order for BIG Student Ministries.... that is currently priority 1! 

The funeral was Saturday... it went as well as can be expected. I am so glad that my brother and I did it... I hope that we paid a fitting tribue to my Grandpa. Grandma is doing okay... she has her moments, despite her constantly being around people, I can see the loneliness in her eyes... that makes me sad. 


I am utterly excited that the weather has turned the corner here in Ohio. That week in Florida nearly made me want to move back! But alas, Ohio has come through with beautiful sunshine and warm days. What does this mean... well, several things: Golf, Softball, Cookouts (1 already), SWOA Camps.... just to name a few! 

Looking forward to all of these things, and much much more... 

Plans...

We spent the better part of this morning taking care of the final arrangments for grandpa.

Here are the details:

The visitation will be on Saturday, April 8th from 10:30-1:00.

The funeral will immediately follow the visitation. Both events will be held at . Breitenbach McCoy & Leffler Funeral Home

My brother and I will be officiating the services. Please pray for us that we will be able to deliver the message that both grandpa would have for us, and that God has set in our hearts. A lot of people have asked why we are doing it, and if we can handle it. I am confident that we can... God will give us strength and courage! As to why: Grandpa wouldn't have it any other way.... he constantly told us how proud he was, and how he never could have imagined having "two grandsons that grew up to be ministers".... I hope that we continue to make him proud!

Lost for words...

I can't believe that I am even about to type this. It doesn't seem real yet... how can it be?

My Grandpa, Jack Bowling, passed away this morning at 9:20 a.m. His heart grew weaker throughout the evening following his surgery, and he went to sleep in peace. I have no doubt that my grandpa has transitioned from this temporal life to one of wholeness with his Maker... for that, I am thankful.

There is not a fiber in my body that is not one of the following: sad, angry, confused, bitter, exhausted, or in denial. It just doesn't seem fair... I am unable to imagine: Life without grandpa, Mary without Jack, family functions without our patriarch.

I can not believe that this picture was just taken last Friday. We were all in Daytona Beach eating at one of our favorite little fish places right next to the ocean. We spent the whole day out on the town.... gift shops, the mall, dinner, etc... I will be eternall grateful that Jen and I were able to go to Florida last week.

I beg each of you to focus your prayers on my grandma, and the rest of the family. They have known each other since they were 16 years old.... I can't imagine knowing someone that long, let alone losing someone you've known so intimately for that long. Our family is very close... I have no doubt that the love and nurture will be there for my grandma, but it will not make the pain go away. We spent the whole evening with the family... it was so hard, everyone is devestated. Please pray for us.

Deep Breath....Exhale....

Welcome back to the blog of Luke Dooley... we hope that regularly scheduled postings will continue soon...

Remember that time in church a few weeks ago when I asked everyone to take a deep breath? I need that deep breath right now! It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks. Allow me to expand that thought....

I am currently working on a Masters degree from Anderson University (although at a snail's pace). It is an online degree and requires an on-campus component for each class. In the Spring this on-campus component happens to be held at my Alma-Mater. The class was only 2 days, so I didn't see the value in going all the way to Florida for such a short period. Therefore, Jenessa took a week off work, and we decided to make a mini-vacation out of it. We ended up being in Florida for about 5 days....

We had a great time... it was wonderful to spend time together. We are together a lot, but we don't spend a lot of time together (does that make sense). We are both just so busy, it is hard to disconnect, and give each other quality time... so it was definitely nice to do that. We also had the opportunity to see some friends from college. It was really cool to tell stories, and catch up on the lives of our friends. Adam, Maggie, Jacob, Tina, Evan, Bobby, Trisha... you are all sorely missed!

After our time in Lake Wales, we headed over to New Smyrna Beach where my grandparents reside for the winter months. We had a great time with them; ate way too much, laid out in the sun for way too long, and perhaps spent a little too much money. Somehow though, when you add all of those up, it equals a great time. Until the drive home... A 14 hour drive turned into 16.5 hours as a result of crazy traffic (and maybe an ineffective "shortcut")...

We arrived safe at home in West Chester around 7:00 Saturday evening. We unpacked, prepped for church in the morning, set our clocks forward an hour, and got some good rest. Church came, it was solid... I must say though, I will not miss meeting in that gym! Following church we spent 2 hours at Don Pablo's... perhaps the last 2 hours I will spend in there for quite sometime. It was not the most pleasurable dining experience. The next few hours where a whirlwind that went something like this: I dropped off the lights (which I had previously broken) in Middletown, we cancelled softball practice, uncancelled softball practice, I began to prep for small group, I got a phone call, I left for Southern Tennessee.

That brings me to now... My afformentioned grandparents were making the commute home from Florida with my Father, who rode down with us earlier in the week. While at a rest area stretching their legs, my 84 year old grandfather fell and broke his hip. The ambulance took him to a "hospital" to receive care. Turns out they couldn't really do anything, so they transported him to a hospital in Knoxville, Tn. so that he could have his hip operated on. So here I sit: In a hotel in Knoxville, without my wife, typing this post on my brother's Dell laptop (which reminds me of the fact that my i-book has passed away... truly a sad occasion)...

All that to say that I need to take a breath. My whole family is gathered here... each one of us is at the end of our rope due to the following: lack of sleep, extreme stress, fear of death, loss of employment, or ALL OF THE ABOVE.

Do I even have to ask you to say a quick prayer, or have you picked up on that? Thanks already!

Say a prayer for my Grandfather (he is 84, in relatively good health, but a broken hip and a tired heart can be a bad combination...) Pray for my Grandmother... She loves him dearly, and has done so for 58 years! Pray for my family who is gathered here... my Mom who will now become a primary care giver, my Aunt who will do the same, my Uncle who must deal with all of this from hundreds of miles away. Pray for my Father who is being a support to my Mother Pray for my brother and I who must be strong for all parties involved.

Surgery should be in the morning, I'll do my best to keep you updated... even if it means typing away on this Microsoft Monster...

I Love March....

I won't make it a habit of commenting on sporting events on this blog. However, since it is March, and that is the absolute best time of the year for College Basketball, I must comment....

I just watched two of the most exciting finishes to games that I have seen in a while.

1.) Texas beat WVU in a wild 10 second frenzy at the end of the game.

2.) Gonzaga totally choked at the end of the game, and handed UCLA the game in the waning moments of the game.


In other "March Madness" news...

Journey Church is over halfway through our own version of March Madness. I have heard great reports from all of the groups regarding their giveaways. It is fun to hear all of the stories from the different activities throughout the week. I am confident that the remaining events will go just as smooth! I'm looking forward to it all....

Love Big!

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their affliction and to keep oneself unstained by the world. james 1:27

Most of you know the story of Chad Canipe. In his passing, Chad leaves behind a wife and two wonderful boys. Please notice the link on the sidebar of my blog... by going there you will be able to donate money to help the Canipe family memorial fund. I encourage you to give... whether you knew them or not. There are several options for giving, find one that works....

http://www.canipememorial.com/

Luke

My heart hurts this morning. My friend, pastor, and mentor Tom lost a great friend this morning.

Although I was not a close personal friend with Chad, I know that he changed those around him. He was a difference maker and a world changer.

I ask that you would pray for Chad's wife Renee and their two young sons.

Testing 1,2,3....


So, this is me testing the new blogger widget that Mike U. tipped me off to. Supposing that this works, I am going to be utterly excited. Life just keeps getting easier with the Mac :)

Maybe I'll make a real life post with some substance tomorrow! 

-Luke-

Good-Bye Chicago!

I have returned to the Buckeye state, and while the current Ohio weather is by no means "warm", it is definitely warmer here than it was in Chicago. I about froze my ohio/florida tail off as we walked 10+ blocks trying to find an authentic Chicago pizza restaurant. For the record... GENO'S is not the best option (we found out the hard way)...

Now for an explanation as to why I was in Chicago. After an amazing church service Sunday and a wonderful experience at Chipotle, I headed to the Student Ministries Leadership Conference at Willow Creek Community Church. I was joined by my good friend from college, Austin Abney. Austin is a great guy and a dynamic leader who is currently serving as student pastor at a church in Kentucky. We met up with some fellow student pastors, and left with a few new friends from Indiana and Oklahoma.

We had a great time at the conference. There was some tremendous content during the main sessions, and the breakouts were extremely relevant! If there is one idea that I felt most impacted me, it has to be the fact that Student Ministry is all about building relationships! Relationships with students....relationships with adult leaders... relationships with parents, etc.... I have always known this, but I now realize how critical this really is.

Overall, it was a great couple of days, and I left feeling very inspired and full of new ideas and energy. I can't wait to share these ideas with my team, and other ministry leaders here at Journey. I look forward to answering any questions that you might have, or sharing some insight.

Do you hear that? It's coming....

March Madness is almost here. As most of you know, I am a big-time University of Kentucky
basketball fan. Although it has been a tough season, I believe that they are starting to straighten things out here towards the end. I suppose that the remaining schedule (LSU, Tennessee, Florida), will tell us a lot about where we will stand in March.

U.K. basketball is not the inspiration behind this post though…. Nor is the fact that I am attending the UC game versus Villanova tonight. This year March Madness is about SO much more than basketball…

Check back here and over at Tom’s Blog for more information as it comes in…

YOU WON’T WANT TO MISS THIS!!!

Amazed...

I am continually amazed at how good God is! Here are a few things that I currently think are amazing...

1.) I am celebrating Valentine's Day with a beautiful wife who loves me more than anything in this world... How Amazing!

2.) Saturday night we had our second BIG Student Ministry house party and had 19 students in attendance... It was amazing!

3.) I'm looking at my address book on my computer... My student ministry database has gone from 0-50 Students in 5 weeks.... That is amazing!

4.) BIG Student Ministries is going skiing Friday, February 24th... I am not an amzing skier! :)

5.) I am extremely blessed to be a part of a community that is so Amazing!!

6.) I hope to be the proud owner of one of these Amazing Products very soon!

What are you currently amazed about? I would love to hear... please respond and let me know!

PARTY!!

Hey, I want to throw a reminder out there about the BIG Student Ministries House Party that we have coming up this Saturday (February 11th), from 7:00-9:00 p.m. at Bruce and Amy Burns' house.

We will be hanging out, playing games, eating inappropriate amounts of ice-cream and brownies, and having a great time of fellowship. If you would like more information, send me an e-mail or give me a call.

That is all for now, hope to see all of you on Sunday at Journey Church for the conclusion of our Desperate Households series. We will be exploring what God has to say about our Desperate Lives.... we are all desperate. We are all desperately in need of something.... someone.... a Savior!

I get excited just typing about it... :)

Middle of the Week

Sorry for the lack of post in response to the house party. Tom eluded to it on his blog, but I still should have put in a blurb....

IT WAS AWESOME! We had such a good time at the Burns' house last Saturday night. The house was full of about 20 students and 5 adult leaders. We ate, we played games, we got to know each other.... and I made a fool out of myself playing DDR !!

I want to thank the Burns family for opening up their house to all of us. They all went above and beyond anything I expected with the food (amazing taco bar), and their hospitality (we stayed much longer than the alloted 1.5 hours). I hope that everyone who came had a good time, and met someone new. Hope to see all of you back at the next house party: February 11th @ 7:00 at the Burns' house! We'll have pretty much the same agenda, except this time we'll plan to hang out a little longer (maybe till 9:00-9:30).

ONE LAST THING.... Journey will be hosting 6 Super Bowl XL parties around the West Chester area. Jenessa and I will be hosting a party at our place. If you haven't got any plans for the big game, I encourage you to swing by and hang out with us for a while.

Sophomore Sunday

What can I say? Words simply cannot describe how cool it was to be at Journey Church yesterday. None of us were really too sure what to expect on week 2. (For those of you who don't know, we had our Grand Opening last week (15th), and celebrated with 347 people). We were all on such a high all week from the after effects of our Launch Sunday. We told stories all week, we talked about how wonderful it was, we did follow up, the buzz never died down! Then yesterday around 10:00 the first cars began pulling into the parking lot at Lakota East High School. It was like Deja Vu'. People started pouring in; they were greeted with a smile and a handshake, they got their coffee, they started new conversations, and continued old ones from last week. It was simply incredible to watch happen!

Following a wonderful time of worship, and a hilarious cover of Frank Sinatra's "Love & Marriage" by the Journey House Band, Tom shared some amazing thoughts on "Desperate Marriages". To summarize what was said, I'll give you the essential point of the message: "You can't shape the right person, you've got to be the right person". Referring to the fact that in our relationships/marriages, most of the problems we have are what Tom called "I" problems. I want it to be about me, my needs, my wants, my feelings, my satisfaction... therein lies the problem. Powerful words that I, along with dozens of others needed to hear.

In addition to all of this, I had the opportunity to meet some really cool students before and after service, including the likes of: Jonathan, Sarah, Lindsay, Michelle and Alyssa. It was great meeting new students, as well as seeing some return from last week! Hopefully most of you will be able to attend the House Party this Saturday.... If you don't know what that is, or need more information, shoot me out an e-mail!

Friends and Thoughts....

Today I had a couple of appointments with a couple of great guys and great ministry leaders.

1.) Mikey Conrad and I hooked up at Beef'O'Bradys to talk about some Student Ministry stuff. It's always good to hook up with anyone from the ministry team and share stories, swap ideas, and eat curly fries (Beef's specialty). We were able to lay some additional tracks down for the upcoming Big Student Ministries House Party on January 28th. We are pumped about the first ever student ministry activity for Journey Church .

2.) Upon leaving Beef's, I headed straight to Panera (office #2), to meet up with Justin Lett. Justin is the NextGen pastor at Liberty Heights Church. Justin and I bumped into each other for the first time a couple of weeks ago at Panera and got to talking, and decided that we would hook up sometime after launch Sunday and share stories. We ended up talking fairly in depth about the challenges and pitfalls of doing student ministry in the 2000's. Justin asked me what I thought the two biggest challenges of doing student ministry today were. I shared the following:

a.) Busy-ness.... We live in an extremely active day in age. Students' calendars are packed! Whether it is with school activities, extra curricular activities, family time, or just trying to have a few minutes for free time. It is often difficult to get students and/or their families to dedicate another evening of their week to anything. The challenge then is to use your time wisely, to have a purpose for any event or gathering that you do. This is something that I will always strive to do in Student Ministry: DON'T WASTE TIME!

b.) Tolerance... This could be a heavy issue, and could make this post extremely long. I'll make sure that neither happens here. By tolerance I simply mean that we can not allow what we see on TV, or in culture around us to shape who we are, or what we believe in. We must have a higher calling in our lives than to look/act/dress just like the Laguna Beach kids!

What about you? What are the biggest challenges that face you in your life and/or ministry?

New Beginnings

I have had a lot of new beginnings in my life over the past 12 months.... consider this blog one of them. My blog has evolved into a new creature. It formerly existed to journal my life and happenings as a college student. It will now exist to document the stories and adventures as Student Pastor at Journey Church . In case you are new to this place, or haven't been around in a while, allow me to close by listing a few of my recent life changes. Hope to see some visitors around here soon!

1.) Graduated College May 5th, 2005

2.) Began work at Journey Church June 1st, 2005

3.) Married my life's love on November 26th, 2005

4.) Planted a Church on Janary 15th, 2006