hpc outreach update

check out this post over at donna frank's blog about the outreaches this past weekend.

man, i love being a part of a church that's doing stuff like that.

the big time

cory miller just did a post with some q&a he did with me - check it out here. i guess i'm in the big time.

for real, it's a pretty cool site - good info, interesting stuff about pastor/church blogging, etc. he's got a good knack for blogging stuff the way i like to read blogs. short, interesting, relevant, light, etc... check it out here: www.churchcommunicationspro.com

thanks for the post, cory!

cool verse i read this morning

i was reading/praying this morning - with the upcoming celebration weekend at hpc on my mind (the chapter 2 miracle offering/fall fest weekend) and i read this verse. it hit me as one of those "this is for you today" things. check it out:

joshua 3:5 - "...Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you."

i'm so ready. do what only You can do, Lord.

trains, rain, toy story and sports ill - me and my four boys

rhodes and rhett in the foreground, lincoln in the background

had a cool time last night at books-a-million with the twins and lincoln (jd and i took them there in the rain cuz we had to clear out of the house for tori's "closer" life group they do at our house every thursday night.

thursdays have become a cool downtime i get to have with the three youngest boys (lincoln, rhodes and rhett). jd usually has his own life group to go to. but last night his was cancelled, so he came to help me out. he was great help (thanks jd) - especially with tracking in and out of the store through the rain.

i took them to the book store thinking we'd read some books or something (ya think?) but they saw the train and it was all over. except for lincoln.... he found the tv with a video of toy story in it, so he was right at home. what an outing. leave home to do what you do at home anyway - hmmm. but they had a blast, and i loved watching it happen.



jd and i found this really cool 50-year anniversary book from sports illustrated - full of pics and stuff like cassius clay as a kid, a shot of pistol pete, willie mays - all the old stuff. and there was some crazy shots like one of a baseball catcher totally upside down but fully extended and the base runner touching home plate looking at him like, "dude, what are you doing?" wild shot.

anyway - it was fun. i love my boys. i love being a dad.

sunday's message highlight thoughts

here's some cool thoughts dino rizzo included in his message this past sunday. i thought it was not only one of his funniest messages (which is admittedly quite a long list) but also one of the most timely and clear "this is what we needed to hear right now" messages as well.

he was talking about the story found in 1 samuel 14:1-18 where saul's son jonathan and his helper were choosing to take on 8,000 enemy philistines in a battle. 2 against 8,000. jonathan says "maybe God will help us...."

here's some lines i wrote down that stood out to me:

• they decided their problems will not be resolved sitting under a tree.


• going after the enemy with a "maybe" is better than sitting under a tree worrying.


• one of them had a sword, the other just had kung fu, and they both had a big climb ahead of them with 8,000 enemiies on the other side of the climb.


• it was two men, one sword and a big God - and confusion set in at the enemy’s camp and they started killing each other.


• after the enemy was thrown into panic, then the israelites came out from hiding in the caves and helped fight.

the big takeaway for me from this message:

I don’t wanna be in the last little bit of a miracle. Isn’t there something in you that wants to be in on the start of a miracle?

there sure is. i wanna be in on the start of a miracle. i want to be sure i'm ready to be used by God and i wanna be sure to be in the right place when a miracle is needed.

still got lots more to come

more posts to come - i'm just getting pretty dang sleepy right now so i'm shutting down and going to bed. got early morning prayer/men's life group study at frank's in the morning, too. i actually have two places i'm supposed to be at SIX a.m.! yeah, life's a little nutso right now on the schedule side of things. but at the same time, life is awesome. i've got great kids and a fantastic wife and the best job in the world.

anyway - i'm going to bed. more later......

hpc_mozambique visit

check out my picture gallery from my visit to the new healing place church campus in mozambique:

HPC_Mozambique

tobo man

I got this story from a missionary friend of mine named brian burnham - working in papua new guinea - doing aviation work for some way-deep-inside frontline type of missions work. brian's older brother was martin burnham who many of you will remember the story a few years ago of him and his wife being kidnapped by terrorists and martin being killed before his wife gracia was rescued. brian is the real deal.

this story is a huge success story from some of the work that brian and his family have been involved in making happen. i'm celebrating a win for the Kingdom with this.

FOUND

Praise God! Tingon Willy has just become our first Tobo brother in Christ! Yesterday he trusted in Christ. Here is what he said:

"Ever since you taught me that the law was like a mirror (that it was there so that I could see how sinful I really am) I have been thinking about my sin. After my family falls asleep at night, I think about it. On the trail as I am walking back and forth, I think about it. In fact, I even forgot where I was going and ended up in the wrong spot because I was thinking so much about my sin. I kept coming to your house to help you translate the Bible lessons, but I felt that I was just helping everyone else in Tobo to find eternal life, but I wasn't going to be able to find it. My sins were too many and too big for God to be able to wash them away. And I would just go to the fires of hell. I was scared. I used to think Jesus could wash away my past sins, but that my future sins would heap up and then in the end God would just throw me into the fires of hell. But now I see and believe that Jesus took my place as the lamb took Isaac's place and he died just once so I could live. And his blood washed ALL my sins away, and he delivered me from my sin, death, Satan's power, and the fires of hell. I feel like the arrow of my sin that has been in my heart and in my head and giving me pain for all this time has been removed. And I am not afraid. Thank you, this is the first time I have ever heard this talk." - Tingon Willy, 29, August 2006

Please pray that we would have fertile soil as we begin to teach God's Word to the Tobo people of the village of Dengenu in October. Pray that God would have a bountiful harvest.

please join me in praying for this village that i doubt any of us have heard of but that God knows everything about every resident of - and gave His Son to die for.

excuse #13

here is the next excuse in the ongoing series i've pulled from keith green's "why you should go to the mission field" - excuses people give for not going.

"I'd go to the mission field, but...."

"But I could not afford to get the training, and raise the necessary finances to place myself (or my family) on the field."

keith's response....

Don't worry, God'll help raise the money you need. Wherever God guides, He supplies - even if it means helping you get a job! Problems and worries about finances are usually only a surface excuse when it comes to obeying God to go. In your heart you know He'll make a way for you!

my thought:
do you really think God's up in heaven regretting calling you to go because He just can't find the resources to get you there? He owns the cattle on a thousand hills - shoot - HE OWNS THE HILLS!

b-squared honored

got this note a little while back - just wanted to congratulate my boy brandon. well done, dude.

Please join me in congratulating Mr. Brandon Bourgeois for achieving the extraordinary award of becoming Elevate of the Month for October. This award will be awarded to one of our eleven full-time Elevate interns each month. The award is based on a variety of criteria, which included: attitude, team involvement, grades, reliability, work ethic, willingness to serve, and their ability to submit to authority. Brandon has a great attitude and is always willing to go above and beyond what is expected of him. He is never one to complain or murmur, but encourages and uplifts everyone around him. He has a passion for missions and is currently working with Kim Braud in the missions department for his Elevate internship. Brandon has an amazing heart for hurting people and we can’t wait to see all that God uses him for! If you see or talk with Brandon make sure you congratulate him on this awesome achievement. Congratulations Brandon!

now... back to work, dude.

my twins rock

well, they're learning to. thanks to jordan gautreau's help.

check out this video.

posts coming...

ok... i'm not sure why i haven't posted in so long, but i'll just tell you to brace yourself. i've been saving up and i'm about to unload a flurry of posts filling in the gap of the past few weeks.

should be interesting.