Birthday Pics

Indiana Jones Legos! Nice.
A new bike!
More Legos!
On my new bike.

B-day dinner at Fuddruckers with mom and fam.

5 years old

Today was a big day in the Everette home. Matthew turned 5 today. It was an exciting day for all of us. I am so proud of Matthew and can't wait to see how he continues to grow and develop this year.

Two of his presents were lego sets and, being the little engineer that he is, Matthew spent over 5 hours building. He's pretty talented... especially since the ages are 7+ (which he is quick to point out!). I'll try and remember to post some pics tomorrow for our family.

I just looked at the clock and it was exactly 5 years and one minute ago that Matthew came out screaming.

The "Whoopee Awards"

Last night at Launch Team Meeting we had our initial "Whoopee Awards" to celebrate Movies in the Park (and yes, we did give out whoopee cushions as the coveted prize). We wanted to say "whoopee" to our awesome team for all they did to make MIP a success. I need to make special note of two of the funniest "Whoopie Awards." First, Josh received "The most inappropriate comment of the night whoopee." I won't comment on his comment, but it sure was funny. Second, I've got to mention Chris' "Everything bagel plus cheese whoopee" because he did everything.

It was great celebrating a win with our team. They worked so hard and I am so thankful to have them along on this adventure!

Wow!

All I can say about our first Movies in the Park is WOW! Last night was just plain amazing. Can you believe we had somewhere around 2000 people show up? The weather was awesome (thank God for that). People had great attitudes (even those who had to wait a few minutes for popcorn). The sound was great. We had a ton of conversations about Hub City Church (especially Chris... he was the conversation king). And our team and volunteers were incredible. They worked so hard. It is a privilege to be planting this church with each of you.

On top of all of that, we made the paper again! This morning we were the lead story on www.goupstate.com and the front page of the upstate section of the Herald Journal. You can read the article here (also there's a picture of my father-in-law serving watermelon in the paper).

Now we get to do it again on June 21! But first, I need some rest.

My first time ever

I know I'm a little slow, but today, for the first time ever, I downloaded songs from iTunes to my iPod. And I have to say, it felt good! I was putting together a set list for Movies in the Park. Liz really wants me to download I'm still a guy by Brad Paisley, but I don't know if I can handle a country song on my iPod.

But here's my thought, if any of my readers want to help us out with Movies in the Park you can shoot me an iTunes gift card. :) Just a suggestion. :)

27,510

I know you're not going to believe this because I'm having trouble believing it too. But our web site, which went live 14 days ago, has had 27,510 hits so far. Who out there is yanking my chain? This is crazy.

They must all want info abut Movies in the Park which starts tomorrow. It's going to be a fun night.

Big graduation celebration

Tonight was Matthew's graduation from 4K preschool. It's the end of an era. Afterward we went to celebrate at Brusters. I'm so proud of Matthew. He's a great little boy... and next Wednesday is his birthday!

Big Week

This is a big week for the Everette family and for Hub City Church.

• On Tuesday night we've got Matthew's graduation from 4K. He gets to wear a cap and gown and look official.
• Thursday is the last Soccer practice.
  
• On Friday, Prince Caspian opens and we can't wait. Actually, Matthew and I have been counting down to the movie's release for a few weeks. The Chronicle's of Narnia are some of my favorite stories.
• On Saturday we've got this little thing called Movies in the Park happening. I can't wait.

It's an exciting week.

Unbelievable

Somebody must be playing games with me because since our web site went live one week ago we've had over 13,600 hits. We've had over 7,000 hits since yesterday. I need to give credit to God. May he be glorified, made famous, and shown clearly through Hub City Church. May he draw thousands to himself and may we make disciples (people who hear from God and do what he says).

Pray for good weather for May 17!

Front Page Article!!!

This morning started off extremely emotional for me. I went out to get the paper this morning and on the front page was this article. Did I say front page? Yes, and not only that, it is the top article on the front page! And on top of that, it is a GREAT article!

Liz made a great comment this morning. She said that it's as if God decided He wanted to get the word out about Movies in the Park, so He did it. We're giving Him all the credit. We serve a great God who is working all around us and inviting us to join Him in what He's doing to advance the Kingdom. What a privilege to be a part.

But emotions are like a pendulum. At breakfast Levi decided to throw his bowl of cereal off of his high chair and onto the floor. Honey nut cheerios went everywhere and one of our new glass bowls shattered all over the floor. Nothing like reality! :)

Good news

I need to share with you some amazing things that happened today.

- Coca-cola is going to provide 800 drinks per night of Movies in the Park. They’ve given us their logo and want us to put it on everything we print from now on.

- A reporter from the Herald-Journal called to interview me about MIP and Hub City Church. The article should be in the paper tomorrow.

- Our banner will probably go up at Barnet Park tomorrow. Michelle, Michele and Rosie put up 180 signs in businesses around town today. And the postcards came in today and some will start making their way to schools tomorrow.

- Our web site, which just went live on Friday, had 4,000 hits in its first four days of being live. That’s amazing!

- Christian Supply is going to give 4 $25 gift cards as well as include MIP info in their mailer that goes to 15,000 homes (can you believe that?)

I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of something with such momentum and God-stuff happening. Thank to our Launch Team for being a part of this amazing adventure. We couldn’t do this without them and all their work. And we definitely could not have any of this happening without God showing up.

PRAY FOR GOOD WEATHER!

Thanks Coca-Cola of Spartanburg

We want to give a HUGE thanks to Coca-Cola of Spartanburg for donating drinks for Movies in the Park. This is awesome! They share Hub City's DNA of wanting to make Spartanburg a better place to live.

Born to ride

Last week riding a bike really clicked with Nathan. He now wants to be a BMX freestyler! (I'm so proud). But in light of his new-found skill scored him a new shirt from his grandparents. Here's the picture of the shirt.
I almost took pictures from his big crash. It was pretty nasty, but after a short meltdown he went back out to ride again. You just can't argue with freedom.

"Sleep with stuffed animals night"

Who knew that last night was "sleep with stuffed animals" night? Leave it up to my kids to come up with a new holiday for Hallmark to exploit.

Mickey Mouse, MIP and 2500 postcards

This has been a fun weekend so far. We rented a Mickey Mouse suit (we were going to go with an elephant suit, but Mickey's famous, so we had to go with the famous guy) and headed out to Spring Fling to hand out postcards and advertise for Movies in the Park (MIP). It was a blast. Mickey really is famous. One of our guys, Chris, was in the Mickey suit for over 2 hours. I don't know how he did it. I would have passed out. (And Frankie, you were a great Mickey too :))

I am so proud of our team for working hard to get the word out about MIP. We got to tell all kinds of people about the fun that's going to be coming to Spartanburg this summer.

Now I'm tired. It's off to give the boys a bath and put them to bed.

Money, money, money

Don't you just love talking about money? I thought I'd give a little update on some money stuff for Hub City Church (did you check out our new site yet?).

We're looking for more people to be a part of The 300. The 300 is our plan to raise $30,000 to launch Hub City Church in September. It will go towards equipment and marketing. What we're looking for is 300 people who will give $100 a piece. I think YOU need to be a part of The 300.

On a smaller note, I'm also working to raise around $500,000 to fund Hub City Church for 3 years. That only means we need 5,000 people to give $100 a piece. :) Seriously, please pray for us as we embark on this adventure. The guys at churchplanters.com say that "financing the vision" is one of the Best Practices of church planters. And since two guys I know just had to shut down their churches in the past 2 months because of finances... let's just say this is a priority. So if you, or your church, or both wants to partner... give me a buzz... I'll probably be calling you anyway.

Now off to pick up an elephant costume... if you're at Spring Fling keep your eyes open for us.

Live

Our website is live. Check out www.hubcitychurch.com. Shoot me a line and let me know what you think.

Runnin' like a headless chicken

The book Deadly Viper Character Assassins talks about the assassin of busyness. I feel like that assassin might be gaining more influence in my life than it needs to have. There's always more to do, somebody else to call, something to read, somebody to meet with, an e-mail to send..., you get the picture. I'm working on boundaries.

Not that I'm complaining. I love all that's happening and all that we have going on. The people on our Launch Team are working so hard. Lots and lots of cool things are happening. But the thing to remember is that we're all in this for the long run and to start off in a sprint like you're running the 100 meter dash is not the way to run a marathon.

I'm in this for the long run. I want to finish well. Now it's off to begin the jog.

Back in the saddle

Yes, we're back, and we hit the ground running. Here's what's on my mind.

• I think that Exponential was one of the best conferences, if not the best conference that I've ever attended. I love how the focus was more on reproducing churches and being a part of a movement more than on building your own little church. I learned so much good stuff, took some great notes, and had THE BEST time with Liz. I am so glad she was able to go with me.
  
• Movies in the Park is in three weeks. Can you believe it? I can't. There's so much to do. I'm still looking for some more mission teams to come help us.
• I am so impressed with our launch team. We have some incredible people who are working their tails off.

That's all for now. I've got to go order some signs for Movies in the Park.

Off

Liz and I are off to Orlando for the Exponential Conference and we'll also have some fun here. Don't be too jealous.

Argh!!!

Soccer games are canceled again today! How frustrating. I was all ready to go watch mass chaos.

Posts of the week

I read some sweet stuff this week. Enjoy.

First, all my church planting buds and launch team members should read this article. Relevant and good.

Second, I love this book and Tony's synopsis is a good reminder of its treasure. You need to read the book.

Third, Jay is right on with this warning.

Finally, you may not agree with this article, but it will get you thinking... and maybe change the way you think.

The best album nobody's ever heard of...

While working out at the "Y" this AM I had Waterdeep's album, Everyone's Beautiful, going on the iPod. I must say like I said in the title, this is the best album that nobody's ever heard of. I first learned of this group about 9 years ago and this is one of those albums that gets richer and deeper every time you hear it. So why am I posting on this? Take a risk and go out and buy it.

Overwhelmed

To say I'm a bit overwhelmed would be an understatement. I'm so thankful for this passage. It's a big encouragement and motivation for me.

Cool Weekend

This was a pretty sweet weekend for Hub City Church. On Saturday we got to partner with some guys from the Rotary Club to paint a house for a double amputee (legs). It was a blast to be out making a difference. I'm so proud of how our team stepped up to serve. We painted the whole house in one day, even with a two hour rain delay! There are a few pictures on this blog. If you want to see more you can go to Hub City's facebook page.

Then on Sunday we had a great Vision Casting Night. We had 3 new families, 3 new college students and a couple of new singles come find out about Hub City Church. We also had a bazzilion kids! Pray that God will speak to those who were there and tell them if this is something that they need to be a part of.

Post of the week and something else...

What Tony posted here is a good reminder for me.

And here's the something else: This is a busy weekend for us at Hub City Church. Tomorrow we'll be joining with other groups from around Spartanburg to participate in Christmas in Action. We're going to be painting a house. Wooo-hoooo!!! I hope the rain stays away. Then on Sunday we're having another Vision Casting Night to share what we're doing and what's involved for those who might want to be a part. If my count is right then we're going to have 25+ adults and 15+ kids. That's a lot of people! I'm pumped.

On top of that, tomorrow is Matthew and Nathan's first soccer game. I'll be leaving painting to watch Matthew and then coach Nathan. It should be fun. You gotta love kid's soccer.

It's a go!

That's right. We are going to be doing Movies in the Park this summer. This is a great opportunity for us to serve families in Spartanburg. Now we need mission teams to come help! This is really exciting for Hub City Church. Stay tuned for more details as the time approacheth. Also, if you, or anyone you know wants to help please send me a comment or e-mail. We need help the day/night of Movies in the Park, but we really need help the Saturday's before MIP to put postcards in neighborhoods all over Spartanburg. So consider yourself asked. Don't make me beg.

Watch the video then read below...

I had this thought as I was watching "Idol Gives Back" last night. It was during the clip of Alisha Keys' trip to Africa. She made a statement along the line of "our generation needs to stand against injustice...." It was if God were saying, "I have heard the cries of my people, and since the church isn't going to do anything to help them then I'll have to use others to meet those needs."

Shame on us! We're so busy in the American church being concerned about secondary matters and fighting over stupid stuff that God is using things like American Idol Gives Back to do work that the church could and should be doing.

I know that people say that "the church is the hope of the world." I don't really agree with that. I think that Jesus is the hope of the world and that his first choice is to use the church, but as we saw last night, God can and will use whatever he wants, and it doesn't have to be the church (think Balaam's donkey or of the Babylonians that God used to punish his people).

My passion for Hub City Church is that we be a church that doesn't miss out on all that God is wanting to do in the world. We want to stand for justice in Spartanburg and around the world. I think that is when people are going to see Jesus through us. I think that is what gives our message about Jesus credibility.

I think that the Idol's singing of "Shout to the Lord" is a modern day "rocks crying out," and it happened on live TV in front of millions of adoring idol fans. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Busy

I'm not a fan of being busy, but the past two weeks I have been "good" busy. So much is happening right now with Hub City Church. God has sent momentum our way and I'm just trying to keep up. You can pray for us. Pray that I'll have wisdom and discernment. Pray that with all that's going on I'll focus on the most important things.

I can't say enough awesome stuff about our Launch Team. They are helping carry this load in an amazing way. I am so thankful to be on this journey with them. You guys are AWESOME!!! We couldn't do this without you and ALL that you are doing.

Speaking of the Launch Team, we are having a Vision Casting deal this Sunday night. We're looking for more missionaries to join with us in creating a relevant church that 20 and 30 somethings want to be a part of. I'll post details soon.

It's a miracle!!!

This tooth has been loose for over 4 months and Nathan accidentally knocked it out this morning. It's a miracle!

Post of the week

Craig posted on "Ten Questions Every Leader Should Ask" here, but I think these are 10 questions all followers of Jesus should ask.

I heard this story from my friend Frankie and then read it here. Pretty amazing.

Also, this post and this post from Vince is a great reminder that I needed to read.

This effort makes me wish we were already launched. It is pathetic, sad, disturbing and sinful how churches compete against each other... especially since the task is so large and the stakes are so high. Check out this link to see what a group of churches is doing to bring the Church together. The mission is so much more important than our petty differences and preferences. May the Church be one.

Happy Birthday

Today is my beautiful wife and her twin brother, Matt's, birthday. Like I posted earlier, cash and gift cards are greatly appreciated. :)

For my brother-in-law and sister-in-law

Random thoughts

• My lawn mower caught on fire this morning as I was cutting the grass. That was pretty exciting. I think it's time to get a new lawn mower.
• On another lawn note, I really need someone to aerate my yard. If you could hook me up...
  
• Saw I Am Legend last night. It was a great movie that scared me to death. If anyone knows someone who installs sliding steel window covers then have them call me.
• I've got good news and bad news concerning what I was so excited about this past week. I'll share more when I can put it into words.
• Coached my first practice for Nathan's soccer team this past Thursday. It's going to be a fun season. I still need an assistant coach, though.
• Monday is Liz's Birthday. We're about to go buy a present for my amazing wife. In case you're wondering, she loves gift cards and cash.
  

I know how the Pointer Sisters must have felt

Today was an incredible day! Actually, that is an understatement. I can't share everything now, but God orchestrated something incredible today. I hope to be able to share more tomorrow, but please be praying.

Idol thoughts

I know, I've lost credibility with some of you because I watch American Idol, but David Cook totally rocked tonight. If he doesn't win then the show's rigged.

Vision

I'm not big on devotional booklets. Too many people substitute reading Scripture with some cheesy devotional thought (I hope I didn't offend anyone with that, but be honest, too many "devotions" are just touchy feely cheese.). But we have this one little devotion sitting by the potty that I read every so often and one I read the other day is worth passing on.

"Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled." Habakkuk 2:3 TLB
In the early stages of pregnancy a baby is easier to lose. The same applies to your God-given vision; you need to protect it. The enemy tried to destroy Moses and Jesus before they reached their secon birthday. Why? He feared their future -- and he fears yours too! Furthermore, when a prospective mother is not "showing," she has to go on the word of her physician. Getting the idea? There are certain things you need to do in order to "deliver" what God has promised. When your doctor says, "No smoking, drinking or eating certain foods, etc," he's thinking about your future. "But others can do these things," you say. Yes, but they're not carrying within them what you are. The call to give birth to a vision means daring to be different, even radical: It means disconnecting from relationships that can hurt you, staying out of certain places, and reordering your priorities according to your God-given destiny, not popular consent. If you think fulfilling a vision is easy, check the price tag! Like childbirth, it's hard, it's lonely, it's sleepless, it's appetite-changing, it's schedule-altering. It involves pain and leaves stretch marks. So before you give lip service to, or play around with God's purpose for your life, ask yourself, "Am I ready to carry this thing to full term?" Visions aren't for the immature, the impatient or the faint of heart. And you can't downsize them when things get tough.
Esther's vision meant putting her life on the line and saying, "If I perish, I perish" (Est. 4:16). Did she perish? No, but she had to be willing to. Are you? -The Word for You today March 25.

Plans, plans and more plans

I am pumped about our LTM tonight. We're going to start putting plans on paper for our upcoming Movies in the Park and other events. I've been doing some research on what it's going to take for us to pull off Movies in the Park and it is going to take a lot of hard work, but I think this is one of the most exciting things that we could do in Spartanburg. If you've got a few minutes, pray for us as we plan. Pray that God would grant us favor.

I'm with famous

My friend Pat linked me in his blog and put me and another famous guy in the same sentence. Funny. You can read it here.

Post of the week

This was supposed to go out on Friday, but for some reason it didn't work. But it's here now and worth the read. These are some great posts about marketing. We have so much to learn. Check out Vince's post here and what the top experts say here.

LTM Recap

I want to thank everyone for a great LTM last night. I know we covered a lot of content, but you hung in there and had some great ideas. I’m excited about us working together to make a difference in Spartanburg.

Here’s a quick recap of what we discussed:

• Relational networks: College campuses, non-profits (service organizations), sports/rec teams, city groups, civic groups, schools, neighborhoods, work place, YMCA.
• Direct touches: Block parties, sports camps, movies is the park w/in neighborhoods, neighborhood festival (Halloween), provide food for teacher appreciation, volunteering with Habitat for humanity or the Children’s home, giveaways.
• Marketing: Web site, blog, billboards, signs, mailers, door hangers, t-shirts, Frisbees, movie trailer.
• Front door: A worship gathering

For us to be missionaries to Spartanburg we need to spend the majority of our time and resources in relational networks and direct touches.

The direct touches that we decided to focus on are movies in the part (3-4), movies on campus (2-3), volunteering with habitat, Christmas in action and the children’s shelter (possibly renovating an entire home). Thanks for telling me what you want to be involved with. I’ll be contacting you within the week to make a time for teams to meet and begin planning.

More than a relationship

I read something today that shook me up. It comes from Vince Antonucci's (my favorite blogger) new book I became a Christian and all I got was this lousy t-shirt. He says that being a Christian is more than just having a relationship with Jesus. It's about abiding in him, getting lost in him, becoming one with him. I think his best description of what it means to abide is to think about a baby in a mother's womb. Does the baby have a relationship with it's mom? Yes, but it's so much more than that. The baby lives inside its mother. It can't live without its mother. It is totally dependent on its mother.

When I think about my relationship with Jesus I have to ask myself: Do I abide in Jesus as a baby abides in its mother's womb, or do I just have a relationship with Jesus like I have a relationship with my college roommates (who are great guys, whom I have a great relationship with, but who I only talk with once or twice a month... you get the picture... Joe, Joey and John, I love you guys)?

To be honest, "abiding" sound so much fuller and richer than a having a relationship. Go get the book to read more. It's worth it.

Easter fun

I know this is a bit sacrilegious, but my father-in-law e-mailed it to me and I had to pass it on.

Intense

I've been at Intensive Church Planter Training from yesterday till tomorrow and it is definitely intense. I loved our discussion about the Kingdom yesterday. What an honor that God allows us to partner with him to build his kingdom. I've got some great quotes that I hope to post later, but this is worth sharing: Attractive churches aren't going to be the catalyst for a movement of God in the US, but attractive followers of Jesus will. So I'm asking this question: How can we create/develop attractive Christians? I want to be a part of a movement that changes lives, changes Spartanburg, changes the world.

The coolest part to doing ICPT this time is having our team with us. These amazing people took off time from work to learn and get prepared for planting Hub City Church. Another cool thing is that I met some planters from Canada and we're considering taking a trip to Calgary to help them out. We'll see what comes of that, but a "world" partnership is a mission piece that we need to help Hub City be a globally focused church.

VCGTS

That's right. VCGTS. That stands for Vision Casting Gathering This Sunday. For those of you who want to find out more about Hub City Church, this Sunday is the time to find out. We'll meet from 5:30-7 here. We'll have supper. If you need child care we'll have that, but you need to contact me because it'll be at a different place that the VCG.

Post of the week

I know, I missed a post of the week last week. Having the flu really threw me off, but today's post is worth it. I totally agree with Seth on this post. We even talked about this at our LTM on Tuesday. Resistance will come. I love the encouragement: Persist.

Another post worth reading is Shawn's on being a healthy leader. You can read it here.

LTM Report 3/4/08

Man, last night's LTM was exciting!!! We had some great discussion. Here's a recap that I posted over at Hub City's blog:

Last night we spent time discussing this question: How can we be a missionary church that develops missionaries? Everyone had something great to add to our discussion. Here’s an overview:

- Hub City Church is going to be a missional church. That means that everything we do, the money we spend, the groups we partner with, the music we use, the programs we do, and the topics we tackle will all be run through the missional filter: Is this connecting with people, specifically 20-30 somethings, who are not yet Christian?

- We don’t want Hub City Church to be a church that has a “club member” mentality where it’s all about us and where everything we do is about meeting the needs of club members. We are going to do whatever we can to guard against that.

- Just like missionaries in foreign countries contextualize the gospel and the methods to the culture they are trying to reach, so we will contextualize what we do to connect with 20 and 30 somethings in such a way that they want to be a part. This includes using secular songs, media, speaking to real needs, having music that sounds like what people are listening to, hanging out where not yet Christians hang out (as opposed to always wanting them to come to us).

- We talked about a scorecard so that we can measure whether or not we are actually developing missionaries and being missional. Instead of how many people attend or how much money are people giving we want to measure things like: Number of conversations with people who aren’t yet Christians, are our people actively inviting their not yet Christian friends, and the number of people who are participating in local and foreign mission projects.

- Action Steps: One thing we’ll be doing each week is coming up with an action step for people to do in response to what we’ve talked about. This week people signed up to help out with Shamrock’s on the Square on March 15. This is Spartanburg’s annual St. Patrick’s day celebration. We get to volunteer and be missionaries in our community. Don’t you want to be a part? Contact me and I’ll get you signed up to help.

One REALLY cool thing is that we had almost everyone sign up to help with Shamrock's on the Square. I'm really proud of our Launch Team. They stepped up to be missionaries. I can't wait to see how God is going to use us! I heard of definition of serving that I really like: Leveraging your abilities for the good of someone else. That's what we get to do on March 15th. Anybody else out there want to help us out?

Creative invitation

This Sunday we're having another Vision Casting Gathering. It's an opportunity for people to find out about Hub City Church and how they can be a part. It's also a chance for me to try and scare people away from being on the launch team. :)

Our team's been working to invite people who they think might be a good fit on our team. One of our team, Melanie Creel, has that crafty creative bug (that I don't have). She made invitations for people to use. Check it out. Pretty sweet, huh?

Serving Back funny 2

Serving Back funny

The favor of God

I love the definition that Mark Batterson gives for the favor of God: The favor of God is God doing something in and through you that only God can do. It is something that you could never do on your own.

That is what I want more than anything. It's what I want in my marriage, my parenting, our church plant and my life in general. I desperately want the favor of God to be upon me. This has become a regular prayer of mine.

Mark also said something else that's worth repeating. He shared that his theological starting point is from Isaiah 55:8-9. God's ways are higher than our ways and his thoughts are higher than our thoughts. I need to remember that.

LTM tonight

I'm pretty pumped about our Launch Team Meeting (LTM) tonight. We're meeting in a new place (Arcadia first), at a new time (6 PM). FYI: We'll be meeting in the Fellowship Hall which is around the back of the church. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and preparing to launch Hub City Church.

For Frankie and Brian

See, I'm not the only one who thinks Lost is the best show on TV. Check this out.

The Flu

I've got it. Enough said. Back to bed.

Posts of the week

I've got a few places you should check out this week. As I mentioned, I went to churchplanters.com conference. A few of the sessions were great and I wanted to pass on some links. Shawn Lovejoy talked about being a healthy leader. Being a healthy leader requires discipline. He posted some great personal diagnostic questions here. Mark Batterson is someone I have an enormous amount of respect for. He posted notes from his talk on being a Secure Leader here. Though it wasn't my favorite talk, Bill Cornelius' talk is online for free here. It's worth listening to. I also want to give a shout out to my friend Pat who became a first time dad on Tuesday. You can read all about it here. Congrats Pat!

Dear Anonymous

So that you won't waste your precious time I want you to know (whoever you are) that anonymous comments will be immediately rejected... even if they are positive (but most of them aren't). So, whoever keeps commenting under the name "anonymous" can grow up and stop hiding behind web technology. I'm sorry if you don't always agree with my posts. I don't always agree with myself either. If you would like to add to the conversation then I'm all for that, but not if you're hiding behind the curtain of anonymity.

For those of you awesome readers (all 2 of you) who are wondering, "Where is this coming from?" Let me tell you. I get critical, mean comments all the time from someone named anonymous and I thought I needed to let them know that they are wasting their time. The next post will be more positive!

New time. New Location.

Our launch team will be meeting at a new time and in a new location beginning next week. First Baptist Arcadia has graciously allowed us to use their building (for free!!!). We'll be meeting on Tuesday nights from 6:00-7:30. Click here for directions.

Oops

It's good to be back

I had a great time with Chris and Frankie the past two days at the churchplanters.com conference. I must say that I think I need counseling after spending two days with them. I'll post some links on Friday of things that need to be shared.

It's great to go to conferences and learn and be inspired. Learning is such a high value for me. I love other people's stories. I love reading books and blogs. I really loved being able to share my conference learnings with Chris and Frankie.

On a funny note, if you know them, ask them if they slept well. Even though we had a great time I really love coming back home. Nathan and Matthew wanted me to wake them up when I got home. I tried and tried but they would not budge. It was funny (for me). I can't wait for supper and an evening at home tonight!

Off again

After a great weekend in GA with Liz, speaking at Summit Church yesterday morning and having an exciting Launch Team Meeting last night (where everyone who came to our Vision Casting Gathering came back!) I am off again. It's back to Cumming, GA for the churchplanters.com conference. I'm pumped to have Frankie and Chris going with me. I can't wait to learn!

That's right, it's back: Knight Rider

Can't you hear the music? I just heard I could win Kitt. That would totally rock! I feel like I'm back in middle school.

Post of the week

This week I want to send you to two places. First, you need to check out Jay's post here. I think it is extremely pertinent considering how we are trying to put together a launch team of missional people.

Second, you've got to check out this article from Fox News. Sounds like a sermon that you (or I) might want to do. :)

For Valentine's Day

I haven't posted much this week and I know that all three of you who read this blog are going through withdrawal right now. So to rescue you from DT's I'm posting a Happy Valentine's day post.
In a few minutes I get to go to Nathan's school to help out with his Valentine's party. That should be fun. Matthew and Nathan both made cards for Liz and I, well, Matthew made about 7 cards for Liz and none for me. We all know he loves mom more! Nathan made one for each of us. Liz and I are celebrating this weekend. I get to preach at my friend's church in Cumming, GA. (I'm really excited about the topic. It's something I've never talked on before: Why do bad things happen to good people.) And they are putting me in a hotel. Liz is going to go with me and we get to have some fun, kid-free time. I'm really excited!

I experienced one of the funniest things in a while last night (at least it was funny to me). I went to CVS to get a box of candy for Matthew and Nathan... just one of those small heart shaped boxes of chocolate. The parking lot was packed. All spaced were taken and the store was filled with people... well, not the whole store... just the aisles with the Valentine's day stuff. I almost didn't make it back in time to watch American Idol. I just loved seeing all the procrastinators together in one place.

That's all for now... and it's off to a first grade Valentine party!

The Grammy's

Did anybody else out there watch the Grammy's last night? For the most part, I thought the performances were lousy, but I have to make an exception for Kanye West. I have no idea what Kanye was rapping about, but the visual effects of his show were amazing (except for the part about his mom, which was just sad, and shows he should rap and not sing). I sat mesmerized by all that was happening on the stage and his costume. I went to bed before the show was over so I missed Carie Underwood (which I heard was really good, even though she's country) and some of the other late performances. It seemed like they were trying to hard to make the performances special by putting various artists together. Did anybody see the exploding VW bug? That was really cool. I'd like to see that again. Although I was disappointed, the Grammy's is the only awards show I like because of the music. Now if we could just get some more elevator musical performances....

Update

Last night we had our first Vision Casting Gathering for Hub City Church. It went great. We had 8 new people who were wanting to find out more about what we're doing. After I shared who we're going to be and what we're going to do I left them with a challenge: I want them to hear from God about it and then do what he says. I can't talk people into being on our launch team. Actually, I tried to scare them away. I want God to speak to people and let them know if this is something that he's calling them to do.

I am so proud of our team and the work they did inviting folks and making people feel welcomed. We're going to do it again in a month, unless there's enough interest, and then we'll do it again sooner. Thanks to everyone who prayed for us.

Post of the week

Before I get to this week's Post of the Week (which I know you've been dying for me to send out) I have to say how excited I am about Hub City Church's vision casting gathering on Sunday night. I am pumped about getting to share with people about what God has called us here to do. Maybe you live in the area and are feeling a nudge right now. Come on Sunday and find out more. Click here for information.

Now, without further adieu... I loved Mark's post about what Rick Warren said about commitment. I also think you should check out Craig's posts on Signs of Immaturity here, here, here and here. They are so relevant to guys who are just starting out.

Rehab

I know that you've noticed the mass of celebrities entering rehab lately. Brittany Spears has been in and out for months. So has Lindsey Lohan. Now we've got Delta Burke and Spidey's girl MJ checking themselves in to get some help. Honestly, it seems like every day there are new celebrities checking into rehab.

This really saddens me. I think it should sadden all Christ followers. There's such a lack of hope in each of these stories and I am sure it breaks the heart of the Father.

Aren't Christians supposed to be a voice of hope? I think we should exude such hope that celebrities, neighbors, school-mates, friends, whoever come running to us when they need hope. If people you know need hope, do they know to chase you down?

I know it's a bit cliche but these celebrities need Jesus. Can you imagine what might happen if celebrities started to become followers of Jesus? Can you imagine the impact that could have in the entertainment industry, in the sports world, and all over this playground we call earth?

I don't think any famous, or someday-I'm-gonna-be-famous actors or singers regularly read my blog, but if you do then I just want to say, you have an amazing opportunity to bring the hope of Jesus into the hopeless lives of many of your peers. Don't miss out on that opportunity. Let God use you to be salt and light so that we'll be reading stories about celebs going on mission trips instead of rehab trips.

For the love of Country Music

This is hilarious.

A one sentence disciple

I know that I've blogged a bit about my journey to define what a disciple of Jesus is. This is important because I believe that ultimately God has called us to plant Hub City Church to make disciples. Isn't that the big commission he's given to all of us? But here's my problem. Most people's definitions of what a disciple is are so complex or long or confusing that they aren't helpful. Other people's definitions don't seem to encompass what I observe as I read the Gospels. So I've come up with a simple, one sentence definition of a disciple: Someone who hears from God and then does what he says.

Simple? Yes. Easy? No. This definition is helpful no matter where you are in your relationship with Christ. Jesus said that His sheep will hear his voice. He also said that if we love Him we will do what he says. So there's my two sense. Our discipleship process is going to be teaching people to hear from God and then do what he says.

I'm still thinking through how this works out. Anybody out there have any thoughts they want to add to the discussion? How do you define a disciple?

When to fight

I had lunch today with Kent Smith. Kent is the pastor of River Hills Baptist Church and is one great guy (he even picked up the tab for lunch... all you can eat wings!). He's got a kingdom mindset and a bunch of leadership wisdom that he's willing to pass down... which is good for me because I need as much help as I can get!

He gave an analogy that's worth blogging about (partly for my own processing and partly because it might be helpful to some of my church planting friends). We were talking about vision and being the leader and what issues/decisions are worth fighting about. He said that any decision or idea or opportunity that could change the direction of the ship is worth fighting over. Decisions about how the ship is run or about how to do something on the ship that will still keep it going in the right direction aren't worth fighting over.

As the church planter, I am responsible for the direction of the ship. It's my job to guard and protect the vision. That doesn't mean that I come up with a direction and then take off after it. It does mean that I believe God has revealed a vision about who and what he wants us to be as a church and I am a steward of that vision. Anything that gets us off course, then, is a life or death issue (because obedience is a life or death issue), thus my job is to keep us on course.

So, fight when the direction (vision/revelation) is at stake. But remember, not all battles are direction changing. If you fight over those you become a dictator. It's not your or my job to be a dictator. Leave that to Hugo Chavez. Our job is to protect the vision.

I just had a thought... If we plant a church and it grows big and is the envy of every church planter around, but it's not what God had in mind then I have not been successful. The same could be said of whatever you do with your life. I want to be successful because I was obedient to what God has called me to do. Just a thought.

Anybody out there want to add their thoughts to this discussion? I'd love to hear from you.

Find our more about Hub City Church

Now is the time to find out about Hub City Church. This Sunday, February 10th @ 5:30, we’re going to have an Vision Casting gathering. You can find out about our vision, values, plans, what kind of people we need on our launch team, our favorite colors and all kinds of other really cool stuff.

If you ever wanted to find out about planting a church, what it takes to be on a launch team, or how you can be a part of what God is doing in Spartanburg, then you need to be at this gathering. We’ll have food and child care. We’ll be meeting at 124 Sorrento Dr. in Moore. Click here for directions.

For more information call Jonathan at 313-8173 or e-mail him at hubcitychurch@gmail.com. Please let me know if you’re going to need childcare. I look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

Post of the week

Simplicity. What do you think of when you hear that word? Scott has a great post here on why they value simplicity at his church. I want what we do at Hub City Church to be simple. A couple of great books on this are Simple Church and 7 Practices of Effective Ministry.

7 hours and counting

Why you're needed

Did you know that you really can make a difference? Check out this link. I found out about this from Cliff's blog and it got me thinking about church planting and specifically our church plant. We need to create the kind of environments that result in raving returners. To do that we need people who will take ownership of whatever job they have (in and out of the church) and do their job in such a way as to make people go "Wow!" I think we're going to have to use this video in our core team training.

Ode to Toby

Today is a sad day around the Everette home. We had to put our dog of 11 years to sleep today. Toby had been having some health problems and his kidneys just shut down. Toby will be missed. That's all I feel like writing right now.

Post of the week

While I do encourage you to continue to read Vince's posts on "Waaaaaaa, I'm not getting fed," this week's honor goes to Ben. You can read the post here.

The reason this resonates with me is that in a church plant there is all kinds of stuff that needs to be done and you don't have to be an expert to do it, you just need to step in and be available and just do it. Sometimes the mission is more important that our own personal comfort, wishes or desires.

Great quote

I want to have a church full of two types of people: The lost, and missionaries to the lost. - Vince Antonoucci.

Me too.

A new first

Unless you've been living in la-la land you know it's election season. Since the Republican primary was last Saturday we no longer have to suffer through McCain, Huckabee, Ron Paul or Fred. Now we just have to suffer through the Hillary/Obama/Edwards pleas for a few more days. Well, today there was a message on my home phone from some anti-Hillary folks. It was brutal. It lasted almost four minutes and just berated Hillary over and over and over again. I received phone calls last week asking me to vote for Huckabee and McCain, but they were pretty civil. They didn't bash each other. But today's message was one of the most degrading things I've ever heard. The guy on the message did all but call Hillary every cuss word in the book. In the words of the troubled Rodney King, "Why can't we all just get along?" Why do people have to be such jerks?

The problem is that we as Christians do the same thing towards each other. What happened to "they will know that you are my disciples if you have love one for another?" It's no wonder people don't want to become Christians. Add to that the fact that all of the candidates say they are Christians. We've got to do a better job at representing Jesus.

Discipling your kids

Whenever the topic of discipling your own children comes up people seem to always have some kind of extreme reaction. Some people break out in hives because they are scared to death. Some people could care less so they don't do anything. Some people plan out an entire detailed worship service (and their kids are scared to death).

A passion of mine is my kids becoming disciples of Jesus. Beyond being commanded to do this in Scripture, for me, it's personal. I want my children to be life long Jesus followers. So for some reason I feel the need to share some thoughts about the subject and some of what Liz and I do.

First, discipleship is more caught than taught. I do believe that we need to be intentional about discipling our kids, but if we, as parents, are growing as followers of Jesus then three hours of family devotion on Saturday are going to have much effect.

Second, I don't think things have to be elaborate. I think discipleship flows out of us knowing and doing God's word. We need to know what Scripture says and then we need to do it. It's both/and not either/or. There doesn't have to be a craft involved, unless you like crafts and are artistically gifted (that's just not me). It doesn't have to take an hour (we usually spend 5-10 minutes a night doing what we do).

With that in mind here's what we're doing this year. We got our kids Bibles for Christmas. It's not like they didn't have a kids Bible. I'm a pastor for crying out loud. I've got more Bibles than half of the Chinese Christian population. But even though my kids have Bibles and devotion books galore we know that there's something special about getting something new. So we got them new Bibles. We got Nathan The One Year Children's Bible. It has a reading for each day of the year and over the course of the year Nathan will get an overview of all of Scripture. That's pretty cool. He's a great reader so it's right on his level. He enjoys reading each day's section and he feels like he's fitting in with mom and dad who are reading through the Chronological Bible this year.

The reason this is so important to us is that we believe that the best habit our kids can develop is the daily habit of spending time with God.

For Matthew we got My First Message. It has 50 stories from Scripture. It is well illustrated. The cool thing is that it is interactive. There are questions, prayers, projects to do and a little grasshopper-type guy that you can search for in the pictures (aka: where's waldo). He's loving it. He asks for it most nights. Actually, he's adamant that we read most nights, even when his parents are tired and just want to put the boys to bed!

This is what we're doing now. We're not experts. I don't think I could write a book on the subject, but we're trying to grow a love for and knowledge of Scripture in our kids. And I only share this to encourage other parents to "man up" and help their kids develop the habit of spending time with God and a love of his Word.

Anybody out there have any other ideas they want to contribute to the discussion?

No more gym for me

After reading this article I think I'm going to cancel my YMCA membership and use that money for other things. That's about as manly as not eating red meat!

Posts of the week

Once again this week's honor of "posts of the week" go to Vince. He began a series of posts this week entitled "Waaaaaa, I'm not getting fed." You can find the posts here. They are worth your time.

I've been saying for a long time that it's not the church's responsibility to keep feeding people. Of course we need to feed baby Christians, but we need to also teach them to feed themselves. That's the only way they'll grow up. Maturing Christians need to be feeding themselves and others, but as Vince says, we're lazy. We'd rather have some pastor's chewed up, half digested burger than dig into Scripture ourselves and let God speak directly to us. Too often we're "sermon connoisseurs," instead of Scripture connoisseurs.

I'm always thinking about what a disciple of Jesus looks like in today's world. This week I've keep coming back to the fact that it's someone who spends time in God's word and then aligns their life according to it.

Snow Day!

Let the fast begin!

OK, maybe that title is a bit too excited sounding. To be honest, I have trouble with fasting. I'm all spiritual and gung ho in the days leading up to the fast, but then on the day when it's supposed to begin I start coming up with excuses about why I should bail. Why do I tell you this? Well, our launch team is going to be fasting from food and media from 6 PM today (Wednesday, January 16) to 6 PM tomorrow. I know that in all probability, they are also a bit apprehensive. But we're going to do it anyway. Why? Because we know that planting Hub City Church is something that is bigger than us. It's a God-sized endeavor and we want to be in tune with what God is doing. We also have some real needs that we are asking God to provide. Does God have to provide? No, but in Hebrews 11:6 says that "God rewards those who honestly seek him." We are seeking God. Jesus says "You don't have because you don't ask," so we're asking. Feel free to join us. Also, feel free to leave comments about what God is saying to you. But don't comment on this blog. Comment here. I'd love for this blog to be a conversation. Right now it's a monologue. Leave a comment to let others know how things are going.