glocal-mindedness

scott hodge hit the nail on the head today with his post "thinking and living glocally." if i had seen this post before putting up my "two links you HAVE to hit" it would have been "three links..."

here's a bit of the post:

For us, one thing we know for sure is that we're not interested in missions being a "department" that hosts a dinner once a year or outreach being an "event" that people can be a part of if they happen to be interested.

We want global & local concern AND action to be a WAY OF LIFE for our church community.

[read the whole thing here]

i grew up an mk (missionary kid) and have always kinda thought that those who don't go overseas are wimps. i was all about the whole thing that if you aren't called to stay then you ought to go (keith green).

i still feel that a lot, but there's a really true point in the fact the whole world is our mission field. it can be a cop-out to say we're doing missions in our own back yard. but i have seen (especially since katrina) desperately lost and hurting people as much here in the USA as i have in africa or asia.

the fact is that there are hurting people EVERYWHERE and there are desperate situations all around us. we need to go overseas. we need to go next door.

compartmentalizing missions and outreach int "departments" dilutes the truth that these are the very core of what being a Christian is all about.

like scott said, it is WHO we are, not what we do. at least it should be that way.

two links you HAVE to hit

ok, you don't have to. but you should.

first - tally wilgis (yeah, that's his name - he's so cool that a name like bill johnson just couldn't contain him) has a post called "blog maturity 101" - great thoughts in there - definitely worth the time to read. i especially like the last two:

#5 - Look up the term Ad Hominem.
#6 - You can be both true and Wrong at the same time!

the other link you need to hit is bob franquiz has a post called "keep the creative juices flowing" - some cool thoughts then a list i love:

1. keep innovating


2. limit the number of sacred cows


3. stay open to the Spirit

(that last one trumps it all.)

there's so much more to say but i'll save it for another post.

the difference between supernatural and natural

jack dyer said a lot of cool stuff in the campus pastors meeting i just posted about, but one thing he said stood out in particular to me.

"We are the only ones who see a difference between natural and supernatural. It's all the same to God."

i'll be chewing on that one for a while. it's strong.

"going global" flare in campus pastors meeting

hpc campus pastors meeting today

as i sat and listened during the hpc campus pastors meeting this morning, i looked around the room (only part of it is showing in the picture here) and it dawned on me how "globally" represented we were in there.

fernando gutierrez is on the left - pastors our spanish campus.
mark stermer is next (moving right) - oversees all the campuses, and just returned from a visit to our mozambique property.
jack dyer - in as a guest teacher today - a missionary to honduras and india with years and years of experience from all over.
james williams - amazon inland mission - the father and uncle of all the brazilian williamses you hear so much about. his legacy speaks volumes for him.
timmy straight - st. francisville campus pastor
elizabeth (williams) demarest - dream center campus pastor
on elizabeth's computer is her brother isaac in brazil via video conference on IM - he's invovled in our brazil campus and he's heading out soon to the mozambique campus.
not pictured is johnny green (highland campus pastor) who went with me to africa once, and whose mother-in-law is currently in tanzania.
also not pictured is lance leblanc, who heads out for australia in a couple days.

i wondered how many countries all of us had been to all put together. i haven't counted recently but it's something like 35. i know most of them in there have been to several i haven't been to yet, too. i thought, "what a huge honor to sit here with such a representation of what God is doing around the world."

correction on craig boutte's blog address

just learned this morning that craig has an even better blog at this address: craigboutte.blogspot.com. the address i originally gave you is now a dead blog. my bad.

a few new links on my sidebar

i've added craig boutte - (craigboutte.blogspot.com), cheri leblanc (drcheri.blogspot.com) and phill leblanc (members.cox.net/pmleblanc007/blog.html) to my sidebar.

craig is one of those guys you meet and you just get the idea that God is about to unpack some huge destiny on. he's serving like crazy around here at hpc and is just really one of those real-deal dudes.

dr. cheri is the one through whom God gave the vision for hpc's mobile medical clinic. her blog is full of updates, great information and stories about what God is doing through the clinics she runs.

phill leblanc is dr. cheri's son - reading his blog will remind you that some kids DO get it, and aren't wasting their lives on stupid stuff.

both are good reads. both will keep you right in touch with the heart of hpc and how it is being expressed all over the place.

germany missions trip blog

another hpc missions team has started a blog to help us stay connected with them while they are out. the latenite team going to germany has launched their team blog at germanymissiontrip.blogspot.com. check it out and let them know you'll back them in prayer.

p.s. - we've got the mexico missions team blog set up already - don't forget to keep tuned into it here as we get closer to our departure in a few weeks.

please remember to pray for these and other missions trips heading out or already gone (one is out right now in tanzania) this summer. and show your support by commenting on the blog posts they do from the field.

seacoast goes all access

my boy shawn wood at seacoast just put out a link to their new message-access site. check it out here.

why i blog

mark batterson posted this - i couldn't really put it any better myself, so i'm just gonna steal what he wrote. i might change the sequence a bit for my own version, and there's one in there about sermons (i don't preach often at all) but i'll leave it as he wrote it - since he did write it.

• #10 Blogging is a form of digitaldiscipleship. Neo-scrolls.


• #9 Blogging is the way I share what is happening in my head and my heart.


• #8 Blogging is cathartic. It helps me process what I'm thinking and feeling.


• #7 Blogging is the way I leave a trail. My kids and grandkids can read it someday.


• #6 Blogging is a sermon supplement. Actually, sermons might be a blogging supplement.


• #5 Blogging is a way to carry on a conversation with lots of people at the same time.


• #4 Blogging is a form of auto-biography.


• #3 Blogging is one way of capturing the things God is revealing to me.


• #2 Blogging helps me remember what God doesn't want me to forget.


• #1 Blogging is a stewardship issue. It's one way I share what God is teaching me.

now, to help make me feel better about stealing this list from him - go check out his blog here.

i'm inspired now - the more i think about it, the more i really think i should come up with my own. it's too late now to really do that and have it make more sense than this post (which really shouldn't be hard to do....) so i'll save it for another post. for now, that's a decent list that oughtta motivate some of you reader/non-bloggers out there to take the leap. just blog. you'll be glad you did.

see? i told you johnny was cool.

just read this on johnny green's blog. check it out:

I had a great day yesterday meeting with ministry leaders in our church. I had five meetings with different men and couples that are rising to the challenge of being a healing place for a hurting world. It is so great to be around people that have passion for Christ and compassion for the lost and hurting. Each meeting was about how to reach more people and how to honor God with a spirit of excellence. Not one of the people I met with gets any reward for their efforts other than the “well done my faithful servant” they receive from the Father. I hope I have the same attitude as each of those leaders.

I often hear people talk about being a “deep” or “mature” Christian. The answer usually has to do with how much bible or theology they know. I believe that our actions reveal what we truly believe. How can we say we understand justification by faith if we are not doing everything we can to tell people about God’s grace?

When John the Baptist asked Jesus if He was the Messiah, Jesus did not give him a theological treatise. He said “Go back to John and tell him about what you have heard and seen – the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor” (Mt. 11:4-5).

I appreciate men and women for whom making Jesus seen and heard is a priority.

what a great sign that at hpc we're not just growing but that we're growing healthy.

stand up eight

d wade. glad to see him get his tonight. love how he uses the glass. love that he can shoot free throws. (that's important to me for some reason.)

i love the ad where they show wade getting knocked down over and over. then the caption, "fall down seven times..." then he keeps getting back up and then the caption says, "stand up eight."

great lesson for life. it's how he plays the game. it's how i wanna live mine.

congrats dwayne wade - nba finals mvp.

myspace vs. blogger

check out this post by phillip leblanc - still a little soft on myspace, i think (as direct as he is about it, i still think it is very clear - myspace is for weenies).

i've allowed my daughter to have a myspace account but only for the purposes of being able to read a select few of her friends' myspaces. she checks with me prior to accepting someone as a "myspace friend" - if i don't know who it is and approve, she doesn't add them.

we've agreed that her myspace is not a place for her to build an online presence. she's got a blog for that. and i told her i'd work whatever web design i know how to do to help her have everything (and more) that she could get with a myspace account.

sure, there's the whole "everybody's got a myspace" sensation (it's just a sensation - not the truth) but the benefits hardly come close to outweighing the risk and all the garbage that comes with it (there are more descriptive words for it than "garbage", but stating them here would only make this post stoop to a myspace level).

anyway, thanks phill, for the analysis on your blog. and thanks, tori, for being an incredible daughter who is going full-out after God.

BAM!

dad

i actually thought about posting a bunch of this today before i had the epiphany that today is father's day.

i've got a great dad. my dad can beat your dad up. ok, maybe that's not the point. and maybe your dad is ronnie lott or someone like that. (i got to meet ryan nece the other day who actually can say ronnie lott is his dad.)

my dad may not be able to beat up ryan's dad, or yours. but he's a giant when it comes to what a man ought to be. for as long as i can remember, dad has always sought to do everything God has given him to do. he has pursued God's plan for his life relentlessly. he has covered a lot of ground along the way, too.

he has been in over a hundred countries, directing ministry-related projects in something like 56 of them. i remember him telling me one year he spent as much time either in the air or travelling to/from airports as a person would spend working 40/hrs a week for a year. i remember more than once when he would return home from an around-the-world trip only to turn right back around the next morning to go around it the other direction.

gone a lot? yeah. even today, he and mom have been back from a few months in africa and they're on their way to iowa from louisiana, and they'll get back for a couple days then head out to australia.

dad is a travelling machine.

but he's more than that. he's a statesman of the faith. he's part of a remnant of what pioneer missionaries gave us. victor plymire asked him when dad was about 4 years old if he would take the place of his child who died in tibet. that began the passion for missions in dad.

dad has served and still serves shoulder-to-shoulder with the "big names" in ministry and missions. he's very aggressively not a "hot dog" - but he's also not a weenie. when we get to heaven and we see what got done for the kingdom, i think there's gonna be a lot of crowns being credited to him (more to cast at Jesus' feet). he has directed massive projects, and he has stood and held aids orphans in his arms giving them an experience that is rare for them - a man showing them true and pure love.

dad is a legitimate genius. he's an avid reader. he's a skillful and anointed writer. (you can read a bunch of his writing on his blog.) he loves my mom (47 years married). he's both a great father and a grandfather.

but of all the things he is, what sums it up most for me is that he is the kind of father like the one who wrote proverbs 3. dad read it to me the day i left home to go to college. i can remember him asking me to come sit on the king-sized bed in his room with my mom in manila, and reading the wisdom of that chapter to me.

i cherish the fact that i have a father. and to have one who i'm proud of and who has exemplified Father God to me so well. it's just icing on the cake that he's a modern-day victor plymire.

i love you, dad.

ragamuffin soul - question about blogging

why do you read blogs? which ones do you read and what makes you visit them?

just saw this on ben abu saada's blog.

the worship pastor of a church in california (carlos whittaker) is trying to get a poll working on those questions in preparation for a teaching he's about to do at saddleback titled, "How to Effectively Impact Your Church and Community Through Podcasting And Blogging" and he wants some real-world answers.

so, ask yourself - what about it? why do you read the blogs you read?

then let carlos know what you think. here's a link to his post.

johnny quattro has landed

johnny green has a blog.

finally.

i feel like i've been like those people waiting on the boat watching for a glimpse of a whale surfacing off the coast of alaska. looking... waiting... hoping...

then finally, there it is! ah, the beauty. the majesty. every expectation surpassed.

you've gotta see this.

johnny green's blog

johnny is the highland campus pastor for healing place church. he's from central from back when central wasn't a city. he's the son of my favorite bible college professor. he's one of the only degreed staffers at hpc. he's got a black and red u2 ipod. he's got a jeep. he's got the biggest kid you ever saw (johnny cinqo). he's a dietrich bonhoffer fan. i went to africa with him. i've seen the best and the worst of him, and i've seen that his worst is still often better than my best. he's the real deal.

yeah, they're mine.

thanks for the pic, tori

He's got the whole www in His hands

check out this update from josh about hpc's budding young webcast.

way to go fazha.

6am men at frank's

well over 100 (i counted about 116) men showed up at frank's this morning for the study dino rizzo is doing called "what men want" - pretty cool.

he talked about some lessons from the story of zaccheus. one point he made really well was that we're going to face some tree-climbing situations. we're too short to see. there's a lot of people in our way. there's something challenging us - keeping us from what we neeed to do. but z didn't settle for that.

sometimes you just have to do whatever it takes to follow hard after Jesus.

but it's always worth it.

a father's prerogative....

you sleep in my bed when you're two and i shoot video of you snoring and share it with the world and call it cute...

check out rhodes here.

leadership network, operation blessing, nike, nfl, ryan nece and healing place church

handing out new nike shoes


a happy "customer"


ryan nece sizing a little girls' new shoes


two volunteers who won the "look what the humidity has done to my hair" award


standing there sweating next to tim dammon


dave and kathy from operation blessing giving instructions to the team

a few days ago i got to be part of something really cool. tim dammon from leadership network came in to talk about healthcare ministry (visited dr. cheri for a while in the mobile medical clinic). the first day he was here, we threw a red "SERVE" t-shirt on him and put him to work at an outreach up at the renaissance fema trailer park. this vp executive-level dude worked with us, sweated with us, loved on people with us, got muddy and rained on, loaded, unloaded, picked up trash - the works. he even stunk like the rest of us (maybe a little more texas-flavored, though). what a testament to him and to the organization he represents!

the event was really cool. ryan nece from the tampa bay buccaneers had gathered a bunch of nike gear to give out (shoes, jackets, sweats, shirts - all really nice stuff). over 500 people we served, and ryan was another real-deal guy - in there loving on people - not hanging out under a banner with his name all over it offering to let people touch him - none of that ora at all. he's legit as far as i'm concerned.

operation blessing was there putting all the system together. again, david and kathy and the rest of the team they had here - all of them the real thing. i love those people.

and of course, our own hpc redshirts were there doing what we do best - sweating, loving, serving. melvin, jp, johnny, alliece, and way more redshirt folks than i could possibly name - a superb team. check out alliece's report on the event and some of the "aftermath" - really cool.

operation blessing took about 20 of us to dinner afterwards (boutin's cajun restaurant) - a great connection time and celebrating what God had put together.

i'm SOOO glad i get to be part of this. i got to see a corporate executive, an nfl athlete, a sleek crew from virginia and a bunch of cajun grunts all work together in the heat and humidity to bless a lot of people in Jesus' name.

ohh - one more pic you've gotta see... jp and ryan nece. check it out here.

boo-yah!

toby bohl, joel dyke, and todd bougher

my cousin, todd bougher (pronounced boo-yer but around here, of course it gets twisted to boo-yah) and toby bohl (our tv/lighting dude here at hpc) just did this stage makeover for joel dyke's church (life church) up in the yankee end of louisiana (anywhere north of i-10). check out joel's post about it here.

todd does some really off-the-hook stage designs here for us at hpc - he's got the whole creative and resourceful genuis thing working. (runs in the family - hahaHA).

it's been a great week for todd, too - he got to play drums at the one way worship night last night at hpc and did a mighty fine job, too.

way to go boo-yah!

want a challenge?

this is from a 15-year-old girl who posted this on her blog after our "one way" worship service tonight at healing place church:

As a Christian, the time that I spend on this earth is not my own. I have dedicated my life to my Father. I want to change the people around me because I live according my Father's business, not the world's.

So why do I waste my life sitting on the couch, watching tv, and obsessing over my image and reputation? Why can't I get off of my butt and do something to make a difference in people's lives? God doesn't want me to spend my life being a lazy grouch.

He wants me to be joyful, patient, and kind. He wants me to love others as I love myself. Stop worrying about my own hollow desires and start focusing on His desires.

Trust me, I've done this before- worrying more about God's desires than my own- and it works. Not only do I make my Father's face smile, but my life begins to be fulfilled and I start to enjoy life. I'm satisfied and happy rather than being empty.

So, tomorrow is a new day. Time is not my own. I don't own my life- He does. I gave it to Him and I'm better for it. He will never leave me or forsake me, so this time I'm not gonna leave Him and forsake Him. Life is too short to waiste on the temporary cravings of the human soul. I'm going to start spending my time on the infinite fulfillments of the everlasting, uncondtional love of the Father.

I dare you to do the same...

i'm in. i'll take the dare. that's really what this "pursuit" thing is all about. thanks for the challenge, tori.

that's amore (thanks brian edwards)

wow - this may actually be funnier than that "o holy night" song i posted last christmas.

check this video out. be sure to get to the part with the dude in the suit - he's the real winner.

#1 son in pathfinders summer session

okay, this was a proud day for me. jd (my oldest son) started an internship-type program with pathfinders today. pathfinders is the jr. hi ministry at healing place church. crystal tullos has done what looks to be an awesome job setting up this program to train these fresh young minds of mush to be servant-minded laborers in the Kingdom.

it's not your average junior high school summer for these kids. they're gonna be cleaning, serving, learning, studying, reading, writing, giving stuff away, helping any way they can - and getting hands-on experience in real-world situations of ministry.

yay pathfinders.
yay tyler and crystal.
yay jd and all the other kids going for it this summer.

you've gotta get one of these...

i just got my copy of relevant books' new release from author jason boyett, "pocket guide to the bible" - lemme say this much right off the bat -- it is hilarious.

okay, now that i said that, the truth is that it's probably a pretty valuable resource for some of those little trivia things like "ten uses of the number 40 in scripture" or "does anyone's name in the bible start with the letter f?" (yes, just one) or "seven phrases from the book of judges that would make great band names" (i'm gonna use #6 if i ever start a band).

there's a really cool "biblicabulary" that deciphers some Christianese and just explains regular bible words for those new to the deal.

there's a cast of characters summary that's pretty cool - in case you want to know who Og was or what were the highs and lows in Peter's life.

and then there's my favorite, a run through of each testament "at break-neck speed" - i wish i'd had this available for me during my OT survey and NT survey classes in bible college.

but then at my bible college, this book would have been banned for several reasons, mostly the envelope-pushing vocabulary of the author. there's probably a couple times that jason goes further than i'd go with describing stuff (as far as use of words that could be offensive to people), but i was honestly surprized at how little i felt like it was an issue. most of the time when someone writes with this level of funny, they do so at the expense of keeping clean. jason keeps it on the right side of the line, i think, for the vast majority of the time.

i laughed out loud several times over and over while reading. i don't know what angie and marc (in the adjacent offices) thought was going on.

this is a great value (i think it's only like 10 or 12 bucks to pick it up) - it'll fit in a pastor's resource library and it'll fit in the basket in the bathroom. either way.

reading charles' blog

rhett and rhodes loved the pic charles put on his post about life on the field. i was too slow with the camera to get them trying to flex like charles.

some interesting posts from the children's cup team lately - check 'em out:

daran and teresa rehmeyer
charles and kristen young
patrick conti
dave ohlerking
jean ohlerking
susan rodgers
ben rodgers

welcome home, dino

saw this shirt on a kid at mr. gatti's today (great italian cuisine) and thought it was an appropriate way to celebrate the return of my pastor and best friend, dino rizzo, from his trip to italy today.

benvenuto, dino!

the quintessential conti

the doctor is in. in the blogosphere. robert conti has birthed www.quintesant.com - the much-anticipated contiblog.

pheeeenomenal photography in there, plus some great perspective on the italy/russia trip he's on with dino rizzo.

this is one that's worth tracking.

go. go now.

i'm part of something much bigger than me

i just got this from dave van rensburg ("beano") who is part of the children's cup team in africa. he did the logistics and setup for the hope rwanda deal going on in... uh... well, you guessed it, rwanda.

anyway - i just read it and got the overwhelming sense that the ministry i get to be a part of and the God that is reaching through all of it - it is all sooooo much bigger than i am. and that's a great feeling. check this out:


Amahoro Stadium, Rwanda, Central Africa

What a privilege it was for Sharon and I to be standing in the Amahoro (translation of Amahoro is Peace) stadium on the final night of the crusade to witness thousands of people being filled with the Holy Spirit.

During the genocide (possibly the fastest rate of genocide in recorded history) this very stadium was the UN base where over 20 000 terrified, helpless and desperate men woman and children sought refuge. For over two months they had no food, no water, and no sanitation. They had absolutely no hope. Now, just over a decade later in this very stadium, people were standing with their hands held high and tears flowing down their cheeks witnessing God’s unconditional love.
What a mighty God we serve!

Keep well,
Beano