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.