I heard Rick Warren say one time that vision is like a Polaroid picture... it gets clearer over time. That was a profound thing for me to hear. It also seems pretty Biblical since as we look at the whole of Scripture we get a clearer picture of God, his heart and his mission... and there was a process to God revealing himself to humanity.
We have had many things come more clearly into focus at Hub City Church over the past few weeks. We are pretty passionate about making disciples. That whole process has gotten much clearer. In a sentence our mission is to make Biblical Disciples in a Relational Context... with a disciple being someone who hears from God and does what he says (more specifically: one who has made Jesus Lord of their life, one who is in a discipling relationship with other maturing Christians, one who is becoming Christlike, and one who is committed to the mission of Jesus) and the relational context being our Hub Groups (not just Bible studies, but relational evironments where people can be known, cared for assessed as to where they are, and challenged to move to the next level).
We've made the intentional decision to be a church of small groups as opposed to a church with small groups. That means that groups are at the core of who we are and what we do as a church. That means that we are all about small groups... and we do Sundays on the side.
I can honestly say I am more excited about what we're doing, and my part in it, than I have ever been. I had a minor epiphany the other day that I'll share later on. Until then, let's go eat a hot dog.
Random thoughts, learnings, musings and other highly pertinent information from me.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Win an iPod
Sorry, you're too late, but a student at Spartanburg Methodist College won an iPod Shuffle today. We were invited to participate at SMC's "church fair day." It was worth the $50 investment to meet some new college students and get 150 names and emails. We invited all of them to our launch on September 21. I think we may do it at Converse College on September 4. Anybody want to buy the next iPod for us to giveaway?
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Wild Goose Chase
There are a number of reasons why I have loved Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase. I think the first reason is because of the title itself. Pursuing God is like a wild goose chase, but in a good way. Like Mr. Tumnus tells Lucy in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, "Tame? No he is not a tame lion, but he is good." Following God has become so tame, so adventureless, so predictable. But that's not what we see throughout Scripture. We act like we've got God and following God all figured out and we have all kinds of predictable formulas. Following God is safer that way. But following God isn't safe. It's an adventure... a crazy, fun, dangerous, exciting adventure.
Second, I love the caged imagery that flows throughout the book. So many great Christians I know are caged by so many things. Mark identifies six. I'd tell them to you, but you need to read the book.
Now I'd like to figure out how to do a series on this. I believe it could be very powerful. You can find the book here, or check out Mark's blog here. You can also find out more by going to www.chasethegoose.com.
Great quote
So I'm almost done with Mark Batterson's new book, Wild Goose Chase. I highly recommend it. It's easy to read and will challenge you to step out of your cage... but more on that tomorrow. I read this on pages 86-87 and thought it worth passing on:
When I fail to give, the best I can do is the best I can do. I am keeping God out of the equation of my finances. But when I tithe I am standing on the promises of God. And in my experience, God can do more with 90 percent than I can do with 100 percent. In addition, tithing is not just good stewardship; it turns money management into a financial adventure.
Don't allow financial greed or fear to keep you in the cage. Living generously is way too fun and way too exciting. Too many of us allow a scarcity mentality to keep us in the cage. We assume that the more we give, the less we'll have. That is an unbiblical assumption.
Tithing is trusting. And when you put God first financially, you live with sanctified expectations. You can't wait to see the wild ways in which the Wild Goods is going to provide.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Amazing day
First I'll say something about Last night. We had our last Movies in the Park last night. I honestly didn't think anyone would show up. That was a constant fear throughout all of our movies this summer. Once again my fear proved to be a dumb fear. We had a great crowd. Probably around 2000 people. Movies in the Park has been an enormous success, lots of fun and lots of hard work. I can't wait to do it again next summer. Big thanks to Ryan Bishop for bringing the sound system and for his awesome screen and projector that we used last night.
OK, let me talk about today. We had our second preview today. First good news: We didn't blow power in the theater. Second, we had a bunch of new people. I think our attendance was 67. Most of those were new guests. We had 17 kids (that was really cool). Third, the video that Frankie created was so funny that I cried. I'm going to try and post it next week when he gets back from vacation.
I can't say thank you enough to our awesome team. They worked so hard this weekend and did a great job. I'm so proud of them. Honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't want to be a part of Hub City Church. God is doing some incredible things. I can't wait for our September 21 launch.
OK, let me talk about today. We had our second preview today. First good news: We didn't blow power in the theater. Second, we had a bunch of new people. I think our attendance was 67. Most of those were new guests. We had 17 kids (that was really cool). Third, the video that Frankie created was so funny that I cried. I'm going to try and post it next week when he gets back from vacation.
I can't say thank you enough to our awesome team. They worked so hard this weekend and did a great job. I'm so proud of them. Honestly, I don't know why you wouldn't want to be a part of Hub City Church. God is doing some incredible things. I can't wait for our September 21 launch.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Stop praying and act
OK, so I know this is going to upset someone, but I got this new book from Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase. I'll be doing a review on Tuesday, but I read something today that I really wanted to post about. We pray too much sometimes. I'm not saying we shouldn't pray, but so often prayer becomes an excuse for action. We know God wants us to do something or we see a need that we could meet or we see some God-thing that we could be involved with and instead of being the answer to the prayer (because somebody else is praying) we pray as an excuse to not get involved (ie. We meet all kinds of people who are "praying" about whether or not to be involved in our church plant, when they have so many gifts and abilities that they could contribute to a church plant that I feel like God is screaming for them to get their minds off of themselves and do something outlandish, crazy and helpful by joining a new church's team). So what do you need to stop praying about? Stop praying and get to work. Wouldn't it suck to get to the end of your life and realized you missed out on all kinds of divine opportunities because you were praying when you should have been acting?
Friday, August 15, 2008
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Saturday
Meet the teacher night
Tonight's a big night. Nathan and Matthew get to meet their new teachers. Matthew's starting kindergarden and Nathan starts 2nd grade. The BIG first day is next Tuesday. I love the start of school.
Friday, August 08, 2008
Phenomenal
I have to say that my and Frankie's time at Real Life ministries has been phenomenal. I've always had a frustration with church that only recently have I been able to put to words. That frustration was and is that churches don't do the number one thing that they are commanded to do: Make Disciples. I'm not saying that to make anyone mad, but to just state a fact. We haven't been doing that good of a job making disciples. We make converts, but not disciples. We can't even come up with a common definition for a disciple. And then, how can you make something that you can't define.
Our time here in northern Idaho has been more than eye opening because Real Life is a church that is actually making disciples. They not only have a process, but they have an assessment and plan to figure out where people are and then turn them into disciples who make disciples.
I'd love to share more, but I'm sworn to secrecy... just kidding. Seriously, I'm so tired I'm having trouble typing. I can't wait to share this with our launch team. Now it's off to bed. It's almost 1 AM my time and we have to get up early to fly back home. I can't wait. I miss my family.
Our time here in northern Idaho has been more than eye opening because Real Life is a church that is actually making disciples. They not only have a process, but they have an assessment and plan to figure out where people are and then turn them into disciples who make disciples.
I'd love to share more, but I'm sworn to secrecy... just kidding. Seriously, I'm so tired I'm having trouble typing. I can't wait to share this with our launch team. Now it's off to bed. It's almost 1 AM my time and we have to get up early to fly back home. I can't wait. I miss my family.
Wednesday, August 06, 2008
Travel here, travel there
I have been all over the place for the past two weeks. First, Frankie and I went to VA Beach. Then I was home for a day then I took Nathan to camp (it was a blast). We got home from camp and immediately flew to Chicago for 4 days to explore the city and hang out with Liz's sister and brother-in-law. We got home last night and then this morning Frankie and I left at 4:45 AM to fly to Idaho. I'm wore out.
I'll post some pictures when I get back home (which will be Saturday night), but I'm really looking forward to the next few days as we learn about making disciples who make disciples. Maybe I'll make it home with my suitcase (it didn't make our flight from Seattle to Post Falls). Now it's off to bed.
I'll post some pictures when I get back home (which will be Saturday night), but I'm really looking forward to the next few days as we learn about making disciples who make disciples. Maybe I'll make it home with my suitcase (it didn't make our flight from Seattle to Post Falls). Now it's off to bed.
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