Saturday Night Thoughts

With HBC Saturday Night now 5 months old, we are asked frequently how do we think things are going and progressing.    In case you don't know...here is some quick history:

• HBC made the decision to launch a new service with the idea of reaching people who do not attend church regularly and to minister to people who think church isn't relevant.  
• We assembled a launch team and made preparations for over a year (research, meetings, advertising, etc...).  
• We launched this new service on September 10, 2011. 

Did we have our ups and down in the preparation?  Absolutely...but we assembled a strong team of volunteers, worship band members, children's workers and many others who made commitments to help begin this new service.

Has this been successful?  Well...

• 18 people have made first time decisions for Christ  
• 12 people have been baptized in our Sat Night service
• Many people have taken HL101 & HL201 (our assimilation process)
• Many people are now involved in Connection Groups
• New people are discovering their gifts and are now using them in ministry

Are we perfect?  No!  Do we have a long way to go?  Yes!  But we are seeing fruit and seeing people experience new life.  Our prayer is that we would witness this happen over and over again and see more people in our community find a home at HBC!

Finish

That's right, I am finishing up my final 2 classes at Southwestern Baptist Seminary to complete the MDiv program.  Looking at the syllabus and emailing back and forth with the professors have reminded me why I have "put-off" finishing the degree since 2008.  Why have I put these classes off?  First, I could only take these classes online since moving Michigan and one class in particular (Baptist Heritage) hasn't been offered since 2008, and the second reason is because I haven't been motivated to finish the degree (yes, I admit that I have been lazy).  Although, I expect the next few months to be challenging, I am excited to begin, excited to learn, and excited to finish the degree.

Here is my challenge:  Regardless of any decision that we are "putting-off" in our lives (relational, financial, losing weight, completing a major project, etc...), I encourage each of us to finish strong and complete what we have started out to do.  There is joy to be found and I think we will simply just feel better about ourselves.

Top 5 Books of 2011

On a regular basis, someone will ask me what books I am reading or have currently read.  I try to tweet each book, although tweeting is still a work in progress for me.  So I figured that I would answer these questions here in my blog.  I read many great books in 2011 but here is my list of the top 5 books from last year:

1.  Great By Choice (Jim Collins) - I have read every book that Jim and his research team has put out in the last 10 years and I thoroughly enjoy each and every one.  Great By Choice is an incredible book on leadership and I am looking forward to implementing these principles in my ministry both now and in the future.

2.  Emotionally Healthy Spirituality (Peter Scazzero) - Right time and right place.  This book greatly encouraged me in a time of great spiritual need in my life.

3.  Onward (Howard Schultz) - I read this book on my summer vacation.  You just can't go wrong with a leadership book by the founder of Starbucks.  Before you read Onward, I would encourage you to first read, Pour Your Heart Into It. That would give you a good base line for Onward.

4.  The Principle of the Path (Andy Stanley) - This book was packed full of great reminders.  I encourage everyone under the age of 25 to read this book now.

5.  Deep Church (Jim Belcher) - I am thankful for the approach that Belcher took in writing this book.  It cleared up some confusion and encouraged me to strive for balance.

How about you?  What are your top 5 books of 2011?

Journey Through Philippians

At HBC Saturday Night (if you still haven't checked it out...you need to), we started a new series last weekend on the book of Philippians. I try not to get too excited about the next series until I am finished with the current series so I remain focused and centered on the sermon series at hand. Don't get me wrong, I loved teaching on the attributes of God and we saw much fruit from it, but there is just something special about the book of Philippians.

If you missed last week check out the sermon here: 11-05-2011 - Jared Moore

Hopefully you will see what I mean when I say that there is something special about this book written by Paul 2000 years ago that has enormous relevance to our lives today.

Book of the Month

Since I get asked by people what books I am currently reading, I have decided that each month, I will show you a book I have read or am reading for the month.

So the book for month that I would encourage you to read is: 'Sun Stand Still' by Steven Furtick. This book has encouraged and challenged me more than any other book I have read in the last year. As I finish the last few chapters, I have been challenged to pray a 'high-risk' prayer and live a life of faith believing that God wants to accomplish the extraordinary in my life/ministry.

As we embark on HBC Saturday Night, I'm believing God will do the extraordinary in our ministry!!

Video Blog - June 13

Video Blog (June 13, 2011) from thegatheringgr on Vimeo.

Mission Trip Preparation

Don't get me wrong, I am very excited for our upcoming mission trip to Haiti (we leave in 2 days). When I mention to some of my pastor friends that I am taking 23 college/young adults with me and for 15 of them this is their first time on a cross-cultural mission trip, they look at me with that look which says that I am crazy without actually telling me that I am crazy. Normally, I wouldn't take this many, but we have a great group of young adutls going and I am confident they will do just fine. I have learned a lot over the last few months so I thought I would share a few pointers for the brave few, and I mean few, who wish to maybe one day plan a mission trip for their group.

1. Plan Enough In Advance - If you know me, you know that I am a planner and try to be well-organized. I would encourage you to begin the initial planning one year out. Time always moves faster than you think and I refuse to allow things to sneak up on me. Things always change when working with missionaries on a foreign country so being well prepared makes these changes a bit easier. This is also helpful in raising funds, we needed to raise $35,000 for our trip and all of our money has come in.

2. Use a Travel Agent - Takes all the headache away in using a quality travel agent. You will pay a fraction more for using an agent but it is a small cost for not having to worry about dealing with the airlines. As a leader of a group, the last thing you want to do is make sure you get enough seats on the plan and have every ones names spelled correctly.

3. Have Enough Team Meetings - We had 1 meeting each month (6 months out). We gave each team member enough information and made sure that each member knew exactly what is expected of them. Even though we had several meetings, I still get questions. I simply refer them to the handouts and tell them to read and memorize the booklets.

4. Pray - This should go without saying, but already we have seen God work in our group in numerous ways. God has proven himself faithful and we are already experiencing the fruit of our labors. Our prayer is that the gospel will be made known through us and God will receive the glory that He deserves!