This is where we will categorize our general blog posts.
We Have Winners! We're Flip'ing for Philippians!
We Have Our Winners!
1. #491 Tom “Ned Flanders” J.
2. #147 Jerry “Short and Sweet” Pilachowski
3. #7 Royce Zulu
4. #216 Richi
5. #17 Jamie “Upping His Chances” Hart
Bonus Winners
1. #1 Alan “I Never Sleep” Heflich – Early Bird Winner
2. #289 Mike – The Poor College Student – Random Comment Winner
Watch a Video of Us Picking the Winners
Contest Info Here
Matt Chandler is speaking at Catalyst this week and so we wanted to do something fun to promote his new BIble Study Philippians – To Live is Christ & To Die is Gain.
Leave us a comment about anything that you like, about Matt Chandler, Tommy Nelson, Mark Driscoll, the Catalyst Conference or any of your favorite teachers. We want to hear your comments and feedback about truth and how you go about learning God’s word.
We want to get to know you and we want you to get to know The Hub. To Preview the Philippians Study, CLICK HERE.
Winners will be announced Monday, October 12, 2009.
Rules:
Leave a comment between 12 a.m. Oct 6 to 12 a.m. Oct. 9. Leave as many comments as you want. We will then tally up the comments and pick a number from 1 to however many comments we receive. If your name falls on that number, then you win! It’s that simple. Winners will be notified on Monday October 12th.
No Purchase Necessary. Void where prohibited. Must be at least 18 years old to win.
Let's Get It On… SOS Austin Post Conference Feedback
Wow. What a great conference. We had about 1200 people attend the Mark Driscoll Song of Solomon conference at Hill Country Bible Church over the weekend.
What I love about these conferences is seeing people’s lives changed. I delight in seeing young singles showing up in groups to learn how to have a better dating relationship and eventually a great marriage, however, I really delight in seeing the older couples who have been married for years, but they are still keeping their love burning.
A couple in front of me kept looking at each other and smiling every time Mark Driscoll said something sweet or sour from the pulpit. They had this sweet look they would exchange or a sly smile and it blessed me.
After the conference I walked around and took some videos asking people, “What did you think of the conference?” and here is what they had to say.
If you made it to the conference we were glad you were there. If you didn’t make it to this one, we hope to meet you at one in the future.
God Bless,
Eddie
Mark Driscoll Live in Austin, Texas Tonight!
Hi Everyone, Eddie here, the web guy here at The Hub. We are currently at the Song of Solomon conference which will begin in 34 minutes. The place is all a twitter with talk of Mark and Grace Driscoll and of course the topic Sex, Love and Marriage. If you are walking up to registration be sure and say hello to our volunteers Trevor and Ellen shown in the picture above.
Follow us on Twitter @ http://www.twitter.com/gotothehub and stay updated with a play-by-play of the conference.
If you couldn’t be at the conference you can pick up Mark Driscoll’s SOS teaching at our store
Is Your Bedroom En Gedi?
In the Song of Solomon, Solomon refers to their bedroom as En Gedi. En Gedi was this picture you see just taken by Mark Driscoll on his recent trip to Israel.
So, what is En Gedi?
En-Gedi is a lush oasis in the midst of the desert wilderness on the southwestern shore of the Dead Sea. The surrounding region is hot and bleak; its dry sands extend monotonously for miles. The Dead Sea region is a salty desert covered with a dusty haze and characterized by almost unbearable heat during most of the year. The lush oasis of En-Gedi is the only sign of greenery or life for miles around. It stands out as a surprising contrast to the bleak, dry desert wilderness around it. In the midst of this bleak desert wilderness is the lush oasis in which indescribable beauty is found. The lush oasis and waterfall brings welcome relief and refreshment to the weary desert traveler. (Taken from www.bible.org)
This concept and principle in SOS and a major feature of Mark Driscoll’s presentation in Austin on October 2-3, 2009 is absolutely one of my favorites. Every week and even everyday it seems, there may be some very difficult news, sad news, or even painful news that comes our way. If our relationship with our spouse is one of those “difficult things” then life becomes even more stressful and hard to deal with.
Making your bedroom En Gedi is of the utmost importance. Your bedroom is not only for intimacy, but it is for all the talking, relaxing, sharing your day, sharing your soul, resting, reading, and all of the inner soul things that we need as individuals and couples in order to experience intimacy.
Song of Solomon refers to “keeping the foxes” out of the vineyard. What are some of the foxes that might steal true En Gedi from your bedroom?
The first ten people to post a ‘fox’ or comment will receive a free ticket to hear Mark & Grace Driscoll in Austin. Don’t live in Austin? Win a ticket and come to the coolest city in Texas. Can’t do that? Win a ticket and find a friend on Facebook who lives in Texas:) and share the ticket.
Austin… What Should Mark and Grace Driscoll know about You?
I talked with Mark this week and he is fired up to be in the Lonestar state on Oct. 2-3. In fact, I tell him if Seattle was not his home base, Austin is the warm weather version of Seattle. Both cities are extremely cool, have a great vibe, beautiful and plenty of folks who love Jesus and even more who need Jesus.
Mark and Grace have just spent about three weeks in Greece, Turkey and Israel and have had the opportunity to visit some of the actual places that are mentioned in Song of Solomon. So, needless to say, they are pumped and more than ready to share their hearts and wisdom with all of us about enjoying this amazing God given relationship called marriage.
So now it is your turn. What would you like to say to Mark and Grace to let them know more about Austin, H=how you are praying for them, or any cool insights from the coolest city in Texas…
Pastors, Christ, Critics and Praise
I just had an amazing conversation with a courageous young pastor. He said
said that after this summer he is no longer going to try and “endear”
himself to the people by entertaining them or coming up with some new
“gadget” to get their attention. Instead he wanted to teach God’s Word with
excellence and honesty.
Wow, now that is what I call courage and growth. I don’t know if there is
any more difficult role than that of the pastor, the expectation to be
perfect, then finding that the “Real You” falls short of that standard
causes guilt, shame and feelings of hypocrisy.
I have learned over the years after working with very large ministries and
small ones, that every time a pastor opens his mouth he becomes a target, a
bulls-eye. He is inviting people to either say “‘you are the greatest and
you are changing my life’, or ‘I hate you, I can’t believe you believe or
taught this, I can’t stand the music here, I can’t believe you drive that
car, why weren’t you at the hospital for my procedure” – the list is never
ending, the arrows never stop flying.
Generally each and every pastor picks a side to listen to and the results of
that become “I am the greatest” or “I am worthless.”
Neither is a good or correct result.
So, pastors out there, what say you? How have you learned to deal with this
“bar-bell” approach of praise and criticism? Lay person and church member,
how can we stop basing our response to God and His Word on the messenger and
make it about our own journey and our relationship with Him and His Word?
Doug
Mark & Grace Driscoll Live in Austin
On October 2-3 Mark Driscoll and his wife Grace will be teaching the Live Song of Solomon Conference in Austin at Hill Country Bible Church. Mark’s presentation of the message is honest, funny, redeeming and very practical. Here is what Kerry from Missouri said about Mark and SOS: “I found it to be incredibly informative and understandable and relatable. Oh, and he’s hilarious!”
That is just one of the 2500 folks who attended the weekend. The Song of Solomon conference is designed for college students, yes, there’s only about 40,000 of them in the area, and they all need it 🙂 and it is great for married and single adults.
To see some video clips of Mark and to register: click here.
At this location, we have the joy of having Grace join with Mark. We will have a Q & A session at the end of Friday night and at the end of Saturday morning. On Saturday Grace will be joining Mark on stage to give her perspective and share her heart on these issues.
I have been a part of over 100 Live SOS events and this is the first time we will have a wife participate on stage and give her thoughts on Song of Solomon. We are very excited about it and know the ladies/wives attending will be totally blessed. So great to get both a husband and wife’s perspective on these very felt needs and everyday issues.
So, get your mom or dad to watch the kids for the weekend, make a road trip out of it and come join Mark & Grace Driscoll for an inspiring and relationship changing 6 hours!
Sharing God’s Absolute Best for Love, Marriage & Sex! Come join us.
Doug
Trading Trash for Truth!
When we launched Vintage Jesus with Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, there was a guy in that church, Al Lobania, who has a ministry with military folks overseas.
It was Al’s idea to have a contest, raise some money and send some sets of the Vintage Curriculum to military folks. These men and women are away from their families, alone a ton, miles away from anything they know, and supplied with tons of garbage to entertain them. Pornography is already a struggle for most men, then you put them miles away and lonely, and many men see their lives eaten up with it.
So, Al said, lets start sending them some truth and materials that will change their lives while they serve us and this country. So, we did just that.
Check out these photos of true men, sitting around the tiny room praying, Bibles opened, putting their trust for their lives in the Hands of God. Total greatness. A picture does paint a thousand words. This pictured humbled me. (Now, do notice the Wii race car remotes as well. The Word says we do live by The Word, but a little race car driving helps a bit)
Anyways, the Vintage series is all about learning the Basics of the Faith, but with Mark’s humor, easy going presentation and pop culture references, makes it more relatable to all of us.
So, Al, it’s a few months late, but Thank You for leading out in this effort and to all of those folks who purchased a set to send overseas to our great men and women.
Well Done.
Doug
Philippians Webinar
View the Live Recording of Matt talking about Philippians Here.
Friends, we had a blast doing the Phil webinar. Wow, live video is so much fun and anything can happen. As many of you know the office building we were using and the entire block of buildings in Dallas had a power grid failure. Welcome to Texas Heat in the summer.
But, God reigns and made it happen. I felt like Matt did an amazing job sharing his heart and highlights of the To Live is Christ & to Die is Gain series.
The point that stands out the most to me so far in this study is that if we get everything else right, moral, legal, religious, but don’t get Jesus, love relationship with Him, we have missed the point. Matt says and asks in the series, what is the scariest verse in all the Bible, “depart from me for I never knew you.” I know some out there will think there is scare tactics or fear in that, I am not going there, I am just commenting that many of us have grown up in a ‘religious’ environment and ‘done’ church. True love, peace, purpose, and power that changes lives is when we Know Christ and He fills our lives. Then we are different. Then we can make a difference for Christ and eternity, not for a ‘religious’ group.
This study in Philippians has absolutely challenged me to know the Word better and to pray and know Christ more intimately. I don’t want ‘business as usual’ in my walk with Christ, I want to experience Him, and His power and Love.
Let’s discuss…
Doug
Tommy is Better than OK
Wow, last week was an interesting one. For those of us who have been blessed by the teaching of The Word by Tommy Nelson, many of you have heard already, but some have not. Last Tuesday, July 28th about 10:10AM at Denton Bible Church, Tommy had a major heart attack. He was in a counseling appointment, which is another story, and what a day that man had, as Tommy looked at him 7 minutes in and said ‘friend, I think I am having a heart attack.’ I am surprised that guy did not have one as well.
The long and short of it all is that within 28 minutes of the 911 phone call Tommy’s blocked artery was opened and blood was flowing normally. Later that day the young CEO of the hospital and another life who had been blessed by his ministry, came by Tommy’s room and said, ‘we set a record on you today.’ That record was the 28 minutes from call to blood flow.
Tommy is feeling great and even worked out today for the first time since his heart attack, a whopping 6 days later. Tommy and Teresa Nelson are blessed people and they know it and we are grateful and blessed that God has spared his life.
We can all learn from this struggle. Just 15 minutes prior to Tommy’s heart attack, he was riding his scooter, his gas saver and fun ride machine, to the church. He did not have his cell phone with him, which as many of you know he despises most all technology, except for treadmills and movies. Had this happened while he was on his scooter only God knows the result. But guess what, God knew and knows Tommy’s ‘result’ from the beginning of time and He is never caught off guard.
God is in control. We are not. The sooner we surrender to that the more we can Rest in Him. Tommy is resting in God’s provision and providence, just another great lesson God has taught us thru him.
We love you,
Doug Hudson
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