801South
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Established churches are great at saying that we want to reach unchurched people and then doing absolutely nothing toward that goal. Honestly I don’t think churches know what we are saying when we state we want to reach unchurched people. We are obviously well trained to satisfy church people. This is our sweet spot. This…
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I explained a primary value of reproduction through relational apprenticing in my message this past Sunday. I look forward to sharing more values this coming Sunday as we talk about the need to offer fresh expressions of the Gospel. Shannon Cotton, the Communications Director at Matthews UMC, says that I need to add pictures to…
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A couple years back, I had the opportunity to attend David Kinnaman’s You Lost Me Live event at National Community Church in Washington DC. Everyone who attended the event received a free copy of Kinnaman’s latest work You Lost Me: Why Young Christians Are Leaving the Church and Rethinking Faith. As I quickly read through…
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Simplicity is one of the greatest values driving decision making for 801South. We live in a very complicated culture here in suburban America. I see a hunger for a simpler way to do life, but there are few organizations who focus on providing the necessary steps. The reason for striving for simplicity is the need…
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As I continue to try and help people understand some of the values that 801South will hope to exhibit, the value which may be of most importance is that of relationships driving the ministry. You have heard me say (many times) that life is about people and people are about relationships. One of the most…
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Over the next couple weeks, I will be writing a series of articles detailing some of the key values that will be drivers of the 801South movement. If you are a reader who sees yourself as potentially playing a role in 801South, hopefully these posts will help you to further discern that potential. If you…
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There is a vital concept that you must grasp in order to appreciate a ministry initiative like 801South. Here it is (totally for free): Those who participate in modes of church (worship, discipleship, outreach, missions, evangelism, etc.) that are different from your own are NOT inherently wrong. We have an innate push within us to…
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Here is the final post in a series through which I am providing my answers to questions that have been asked regarding the 801South ministry initiative. First of all, the most popular question is: Are we trying to be Elevation? No. But understanding and appreciating Elevation Church will be helpful. See here. Here. Here. And…
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Over my first two days I have spoken to a medley of people in the community and listened to their thoughts on what 801South might look like or what they hope to see as a result of this new ministry. The conversation is wide-ranging and a lot of fun to hear different perspectives. I too…
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The church spends a lot of time and brainwork answering questions that no one (or at least not anyone outside the four walls) is asking. The only way to know what questions people are asking is to ask them, rather than wasting our time assuming we know (or worse, telling people what they should be…
Five Minutes of Encouragement 