New Rev on David

I was having my quiet time this morning and reading the account of David's sin with Bathsheba and Uriah. For those who aren't familiar, David saw Bathsheba bathing on a rooftop and even though she was married to another, he took her for himself and had her husband, Uriah, killed in battle. I thought about Psalm 53 that David wrote as he was finding his way through that time where he lost his way. His prayer in Psalms 51:1 taught me something. It says, "have mercy on me Oh God because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sin." David had an understanding of God that is revealed in his prayer. He knew that God forgives us because of His love for us not because of how bad we may feel. He put his faith in God's compassion to remove the stain of sin rather than his own feelings of remorse. David kept his eyes on God even through repentance. It's so tempting to focus on how everything makes "you" feel, but we need to be reminded that God is good and merciful and just and righteous and forgiving because that's who He IS. Not because of anything I may feel about myself. You know what that means? That there is hope for all of us, no matter who you are or where you are at in life. God loves you and because of His mercy and His compassion He desires to make us right with Him.

Man Up Tonight

I want to remind and invite all men who want to have a great time tonight to our Man Up meeting in the Activity Center at HOF. We have turned tonight's meeting into a College World Series watch party with the first pitch around 6:00 pm. We have a meal prepared and we are going to turn this place into Omaha South for tonight. Come and bring your friends, this championship will be much better enjoyed with a couple of hundred of your closest friends. We are going to go live to Omaha and speak to some guys that will be at Rosenblatt. Acts 2:42 says that, "... believers devoted themselves to ...fellowship, and to sharing in meals...". Come help us cheer on the Tigers or of course feel free to cheer for the Short Horns. I feel a homerun coming on. LSU versus right handed pitching has been nails. We'll see, whether the Tigers win or not, Jesus is still Lord and I'm still saved.

This is the day

This is going to be a great weekend at HOF. For starters we get to kick off the weekend by watching LSU pound the piggies today then to celebrate a big Father's Day Sunday we have Pastor Stovall Weems of Celebration Church doing his One Prayer message on God is MERCIFUL. I can't wait to be a part of what God has to say through Pastor Stovall this Sunday and you won't want to miss it. I'm encouraging you to bring your father, bring your husband, bring your sons, bring everyone and anyone to hear that God is Merciful. Then to cap off the weekend, Man Up on Monday night at 7 in the Activity Center on campus. What a weekend and its great serving God in Gonzales.

Loving People, Loving God, Loving Life

I've been thinking about the most significant moments I've had and one is definitely when I experienced a new revelation of God's love for me. That has motivated me since then and really it's love that is our motivation to live for God. Jesus was asked the most important commandments and He said, "love God with everything you are, and love people". That's my paraphrase by the way. As a church our challenge is how do we say, God loves you and we love you to our community, to each other, and to the world. Here's one way we have be able to say "I love you" to a small part of the world in Zimbabwe in the city of Masvingo. See the pictures. Feeding children has made such a difference there. The school staff tells us that since we've been feeding, attendance is up, scores are up, and kids are more motivated to learn. We are learning how to say, "I love you" and it's what the world is dying to hear. Not just words, but really believe that someone loves them.

Feeding Center

I've posted a short video that showed some of the kids that we are partnering to feed once a day, 5 days a week. i cannot tell you how much they appreciate the food. Everyone from the kids to the school staff, to the local people expressed thanks for the work that was being done. The food is cooked by volunteers from the church that we helped to plant and they serve the children at school each day. As a result of the feeding program attendance has increased, scores have gone up, and one school has become the top performing school in the whole nation of Zimbabwe. The real difference is made in the life of a young girl as they are the ones most impacted by the feeding program. Without the ability to read and write young girls often feel no other option to survive but by selling their bodies for what they need. This of course perpetuates the cycle of brokenness that devastates lives and families. We are partnering with Celebration Church, Children's Cup, and several other organizations to feed 3000 kids per day at 2 different schools. The best is yet to come.

Out of Africa

I'm going to be blogging and posting some pictures of the incredible trip we had to Swaziland, South
Africa, and Zimbabwe on the continent of Africa. First let me give you the schedule we had. We landed in Johannesburg, SA on a Mon. evening, spent the night resting and on Tues. we flew to Swaziland. A pastor's conference began on Wed. in the Swazi capitol of Mbabane at HPC-Swaziland hosted by Pastor Ben Rodgers. I spoke Wed. evening on One Hope as well as did Pastor Mark Stermer and the Holy Spirit really touched pastors hearts that Wed. night. The conference continued all day Thurs. with sessions in the morning on One Heart, panel discussions on problems pastors face as well as times of fellowship for the pastors attending during meals. On Thursday afternoon we, pastors, did a serve project at the nearby Care Points that Children's Cup lead. It was a new experience to see pastors serving the orphan and underprivileged kids of their country. Pastor is more of a profession in Swaziland rather than a lcalling. Friday we had some time for fun with a morning horse ride through the countryside at a local game park. Friday night we spent the night at a game park and Saturday morning I got to take Connor on a hunt. He loved that. Sunday I spoke at the church and then we relaxed that afternoon. We flew to Zimbabwe via Jo-burg on Monday morning having lunch in Bulawayo with Pastor Dixon and Pastor Stovall Weems. We then were driven 3 hrs to the city of Masvingo where we spent the next 2 days visiting our carepoint lead by Pastor Samson and his wife Nomsa. Then it was back to Jo-burg for the flight home.