Jason Hayes Online

PASTORING A NEW CHURCH IN KNOXVILLE

2012-01-13T06:42:47Z

Carrie and I want to update you on what God is doing in our lives these days. WE WILL BE STARTING A NEW CHURCH THAT I WILL BE PASTORING IN THE KNOXVILLE AREA. We are incredibly excited and confident in His leading in this new endeavor! Below are a few additional details. Hopefully, this gives you a glimpse into our vision for the church and also provides answers to some of the questions you may have. We'd greatly appreciate your prayers and can't wait to share more with everyone in the near future!

WHY

Over the last few years, we have become increasingly attune to God's call for me to pastor. Per His prompting a few months ago, we recently began exploring the possibility of starting a new church. As we sought the Lord, He clearly opened doors that we could not dismiss. We're looking to seize a God-given opportunity, not just try something new. And we confidently believe we're doing the former! We love the Church and believe it is the vehicle that God has ordained to spread His love and fame to the ends of the earth. Jesus Christ is the hope of the world and we can't wait to share that with a community that we love!

WHAT

We're currently working through things like church name, programming specifics, non-profit status, and more. Thus, a lot is still in process. However, we already know that we'll focus our efforts towards certain core values. Just a few of these include:

A commitment to teaching and application of the Bible.
A commitment to prayer and fasting.
A commitment to moving members into ongoing small groups.
A commitment to streamlined, effective programming.
A commitment to vertical, Christ-centered worship.
A commitment to marriages and families.
A commitment to developing leaders in the church and marketplace.
A commitment to loving and serving our community.
A commitment to relational evangelism.
A commitment to mission work across the globe.

WHEN

I have already resigned from LifeWay effective March 31st. We will thus be moving to Knoxville in early spring. In the meantime, we'll be visiting to meet with those who may be interested. In early April, we'll begin meeting regularly with an initial core group of individuals and families who have shown interest in being a part of the church in its' earliest stages. We'll most likely be meeting in a home for those meetings. We'll continue to meet with this core group throughout the summer while hopefully adding new folks along the way. This will be a highly significant part of the journey and we trust it will be a special season for all involved.

In the summer, we'll also be hosting a series of larger gatherings. We're already anticipating what the Lord may do in these times dedicated to prayer, musical worship, and teaching. Hopefully, these will provide an ideal atmosphere where new people can investigate what God is doing in this new church. This will also provide another important avenue to connect people to our core group throughout the summer. We're trusting and seeking the Lord with all of the timing, but our current hope is that we'd begin meeting weekly for worship as early as the fall. While some may see these services as when we officially "launch" as a church, we believe that God had already begun this work and trust that some of our most valuable and precious days will be far before that.

WHERE

At this time, we feel led towards West Knoxville. This is, of course, a rather broad area. However, there are a few specific communities that we're praying over as we consider our target audience and possible facilities to gather in.

As for why we're doing this in Knoxville, we believe it provides us the most natural opportunity for Kingdom impact. We know there is still a large population of unchurched people in Knoxville. In addition, we're blessed with a strong support network of individuals and churches there. I've already been able to share this with several friends and key ministry leaders in the community and we've been overwhelmed by the support we've received. Obviously, we're excited about joining together to reach the area and the world for Christ. Each church has its' own unique ministry and yet one unifying goal - the glory of God.

HOW

Long Hollow, our wonderful church in Nashville, will be our primary sending church. While a partnership with Long Hollow provides us some sustained financial stability, it also allows us to establish a church how the Lord leads us in Knoxville. This is not a satellite campus or a video venue of Long Hollow. Rather, this is another iteration of God's global work at Long Hollow as they seek to empower leaders to start new, unique churches. While I will lean on their experience and insight, this new church will have its' own leadership and vision. We also have freedom to partner with other churches as the Lord may provide.

WHO

We are extremely excited to see whom the Lord will bring together to be part of this new church. I served a wonderful church in Knoxville in the past and also have many dear friends at other churches in the area. So many of you love your church and are highly invested there. We rejoice with you in this and have no expectation for you to join us.

We're simply trusting that God will be leading the right individuals towards this new work. We are hoping to connect with those looking for a church while also providing a church home for new believers in need of fellowship and discipleship. We believe that God will not only be raising up our core group from within Knoxville, but we also believe that He's going to prompt a few key partners to actually move from their current location to join us in Knoxville. It's going to be an amazing adventure and we can't wait to do life with all those He is bringing together. That might just be you!

If you have interest, questions, or just want to connect - we'd love to hear from you! My email address is jasonchristopherhayes@gmail.com. We're also on Facebook and Twitter. And, of course, we'd love to connect by phone or in person. We'll have a website and other communication channels available in the future.

Exclusive Rights

2011-12-12T14:20:09Z

We see in the Bible that Jesus not only wanted to change the lives of the disciples, but the lives of those around them.

Look at the following passage:

“Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, was one of the two who heard John and followed Him. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, ‘We have found the Messiah!’ (which means ‘Anointed One’), and he brought Simon to Jesus” (John 1:40-42).

Jesus’ desire to initiate change in people’s lives wasn’t limited to the lives of the two disciples who approached Him that day.

Andrew was so intrigued by Jesus that he went and found his brother Simon Peter and brought him to meet the Messiah. Something about Jesus made Andrew want to introduce Him to his brother right away. And Jesus was interested in meeting others as well. That openness must have been extraordinarily compelling to those men.

Personally, I wouldn’t be excited about following a man who wouldn’t also accept those I loved most. But Jesus not only wanted a relationship with their loved ones, He wanted one with everyone. They didn’t know it then, but the disciples weren’t signing up just to follow a man; they were committing to a larger cause that was bigger than any one of them.

Do you ever find yourself acting as if the gospel is somehow reserved just for you, people like you, and the ones you love? Whether you live in the suburbs of Chicago, on the streets of Los Angeles, or in small-town Alabama, you don’t have exclusive rights to the gospel. Despite what we often like to believe, the gospel isn’t original to our western-hemisphere culture, either. Its origin doesn’t trace back to us, and yet we act as if it’s reserved for us. The very nature of the gospel is that it was meant to be shared. Jesus, who encompassed the gospel, made himself available to all people for all of time.

Vacation

2011-11-21T20:09:18Z

"A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it in."

I read this on the side of a building in a quaint, little South Carolina beach community today. Our family is taking a few days off this week for the holiday. Carrie and I are looking forward to lots of time with our boys and making memories that will last for years to come. I'll be back blogging early next week. Have a great week and Happy Thanksgiving!

Bondye Bell

2011-11-15T14:27:48Z

I talk a lot about my love for both our church and its commitment to orphan care around the world. Here is a recent video of several of our kids in our Jeremie, Haiti village and the new song they've learned. The song was written by one of Long Hollow's worship leaders, Gerald Trottman. You can actually download the song HERE. All proceeds go to the orphanage music program.

Having been to Jeremie several times, these kids are very dear to Carrie and I. We couldn't be more proud of how they are growing, learning, and falling in love with Jesus.

Connecting Through Groups

2011-11-14T13:33:11Z

I had the privilidge of teaching at LifeWay's Women's Ministry Leadership Forum last week. While being one of the few males among hundreds of ladies can initially seem a bit awkward, it's actually become an event that I really enjoy each year. I am always appreciative of the opportunity to challenge leaders as they consider how to impact future generations.

In one of my sessions, I spoke about the concept of connecting through groups. Whether that's a small group in a home, a Sunday School class in a church building, a discipleship group, accountability group, open group, closed group, or whatever - we must connect people strategically and we must teach them effectively.

We discussed the need to give significant attention to both what we teach and the methods for how we teach it. As teachers and leaders of all sorts, we must never lose sight of this important principle. We must always seek to know the Word and understand how our people need to be taught the Word. And, above all else, we must lead our groups with a commitment to both building community while also teaching with depth. Be careful of compromising one for the other. Our people need both.

For those of you in attendance, below are the notes that I promised:

Women's Forum - Conencting Through Groups.doc

You can also learn more about our work at www.threadsmedia.com.

The Church and Consumerism

2011-11-11T13:24:39Z

While I've already given attention to the role of the Church within Christianity at large, it’s also important to examine what role it should play in our day-to-day living. It’s important to be reminded of the impact the church can make in the lives of people. It’s truly sad to see so many people affected negatively by the church, especially when God established it to be a place of encouragement, truth, rest, refuge, community, and commitment. The church was established to give glory to God, and one of the ways it does that is by impacting the everyday lives of Christ followers in a positive manner.

Part of that positive impact comes through receiving. From the church we receive spiritual encouragement and companionship. We receive the great comfort that we’re not in this life alone, and we’re not supposed to be. Especially during trying and difficult circumstances, the church is meant to be a reminder of the invisible attributes of God’s love, care, comfort, and wisdom. In the church, the invisible becomes visible through the lives of those around us. Christianity stops being an idea and starts being personal in the body of Christ.

It’s a great blessing to think about all we “get” from the local church. It’s so good, in fact, that it’s tempting to get comfortable just being recipients. Maybe that’s why so many people’s affections have cooled for the church—all we ever think about is what we get from the church, either good or bad. But that narrow focus reveals that the consumerism of our culture has invaded our faith.

We treat the church like a fast food restaurant, demanding to have what we want when we want it. And if one church can’t offer it, we don’t come back. We either go down the street or we quit going entirely. Why? Because we’re consumers—church consumers. Exclusively focusing on what we receive in a church context is really only looking at half of what God intended for our relationship with the church to be.

We need to be reminded that church is not the place where we solely come and get fed and ministered to. Instead, it is a place where we are to give—to give our time, talents, energy, and passion in order to serve and meet the needs of others. We do this for people both inside and outside the church as we utilize our gifting from God. Through giving we stop being consumers of church. We stop going to church and start being the church.

NOTE: You can read more about this in my study, Blemished.

Secret Church

2011-11-10T17:39:14Z

It’s been years since I was first introduced to David Platt. I was a young, inexperienced student pastor looking for a decent speaker for a middle school summer camp. Per the recommendation of a friend, I invited David Platt to speak and he agreed. Yes, you read that right. I invited David Platt to speak at Middle School Camp. We weren’t 10 minutes into the first night and he was quoting Romans verse by verse. He was “radical” far before any New York Times Best Seller was released. It didn’t take long to know that I had a new friend and I’d met someone who was truly anointed.

After David had moved to Birmingham to pastor The Church at Brook Hills, I begin hearing a lot about this gathering called “Secret Church.” God was greatly using this focused time of study to enrich thousands of people’s knowledge of the Bible while also providing an accurate understanding of the state of the Church and the reality of persecuted brothers and sisters around the world. It seemed a movement of God was beginning. The simple objective of Secret Church has always been for participants to pass along what they learn to others, so that they can make disciples of Christ--both locally and globally.

And last Friday night, I was able to experience it myself. It was a tremendous night and I can't say enough about what a priviledge it is to partner on this with David and this team at Disciple Making International.

I was asked to write a first-hand perspective on the evening for Baptist Press. If interested, you can see that HERE.

Reaching Twenty-Somethings

2011-11-09T20:24:43Z

A while ago I was asked to write for Answers Magazine about twenty-somthings and the challenge of reaching people who aren't going to church. Here's an excerpt of that article:

On a recent flight I found myself deep in conversation with three delightful young adults, all in their twenties, from diverse backgrounds. One, who worked in California’s wine industry, was en route to meet a potential new distributor. Another gentleman, who owned a gas station and mini-mart in a rural Southern U.S. town, was headed on family vacation. The third, a nurse from Midwestern suburbia, was traveling home for her high school reunion.

Despite our varied origins and occupations, our time together was rich. Each of these young adults was educated, articulate, and comfortable sharing opinions about a variety of topics. Our discussion was friendly and enjoyable. That is, until the issue of faith arose. More specifically, our dialogue took an unfortunate decline when they began to share their experiences with the local church.

The saddest part may be that their feelings often seemed justified. While I interjected at times, I ended up spending the majority of time simply listening.

As I sat there, I wondered how we can reach their generation. Traditional approaches—like inviting them to church—don’t seem to get very far. A quick chat on an airplane isn’t very effective either. While I wanted to believe that an articulate argument or a heartfelt plea would suffice, I couldn’t help but conclude that something more was necessary.

In fact, I came to a very simple yet profound conclusion. The thing that would draw this generation to Christ and His church would be if His people were actually committed to Christ, and if the Church actually functioned how God intended it to.

Read my advice in the rest of the article.

Interview with Tim Elmore and Amena Brown

2011-11-07T18:05:33Z

As part of our newly launched webshow, Connecting with Threads, I recently interviewed both Tim Elmore and Amena Brown.

Dr. Tim Elmore, the author of the Habitudes® series, is the founder and president of Growing Leaders, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization created to develop emerging leaders. Through Growing Leaders, he and his team provide public schools, state universities, civic organizations, and corporations with the tools they need to help develop young leaders who can impact and transform society. www.growingleaders.com

As a poet, speaker, journalist, and event host Amena Brown’s words excite, ignite and inspire. Whether in front of audiences as intimate as 50 or as sprawling as 20,000, she is a young adult who has something to say that matters. www.amenabrown.com

Moving Toward Change

2011-11-03T13:12:10Z

Change is universal—that’s old news. You’ve either already experienced a major change in your life, you’re experiencing one right now, or you’ll experience one in the future. But becoming someone who can embrace change and whatever outcome it brings is more complicated than just talking about it.

As seen in the Old Testament, God the Father established that He is unchanging, and in that we have hope. In the New Testament, Jesus established Himself as God the Son, and He pointed to the same hope. He showed His disciples that He was bigger than their circumstances. He was unwavering. Timeless. In Revelation 1:8 we read:

“‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘the One who is, who was, and who is coming, the Almighty.’”

Likewise, Hebrews 13:8 states:

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

These verses speak of God’s stability in a world of instability. And though God never changes, we see in other parts of Scripture that He clearly intends for us to change. The apostle Paul wrote in Romans 12:2:

“Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.”

This establishes the fact that change, in the form of sanctification (being made holy), is at the forefront of our faith. We see similar teaching in 2 Corinthians 5:17, where we read:

“Therefore if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation; old things have passed away, and look, new things have come.”

So, here’s what we can conclude about change in our lives:

1. The world is constantly changing.

2. God doesn’t change, and thus He’s clearly not of this world.

3. If He’s not of this world, He is indeed God.

4. Since He’s God, He’s worth following.

5. Following Him changes us.

In the initial encounters between Jesus and His first disciples, change had a unique look to it. Jesus wasn’t moving the disciples through change. He was moving the disciples toward change. He wasn’t freeing them from it. He was calling them to a life of it.

Fighting For The Church

2011-10-15T13:44:31Z

The church is beautiful. I've seen it first hand. And many of you have as well. It's not a building of bricks and mortar. Instead, it’s the body of Christ functioning together to provide communion with one another while glorifying God by its existence. And when it's rightly focused on its' mission, it is a stunning display of God's goodness and grace.

However, maybe it’s at this point when you start measuring that definition of the church against your own past experiences. And when you compare the two you don’t exactly get warm fuzzies reminiscing over the “biblical fellowship” you’ve experienced. And it’s even harder to think about the churches you’ve been a part of glorifying God with their existence. Let’s be really honest—some of them don’t. Heck, a lot of them don’t. But hear this very clearly: We must not abandon the local church.

Although our churches have flaws and errors, there is no question as to the importance that God places upon the church. Nor is there any question as to the significant role God intended the local church to play in the life of His people. I use the word “local” intentionally, because a person could make the argument that you can be a part of the church without going to a building or joining a fellowship of believers. In that understanding, all that’s really meant by “church” is a belief in Jesus Christ. That’s not what I’m talking about.

I’m talking about the local church, as described in Acts 2:42-47:

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayers. Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. Now all the believers were together and had everything in common. So they sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. And every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.”

Throughout history, God has chosen to use the local church as the primary vehicle to spread His name and fame across the world. Don’t get me wrong—I affirm parachurch ministries. I applaud missions sending agencies. I support conference and camp gatherings. Obviously, I work for an non-profit that resources the church. But, we must not replace our commitment to the local church in favor of such things. These things should be pointing people towards the local church, not acting as a substitue for it.

Any negative experiences you’ve had with churches are not cause to abandon it. We can’t throw the baby out with the bath water. We may be disgusted with what the church has become, but it’s only become that way as a result of our unholy hijacking. We can’t give up on it. I applaud what my friend Ed says about the church: “You can’t love Jesus and hate His wife." But that’s exactly what has happened, both inside and outside the faith.

If you haven’t noticed, the world has decided that it is OK with Jesus, but not so OK with the church. Unfortunately, many Christians have decided the same. That’s not acceptable. The Scripture says:

“Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our meetings as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near” (Hebrews 10:22-25).

But if Scripture insists you be active in the local church and yet the local church around you isn’t God honoring, what do you do? That’s the million dollar question, right? Well, my suggestion is simple: Either find a new church, or better yet, take active involvement in helping it change. Either way, we as Christians must not separate ourselves from the local church simply because of the transgressions of its people. We are the people of the church. We must come to grips with the fact that we will be held just as accountable for our relationship to the local church as those who have turned many of us away from it.

Let's fight for the church. It's worth it!

Transform Conference

2011-08-22T15:49:48Z

Thanks to everyone involved with the Transform Conference in Memphis this past weekend. I truly enjoyed myself. Your receptivity and engagement made it a lot of fun. As I mentioned at the end of our time together, let me know if I can ever be of any further help to you in the future.

As promised, you can get my notes HERE. It's the same material.

Rules for Self Discovery

2011-07-06T12:36:26Z

Rules for Self Discovery:

1. What we want most;
2. What we think about most;
3. How we use our money;
4. What we do with our leisure time;
5. The company we enjoy;
6. Who and what we admire;
7. What we laugh at.

— A.W. Tozer

Catalyst Conference

2011-06-22T15:19:17Z

You won't want to miss the Catalyst Conference, happening October 5-7, 2011 in Atlanta, where 13,000 young leaders will converge for the leadership experience of the year, including high-octane speakers, powerful worship, innovative programming, and an experience unlike any other.

Hear from leadership authorities including Andy Stanley, Jim Collins, Francis Chan, David Platt, Priscilla Shirer, Mark Driscoll, Dave Ramsey and Judah Smith, along with several innovative thinkers and practitioners like Princeton professor Dr. Cornel West, TOMS Shoes founder Blake Mycoskie, Global Soap Project founder Derreck Kayongo, Hillsong United visionary Joel Houston, Barna Research President David Kinnaman, and adoptive mother of 13 Katie Davis.

Plus, Catalyst Labs will feature innovative thought leaders like David Platt, Michael Hyatt, Reggie Joiner, Mark Batterson, Tim Elmore, Dave Gibbons, Margaret Feinberg, Bob Goff, Susan Isaacs, Mike Foster, Bethany Hoang, Samuel Rodriguez, Stacy Spencer, Jon Acuff, Lecrae, Jo Saxton, Charles Jenkins, Jim Daly, Darren Whitehead, Vicky Beeching, Eugene Cho, Lisa Sharon Harper, Jon Tyson, Lysa Terkeurst, Bobby Bailey, Jeanne Stevens, Mary Graham, and others.

Best Rates on Catalyst tickets end on Thursday, June 23rd, so register now. Call 888.334.6569 to speak to a Catalyst Concierge, or register online at www.catalystconference.com. Use Rate Code FOB and receive a ticket price of $199 (savings of $120 off regular prices). Catalyst will sell out, so make sure and register early!

Cultivating Biblical Hospitality

2011-05-26T13:18:21Z

In the fall, HomeLife magazine is featuring our family's commitment to make our home a hub for spiritual growth and ministry. As part of that, Carrie was asked to contribute a brief sidebar on cultivating biblical community. For a limited time, you can take a sneak peek at it below.

It doesn’t take very long for someone to ask, “How do you do that?” in regards to our family’s commitment to making our home a significant tool for ministry. Immediately their mind runs to issues of cost, boundaries for personal space, and organization. But, most frequently, the question arises of how I balance it with the responsibilities of being a wife, mother to two (soon-to-be four), and an active member of our church and community.

And, in truth, I don’t really have any secret formula. But, I will share what I tell them. I tell them that it doesn’t happen alone. As a family, we believe in our mission. Thus, we all take part in the work of the mission. Jason helps with cleaning, meal preparation, and more. In addition, our boys want in on the action, too. Our oldest son loves to greet people at the door. He also takes pride in asking everyone what they want to drink. Someday he’ll actually be old enough to pour it himself. But, the point is that he’s involved and he’ll grow into his role of hospitality eventually.

But, most importantly, we commit our home to the Lord in prayer every day. Each night we thank God for our home with the boys. But, we also all pray for those friends and family that God has blessed us with. These things are intimately connected. Because, above all, hospitality is an issue of the heart. The more you love people, the more likely you are to serve them. And for us, serving is often done best within our home.