Why I love Movies in the Park

I love Movies in the Park. I love that Hub City Church can serve Spartanburg with no-strings-attached. I love that so many businesses want to be a part of this event. I love that Coca-Cola of Spartanburg puts this graphic on the back of one of its delivery trucks. I love that we get to do something that the city of Spartanburg wanted to do, but didn't have the money to do. I love it when people clap at the end of the movie. I love giving away popcorn and soda for free. I love giving away gift certificates to local businesses. I love how the church phone rings more the week before Movies in the Park than at any other time during the year. I love that this is such a diverse event. I love getting stopped when out and about and quizzed on when the movie starts and what we'll be showing.

Movies in the Park 2013 begins this Saturday, May 18. We're showing Madagascar 3. It's free. The movie will begin around 8:35. 

Two Things I Forgot To Say

I really had a lot of fun hosting/facilitating Hub City's first ever Baby/Child dedication yesterday. It was awesome having so many family members there to support their relatives. 

But there were two things that I wanted to say but forgot:

1. The best gift that parents can give their kids is a healthy marriage. Your spouse should always come first. You'll be with your spouse long after your kids are grown. A healthy marriage promotes security and sets an example for your kids. 
2. The best parents are teachable. I meet so many parents who are utterly unteachable. That's just another form of pride and you won't get where you want to go or have the kids you are hoping to have if you aren't teachable. Find some parents that are further down the road than you and pick their brains.

There, I said it. 

We don't want to hear from God

Here’s an excerpt from Vince's new book,
Renegade: Your Faith Isn’t Meant To Be Safe.

Ask pastors what questions they receive most, and “How do I hear God’s voice?” will be near the top of the list. It’s a good question, because deriving direction from God, getting his guidance, receiving a word from the Lord is critical if we’re going to do what he wants us to do. But why is it so difficult? Let me suggest that often times we don’t really want to hear from God. We think we do, but we don’t. And one of the things that keeps us from living the renegade life is only listening when God tells us something we want to hear. Think about this: Where in the Bible do we see someone who is glad to hear God’s voice and get his direction? Where in the Bible is someone told something they want to hear? Just about never.

To read more, you can purchase Renegade here.

Never Been Done Before

This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. (Stop what you're doing write now and go buy your mom a card). Well, since it's Mother's Day we're going to do something we've never done at Hub City before. We're going to have our first ever baby/child dedication.

I'm excited about this because it give us an opportunity to remind everyone that church is a family. And because we're family we're all in this together. 

What that means is that it's the church's job to partner with parents to help them disciple their kids. 

God never intended for us to be alone in our parenting. The church family should be a partner to parents. We all need help. I know I do.

This past week has been a trying one around the Everette home. Parenting is hard. Yesterday was an especially tough day. But at Hub Group last night someone said something to Liz and I that was so encouraging and helpful. 

That's how it should be. That's what we're going to remind ourselves of this coming Sunday.

PS. If you have a baby/child and would like to participate please let me know soon! I promise not to make you give a speech. 

Life Plan for Renegade Christians

Vince Antonucci wrote a companion to his book, Renegade, that you may want to pick up. It's 99 cents on Kindle right now. It's be a great addition/help to go along with our current series. You can get the book here.