ARC All Access Conference

Just returned from All Access 09 at C3 Church in Cleveland, NC. We traveled with our second year interns, Pastor Wade, and Pastor Bud Plake from Freedom Church. We had a great time reconnecting with friends from all over the US as well as meeting some new friends. Got to meet Ben and Katie Brinkman who have planted a church in downtown San Diego 12 weeks ago. ARC is such a strategic partnership for us here at HOF because we gather for a purpose, church planting. I truly believe that the hope of the world is found in Jesus Christ through the local church. It’s what Jesus gave His life to build, and will one day return for as a bride. So far this year, 30 new churches have been planted with a total attendance of 4000 people. Our vision is to plant 2000 new life-giving churches by the year 2020. I know that God is positioning HOF to be a part of that vision and we feel like there will be many churches planted out of HOF in the years to come. Our church has always planted from the days when my father pastored. You know the scripture says to bear fruit, and so we reproduce what we are. I read a great quote the other day, “the fruit of an apple tree is not an apple, but another apple tree”. We at HOF have a great church and our vision is to see not just more people at HOF, which we want to see, but more great churches.

Day to Be Dad

NATHAN AND AN OWL

Got to just be dad today with my 7 yr. old Nathan. He had a fieldtrip to New Orleans to the Aquarium and the IMAX theatre. We had a blast just hanging out looking at cool stuff and him being there with his friends from school. I love watching him interact with the boys in his class and also the girls. You get a better picture of who they are developing into as you watch them respond to the teacher and friends. We are so blessed to have a great school like Faith Academy and devoted teachers like Ms. Christian, yes that’s really her name. Nathan thinks the world of her, and so do we. She treats it as more than a job, she really loves our children and we can tell. Its good to put faces with the names we hear at the dinner table and in some cases meet their parents. Great day for going to New Orleans, it was beautiful.

The Lutcher/Gramercy Meeting

We had a great time meeting with some people on Saturday morning about launching a campus in the Lutcher/Gramercy area. Got to share vision and our heart for what we believe God has called us to do. A lot of work has gone into that place by our XG youth as they have been doing a Thursday night youth meeting since Oct. 192006. We feel that the next logical step is a full blown church plant. We already have a campus pastor, a campus youth pastor, and children’s workers, plus worship is in place. We are going to be building a core over the next few weeks and months toward a goal to launch sometime this summer/fall. If you want to be a part of that team then email me and we’ll get you in the loop. Jesus spoke before His Ascension and said, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone…” Well, I’ve got to go.

Fireproof

Well the banquet on Saturday night was phenomenal. We had a packed house and everything was great. The food by Chef KD was excellent as well as the desserts and especially that salad dressing, first class. I want to thank Polly and her team of decorators for transforming the gym into an elegant affair. I would forget one if I tried to list them all, but Rhonda, Derenda, Tina, Karen, Vanessa, and the staff were as usual, right there. I want to thank our interns and several singles for stepping up in the area of food prep and serving. Someone suggested we open a restaurant, I don’t know about that. The interns and singles really worked well with Chef’s crew to make it a tremendous night. As always our tech guys and staff, they just continue to produce and do all that the Lord puts in my heart to do. I say thanks to you all. I can’t forget Mama Nell and her famous peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that pulled us through. Great night, lots of tears and believing for “results” in the families of HOF and beyond. It was great spending Valentine’s Day with you all. See you at the series.

Jesus Begins

After His time of testing, Jesus then stepped into God’s will for his life: ministry. Don’t let the “churchy” use of that word get to you but understand what it means: serve. It means to serve by executing the commands of someone else. Jesus began to carry out what the Father showed Him and spoke to Him. In fact a prophecy from Isaiah is quoted which says in part:

“the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.” Matt. 4:16

A great light shines in the darkness of the lives of people when we have a heart to serve, or do God’s will and not our own. Why, because it is so unnatural to see people serve others with no personal motive in mind. I know your local business person will serve you because they want to sell a product or service, and that’s natural. Many will ask us to serve their good cause, their good dream, or their good service in fact sometimes far too many will ask. Shining like a beacon on a dark night or a star in a black sky stands the person who has no agenda other than God’s. Serve to see the broken healed, the bound set free, the weary refreshed. Jesus began to serve and changed the course of humanity. Let’s get started and see what God does.

After the fast

In Matthew 4, Jesus encounters a time of temptation either during or just after 40 days of a fast. It’s important to note that you can count on a test in your life even after something as monumental as 21 days of fasting. If you haven’t already gone through your trial, then your time is coming. I love how Jesus made it through, by quoting scripture. You can rely on the Word that is in you through those times of reading and hearing the scripture to battle the devil and his attempt to tempt you. God’s Word is powerful, and is the only way to stand against the devil’s attacks in our personal lives. It’s eternal so what worked for Jesus will work today. It’s specific to the particular area you are being tempted in: ethics, fear, morals, finances, or spiritual. Each temptation was the Satan’s attempt to have Jesus take a shortcut, cutting out God, to meet some legitimate need in His life. Turn bread into stones, but man needs more than bread. If you are the Son of God then jump, but we need to trust that God is protecting us. Bow down and have it all, but we only worship and serve God. Jesus showed us how to make it through and in Christ you and I will make it through also. Be blessed.

The Fast is Over

As we put our time of fasting behind us for this year I want to share with you in the next few blogs several tips I’ve learned over the years so that your investment in spiritual things can be of the most value to you. Here goes: Live a fasted lifestyle.

Many have remarked to me that they wished we could continue on in fasting and prayer and getting together each evening at the church. That is just not possible to keep that kind of schedule, nor is it healthy. I want you to know that the presence of God is not confined to our church auditorium, but you can enjoy Him anytime you are willing to get into a quiet place of life and make room for the Holy Spirit, He’ll respond. The reason times of fasting are so successful in bringing awakening is that we learn to say no to our flesh and God honors that. I encourage you to live a fasted lifestyle. That means make saying no to your flesh a regular, intentional part of your everyday life. We do this when we turn off the TV to pray, forego a little sleep to read our Bible, push away from the extra helping of food to go and spend time with the Holy Spirit. You don’t have to indulge your flesh in everything it wants or you will feel the pull of the world in your life. As we have been discovering, change your thinking and change your life.

Prayer Blog

Hey it’s been a while since I last blogged, sometimes I just get bored with the whole blogging thing. However, I never get bored with prayer. Prayer has been very important to me personally and this time of prayer has also been great. We have seen so many come out as we bombard Heaven. It’s also great to see the mix of people who come to prayer, from every generation and that’s important because God wants them all. This week we are concentrating on the part of our vision that declares that prisoners will be set free. Seeing spiritual breakthroughs in 09 is a major focus, so that God’s people can “be” who God has called us, gifted us, and positioned us to be. Today marks the half way mark of our fast and as we prayed this morning for all the faster that God’s grace would be on our lives as we obey His voice.

Excited about the fast

Tonight is our first Wednesday night of 2009 and I’m pumped as we move into our annual time of fasting. We’ll be talking about that tonight as we prepare for The Awakening series that begins this Sunday. This is always such a great time of spiritual momentum for HOF and we desperately need all who can to be involved and committed. Here are some dates for you to remember

Fast dates : Jan 11- Jan 31

Nightly prayer: Each night at 7:00 pm except Wed. nights

Awakening Series: starting Jan. 11 for 5 Sundays
Anointing service: Wed, Feb. 4 @ 7 pm

Christmas Eve Service

We are once again excited about the chance to give a witness to the love of God with a Christmas Eve service. Last year was amazing and we are expecting this year to be even better. We know it can be hectic for families during this time of the year so we’ve given you two options to choose to honor God this Christmas season. Our first service will be at 4:30 pm with the second at 6:00 pm. We’ll be celebrating communion together as well as singing Christmas songs together. We are going to introduce something called “Cardboard Testimonies” this year as a way for us to tell our story of God’s grace in our lives. It’s going to be electric and powerful as we share a time of thanking God for the gift of His Son, Jesus. Bring the whole family and celebrate God’s gift before going off to be with your family. The best is yet to come.

Exiled

We’ve been reading through the book of Revelations in our morning prayer time and it’s been particularly meaningful. Understand that John was writing the book while in exile on the Island of Patmos, which is off the coast of Turkey. It was there that God “revealed” Himself and His plans to John. I thought of so many who were “in exile” or put out of some circle because of their faith. Maybe you don’t feel like you fit into the various circles in our lives: co-workers, family, or friends because of your heart for Jesus and desire to live for Him. That can happen and it’s not of our doing but just because the life of Jesus in us can effect how we are seen. John didn’t just see his situation but he saw Jesus. The pages of Revelations tell how he worshipped God there and his God met him there. My prayer for you is that if you are feeling “put out” of some circles of people that you will choose to worship God and that He will reveal Himself to you there. The great thing is that God promised that everyone who reads the book of Revelations would be blessed. I know that’s coming true in my life.

Sent Back Different

Paul said, “I’m sending him(Onesimus-the runaway) back to you, and with him comes my own heart.” Philemon 12 NLT

The problem in Onesimus’ life was not his master, or his circumstances or any other thing, instead the problem was his heart. That’s what Paul worked on in his life. Often times when the heart is healed then going back to what you have run away from is no longer intimidating or fearful. Is there a something that you have been running from because it brings a great deal of pain into your life? Often running away seems like the only solution. Running to Jesus to have your heart renewed is God’s solution. The bible says to guard our hearts because the course of our lives is decided there. David was spoken of in the bible as a man with God’s own heart. I believe if we ask today, then God will give us His heart and going back may seem a better option than ever.

From Useless to Useful

I’m all about things that work. If it doesn’t work then I don’t have much use for anything. Paul said that Onesimus, the runaway from Philemon was previously useless had become useful.

“Onesimus hasn’t been of much use to you in the past, but now he’s very useful to both of us.” Philemon 11

It’s a great art to take something that doesn’t work and make it work again. That’s exactly what God does with our lives. He takes the “useless” parts of our lives and changes them so they become useful to both Him and to you. It takes a skilled person to repair a car or a dryer much less repair a soul. God says that He makes all things new. I’m determined to let the Spirit of God work in me to make all of my life useful for both Him and me. Our church is all about allowing that to happen to others like you and me.

Blogging about Philemon

I’ll be blogging for the next few days about Philemon, a letter written by Paul to his friend. It seems that Philemon’s indentured servant ran away. Man can I relate to running away. I remember running from the Lord, I remember running from responsibility, I remember running away from my problems by drinking and such, I remember running from God’s call on my life. I was a runner. The thing about running is that at some point you have to stop. Onesimus was a servant who ran from the household of Philemon. God allowed him to run right into the jail cell of Paul the apostle. You may think you are running from your problems, but you can never run from the hand of God in your life. Paul says that Onesimus ran away for a little while so that Philemon could have him back forever. It seems that God used Paul to extract the runner out of Onesimus. Today, I’d like to ask if you are running from something? You can run but there is nowhere that God won’t see and love you. God’s desire is to take the runner out of you so that you run the race for God, not run away from trouble.

It doesn’t matter

As I was reading my Bible this scripture in Colossians 3:11 jumped into my spirit. It reads, “In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, ……..Christ is all that matters, and He lives in all of us.” Sometimes we think things from our past really matter, you know the mess-ups, the mistakes, the missed opportunities. God really encouraged me that IN THIS NEW LIFE it doesn’t matter. In this new life, Christ is all that matters, or what Christ has accomplished for us on the cross. What Jesus has done for us in his death, burial, and resurrection is more powerful than any of the things we can point to in our past. My focus is on Jesus, my faith is in what He has done at Calvary, and the best is yet to come. Jesus is my future and the past just doesn’t matter nor can it keep me from all that God has planned for my life. That is such a faith-filled thought and gives me great hope as I walk in this life. I wanted to share it with you. It just doesn’t matter.

Football is a classroom

You see a picture of Kaleb decked out in the best looking football jerseys I’ve personally seen, the Faith Academy Crusaders. We are in full swing and tonight is another double-header at ACHS where we play our home games. Football has provided an interesting backdrop to talk about some life issues with my son. Things like being part of a team, taking care of your responsibilities, and giving your best even if your team is losing. I’m amazed at how life’s everyday activities can speak to us. I want to encourage you to be open to what God may be trying to say to you through your everyday schedule of activities.

Bella is Here

I’m holding the newest addition to our church, Bella Freyder. Lauren and Drew gave birth last week in Jackson, MS running from the storm. She’s precious and reminds us that God is still blessing us with the joy of sons and daughters. Lauren brought her by the office so that we could all get a sneak peak. It’s been a while since I’ve held one that small, but it all came back to me.

9/11

It’s hard to believe that it’s been 7 years since the terrorist’s attack on the Twin Towers in NYC. I can still remember being glued to the TV in my office comforted by the presence of our staff as we watched in horror the events unfold. Today I read in Psalms 55:4-5, “My heart pounds in my chest. The terror of death assaults me. Fear and trembling overwhelm me and I can’t stop shaking.” What an impact that day has had on all of our lives, from flying to government to elections. Those terrifying events have changed our lives forever, but we have a promise in Christ. Verse 16 says, “But I will call on God and the Lord will rescue me.” I’m so glad that when things happen that shake our world we can go to God and He can be trusted. In that psalm it says to give your burdens to the Lord and he will take care of you. Would you give Him your burdens today? He can handle it. I promise.

Serving: Our Communities

You see the pictures above of HOF serving the communities of Lutcher/Gramercy and at home at HOF. When we see a storm coming we see an opportunity to serve. After we’ve taken care of our families, we want to turn our attention to those who are lonely and affected to help them the best that we can. We have a mandate to do what we can to help them. As part of the PRC Compassion Team we were able to give out blue tarps, MREs, and water to those who were adversely affected. What a privilege it is to serve.

The Clean Up Is On

Helllo everyone from HOF and those of you who are out of our area. We survived the storm just fine, like everyone else we were without power and had much debris. I personally got power restored Thurday morning. The church is still without power but we are hoping for something real soon. The place is alive with our great staff as we are finding ways to help our community. We'll be reaching out to the Lutcher/Gramercy area today with tarps and water and MRE which stands for Meals Ready to Eat. We are also setting up a RELIEF SITE at our main campus to meet the needs of the Gonzales area. We were given a refrigeration truck that we are trying to get going so that we can give out ice to those still without power. Also, WE ARE HAVING CHURCH ON SUNDAY with our without power. We'll be doing two services at the normal times and so we hope to see all of you there. Let's serve our community in their time of need.