Working on it

This has been a fun week so far. Instead of getting ready for a sermon on Sunday I've been able to do some work "on" the church, some planning, some praying, so future thinking. I've been needing to do this for a while.

I am really excited about what we're going to be teaching come Fall.

I'm looking for ideas for future teaching series that might be helpful. I have about 136 in my "possible" folder, but am always open to more suggestions/ideas.

Some life-altering questions I'm thinking about

I love the book of Acts. The story of the first church is incredible. Josh and I were talking about it last week. Specifically we were talking about when the Holy Spirit came that there was a supernatural and rapid spread of the Gospel that resulted in exponential growth for the first century church.

If you know the story, there was a group of 120 disciples praying and waiting for the Holy Spirit. They were doing what Jesus told them to do. Then the Holy Spirit came and they started speaking in all kinds of different languages and people from all over the world heard the Gospel in their own language and 3000 people ended up becoming Christians in one day.

When we think of the Holy Spirit coming we selfishly think of it coming for our benefit, but the Holy Spirit didn't come for the benefit of those 120 who were praying. It came to supernaturally enable and equip them to rapidly spread the Gospel to those who needed to hear it.

Which leaves me with some questions that I posed to Josh and to our Leadership Community last night:

What would it look like in our day for the Holy Spirit to come so that there is a rapid spread of the Gospel and an exponential growth in the church (new disciples)?

Do we even want that?

Are we willing to pay the price?

A lesson from my 95 year old grandfather

We went to see my grandparents on Father's day. My grandpa is 95. He's doing good for someone who's less than 5 years from the century mark.

But yesterday he unintentionally taught me something that's a lesson for all of us.

Because of some health problems he hasn't been able to attend his church's Sunday worship. But flippantly he said, "I continue to send in my tithes and offerings."

That statement stood out to me.

Here's the deal: My grandfather isn't getting anything in return for his giving. He can't physically worship with his church family. He can't participate in their ministries for senior citizens. But he is faithful with tithing. I think God will bless him for that. I believe there will be a reward for him in heaven for that faithfulness.

So here's the question: Are we being faithful in our giving? It's so freaking easy. You can give online. You can mail it in. You can give during worship.

I think we can learn a lot from grandpa Henry's example of obedience.

How to waste time

I'm convinced more and more that we're wasting our lives away. I'm just as guilty of wasting time as anyone else. I have to guard against it. I have to discipline myself to make the most of my time.

Take an inventory. How much time do you spend on meaningless activities (Facebook, video games, TV, playing with your smart phone, etc.)? I dare you to add it up.

It's depressing isn't it?

How much more meaningful and effective could our lives be for God if we cut out the waste?

We only got one life to live. We need to make the most of it.

I think the Devil is thrilled with how much time we waste. I think he loves it when we spend countless hours doing meaningless crap.

Put down the smart phone. Turn off the TV. Cut the Facebook leash.

Ephesians 5:15-16 says Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity.

Memory Verses

One of the best habits you can develop is the habit of memorizing Scripture. Jaimee Holmes found this site that can help with that. Check it out and start memorizing today.

Confessions of a Pastor

A lot of times leaders act like they have it all together, like they have all the answers, like everything is a-ok (picture someone giving two thumbs up with a big, cheesy smile, and a photoshopped sparkle coming off one of their teeth).

That's not me.

That's why we're doing this Confessions of a Pastor series.

And this Sunday I'm going to be confessing something that I'm pretty sure most breathing adults struggle with as well.

I know it's Father's Day, which for some reason or another means, "Sit out of church day." Don't do that. I think that God has something he wants to say to you. Don't miss it. See you Sunday.

No love = Heresy

I read this article today and had to pass it along because it resonates so deeply within me. I firmly believe we have a serious love deficiency in the Church. This quote below is so good:

The thing is there’s absolutely nothing fluffy, post-modern, or sentimental about placing love above doctrinal correctness, for this conviction permeates the NT! Truth be told, we shouldn’t even contrast “love” and “doctrinal correctness” in the first place. We should rather regard the command to love as the most foundational doctrine of the church and thus the most important doctrine to be correct on! Peter says, “Above all, love each other deeply, for love covers a multitude of sins” (and alleged “heresies”? I Pet. 4:8, cf., Col 3:14). If love is to be placed “above all,” then there simply can’t be any other command or doctrine or agenda that competes with it for the top position. It must stand on top alone. Paul makes the same point, but even more emphatically, when he tells us it doesn’t matter how right we are, how spiritually gifted we are, how intelligent or wise we are, or even how much faith and service we display; if these aren’t accompanied by love, they are a noisy gong or clanging cymbal (I Cor 13:1-3). In other words:

Correct doctrine - love = worthless noise!

If we take this teaching seriously, it means that nothing – absolutely nothing! — matters if love isn’t present…which means that love is the most important doctrine we can ever embrace…which means that our willingness to love is the most important criteria of orthodoxy…which means that, if ever it is appropriate to label anything “heresy,” it is the failure to love.

Washington - a review

I read all kinds of stuff, but surprisingly have never read anything about George Washington. We all know, or at least I hope we all know, that he was our first president, but beyond that and the weird story about a cherry tree, most of us are in the dark.

Washington, by Paul Vickery, has changed how I look at the man we find on our quarter. He was a man who experienced both victory and defeat. He was a man who wanted to quit and who wanted to serve. All of that comes out in this book.

I think what I really enjoyed is the humanity of Washington put front and center. That is not something we usually hear in Elementary Social Studies.

I will say, the book reads a lot like a research paper at times with a lot of quotes and old English, but if you can push through that you'll not only gain a clearer and more healthy picture of our first president, but also a shot of courage and character, two things that are seriously lacking in the leadership of our day.

The rapid growth of the Chinese church

This is an absolutely fascinating article on the rapid growth of the Chinese church. It blows me away, shames me and causes me to think. Read it and let me know your thoughts.

My questions are: In our American context, is this possible? Can we see this sort of explosion? Are we willing to pay the price for this sort of explosive growth?

Distracted

The past two days I had the honor of helping facilitate an Immersion. If you're wondering what an Immersion is, well, it's a two day experienced where you learn and experience how to make disciples.

I love Immersion. We'll be doing one for Hub City in late July/early August.

But what always amazes me is that I alway seem to get more out of the experience than the people I'm facilitating.

What hit me like a 2x4 is that I've been distracted lately away from doing what it is we're supposed to be doing.

Our mission is to make disciples who make disciples. How could I get distracted from that? Immersion was a reminder for me. It was re-aligning for me. I needed it.

Spiritual Maturity is for Ministry

This is something that we need to be reminded of often.

Spiritual Maturity is for Ministry by Rick Warren

Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life. Matthew 20:28 (LB) We are commanded to serve God. Jesus was very clear: “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve and to give my life” (Matthew 20:28 LB). For Christians, service is not something to be tacked onto our schedules if we can spare the time. It is the heart of the Christian life. Jesus came “to serve” and “to give”—and those two verbs should define your life on earth, too. Jesus taught that spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more. We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation. The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. They need to exercise their spiritual muscles by serving others. Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we’re more interested in “serve us” than service. But, as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, “Who’s going to meet my needs?” and starts asking, “Whose needs can I meet?

Hub City Weekly Update

Hey everybody,

I want to begin by saying a huge THANK YOU to all of you who worked so hard to make our first Movies in the Park of 2011 such a success. It went great because of you! Thank you for giving your time. Thank you for serving. Thank you for reaching out to people. Thank you for making Spartanburg a better place to live, work and play. Don't forget, the next movie is June 18. We're showing Despicable Me.

I know summer is a time of travel and relaxation. I do hope that you can make the most of this summer by stepping out of some of your usual routines to relax and refresh. At the same time I there are a couple of things that I want to encourage you to not take a break from. More than anything, I want for you to grow as a disciple of Jesus this summer. I want you to hear from God and do what he says. In order for that to happen here are a few things to not take a break from this summer.

• If you're in town, don't take a break from worship. I think God is going to do some incredible stuff in your lives this summer if you'll make yourself available to him.
• Don't take a break from giving. Traditionally the summer is a time when people take a break from giving. But as we've talked about, giving is a direct reflection of your heart. It's been my experience that there is a direct correlation between giving tithes and offerings and spiritual growth. You can give online at www.hubcitychurch.com. You can mail your tithes and offerings to PO Box 55, Moore, SC 29369. I think the summer is a great time to "test" God in this area (This is the only area in the Bible where God says, "test me.").
• Don't take a break from serving. The summer is a great time to try out a new ministry. Volunteer in the kids area. Be a greeter for the day. Learn how to do the presentation software. Show up early to setup. We have a place for you to get involved.
• Don't take a break from inviting. Your unchurched friends just might be willing to take a chance on church this summer. Don't miss the opportunity to invite them.
• Finally, don't take a break from Hub Groups. We have Hub Groups meeting at various times over the summer. Some will continue to meet every week. Others, like mine, will meet every other week. If you're not in a Hub Group now is a great time to get connected.

I believe God wants to do some great things in and through us this summer.

Your friend and pastor,

Jonathan

The first hour of your day

Anyone who knows me or who has heard me speak more than three times knows that I am a strong believer in taking time every day to read your Bible. It's the most important habit that you could ever develop.

I came across a great quote today from Charles Spurgeon, a great nineteenth-century British preacher.

It should be our rule never to see the face of men before first seeing the face of God. The morning watch anchors the soul so that it will not very readily drift far away from God during the day.... He who rushes from his bed to his business without first spending time with God is as foolish as though he had not washed or dressed, and as unwise as one dashing to battle without arms or armor.

And Mark DeMoss says, If you're thinking that a person could just as easily get apart with God over the noon hour, you're right, you could--unless something else comes up. You could also do it in the evening before going to be, assuming you can muster the energy and focus. Or you could hope to steal a few moments here and there during the course of the day. But nothing sets the day like matching our best hour (the first of the day) with our deepest and dearest Resource (the Bible).

Do whatever it takes to spend time with God on a daily basis through Bible reading and prayer.

Movies in the Park recap

This past Saturday we had the first Movies in the Park of the summer. I didn't know what to expect since it was Memorial Day weekend. Well, it was incredible.

First off, the Hub City team and the All Saint's team did such a great job working together. We got setup faster than we ever have. I saw people jumping in to do whatever it takes to get ready. (I'm a HUGE fan of a "whatever-it-takes" attitude).

Second, we had a great crowd. I'm thinking somewhere between 1200-1500 people.

Third, our team worked hard to fix the one problem we had for the evening. We came up with an OK temporary solution, but know what to do so that we won't have the same problem come June 18.

A big thanks to everyone who served and worked hard to make Movies in the Park a success.

Why we do what we do

I posted yesterday about this coaching network that I'm in. Yesterday we talked about vision/mission, staying focused on the vision/mission, and doing the unique thing that God has called me and our church to be and do.

I know it sounds strange, but I need to be reminded of our vision/mission. I need to be reminded on a regular basis. And so do you.

Hub City Church is all about making disciples who make disciples. A disciple is someone who hears from God and does what he says. And disciples are made through intentional relationships.

The above paragraph is why we do what we do. It's the filter that we run everything through. It's why we only do a few things: Worship, Hub Groups, and serve in the community.

I figured if I needed to be reminded of why we do what we do, then maybe the rest of you Hub City Slickers needed to be reminded as well.

Coaching

Today I had the privilege of being a part of something that I've wanted to be a part of for a long time. I began a pastor's coaching network hosted by churchplanters.com and Mountain Lake Church.

Myself, along with eight other pastors got to share life, struggles, successes, challenges and encouragement.

My only question is why I waited so long to be a part of something like this.

Now, why in the world would I be a part of a pastor's coaching network? It boils down to my greatest leadership challenge: Me. I know that I need to grow as a leader. I know that for Hub City Church to be all that God wants it to be that I need to grow.

I'm looking forward to growing over the next 6 months of this network. If you're a part of Hub City, and even if you're not, I'd ask that you'd pray for me over the next six months. Pray that God will grow me as a leader and pastor. Thanks.

Confessions of a pastor

A new series beginning this Sunday, May 29.

It should be fun... at least for you. Might be a bit uncomfortable to me.

Here are the confessions:

• Following Jesus hasn't gotten me where I thought it would.
• I have to work hard to resist temptations.
• I'm often scared to death.
• Sometimes I want a new life.

Invite a friend. See you there.

I memorized it

I am challenged what Francis Chan says here. May we alway be about Making Disciples. May we be hearing from God and doing what he says. May we be helping others to hear from God and do what he says.

In light of the end of the world

Showing May 28

Great reminder

Just had to pass along this post from Mark Batterson:

START PASTORING

I have a friend who used to be a pastor and now he’s a banker, but the truth is that he’s still a pastor. Instead of pastoring in a church he’s pastoring in a bank. And the truth is,he’s having far more influence pastoring a bank than he ever did pastoring a church.

I don’t care if you’re a doctor, an actor, or teacher. You are called to pastor the people around you. What if you viewed your colleagues as your congregation? What if you played the role of pastor? What if you started looking for opportunities to pray or preach or counsel? God has called has to be salt and light where we work. After all, that is where we spend the vast majority of our waking hours! But too few of us view ourselves as pastors because we haven’t been to seminary or we don’t pastor a church. We need a paradigm shift.

I happen to pastor a church, but I think that some of the greatest pastors aren’t even viewed as pastors. They are entrepreneurs and entertainers and athletes and professionals who love Jesus Christ with all of their heart and understand that God has called them topastor the people around them. They have turned a business, a film crew, a classroom or locker room into a church.

Start pastoring!

This is a problem

I came across the following today on this guy's blog. This is very disturbing to me. I think it should bother you as well. Would love to know your thoughts.

The Problem That Currently Exists In American Churches

1. Christians are giving at a 2.5% per capita or tithe. During the Great Depression, they gave at a 3.3% rate.
2. Today, 33-50% of church members, those who claim they have bought in at a deep level to your ministry, give nothing.
3. If we were able to have our people increase their giving from 2.5% to 10% of their annual income, an additional $165 billion would flow into the Kingdom. To show the global impact those resources could make, consider the following:
4. $25 billion would relieve global hunger, starvation, and deaths from preventable diseases in 5 years.
5. $12 billion would eliminate illiteracy in 5 years.
6. $15 billion would solve the world’s water and sanitation issues, specifically at places in the world where 1 billion people live on less than $1 per day.
7. $1 billion would fully fund the Great Commission.
8. $100 – $110 billion would still be left over for additional ministry expansion.

These statistics were provided by www.generouschurch.com.

Spring Fling

Spring Fling is this weekend.

Hub City Church gets to help.

We're partnering with Upstate Parent for the Mommy Makeover Scavenger Hunt.

We'll be escorting Mickey Mouse around promoting Movies in the Park.

See you downtown.

What I'm learning - part 1

I feel like the past month God has been teaching me so much. I'm going to try and write out a bit of it on this blog over the next few days/weeks as a way of processing. And if you're a Hub City Slicker then you're probably going to hear a lot about this come June.

There's this story in Matthew 11 where John the Baptist is in prison. While there, he sends his disciples to find out if Jesus was really the one.

Now, if you think about it, that really doesn't make any sense. John knew who Jesus was before he even came out of his momma's tummy. John was there at the baptism of Jesus (he actually did the baptism) and he saw the spirit descend on Jesus and heard the voice from the father. If anybody should know who Jesus was it should have been John.

But John's life didn't quite turn out like he'd hoped or planned. I'm pretty sure he never planned on being arrested and thrown in jail. He was a man with connections to the Son of God for crying out loud, yet he ended up in prison.

So John did what any of us would do in that situation: He doubted. And he sends his followers to find out the truth about Jesus. Maybe he'd got it wrong. He needed to know for sure.

Look at how Jesus responds: “Go back and report to John what you hear and see: ⁵ The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. ⁶ Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me."

Now, these miracles weren't a big surprise to John. He knew what Jesus had been doing. Everybody knew what Jesus was doing. But it's verse 6 that jumps out: Blessed is anyone who does not stumble on account of me.

What the heck does Jesus mean here?

I think what Jesus is getting at is this: John, I know things haven't quite turned out how you hoped they'd turn out. Prison wasn't in your five-year plan. But blessed are you if you don't fall away when things don't turn out the way you think they should turn out. When following me doesn't get you where you thought it would... when following me doesn't get you an easier or better life... when following me leads to suffering... when following me is more difficult than throwing in the towel... when following me costs more than you thought it would....

Honestly, following Jesus has cost me more than I thought it would. Planting a church has been way harder than I thought it would. Things haven't turned out like I thought they would. Maybe they never will. I'm not who I thought I would be. Maybe I never will.

But I don't want to fall away on account of following Jesus.

I take comfort and get motivation from Hebrews 12:1-3

¹ Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, ² fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. ³ Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

That's all for today.

Something special...

I love this quote:

"It’s a very specific type of Hero’s Journey. It’s told over and over again, and it works, over and over again. Dorothy Gale, Buffy Summers, Harry Potter, Charlie Bucket, Luke Skywalker, even Peter Parker, they all fit a very specific pattern. They’re living a life, sometimes a fine one, often a troubled one, but certainly one governed by ordinary rules, when suddenly the curtain is pulled back and a whole new world, or a new set of rules of this world, is revealed. And what’s more—and this is the important part—in that new world, they are something special. They are The Chosen One." ~ Jane Espenson

Tornado Relief

"I love it when a plan comes together." - Hannibal Smith, A-Team.

"I love it when a plan comes together, the church makes a difference, the church gets good press, and it was led by non-staff, followers of Jesus, who are passionate to put their faith to work." - Me

That's exactly what's happened with Hub City's tornado relief effort. Our church stepped up! And we made the front page of the Herald-Journal! You can read the article here. (That's the second time our 2 and a half year-old church has made the front page!)

Really proud of the Hub City family. Frankie did a great job. Shaun stepped up. Many contributed. Way to go guys!

Exercise motivation

This made me laugh. Thought it might motivate some of you to start biking for exercise.

Unleashed - A Review

When I first saw this I was excited. I'm a fan of Erwin's books. Unfortunately, this is a book I've previously read. It's a reprint of Erwin's previous book The Barbarian Way.

I loved the Barbarian Way, and since I've already read it I thought about not reading Unleashed. But I changed my mind. Not sure why, but I just started reading and couldn't put the book down.

Basically, Erwin challenges us to leave our civilized faith for a more barbarian way. Sounds intriguing, doesn't it? I think it is.

On a personal note, this is a book that I needed to read at this moment in my life. It's a book that both encouraged me and challenged me. It helped me see some stuff through a different lens.

All that being said, Unleashed is a book that I would highly recommend. It will challenge you. I will stretch you. And God might just do for you what he did for me. He might just speak to you through this book.

A note to men and dads: You most definitely need to read this book. In a roundabout way it helps with parenting and being a husband.

This book was provided courtesy of booksneeze.com.

Why we should stop cutting down trees now!

Reflections on Easter 2011

I want to preface this post with Psalm 115:1 Not to us, LORD, not to us but to your name be the glory because of your love and faithfulness.

Yesterday was an amazing day in the life of Hub City Church. Seriously amazing! We had between 102 and 109 in attendance (we couldn’t agree on our count… math isn’t our strong suit). It was by far our highest attended Sunday ever. We had a TON of first time guests. And we had 6 people say that they were accepting the grace of God for the first time!

It was an exciting day.

And I want to thank you (Hub City family) for what you did to make yesterday a life-changing day for so many. Thank you for praying for your lost friends. Thank you for inviting people. Thank you for fishing for people. I believe that God rewarded our work (which is Biblical… we can’t earn salvation by works, but he does reward us when we do work). It goes back to a value I have: Work like it all depends on you. Pray like it all depends on God. You did that and I am thankful.

But now I’m left asking: Now What?

We had a great day yesterday, but now what?

I know we made a big push leading up to Easter to pray for lost people in our lives and to go out of our way to invite them to Hub City. But I don’t think that needs to be a once or twice a year thing. It needs to be a regular part of our daily life. It’s a part of following Jesus. He said: Follow me and I will show you how to fish for people.

So here’s a challenge to you and myself: I commit to you to continue to pray for the names of your friends that you’ve given me. I want to challenge you to pray for them daily as well. But I want you do do more than pray. The big challenge is that we keep inviting. Last week you went out of you way to try and invite four people. Why not do that this week?

I know many of you invited people who didn’t come. I invited a number of people who didn’t show up. I’m not giving up on them. I want to encourage you to not give up on your friends either. Keep praying for them. Keep inviting them. Who knows what God might do. God doesn’t give up on us.

I believe God has greater things in store for Hub City Church than we could ask or imagine. I believe more than ever that he wants to use you and me to extend the invitation of grace to a hurting and lost world. I also believe that we’re in this together. We ALL have a part to play.

I am so excited to be on this adventure with you. It’s for the glory of God and the good of others. And I can't wait for this coming Sunday.

Why you should NOT come to our church this Easter

I admit. I stole this from Shawn Lovejoy, but it was too good to not pass along.

There are lots of reasons why you should NOT come to our church this Easter:

You should not come to our church this Easter if you consider yourself a Biblical expert. If you have it all figured out, you simply won’t fit in here.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you’re looking for Hell/Fire & Brimstone preaching. Sorry, none of that here.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you want to “stick out,” be singled out, or called out, as a visitor. We’re just not that kind of church.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you enjoy being around hypocrites. Sorry, our church is a hospital for sinners. We admit that up front. In fact:

You should not come to our church this Easter if you’re perfect. Perfect people are not allowed at our church.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you think you have to wear a suit or dress to be accepted. In fact:

You should not come to our church this Easter if you’re offended by people who dress casually, even at church, on Easter.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you think it’s a sin to laugh at church.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you have all the encouragement you need.

You should not come to our church this Easter if you don’t need hope, grace, relational, emotional, or spiritual help.

If none of these things describe you, however, you are welcome at Hub City Church. See you on Easter.

Hearing the voice of God

It's funny, or maybe it's something else, but I was reminded today of how important it is that we hear from God.

Most of the time we're content with hearing about God, when what we really need is to hear from God.

The Bible is filled with people who heard from God. And I'm of the belief that God speaks the same way today.

I read something from Erwin McManus' book Unleashed that I want to paraphrase: When God speaks we have a choice. If we reject his voice and disobey his guidance, our hearts will become hard and our ears dull. And if we continue on that path there will be a day when we will never again hear the voice of God. There may even come a day when we say that God doesn't speak. But if, instead, we listen to and obey the voice of God then our hearts will be soft and our ears will always be able to hear the whisper of God to our souls.

I don't know about you but I desperately need to hear from God. I need him to speak to me. I need him to speak to Liz. I need him to speak to my kids.

And I want Hub City Church to be a people who hears the voice of God.

How to turn people away

I read this here and it made me laugh. Had to share:

This Sunday is Easter and when you look around your church you’re going to get that uncomfortable feeling that comes from being around all kinds of people you haven’t seen in a while or perhaps never before. You know, the slackers who only show up at church twice a year, the backsliders who haven’t been to church in 5 years, and the heathens who wouldn’t know the Pentateuch from a pentagram.

They’re going to take your favorite pew, sit and stand at the wrong times during the service, and double your wait in the coffee line after the service. You don’t want to have to put up with those distractions and inconveniences week in and week out, so here are 12 ways to ensure those people don’t come back the week after Easter.

1. Keep to yourself. Avoid eye contact. And by all means don’t welcome anyone you don’t know.

2. Walk up to someone you haven’t seen for a while and say, “Hey, hey… Look who it is… You don’t think just showing up for Easter is going to get you out of the Big Guy’s doghouse, do you?”

3. Make sure all the greeters, ushers, singers, speakers, and everyone involved in leading the service are all of the same ethnic background so that if anyone of a different ethnicity shows up they know they are considered second-class citizens.

4. Take down all your signs so only the regulars know if a door leads to the pastor’s office, the ladies room, or a broom closet.

5. During the service have the pastor pray, “Lord, please forgive all those sinners who have failed to remember the Sabbath to keep it holy.”

6. Invite the worst singer in the choir to do a solo.

7. Find a way to tie the Easter message into a soliloquy on the Iraq War and make it clear that everyone who disagrees with the pastor’s position is on the devil’s side.

8. During the service ask all the visitors to stand and then introduce themselves to the entire congregation.

9. Announce that next week the pastor will begin a 12-week series on hell.

10. Put a sign up in the children’s ministry area that indicates you have a “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy when it comes to volunteers with criminal records.

11. Just assume that everyone understands what communion is all about. Then when people start coming forward to receive communion have the ushers quietly walk up to the “really big sinners” and ask them to return to their seats.

12. Announce that visitors must fill out a form with their contact information and should expect an elder-evangelist tag team waiting in their driveway when they get home.

Of course, if you actually care about guests and irregular church attenders because you believe they matter to God, you might consider doing just the opposite.

Easter @ Hub City

The story is told of a group of intellectuals sitting around Oxford discussing what makes Christianity unique when in walks C.S. Lewis. When they posed the question to him he immediately responded: Grace.

Grace. It's the one thing that all of us long for but so rarely extend. It's that thing that sounds too good to be true. It's the most powerful force in the universe.

Beginning this Sunday, April 24, Easter, we're going to be talking about it.

You are invited to join us. Hub City Church. Sundays. 10 AM. Spartan 16 Movie Theater.

Article

You can read my article in today's Herald-Journal here.

The people from All-Saints liked it. :)

Yay!

Powerful song

Two parts

I've been thinking a lot lately about the two parts to being a disciple. Really, they go together and are really just what it means to be a disciple. But we often, unknowingly, separate them and end up missing out on the whole. What the heck am I talking about. Read this:

Mark 1:17 - “Come, follow me,” Jesus said,“and I will send you out to fish for people.”

This is discipleship in a nutshell: Following Jesus and fishing for people.

What I've discover is true of me, and many of you, is we like to focus on one of those things. For me, and for most people I know, we LOVE the following Jesus part. But we think of the fishing for people part as an afterthought.

But they go together.

On a related note, I talked about this in yesterday's sermon. If you were there, I'd love to know your thoughts, but for me, I think it was the best, most powerful sermon I've ever preached. That's probably because I was preaching to me.

I'm an atheist at times

I read this quote today:

Atheism is the thought that nothing good is going to happen here unless I make it happen.

Way too often I think and act this way.

But I don't want to.

How about you? Are you an atheist too?

Four ways to pray fro friends and family

One of the things that I've challenged the Hub City family to do between now and Easter is to be intentional about praying for our friends and family who are far away from God. I talked about it in yesterday's sermon.

This morning I came across this guide for praying for friends and family. I think it's a great reminder and help.

Four Ways to Pray for Friends and Family Monday April 04 2011 Posted by Jon Walker "Pray that the words of Jesus “will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response” (2 Thessalonians 3:1 MSG), just as they did among the early Christians." Jon Walker … Stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel. Philippians 1:27 (NIV) Here are four ways your can pray for your friends and family: 1. Pray for an opportunity to talk about Jesus (Colossians 4:3). Ask God to give you an opportunity to tell others about Christ, and to invite them to your small group. God will take you seriously and answer your prayer! 2. Pray for God to prepare hearts. Pastor Rick sometimes asks, “Do you know how God softens hearts? He sends the rain!” Anytime you see someone going through a storm in life, you can know God is softening a heart. 3. Pray for God to tenderize your heart. Ask God to give you a burden, which is just an old-fashioned word that means your heart is tender toward a specific person or group of people. 4. Pray that the words of Jesus will simply take off. Pray that the words of Jesus “will simply take off and race through the country to a groundswell of response” (2 Thessalonians 3:1 MSG), just as they did among the early Christians.

What I want for Christmas

I know it's early, but I just found out what I want for Christmas. Les Miserables is coming to the Peace Center in April of 2012. It's my favorite story of all times. I'm so excited that I'm a bit stir-crazy. Too bad I have to wait over a year.

What if we got this excited about the Bible?

This made me laugh

Financial Resources

As I mentioned in yesterday's sermon, there are a ton of resources out there that can help you handle God's money wisely, get out of debt and learn to save. Here are some I've found very helpful:

Financial Peace - Dave Ramsey

Total Money Makeover - Dave Ramsey

Your money counts - Howard Dayton (best book I've read on the issue)

I was broke and now I'm not - Joseph Sangl

Hearing God's voice, the 6th and 7th test

Here's the 6th and 7th test for hearing and recognizing God's voice.

Hearing God's voice, the 5th test

I hope these have been as helpful to you as they have to me. Here's the 5th test.

Not sure...

I'm not sure this is the right tactic to use to motivate people towards generosity.

So, what do you think? Should I follow this guy's example?

Watch the video. It's pretty funny.

Hearing God's voice continued again

Today's read from Rick is so true. I have seen this one broken over and over again as well. Thoughts?

Hearing God's voice continued

I love what Rick says in today's third test for hearing God's voice.

How I've seen this one broken over and over and over again. Someone thinks they've heard from God, but no one confirms it. This is one more reason why relationships and community are so important.

Thoughts? Has there ever been a time when you've gone off following what you thought was God on your own? Have you ever paused long enough to ask others what they think about what God is telling you?

For me, being a church planter was confirmed over and over again. It was confirmed before I even told people what God was saying in my heart. And being a pastor was confirmed even before I had thought about becoming a pastor. It's funny, as I reflect on how I got to where I am how many people God used to confirm and speak his will into my life.

Hearing God's voice

Anyone who knows me at all knows that one of my greatest passions and desires is that you hear from God and do what he says. But hearing from God is one of those really tricky, kind-of mystical things that we sometimes can't quite figure out. I mean, how do we really hear from God? Do we get real quiet? Do we listen to more preachers? Do we read our Bible more? How do we really hear God's voice.

Well, Rick Warren has a series of posts this week that have to do with hearing God's voice. They are so, so good. You need to read them and save them. You can read the first two here and here. I'll post the other ones this week.

God is speaking. He wants to speak to you. I'm praying he speaks to you this week and that you'll do what he says.

Interesting read

I finished Mere Churchianity from Michael Spencer last week. I was interested in this book because it is aimed at people who have left, or are thinking of leaving, the church, but who haven't left Jesus. There are parts of the book that were really, really good. There were other parts that were not so good.

What makes this a book that you should read is Michael's focus on Jesus and on discipleship as following Jesus. This is so important. Way too often we lose site of Jesus. We are supposed to follow and be like Jesus, not follow some church leaders or philosophy or method.

What I didn't like so much was his tone at times. I'm of the belief that you can speak truth and even speak against something while saying it in a good, humble and helpful way. Unfortunately, Michael doesn't always come across with the best tone.

This book was like a roller coaster for me. I'd be reading and go, "oh, this is good," and then I'd get to the next chapter and go, "um, not so sure about this." With that being said, I'm not sure if I would recommend this book or not. It's not that it's bad. It's just not all that helpful. And I think there are better reads for your time.

I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review.

Hub City Collectors video from Skittles week !

The guys did such a great job on this week's video.

Broken arm #2

Would appreciate you praying for Levi. Poor kid broke his arm today. It breaks my heart.

Unbelievable

This photo came out of the tsunami that hit Japan today. If I wouldn't have known about the tsunami I would have sworn this was photoshopped. It's unbelievable.

Being a kid

It's 46 degrees outside, pouring down rain, I mean pouring, and where are my boys? Outside playing like it's in the low 80's and sunny.

Kind of gives new meaning to this passage. Ah, the wonder and joy of children. So thankful for mine.

I'm also thankful that I'm dry, warm and inside.

Starting this Sunday

There are few things that people dislike more than a church talking about money. But Jesus talked about it. And since we're followers of Jesus we're going to talk about it too.

But in order to prevent any unnecessary discomfort, we're going to substitute the word "Skittles" for "money."

So, Hub City is doing a series on Skittles. It starts this Sunday. Don't miss it.