How to have "The Talk"

I read this on Vince's blog today. It's great advice. I thought it's worth reading.

"The Talk"

I've now had the privilege of having "the talk" with each of my kids. The experts suggest having it when your kids turn 8, we waited with each till they were 10. I think I'm pretty good at it, so I thought I'd share an outline of what I say to maybe help other parents who have this in their future. Here goes:

1. First, I ask, we're going to talk about sex, so tell me what you think sex is and what you know about it.
2. I explain that mom and I know all about sex, and so you can tell us anything you hear about it, or ask us anything about it...
3. Then, I say, I'm going to explain what sex is, but first let's talk about marriage. Because God gave sex as something that is amazing and beautiful and powerful for married people to share.
4. Marriage is So important to God.
5. God wants a husband and wife to have a relationship with each other like they have with no one else. He wants them to have intimacy - to be closer with each other than any other two people AND He wants them to have children together.
6. So what is sex? Then I tell about boy parts, girl parts, how they fit together, etc. (With my kids at least, this is where you get looks of shock, and interesting questions.)
7. Why does God give sex? Well, remember what God wants for married people? First, intimacy. And sex gives married people intimacy. In fact, the Bible says when people have sex they become "one flesh" - it's like they're so close they almost become one person. It's like relational super glue. (I also explain here that sex feels good, allows the two people to share special feelings that they don't get to share with anyone else, etc.)
8. And second, for them to be able to have children and be parents. Sex is how people have babies. Then I explain how that works. Daddy juice + Mommy egg = baby! (I also explain here that sex doesn't always produce babies, but it always can...)
9. So ... sex is an awesome, perfect, beautiful gift god gives to married people.
10. But there's a problem. Sometimes people take that gift for married people, and they use it outside of marriage.
11. Why is that a problem? Well, remember what sex does? Well, the problem is that it does it for people who aren't married too.
12. Sex gives two people intimacy, like they become one. And it does the same for unmarried people. The problem is that those two people then break up and go their separate ways, and it's like they ripped a piece of the other one off and take it with them. (I explain that in a little more detail, some illustrations, and I talk about the pain it causes people, and how it creates problems in marriage later - which it always does.)
13. Sex allows people to have babies. And so when two unmarried people have sex they can also have a baby. And that's not what they want, and think about that... (More details.)
14. So sex outside of marriage creates all kinds of problems. Inside of marriage it's awesome. (I use fire as an illustration - fire is a needed and amazing thing, but where fire is in the wrong place it is destructive...)
15. Then I talk about puberty. Body starts changing (I explain, or mom did for our daughter), God is moving you towards the point where you can get married (if you want and He leads you to it) and you can have that kind of intimacy and have babies.
16. Puberty is also when you start to get attracted to the opposite sex, temptations start to come to move towards sex, or have sex, before marriage. But remember that's not what God intended it for, it leads to problems and is destructive.
17. So wait for marriage.
18. And inside marriage, it is amazing, beautiful, etc., etc.
19. Questions?
20. Then I explain that we'll have this same talk (with a few added details each time) every six months...

A three-word prayer

I want to invite you to do something.

I want to invite you to pray a three-word prayer.

Lord, Surprise Us.

This is a prayer I've prayed on and off for a few years. I read yesterday that it's a prayer that Mark Batterson's church has been praying for a while. That inspired me to invite you to join me in praying: Lord, surprise us.

I've got to admit. I am surprised by all that God is doing in and through Hub City Church right now. The past two week have been the most exciting in our three year history. God is changing lives. We are actually seeing our mission happening.

But God's not done. He has more that he wants to do in us and through us.

So I dare you to join me in praying: Lord, Surprise us.

Dug Down Deep - a review

I know that the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the words Theology and Doctine is boring.

That shouldn't be the case. Ever. And that is what I absolutely loved about Joshua Harris' book Dug Down Deep.

Theology is the study of God. Doctrine is what we believe. What we believe about God matters. I think it matters more than ever before in the history of the church. Theology matters. Right doctrine matters.

The reason it matters isn't so that we can know all the right things. It matters because what we believe about God will determine how we act. If we have wrong beliefs then we'll have wrong behaviors. They go hand in hand.

Dug Down Deep is a very readable systematic theology. I needed to read this book. I have 98 hours of post-graduate theological education and I needed to read this book. I think you need to read it as well.

As a pastor I'm always looking for resources to suggest that would be educational, helpful and readable. This book fits those requirements. This is a book that I want everyone at Hub City Church to read. In fact, I think you should click this link and order it today.

An inconvenient truth

I came across this today. It is so true, and very much needs to be read and re-read.

Serving Even When It Is Inconvenient by Jon Walker As they went on their way, a man said to Jesus, “I will follow you wherever you go.” Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest.” (Luke 9:57-58 TEV) Jesus never calls us to blind obedience. As we follow him and become familiar with his character, we learn he is always waiting on the other side of our steps of faith. He forces us into a place where we must trust him and his promises, but he also tells us what to expect when we follow him (John 14:1-4). He wants us to count the cost of our commitment, because he knows it will demand every thing we have (Luke 14:28). In essence, Jesus warns us away from a romantic view of following him. He understands that when we volunteer to go anywhere at any time, our romanticism will wither when our commitment becomes inconvenient — or when it collides with the full cost of discipleship. Discipleship means we give up any thought that there will be bits and pieces of our lives that can remain unaffected by our relationship with Jesus. We can’t say “yes” to Jesus and expect to hold on to a portion of our independence. He demands it all. We no longer have the choice to serve only when and where it is convenient for us. “Foxes have holes, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lie down and rest” (Luke 9:58 TEV). When we have a romantic view of discipleship, we may imagine ourselves giving up everything for Jesus as the world admires our faith and people express their heartfelt gratitude for our sacrificial service. But the cost of discipleship may bring the scorn of the world to your doorstep. When you follow Jesus and do the things he tells you to do, even fellow believers may think you’re throwing away your future to help people who can give you nothing in return. Discipleship may mean sacrificing for others who will have no appreciation for what you have done — much like Jesus was ridiculed as he died on a cross. The grace to go wherever Jesus tells us to go comes only through the call of Christ and the power of God infused into our being. Grace obligates us to obey Jesus, regardless of the circumstances or consequences. How much of your service to Jesus is based upon what is convenient for you, and how much of it is based upon you doing what Jesus has told you to do? Jesus loves you and plans his best for you. He brings no condemnation; he wants to turn you in the right direction.

The Church

It's probably because Hub City turns three years old this Sunday, but I've been thinking about God's church. And then I read this quote today:

Through a weak and insignificant people, God displayed his power to the nations. Joshua Harris

I. Love. That.

That is may heart's cry for Hub City. I passionately want God to display his power to the nations through us, a weak and insignificant people.

We have the incredible privilege of representing God to the world. We, the Church, are what God has chosen to show the world who He is and what He is like.

John Stott says, If the church is central to God's purpose, as seen in both history and the gospel, it must surely also be central to our lives. How can we take lightly what God takes so seriously? How dare we push to the circumference what God has placed at the centre?

That's why I'm passionate about Hub City. That's why I'm excited that our weak and insignificant church is turning three. That's why I believe we haven't even scratched the surface of our potential as the body of Christ.

Thank You!!!

I have so many people to thank for making yesterday's baptism in the theater a success.

Jaimee Holmes: Thanks for tracking down, picking up and setting up the birthing tub for us to do the baptism in. It was perfect! And since you're one of the few people that read this blog I wanted to thank you first. :)

Shaun McMahon: Thank you for working hard to get the birthing tub filled, for vacuuming up the hose blowout that flooded the hallway, and for allowing me the privilege of baptizing you. I am pumped about what God is doing in your life. You are a servant.

Darryl Harmon: Dude, you worked hard to help set things up. You have a "whatever it takes" attitude. I am so thankful that you are a part of the Hub City family.

Stephanie Moore: It was a privilege and honor baptizing you. I am thankful for your friendship and so glad God brought you to Hub City.

The band: Josh, Jordan, Jacob, Tyson, Cheeks and Hannah. You were flat out awesome yesterday and did a great job preparing our hearts to hear from God. I wouldn't trade you for any band in the country.

Hub City Church family: I am so thankful to be your pastor. Thank you for that privilege. Greater things are yet to come. I love you guys and gals.

Finally, I want to give all the credit to God who saves us, chooses us, gives us grace and allows us to serve him.

What I'll be doing this weekend

Theology Matters

I know a lot of people put a wall up and shut down when words like theology and doctrine come up. And I understand that. Unfortunately most of what has been experienced is someone using theology and doctrine as a club to beat people with.

That's a disgrace.

Theology is just the study of God. Doctrine is what we believe. Neither are weapons. Both are extremely important.

What we believe about God impacts every area of our lives. If we have wrong believe it will have disastrous consequences. And I don't think I'm overstating things.

What we believe about God matters. It shapes our worldview. It determines our values. It guides our behavior. It has eternal consequences for us and for everyone we know.

Run towards theology and doctrine. Know God. Know what you believe. Know why you believe it.

Sermon series ideas

I have so many sermon series ideas running through my head. Here are a few ideas:

• Faith: What it is. What it isn't.
• Letters to Hub City Church: We would go through the seven letters to the seven churches in Revelation.
• Parables: Exploring Jesus' parables.
• Hell: This series is a bit frightening to think about, but ever since reading Francis Chan's book it's been on my mind.
• Famous stories from the Old Testament: There are so many great stories in the O.T. This would look at a few of those.

I would appreciate you praying for guidance and discernment. I want to teach what God wants me to teach.

I would also love to hear from you. What topics would you like to learn more about? Where are you struggling? Where is someone close to you struggling.

May switch up my sermon for Sunday

What defines us

I think we all need to be reminded of this often:


Be Defined by Your Service to Others
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)
Service is not something to be tacked onto our schedules when 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! 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.

Yet serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we’re more interested in “serve us” than service. We say, “I’m looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me,” not, “I’m looking for a place to serve and be a blessing.”

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?”

Erasing Hell

This is a book you should read.

It will mess you up.

Enough said. Get the book. Read it.

A walk

I did something yesterday that I haven't done in a while. I took a walk with God in the cool, darkness of the morning. It was refreshing. It helped me pray in a new way.

I recommend you try it. You may just experience God is a completely new way.

What Happened at Movies in the Park

Our final Movies in the Park will go down as the most memorable of all time.

Things were going great. We got setup quickly. The crowd was starting to come in. Someone noticed on their smart phone weather app that a small shower that was headed our way, but by the look of the radar it appeared to just be a drizzle.

The drizzle started. I made an announcement that the event was still on and that we were just waiting out the shower.

Then the bottom dropped out. What began as a small drizzle became the storm of the century. The light green radar turned dark red and grew. Not only did it rain torrentially, but there was massive lightning. Lightening was popping every 10 seconds. I don't like lightening.

We had 15 people stuck in our church's trailer with all of our equipment. There were people taking shelter under the stage and at Barnet Park's picnic shelter. We had a few folks stuck in the metal coke trailer, not the best place to be when there is lots of lightening.

But the storm didn't let up. It got worse. Unlike most summer storms that move through after a few minutes, this storm stopped over the city and stayed there for almost two hours. Come to find out, there was flash flooding all over Spartanburg with roads shut down around the city.

The wind picked up drastically and ripped our movie screen to shreds and bent the metal poles. It was bad. When we went back to Barnet Park to clean up one of our guys said it reminded him of Ringold, Georgia, the town devastated by the tornado a few months back.

I kept thinking of the tragedy in Indiana with the collapsing stage that killed 5 people a few weeks ago. That could have been us. I'm thankful that God kept us safe.

The only casualties were the screen, its frame, and our projector. Not sure how the projector got damaged but it did. Pray that it's an easy and quick fix.

One of our guys, Bryan Scott, took a video on his phone that you can see here.

I am so amazed by Hub City's people. The all stayed and really risked their lives to save our equipment and help people make it to their cars.

I'm also thankful for Scott from the city and Sargent Raines from the police department. They went out of their way to help people stay safe.

The call of God

It is easier to serve God without a vision, easier to work for God without a call, because then you are not bothered by what God requires; common sense is your guide, veneered over with Christian sentiment. You will be more prosperous and successful, more leisure-hearted, if you never realize the call of God. But if once you receive a commission from Jesus Christ, the memory of what God wants will always come like a goad; you will no longer be able to work for Him on the common-sense basis. ~ Oswald Chambers

Three full-time

Today was an exciting day. This is the first time that all three of my boys have all been in school full time.

We've been telling Levi he's going to go to school all day this year and he has been a bit stressed about it. He thought we mean that he'd be at school for all the daylight hours. He was greatly relieved to find out he'd be getting out of school at the same time Matthew gets out.

On a work note, this is the first time since we moved to Spartanburg in 2005 when I can work from home with no kids during the day. It's a new chapter for all of us.

Radical Together

I don't know if you've read David Platt's book Radical yet, but you should. Radical Together is the follow-up to Radical.

And while Radical is a personal book, Radical Together takes the principles of Radical and talks about them on a corporate, Church, community level.

I believe that Radical Together should be required reading for all church leaders. I have it sitting on my desk because it's one of those books that's going to require a second reading. I'm still thinking about and processing much of what I read. And flipping back through the book I see why I used an entire Highlighter as I read.

It's a short book, but it's not a quick read. There's too much to think about. The subtitle is Unleashing the People of God for the Purpose of God. What Radical Together does is give us a framework for doing what the subtitle says by bringing things back to the basics. I think that is the greatest value of this book. It takes away the fluff (and let's be honest, most American churches have a lot of fluff) and gets back to basic stuff.

Generous

I thought this devotion from Rick Warren needed to be spread around.

Being Generous When You’re Stretched Thin by Rick Warren I tell you, use your worldly resources to benefit others and make friends for eternity. In this way, your generosity stores up a reward for you in heaven … but if you are unfaithful with your worldly wealth, who will trust you with the true riches of heaven? ... You cannot serve both God and money. (Luke 16: 9-14 NLT) If you're going to become like Jesus, you need to learn how to be generous. It’s easy to give your time, energy or money when you have a lot to spare. But the true test of generosity comes when you don’t have a surplus. Do you still give what little you have to help somebody else? If you do, congratulations! You’ve passed God’s test of generosity. Why does God test your generosity? Because you were made in his image, so if you’re going to become like Jesus, you need to learn how to be generous. If you don’t, you’ll never grow to maturity, and you will never have the blessing of God on your life. What if you’re in a recession and things aren’t going well — you’re out of work or you’re out of money and you feel like you have no more time or energy to give. How can you be generous when you’re stretched thin? A good example for us is in 2 Corinthians 8. Paul says this about the churches in Macedonia: “Though they have been going through much trouble and hard times, they have mixed their wonderful joy with their deep poverty, and the result has been an overflow of giving to others” (2 Corinthians 8:2 LB). Joy and generosity always go together. An acid test of how much you trust God is the way you handle your money, because it shows what’s important to you. As a pastor, I want you to succeed financially so you can be generous, help other people, and do good in the world. So here are five principles to help you thrive even in a recession. Obeying God’s vision will bring God’s provision. When you say, “God, I’m going to do what you want me to do regardless of whether I have the money or resources to do it,” God will provide everything you need to get it done. When I do all God tells me to do, he does what I can’t do. Give God whatever you have, however meager it may be, and God will multiply it to do more than you imagined, just like he did with the five loaves and two fish. God gives to generous people. The more generous you are, the more God will give you. Whenever I have a need, I need to sow a seed. Whatever you need more of, give it away. In order to harvest a crop, you first have to plant the seeds. There is always a delay between sowing and reaping. A harvest is not automatic. It takes time and patience.

What I love about sending my kids to school

I'm excited. School started back today. Nathan is moving up in the world. He starts 5th grade at a new school. Matthew begins life as a 3rd grader. Levi officially begins going all day like his big brothers on Thursday.

Now, I'm not just excited because they are out of the house, which just happens to be my office.

I've been thinking a lot about why I'm excited.

• Going to school helps my boys develop independence. As a parent that is one thing I want for them. I want for them to eventually be able to live without me. I've always said that a main goal in parenting is to learn to de-parent. This is one reason why we don't do homework or project for our boys. Sure we'll help if they are stuck, but they have to learn to take responsibility of their own work. School helps develop this in them and grows them as individuals who can contribute to society. Nathan is riding the bus home for the first time in his educational career. That's a big, exciting step for a 10 year old. I figure he'll be driving alone in 6 years. He needs this kind of baby step now to prepare him for that giant leap.
• Going to public school puts my kids in an environment where they can learn what it means to be salt and light. I want my kids to be missionaries. They can't do that if they are only surrounded by like-minded kids or me. One day they are going to enter the real world. Our real world is growing more secular by the day. I want them to learn now how to be salt and light and live for Jesus in that world.
• Going to school opens my boys up to a whole new level of experiences that they would never get at home. Nathan's starting band this year. He's already begun jammin' on his beginner percussion kit. Matthew is in the gifted and talented program (something I was never invited to be a part of) and the Creations Honors Art program (something that doesn't go to people who's best artwork is crooked stick figures... like me).
• Finally (at least for now), going to school opens up the doors for my kids to make new friends and learn how to navigate relationships. Relational Intelligence is something I want my kids to develop and putting them in a context where they can make new friends and deal with kids who aren't so nice or who aren't like them is the best way to put them on a path that leads to relational intelligence.

That's why I'm excited about today. I can't wait for 3 PM to get here to hear all about school on day one. Now I'm enjoying the silence.

Don't co-op Jesus

Yesterday I went to the Get Motivated seminar at the Bilo center. I'll confess, my expectations were pretty low. I mean, the tickets only cost $1.95. But they had some impressive speakers in the line-up (Laura Bush, Colin Powell, Steve Forbes, Bill Cosby, etc), so I decided to go.

First, there was some good content from the promoted speakers. I will say that many of them seemed like they threw a speech together in 5 minutes while sitting on the toilet, but hey, it only cost $1.95.

But there were two speakers that I wanted to punch in the throat. I know it's not nice to say that, but they made me mad. They were slick sales guys who were trying to get participants to sign up for a class to learn how to make more money. That's fine. I have no problem with that.

What angered me was how these guys co-opted Jesus. It was like Jesus was on their side and he was their trump-card. "Invest their way, love America and follow Jesus and you won't have to work a real job any more in your life."

I may be wrong, but I don't think Jesus needs to be co-opted. I think he needs to be followed, and humbly at that. Jesus is the Lord of all. He is the King. Let's not go out of our way to bring him down to our size and help us fulfill our American Dream. That's not what being a disciple of Jesus is about.

I guess what I'm getting at is that these guys make genuine follower of Jesus look bad. So please, if you were there, don't judge Jesus' followers from what you heard/learned from these guys. I apologize for how they misrepresented Christianity.

On a humorous note, I left the Bilo center to get some lunch (had a great Calzone at one of my favorite places downtown Greenville - Bertollo's Pizza). When I got back the doors to the Bilo Center were locked. Supposedly the Fire Marshall wouldn't let any more people in. I think it might be because I didn't sign up for the class on how to make more money. Eventually they let 100 people in and I was number 47. But man, people sure can get angry when they are locked out of a $1.95 seminar. I wasn't one of them.

Privileges vs. Obligations

I read a quote today that was super powerful.

Do you remember the elder bother in the parable of the prodigal son? He wanted the privileges of being a son, but not the obligations that came with being a brother.

I think that so often describes us as Christians. We want things cool between us and God with all the privileges that come with that. But we could do without loving our brothers and sisters.

But following Jesus is about both. It is both vertical and horizontal. We live out our love for God by loving others. Most of Jesus' and the New Testament commands have to do with how we treat others.

In other words, privileges and obligation go hand in hand. If we get this right we would radically alter people's perceptions of Christianity and in turn, radically transform the world in which we live.

God's investment advice

I know, stock are plummeting. I read this today and wanted to pass it along:

God's Investment Advice

"Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth." - Matthew 6:19

Imagine you're alive at the end of the Civil War. You're living in the South, but you are a Northerner. You plan to move home as soon as the war is over. While in the South you've accumulated lots of Confederate currency. Now, suppose you know for a fact that the North is going to win the war and the end is imminent. What will you do with your Confederate money?

If you're smart, there's only one answer. You should immediately cash in your Confederate currency for U.S. currency--the only money that will have value once the war is over. Keep only enough Confederate currency to meet your short-term needs.

As a Christian, you have inside knowledge of an eventual worldwide upheaval caused by Christ's return. This is the ultimate insider trading tip: Earth's currency will become worthless when Christ returns--or when you die, whichever comes first. (And either event could happen at any time.)

Investment experts known as market timers read signs that the stock market is about to take a downward turn, then recommend switching funds immediately into more dependable vehicles such as money markets, treasury bills, or certificates of deposit.

Jesus functions here as the foremost market timer. He tells us to once and for all switch investment vehicles. He instructs us to transfer our funds from earth (which is volatile and ready to take a permanent dive) to heaven (which is totally dependable, insured by God Himself, and is coming soon to forever replace earth's economy). Christ's financial forecast for earth is bleak--but He's unreservedly bullish about investing in heaven, where every market indicator is eternally positive!

There's nothing wrong with Confederate money, as long as you understand its limits. Realizing its value is temporary should radically affect your investment strategy. To accumulate vast earthly treasures that you can't possibly hold on to for long is equivalent to stockpiling Confederate money even though you know it's about to become worthless.

According to Jesus, storing up earthly treasures isn't simply wrong. It's just plain stupid.

-- Excerpted from The Treasure Principle by Randy Alcorn

Mike Breen

I'm beginning to like this guy more and more. I like the way he thinks. I like the way he sees. This is a great post that's worth reading and that I've found to be true, but unfortunately, it seems that few leaders in the modern-American church care.

How C.S. sees it

I love this quote from C.S. Lewis on attending a worship gathering.

When I first became a Christian, about fourteen years ago, I thought that I could do it on my own, by retiring to my rooms and reading theology, and wouldn’t go to the churches and Gospel Halls; I disliked very much their hymns which I considered to be fifth-rate poems set to sixth-rate music. But as I went on I saw the merit of it. I came up against different people of quite different outlooks and different education, and then gradually my conceit just began peeling off. I realized that the hymns (which were just sixth-rate music) were, nevertheless, being sung with devotion and benefit by an old saint in elastic-side boots in the opposite pew, and then you realize that you aren’t fit to clean those boots. It gets you out of your solitary conceit.

Shallow Small Group... funny!

The Obituary of the American Church

The Obituary of the American Church: "Are these three deadly factors at work in your church today?"

I enjoyed this article and thought I'd pass it along.

Genius video we showed today @ Hub City

Video for churchplanters.com

Yesterday I get to shoot a video for churchplanters.com and answer the following questions. Just thought I'd share:

What is your #1 lesson learned since planting a church?

I’ve learned about myself. I’ve learned what I’m good at doing and more importantly what I’m not good at doing. Self-awareness should be very high on a church planter’s to do list.

The #1 mistake you've made since planting the church?

That’s easy. Waiting too long to have the tough conversations, and not being clear enough about the real issue. I’m still not very good at this. I don’t like it, but I’m working to get better.

Why have you sought out a coaching network at this juncture in your church plant?

I know that for Hub City Church to move to the next level that I need to grow. I’m the lid. I also know that I need support, encouragement and help from others who are doing what I’m doing.

What's the #1 piece of advice you would give someone who's thinking about planting a church?

Make sure that this is what you are called to do and that your calling has been confirmed by others.

Why? - Immersion

Last post I shared why Hub City's mission is to make disciples who make disciples.

But how does that happen?

It happens through intentional relationships.That's why we do Hub Groups. And that's why we do Immersion.

Immersion is a three week class where we teach you our Discipleship Process. If you haven't been through it then you need to go through it. It changed my life. I think it will change yours.

But discipleship is not just about relationships. It's more than just having friends. It's more than just doing life together with some other people.

What's important is intentional relationships. By that I mean that there's a destination and getting to that destination requires an intentional, guided, relational process.

The destination is a disciple of Jesus who makes disciples. But it doesn't just happen. Jesus was very intentional with his disciples. He was taking them somewhere.

Immersion can show you where you and others are in the process and where you/they need to go to grow and mature. Immersion can open your eyes to the phases of spiritual growth: Spiritually Dead, Infant, Child, Young Adult, and Parent. Our next Immersion begins Sunday, July 31. Sign up by emailing me.

Along these lines, someone asked: How are parent's discipled? That is a fantastic question. That's what our Leadership Community is for. It is the environment where parents (disciplers) are discipled, because no matter how mature we are we all need to be discipled.

Another question often asked is: What happens when someone is brought through the process? The simple answer is that a person who has been brought through the process continues to bring others through the process. At the same time this person continues to hear from God and do what he says. (I've been a Christian for 32 years and I feel like I know less and am more of a sinner now than when I was 20.) God is continuing to refine, sanctify and make us like Jesus.

Why? - Our Mission

Our mission at Hub City Church is to make disciples who make disciples.

An important question to ask is: Why is making disciples Hub City's mission?

We didn't steal this mission from another church. As you can tell, it's not all that creative. We didn't read about it in the latest popular book.

Our mission is to make disciple who make disciples because Jesus told us that making disciples is the mission of the church (Matt. 28:18-20).

Everything he did was to make disciples. He had 12 guys that he invested it. And he didn't choose them just so that they could be best friends. He chose them because he wanted to make them into something. That something was a group of guys who could do what he did with them, with others.

He chose them to be obedient to him. The Gospels reveal this continual interplay where Jesus tells his disciples to do something, and they do it. That's why we define a disciple as someone who hears from God and does what he says. That seemed to be what Jesus was creating in those 12 guys.

All the other stuff that we're supposed to do (love God, love others, serve others, pray, take care of orphans and widows, give, fast, forgive, etc.) all comes under the umbrella of being a disciple of Jesus. We hear from God about those things, and then we do what he says by responding in obedience.

I know we all hated when our parents would tell us: Because I said so. But that is why our mission is to Make Disciples. It's because Jesus said so.

Why?

So we started a new series this past Sunday called Why? We're talking about why we do some of what we do as a church.

I asked folks to email me their "why" questions and the first question I got was "What's with the logo? Is is a movie real or a cross? Why do you have it?

Well, here's what I love about our logo. It's a bit mysterious. It invites questions. It's not super-religious, even though you could find something religious in it (even though I don't see it).

Our logo is a Hub. It's a Hub with four environments moving out from the center. We want Jesus and our mission to make disciples of Jesus that is at the center of all we do. The four sections could stand for the four environments we do as a church (Worship gathering, Hub Groups, Mission and Personal Spiritual Disciplines) and/or it could stand for the four phases of discipleship (Infant, Child, Young Adult, Parent).

I guess it could be a movie reel, even though I've never thought that was what it was. Others see that all the time because of Movies in the Park and the fact that we meet in a movie theater.

But there you have it, the "why" behind our logo. Any other questions?

My favorite part of yesterday

I thought yesterday's worship gathering was incredible. We began our series called Why? We talked about why we do a worship gathering. The sermon will be live on our website later this week or you can read the transcript here.

But my favorite part of yesterday was something that happened afterwards. We had finished tearing down and I walked outside the theater and there were a bunch of Hub City folks standing around chatting and laughing. I LOVED that! It made me smile.

Movies in the Park - Tonight @ Barnet Park

The Leader

This is so true and so good:

I wanna be the leader

I wanna be the leader

Can I be the leader?

Can I? I can?

Promise? Promise?

Yippee, I'm the leader

I'm the leader.

Ok, what shall we do?

- Roger McGough

3 Things The Church Is & 3 Things The Church Is Not

3 Things The Church Is & 3 Things The Church Is Not: "We know that 'The Church' isn't a building... Pastor Shawn Lovejoy answers the question, 'What Is The Church?'"

This is a great article by Shawn.

Reading Minds

I am 100% confident that if I could read minds my job would be way, way easier.

But I can't. I've tried. But clairvoyance isn't in my blood.

Since that's the case, I need you to tell me what's going on in your head. I'd love to know what you're thinking about Hub City. I so much appreciate the Hub City folks who share with me what they are really thinking and feeling.

But I also know that this is a two-way street. You can't read my mind.

That's why we're beginning a new series this Sunday called: Why? It's going to be a glimpse into why we do what we do as a church and why you should care. You don't want to miss it. It'll be a small glimpse into my mind as it come to all-things, or at least some-things, Hub City.

It begins this Sunday.

Movies in the Park: | Your-Carolina | Local Entertainment for Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson S.C. and Asheville N.C.

Movies in the Park: | Your-Carolina | Local Entertainment for Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson S.C. and Asheville N.C.