Leading up to it’s opening, the local newspaper, Centre View Northern Edition, published an article, raving about the facility and the community driving it. Here’s a sample:

Click on the picture to read it in full size.

To see the rest of the article, you’ll need to download the entire newsletter, which you can do by clicking here: Center View Northern Edition, Jan 12-18th.

This is your chance to make sure this blog is worth reading. Let us know!

Varsity Christian Church in Chapel Hill, NC is less than a year old and doing great things in a college town. Check out this 3-min video and see what they are doing for the Kingdom!

The excitement and enthusiasm at Discovery is evident and contagious. People all throughout the Bristol community are hearing about this new church that meets at the YMCA! Just this past week we gave out over 300 cups of hot chocolate and shared the love of Jesus with every cup at our city Christmas parade. Families are growing together, marriages are mending, and lives are changing because of the power of the Gospel. One thing is certain, God want’s this church here in Bristol. So, we think we will keep doing this for awhile!

Yesterday, I had an “encounter” after services in the line where I shake hands after the Grace Church worship service. A well-dressed man came up to me after church, shook my hand, and immediately started a conversation about prophecy.

I listened initially, but within a couple of minutes he had quoted one passage he feels is related to the founding of Israel in 1948 and another about Israel occupying Jerusalem in 1967. “Why don’t churches talk more about prophecy?” he asked.

At that point, I could have redirected our conversation and tried to persuade him that we believe in biblical prophecy and will teach on it another time (both of which are true). Or, since he approvingly referenced both Jack Van Impe and John Hagee, I could have found some ways of positively connecting with each of these men.

In most cases, I’ve decided that “this is not the church for you” is actually the right response for “issue Christians” who are visiting the church.

Honestly, if this person were unchurched and told me they thought highly of Deepak Chopra and Wayne Dyer, I would have sought a point of contact and encouraged further discussion. I probably would have tried to get together– if they were open– to see what the Bible says about the kinds of things that Wayne Dyer talks about. I would have used the bridge to talk about Jesus.

However, in this case, I simply said something like, “We are not one of those churches that you would think talks about prophecy enough– this would not be the right church for you, but I do hope your search for a church home goes well.”

You see, I don’t spend a lot of time with “issue Christians.”

It’s not just the issue of prophecy either. I’ve had similar conversations with “issue Calvinists,” “issue political Christians,” “issue charismatics,” “issue homeschoolers,” and many others. These are often good people and those are important issues, but when these are the primary defining issues in the first (and every other) conversation, the correct response is help them move on and do so quickly.

Here are four reasons why I have no difficulty helping “issue Christians” to move on:

1. Some “issue Christians” get stuck on specific ideas–you don’t have time to persuade them.It is simply not a good use of your time and energy to debate with “issue Christians.” Instead, reach your community, pastor your people, and get on mission. Focus on reaching the unreached, not debating church members about eschatology or pneumatology. If they know Christ, but are stuck on an issue, they will be just fine without you. Generally, you can’t “fix” them anyway and they will (eventually) come out of it on their own.

2. Some “issue Christians” have divisive views–you don’t need them to fit in at your church’s expense.

You can disagree in our church (to a reasonable degree) and still be a part–I’ve pastored cessationists, charismatics, Calvinists, and Arminians all in the same church. The issues are not the issue, it is that this person wants to make them an issue. Simply, “issue Christians” generally do not fit in well in a mission-focused congregation. They don’t want to.

3. Some “issue Christians” drift from church to church looking for willing ears–you do not need to let that in your church.

“Issue Christians” love to debate and display their knowledge. It is not good stewardship of your time to have these debates and you are not being a good steward of your church to let them loose inside.

4. Some “issue Christians” will talk forever if you do not cut them off–you will probably offended them less than you think.

For many, listening for hours is the Christian thing to do. Many pastors listen, set up appointments, then seek to reason and redirect the confused. That’s not a good plan if it is obvious that this person has dwelt in and studied on an issue.

My experience is that people like this get “cut off” all the time. So, I say, “Thanks Joe, but that’s not what we are passionate about here–I do encourage you to find a church that is passionate about what your issues.” Surprisingly, that does not generally offend–people like that have been cut off many times before this time.

So, let me encourage you to thank “issue Christians” for their passion and time, and encourage them to find a church home that fits their values. Of course, I should say, this is different if someone comes to me confused on an issue. In that case, we can counsel and provide more information.

In conclusion, we should always provide guidance, but we should not always provide a platform. “Issue Christians” want a platform with you and your church because they are passionate about an issue–don’t let that distract you or your church from being and doing all that God has in store. Move on… and move them on.

So ladies and gentlemen, we are two weeks in to public services and I wanted to give a little update on where we are at the moment.

Last week we opened, it was a wonderful opening. We had 166 people come out and for me, I felt like it could not have gone better. Our kids stuff was wonderful from check-in to the kids band downstairs, our guest services folks were totally on top of things with greeting people and handing out bulletins to everyone who came, and our band was as good of a band as you will find anywhere, and I am talking a church, a coffee-house, a bar or a reality show competition. They were just stellar. My sermon was just a vision casting sermon that kicked off our 1st ever series, Handbook to a Revolution and it went well enough I suppose.

Week 2 was similar. Lots of new people, lots of new stories. We actually were hit with the challenge of having several of our core group out-of-town and we spent a week restaffing kids stuff, set up and tear down among other things. This caused some very new people to step into some new roles and find out that they really are capable of huge things if given the chance. With new people we actually ended up being done with set-up 25 minutes sooner than we have ever, and it was all due to new people who have never really had a church home but know that this is a place where they are honored, loved and cherished.

We got to meet so many diverse people. Catalyst is a place where we have college students, babies, elementary kids, teens, young professionals, hipsters, hippies, southern rockers, active and former military, gypsies, well-known politicians and even lots of homeless call their home. You come in and a collection of people who you would never ever see hang out in normal life are all standing in a lobby, enjoying fair trade coffee and conversations before they are let into an auditorium where they see amazing visual effects, a stunning newly restored playhouse and more skinny jeans than they know what to do with (not always from stage).

Each week we give people the realization that although this might be the best part of your week, it isn’t the only part of your week. The rest of your week is where the worship happens, the rest of your week is where the real service and devotion happen, this hour is our time to regroup, our time to celebrate, our time to be feed before a week of feeding ourselves. Each week our kids are reminded that their curiosity is God-given and a big staff full of people are there to nurture that and use that. The parents are reminded that it is up to them to disciple their kids, but we are all here to help them in that process and share as much of their lives as we can.

This is Catalyst Church. One of the most special places with some of the most special people you will ever encounter. We may seem over excited but we absolutely know that for someone, every day is opening day and we should treat it that way.

This post was originally written for the blog ‘100 foot Jesus‘ by Matt Hafer.

Yesterday I was able to attend a service at West Park Church of Christ in Portsmouth on my way to share one of the VEF programs, Converge, with a growing church, Towne South, near Elizabeth City, NC.

West Park is a vibrant congregation who have grown and grown while wedged into a tiny sliver of property in the midst of the city. What struck me the most this Sunday morning was the passion as he preached and the diligent preparation that went before he ever began to speak that was evident in Keith Lewis’ sermon. You know immediately that this man is steeped in his text and delivers a complex message with hardly a glance at his notes in a most engaging manner. West Park has creatively addressed their property issues several times over the years and evolved their worship services but what drives their growth, in my opinion, is the focus on and and the clear proclamation of the Word of God.

West Park was also instrumental as a partner with the VEF in the forming of Celebration Christian Church.

If you are ever in the area West Park would be a great place to share in a worship service. Check them out at www.wpfamily.org