Where has the summer gone?

The summer is half way done, where did it go? We've all been scattered to the winds, vacations, camps, get-aways, work, etc...but now what? We're not done yet but we have to continue to look towards the fall. What does God have for us at J6, at CrossRoads, and in The HUB? What is your vision? I think we all agree we want to continue to grow, continue to reach people but what does that look like? What does it mean to have a missional mindset and for J6 to reach people? That's on all of us to make it happen.

Focal Point

The following is an excerpt from a book called "Missional Renaissance" by Reggie McNeal:

"I travel by plane almost every week. This means I get to visit a lot of airports. On a fairly routine basis, airports get confused about what they're there for-and for whom. They think that if a bunch of planes are on the ground, close to the hub, and the concourse is full, they are winning. Of course, when his happens, it means a bunch of people aren't getting where they want to go. They're stuck at the airport, like flies on flypaper."

This is the same idea for the church, or in our case The HUB. This is exactly where the idea for The HUB came from, an airport. It's awesome having The HUB and we're grateful for it but it can't be our destination but just a connecting place. The vision is for The HUB to be just that, a hub...come, connect, and GO into the world.

The Importance of Being Real

We just did a series entitled SHOUT on Wednesday nights and it's all about sharing your faith, the essence of what we're all about. Many times during teachings, we use stories or examples of different things to reference what we're trying to get across but this time, we just laid it on the line. We confessed shortcomings and hypocrisies when it comes to sharing our faith with those around us. In short, shared our faith. Since then, I had a young lady approach me saying she didn't want to be a hypocrite any more. As we got to talking about that and what brought her to that point she begin to share how she felt alone in this and that she was the only one having struggles. When she realized there were others that felt the way she did, she became able to share that and overcome. Had we given any other story that night or any other example, she may have not realized the importance of God's grace and love. When we fall, we must confess and make things right. When we hurt others, we must ask their forgiveness. In our shortcomings, God is glorified by His amazing grace, but we must realize that it is all about Him and nothing about us...and then live that out.

Another Summer is Upon Us

Here we are at the end of another school year, heading into another busy summer schedule with J6. It would be very easy to look at our summer schedule and think it's all about fun but that wouldn't be true. We have a lot of fun stuff but even in the fun times, we must seek the "God moments." Always seek the "everything's spiritual" in all we do. We have many great events for digging into the word of God but those don't have to be the only times we grow spiritually.

Commissioned

The elder stands in the front of the room. The single candle he holds in his hand is the only light in the room. He speaks words of wisdom over all those present. He calls forth to the leader to come stand before him, places his hand upon the leaders shoulders, and begins to speak. He prays over him and lights the candle in the leader's hands speaking great words of power and authority in the Holy Spirit. Upon amen, that leader turns and calls those that serve along with him. They come and stand before him. Ten in all, warriors in their own right, stand in a straight line. Shoulder to shoulder with one another they stand, their own candles in hand. The leader goes down the line, lighting each one of their candles and then has the ten turn to face the room. He then prays over them a similar prayer the elder prayed over him and announces them to go carry their lights around the room. As the ten move to their places in the room, the leader announces for any who wish to stand with them, take their candle and join the leader of their tribe. Young men and women stand all over the room, take up candles of their own and seek out their tribal leader. Candles were now being lit all over the room as leaders prayed over their group members. As prayers finished, the group came back together. The leader spoke again.

"You receive these commission, this charge, because we believe you are ready. We don't believe you are perfect or that you will not mess up, but we believe that you will pursue love."

The elder stood once more praying for the entire group and on amen, they all blew out their candles.

If you think this story is cool, you should have been there when it happened at our Wednesday Night Happening.

Lead by Example

1 Corinthians 11:1 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible if not my favorite. It simply states,

“Follow my example, as I follow the example of Christ.”

Quite possibly the boldest statement a leader could make, follow me, no matter what. This verse, however, calls a couple of things to my attention.

One, it calls accountability into play. By making a statement like this, it puts you in the spotlight. Everyone will be watching you to see how you respond in all sorts of situations. Knowing the eyes of so many will be on you, you will be more likely to think harder about what you’re doing and how you go about doing it.

Secondly, you have to chase after Christ. If you claim you’re going to live in the example of Christ, you need to know what that is. You can’t follow an example if you don’t have that example in front of you to follow. No one is asking for perfection, not even Christ, but He is asking you, and me, to chase after Him with all we’ve got.

As a member of the J6 Leadership team, you can’t expect anyone you lead to do anything you’re not willing to do. That includes bring your bible, read your bible, or pay attention during teaching times for just a few small examples for Wednesday nights. There are so many more things you need to lead by example every other day of the week. How you treat people, what you do with your time, energy, and money, and what you do with your alone time.

The challenge is for you to realize how many eyes are on you and think about what direction you are leading those people to. Are you leading towards Christ, or away?

In Who's Name?

We've all heard stories of knights riding across the country side "in the name of the king." When those knight's came in the king's name, they not only came representing the king but with all of the authority the king has. Our King, Christ, the King of kings, has all authority and with His name that we carry, we carry his authority. If we decide to come in the name of J6, CrossRoads, christians, or [your name here] we come with all the authority those names have, which is none! We must decide who we represent and make our stand.