P.U.R.P.O.S.E. Prayer Guide

PREPARATION

"The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective." James 5:16 (NIV)

"Whenever God determines to do a great work, he first sets his people to pray."
C.H. Spurgeon

God, who enlightens our hearts and minds, we pray ...

• For the preparation of each person's heart and for what you desire to do in each life during the Life’s a Journey campaign.
• For the spiritual preparation of our pastors and leaders; for their times of prayer and solitude with you.
• That the quietness of each person before you would be the most important time of preparation for the campaign.
• That you will provide the energy, time, and endurance for all tasks to be done in preparation for the campaign.
• That the campaign work done in Jesus’ name will be a defining moment in the journey of our church.
• For a spiritual awakening in our church during and after the campaign.

Amazed

I just wanted to say that I am amazed at how Hub City Slickers signed up to pray for each other, the church, the community and the world.

It's an honor to be your pastor. I can't wait to see what God is going to do over the next couple of months in all of us.

What's a campaign?

I bet that the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word campaign is politics. And for most of you, that's not a positive thing.

Well, we're about to change that.

On September 19th, we're starting the Life's a Journey campaign at Hub City Church. It has nothing to do with politics. It has everything to do with God growing you spiritually and transforming Spartanburg and the world.

So, what is a campaign all about?

Well, it's a combination of things. Through a combination of Sunday worship services, individual devotional readings, Bible verse memorization, daily emails of encouragement, small group discussion and weekly commitments, we're going to create a context for God to grow you spiritually and use you to transform the world.

Life's a Journey is MORE than a sermon series. I can't emphasize that enough. That's only one part. This campaign is about developing new habits of time alone with God, prayer and scripture memory. It's about discovering the answer to life's greatest question: Why on earth am I here? It's about reaching out to our lost, unbelieving, and hurting friends with the hope that their life has purpose and meaning. The Sunday sermons are just the icing on the cake.

So here's what you need to do. First, you need to pray. There's a post coming later that talks about that. Second, you need to purchase The Purpose Driven Life. We have copies for $7. If that's too much then just pay what you can. You can pre-order this week. Third, you need to make the commitment to be not miss anything during the seven weeks of the campaign. And fourth, you need to invite people to come.

I believe that this campaign will be the most powerful and transformational thing we have ever done as a church. I have great expectations that God is going to show up and overwhelm us.

I can't wait to start this journey with you!

The opportunity of a lifetime

I want you to do something. It's the opportunity of a lifetime. I want to invite you to join with me on a prayer journey. I want to invite you to be a part of a prayer team for Hub City. Try it out for 2 months, now through the end of October. We're going to use the Life's a Journey Campaign as a guide for our prayers.

Beginning next week I'll be posting a prayer guide for you to use. If you're a part of Hub City you can pick up the guide on Sunday or email me and I'll send you an electronic copy.

But don't wait till then to start praying. Start today. Start now. Stop whatever you're doing and use the following as a guide.

As we look forward to the Life’s a Journey campaign, what are some of the "doors" in your life that need to be opened that you could pray for?

• The "door of time" opening in your schedule to participate more fully in the campaign.
• The "door of courage" opening for you to invite a family member, Christian friend, or non-Christian neighbor to a weekend service or to your small group.
• The "door of trust" opening for you to take a step of faith and host a group.
• The "door of your heart" opening for you to become passionate about prayer.
• The "door of humble servanthood" opening for you to be more available to God during this important time
• Other?

In Colossians 4:5, Paul admonishes us to "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity." The word opportunity that Paul uses at the end of that verse comes to us from the word cairos. The Greeks used cairos to describe a decisive moment, a crisis, or a crossroad. It's what we would call a defining moment. Is God wanting you to prepare, through prayer, for a defining moment in your life?

In addition, could it be that all around you, there are people who, for whatever reason, are now open to learning spiritual truths? The Life’s a Journey campaign could be a defining moment in their personal journey. As Paul encourages us, please make the most of this defining moment with them. Pray more than you ever have before. Be spiritually sensitive and ask God to open doors today.

Life's a journey commercial

Upcoming Hub City stuff

I’ve got to say, I am more excited about being a part of Hub City Church than I have ever been. God is doing some incredible things in many of your lives. I think this is just the beginning. In light of that, I have a lot to tell you about.

An Opportunity: Charles Spurgeon once said, Whenever God determines to do a great work, he first sets his people to pray. I am convinced that God wants to do a great work in and through us. And in light of that I believe that he’s calling us to pray. There is an opportunity for you to be on the Hub City Prayer team. It’ll be a 2 month commitment. Bryan Scott and Josh Rogers are leading up this prayer team. We’re providing prayer guides so that you’ll know what to pray. All you need to do is sign up. Don’t miss out on this opportunity. It will change your life. It’s already changing mine. Email Bryan or Josh at lifesajourney2010@live.com.

Upcoming important dates and events:

September 5 and 12: Don’t waste your life. This series is the precursor to our Life’s a Journey Campaign.

September 13: Prayer service and kickoff for 24 hours of prayer and fasting.

• On Monday, September 13, we’ll have a Prayer Service from 7-8 to kick off a 24 hour period of prayer and fasting for the Life’s a Journey Campaign.
• The prayer service will be held at the offices of All Saints Church, 401 Kennedy St., Spartanburg.
• Sign up for a specific hour of focused prayer. You can sign up this Sunday for a time slot (we’ll provide a prayer guide to help direct/guide your praying).
• Fast and pray from 7 PM Monday, September 13 till 7 PM Tuesday, September 14.

September 19: Hub City Church turns 2!!!

• We’re kicking off the Life’s a Journey Campaign (Campaign: It’s more than a Sunday teaching series. It’ll include Sunday teaching, a daily reading from The Purpose Driven Life, memorizing a scripture a week, Hub Group discussion, and a daily email encouragement.)
• Birthday party and baptism at Twin Lakes Clubhouse after the Worship Gathering.
• Start reading The Purpose Driven Life (you can pick up your copy this Sunday for $7.)

Letting go

I read this on Mark Batterson's blog today. It's a quote from Gary Haugen, president of the International Justice Mission:

Gary said we all want adventure, faith, miracles, and a deep knowledge of Christ, but you can't have those things without letting go of safety, security, comfort, and control." You have to choose between safety and bravery. The bottom line is this: God's will in a fallen world is dangerous.

What on earth am I here for?

All of us are dying to know the answer to that question.

It would be tragic to get to the end of your life and find out you've missed out on why you're here.

Your life doesn't need to have that kind of a tragic end. You can discover the purpose of your life's journey.

That's why we're starting Life's a Journey on Sept. 19. Through the worship gathering, small group discussions and daily readings we're going to find out how to make our journey count.

You need to invite some people to be a part of this experience. Ask them to commit to seven weeks. They won't regret it. Neither will you.

How to forgive as the Lord forgave you

Yesterday at Hub City Church I challenged people to memorize Colossians 3:13. It says, Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.

I came across this from Ed Young and I thought it might help you put that verse into practice. It really answer the "how" question: How do I forgive as the Lord forgave me?

Number one, we need to consider the cross. I mean, as a believer, all I have to do, all you have to do, is consider the cross. Consider what Jesus Christ has done on the cross for us. Consider the preemptive forgiveness that he did before we even asked for it. And that should motivate us to do the work. All of us are sinners.

I’m a sinner. So are you. We’re in this together. That’s why [Hub City Church] is a place for those who don’t have it together yet. That’s why we say no perfect people allowed. That’s what we’re for. We’re a hospital for sinners. I’m a sinner. So are you. And the cross reminds of the price that was paid for our sins. So just consider the cross.

Here’s a second thing: Realize that resentment does not work. It will not get you where you want to go. You will not get back at the person. Think about this. The person who hurt you probably doesn’t even realize they’ve hurt you. And even if they know they’ve hurt you, they’re out having a good time and doing this or that while we are in the corner licking our wounds, while we’re saying to ourselves, “Oh, I can’t believe they hurt me. I’m just all leashed up to them.” Just release them. Forgive them. Say, “God, you take care of them. I can’t get them back, God. I know you’re going to take care of it; you’re a better judge than I am.” Just remember that resentment does not work.

The third reason that we should be motivated to do this work is because all of us will need a giant monster infusion of forgiveness in the future. I know I’m going to sin in the future and so do you. Hopefully, I will not sin as much in the future as I have in the past, but I’m going to sin. I need forgiveness. I need grace. I need mercy. You do, too. And because of that, I should release you. I should forgive you. I should do the forgiveness work in my marriage, with parenting, in my [job], with friends. Whatever it may be, I’ve got to live a life of that.

Because the moment I live that kind of life, what’s gonna happen? I’ll discover that unleashing unforgiveness is unbelievable.

Communication

One of the people that Liz works with made this statement: Communication is a chronic problem in organizations.

That is so true. I know I need to improve my communication skills. That's where you come in. If you could give me one or two pieces of advice about how I can work on communication I would love to hear it. Thanks.

Catalyst East 2008: Jim Collins Interview

Listen for the profound statement that Jim (guy in the tie) says we each need to articulate. That's good. I'm going to use that.

What God's been saying to me lately

I asked myself a question the other day: What's God been speaking to me about lately? The answer I got was extremely clear and a bit upsetting to me.

Here's what God said: You are more concerned about making yourself look good than making Me look good. You're more concerned with your own reputation than Jesus' reputation. You're more interested in making your name known than I am at making Jesus' name known.

Ouch.

Here's the honest-to-God-truth. I don't want to be like that. I'm not intentionally stealing glory away from God. None of that stuff is the desire of my heart. I had no idea that I was stealing glory away from God.

I didn't know it was there, but God did. And I guess he decided that now was the time to make me aware of this dark side.

So, in light of what God's been saying to me I'm doing a couple of things. First, I'm reminding myself often that it's not about me. I'm saying that in my prayers. I'm intentionally bringing that thought to mind. Second, I'm asking you to pray for me. I want my life to be for God's glory, not Jonathan's glory. I want everything I do to point to, shine the light on and bring glory to Jesus, not Jonathan.

Now let me ask you: What's God been speaking to you about lately? Are you listening? What are you going to do about it?

Barriers to forgiveness

There are a lot of barriers that keep us from forgiving others. The following is a portion of a sermon from Ed Young where he talks about barriers to forgiveness. I just copied and pasted his sermon, so I want to make sure I give him credit (actually, a lot of what we're talking about in our series I learned from him). As you read ask yourself: What barriers are keeping me from forgiving those who have hurt me? Here are a few.

THE SELF-DECEPTION BARRIER

One is the self-deception barrier. We rationalize. We tell ourselves rational lies. We just say, “You know, what I did to that person is no big deal. Man, they totally overreacted. They’re an emotional basket case, anyway. It wasn’t that big of a deal. It was a long time ago.” Or we say, “What my mother did to me...? Yes, she was an alcoholic, but it didn’t really affect me, you know. I’ve just brushed that under the rug. I’ve swept it under the rug. It doesn’t affect me. Yeah, what that coach, what that teacher said to me during my childhood and stuff...? The stuff that happened doesn’t really affect me today. I mean, I’m telling you it doesn’t. Everything’s fine in my life. I’m fine.” Be very careful. That’s a barrier.

THE SELF-DEFENSE BARRIER

Another barrier is the self-defense barrier. And that’s the one that we love. That’s probably our favorite one. We say, “I’m going to get you back. You messed me around. You hurt me. I’m going to get you back.”

I lived like that, as I told you, for like 24 months. I thought, “I’m going to get this guy back. I’m going to make him pay. I’m going to show him. Revenge. I’m going to do it. I’m going to take care of it.”

Have you ever stopped to realize this? Forgiveness is a great act of faith, because what we’re doing when we say, “Debt canceled. I forgive you. I release you..” What we’re doing is we’re saying, “God, you are the ultimate judge. God, I give the situation to you. You are going to take care of this person better than I can. God, I trust you.”

That’s why Romans 12:19 says, “Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord.”

Yeah, but they started it. It was their deal. I know that. But our calling is to release them. Debt canceled. God will take care of them.

THE SELF-IMAGE BARRIER

There’s another barrier—the self-image barrier. We say, “Hey, if you think I’m going to admit that I was wrong or I’m going to admit that they messed me around you’re wrong. I mean I’m up here and I’d have to lower myself. They might think less of me and they might think this or that about me.”

Hey, let me tell you something. We are at our strongest when we admit the obvious to God and to others. We are in a great position of strength and influence when we say, “Debt canceled. I forgive.”

THE SELF-PROTECTION BARRIER

There’s another barrier—the self-protection barrier. “I’m just going to protect myself,” you’re saying to yourself right now. And a lot of you are breaking out into a cold sweat just thinking about having to do the forgiveness work that needs to be done. You get nervous thinking about sitting across the table from someone who’s harmed you or maybe you’ve harmed them or sitting in someone’s family room and saying, “I was wrong. Will you forgive me?” Talking to a spouse or a child or anyone else just messes with your mind. Don’t let it be so.

The Real "F" Word

Yesterday we started a new series called The Real "F" Word. It's about forgiveness. You can listen to the sermon online here. But there's only so much I can say in a 25 minute sermon. So over the next few weeks I'll be adding some content here that might be helpful to you.

First and foremost, you need to dive back into the Bible. Let God speak to you through his word. Let him transform you through his word.

Yesterday we looked at Matthew 18:15-35. That's a great place for you to start. Meditate on the story that Jesus told.

I'll be posting some other info later on, but start with the Bible. Forgive as you have been forgiven. Let God set you free.

I want this for Christmas

Reproduce

Somebody asked me a great question today. Let me give you some background.

The mission of Hub City Church is to make disciples who make disciples. We call someone who makes disciples a parent because they are reproducing themselves.

So the question was: What am I supposed to reproduce?

Here's what I think. Tell me what you think.

You want to reproduce someone who hears from God and does what he says. Teach people to hear from God. Find out what God is saying to them. Then keep them accountable with being obedient.

Your boss needs you to...

I'm posting this as a reminder. I'm sure some of you need this info. I know I need to remember this. I got it from Tim Steven's blog today:

I don’t care if you work for a church, a business, or a factory. I guarantee you, your boss needs you to be… A Momentum-Increaser — don’t make your boss be the only one pulling up the attitude and bringing energy to the workplace. A Values-Champion — No one should live out the values of the organization more than you do. A Silo-Destroyer — sniff out and destroy the silos that exist in departments throughout the organization. Make sure everyone is more committed to the macro vision than their micro project. A Straight-Talker — don’t engage in triangle conversations or put-downs of your team or leaders. A Generous-Giver — okay, this one is specific to working at a church, but I would never work for a church where I didn’t believe in it enough to give as much as I possibly could. An Innovative-Thinker — be solution-oriented. Don’t just come to your boss with problems, but also solutions. Your attitude should be, “Economy tough? Less staff? Lower budget? No problem, we’ll figure out a way to get through this!” A Loyal-Friend — you don’t have to hang out together, but he needs to know you are “for” him. If put in a corner, your boss knows you would defend her. A Back-Protector — always believe the best. Always. An Integrity-Keeper — you are who you are when no one is looking. Your boss needs you to have great character. An Unbelievable-Spouse and Effective Parent — the strength of your leadership and effectiveness comes from your leadership at home. A Lifelong Learner — read books, study other best practices, learn, learn, learn–then come back and apply it to your organization. An Equipping-Leader…not a Satisfied-Doer — You should be building teams and reproducing teams. Take delight in the success of your team more than your own success! What else would you add to this list? Which one is most difficult for you?

Hump day challenge

What something that God’s been saying to you lately? This morning I felt a strong need to increase my intake of Scripture. I know you’ve heard me say this before, but the best habit you can develop is that of reading your Bible on a regular basis. How’s that going for you? How could you increase your intake of Scripture? What would you need to do to incorporate and/or increase this spiritual discipline in your life? Just a little challenge for this morning.

Thoughts from DC

My family just got back from a little trip to our nation's capital. I've got to say, I am super-impressed with Washington DC. It was a fun city to hang out in for a couple of days.

One of the big thoughts that kept running through my mind while walking around DC was the amount of power that exists in those few square miles. It's really unbelievable. Kind of makes you understand how politicians can get sucked into the system.

My favorite part of the trip, however, had little to do with landmarks and sight-seeing. By far, my favorite thing was eating. Man, did we ever have some incredible food: Thai, Greek, Ethiopian, and a hole-in-the-wall bagel shop which we frequented every morning for breakfast. So many restaurants, so little time.

I can't wait to go back again. If you haven't been, or haven't been in a while, you need to put a trip on your calendar. Almost everything you can visit is free. There's good public transportation. And there are lots of great places to eat.

The real "F" word

This Sunday is the last week of our God in the Top 40 series. Hip-hop is on the agenda.

But I'm super excited about our next series called: The real "F" word. It's on forgiveness. I think there is going to be some radical life change that happens. I can't wait.