Thursday, January 26, 2006

Dream Team

What an incredible night of ministry we had last night! I saw so many new faces at LateNite and had an opportunity to meet many first time visitors. We are always honored to be able to host first time guests and families who visit our church, and we hope the environment in which they experience God will encourage them to come back. Doug and Jason led us to an unprecedented passion during worship, and Michelle hit a grand slam with her message on Biblical community and our need for relationships. The energy in the room at the end of the night was absolutely amazing. I believe the chemistry for an incredible run in 2006 is already in the making!

During our 6:30 service, I headed down to the Annex to catch Terry Olivier pinch hit for our high school pastor, Jason Laird, who was battling sickness. I spied out the service in the back of the auditorium, and I was totally captivated by Terry's message. I've been a Christian for nearly 25 years, and at the end of the service, I wanted to walk down to the front and give my heart to Christ all over again! Our students are able to receive ministry from some of the best next generation leaders in the country.

As a pastor and leader at HPC for the past decade, I could not be any more excited about our future than I am right now. Like a father watching his own son compete in an athletic event, my heart is so full for our spiritual sons and daughters. Rachel and I have laid down our lives for the purpose of raising up a generation of young men and women who will love God radically and love people irrationally. We are now beginning to see the fruit of that sacrifice, and we are thrilled to be able to share in this end times harvest.

To our staff let me say: All the credit belongs to you, All the glory belongs to God, and the privilege is all mine!!!!

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

Life-Giving Church

The last two weekends, I have had the wonderful opportunity of being a part of Healing Place Church expressed in different regions of the country. Rachel and I made a return trip to the west coast to serve at our Danville, CA campus under the direction of Rob and Brianna Read--who do a fantastic job! On Saturday night, we had an incredible men's meeting, fully equipped with choice-cut steak, grilled shrimp, baked potatoes the size of Idaho, and desserts to die for. After our feast, we enjoyed two surround-sound, full-screen, in-your-face episodes of The Band of Brothers, and I challenged the men to unite in Godly relationship so we could be ignited with spiritual power.

The Sunday morning service was teeming with new faces and families as Rachel led us in worship. We left California with a sense of satisfaction, knowing that men and women are catching the vision of being a healing place for a hurting world. The DNA that was birthed some 13 years ago on Highland Rd. in Baton Rouge is now being transferred 2500 miles away! HPC Danville is brewing with possibilities!!

This past Sunday, I took a road trip with Terry Olivier (the real T.O.) to north Louisiana to connect with a good friend of mine, Pastor Joel Dyke. He and his wife, Angel, pastor an exciting church called Life Church of West Monroe. The minute we walked in the front doors, we heard the praise team practicing a familiar song...it was an HPC original, and we felt right at home! We were blessed by their level of excellence and their heart for the community. Their videos are first-class, their music is alive and passionate, and their commitment to reach the lost is inspiring.

Sunday night, we spoke into the life of their leadership and experienced a unique move of God. It was refreshing to see their hunger for growth and their desire for God's very best. As we made our 4 hour drive home in the rain, all I could think about was how incredible it is to be right in the middle of what God is doing. It is such a humbling thing to witness God pouring out his goodness on people and seeing their lives change from the inside-out. I am convinced that my worst day in ministry is better than my best day doing anything else!

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

New Year Challenge

Thinking about the challenges and opportunities this new year will bring, I came across a verse that speaks to the leadership call in all of us. In I Corinthians 6:6, the apostle Paul says, "We have proved ourselves by our purity, our understanding, our patience, our kindness, our sincere love, and the power of the Holy Spirit." I believe that 2006 will be a year of proving for many of us. We have already made goals--goals for our health, our finances, our family, our walk with God. We must be prepared for the tests that are to come. Even your best commitments will be tested this year.

After months, even years of persuading, I finally convinced Rachel to join a health club. She has always walked in the neighborhood, but she cannot stand to work out. After lifting kids, lifting toys, lifting dishes, and lifting mops, the last thing she wants to lift is a dumbbell. Three days into her workout routine, she experienced incredible soreness and wanted to give up. I encouraged her to fight through soreness and fatigue and stay committed to her goals. The results she wants are just on the other side of her pain!

Paul gives us a list of 6 ways we must prove ourselves if we are going to achieve the spiritual results we are looking for...and purity is at the top of the list! If we want God to anoint us and use us in a supernatural way this year, we must be clean vessels inside and out. In order to maintain Godly purity, we cannot trust our flesh. On the wrong day, at the wrong time, given the wrong circumstances, even the best Christian will do something wrong. Safeguard yourself with accountability and pursue purity everyday.

Second, Paul talks about understanding. If we are going to lead people and minister to their needs, we must have understanding. I am learning that when you are committed to earnestly praying for someone, God will speak to you about the things they need. You can speak life to someone who is struggling when you have divine perspective on their situation.

Third, Paul mentions patience. Don't give up on the people you are working with this year. Hang in there with them and operate in patience. When you learn the power of giving mercy, it will bring out the best in your people. Consider your own journey--aren't you glad God has been patient with you?

The fourth area we must prove ourselves in is kindness. I believe this is what has put Healing Place Church on the map. We value kind words and compassionate deeds, believing they have more conversion power than the most eloquent sermon. Kindness is the universal language...a blind man can see it, a deaf man can hear it, and a lost man can feel it!

Sincere love is what ties all of this together. Regardless of our frantic activity this year, if we do not saturate everything we do in love, we are simply spinning our wheels and going nowhere.

I love how Paul finishes this series by listing the power of the Holy Spirit. If we focus our energies toward the first 5 things, we can be guaranteed the Holy Spirit's power to help us!! Have a high-impact 2006 as you populate heaven and plunder hell!!