Ang and Nat in Africa

Here's a pic Ang sent me from the mission field. Natalie just came back from 9 months in Africa and Ang is going back for 9 months in September. I have had the privilege of spending a significant amount of time with both these former interns and I can't wait to see what awesome plans God has for them. All glory to Him!

P.S.
We currently have teams in Africa and Honduras so please keep them in your prayers. Thank ya!

Trying something new and need your feedback

Typically I use this blog to share stories about what's going on at the Dream Center or at HPC. I'm going to try something a little different but I want your feedback. Occasionally, just for grins, I'm going to toss in a post that has a 'daily devotional' flow to it. Lemmino what you think; if all four of my readers hate it then i'll shelf the idea :)
All glory to God!

Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Matthew 6:11-13

How many times have I wanted to receive my daily bread, be delivered from the evil one, but not have to forgive the people who had hurt me? I don’t believe that anything in God’s Word is random. If we want provision and deliverance, we have to recognize that forgiveness falls in the middle of the two; it’s a package deal.

A pastor once told me that the difference between bitterness and joy was our capacity to forgive. I have known bitterness. I could write volumes on how to remain bitter; how to nurture resentments, relive offences and fan the flames of hatred. Joy, however, was a different horse all together. I had seen joy from a distance, but I couldn’t say I’d ever really known it. I was too busy with my bitterness to waste time on something as fleeting as joy. That had been my attitude prior to learning about forgiveness.

I don’t believe that forgiveness is something we can come to on our own. I believe that God will meet us at the exact point we’re able to bring ourselves to, and from there He’ll do the rest. God commands us to forgive those who come against us…He wouldn’t command us to do something and then not help us. That’s simply not His character.

Whatever burden of unforgiveness you’re carrying can be laid at the foot of the cross. You don’t have to be tied to your oppressors through bitterness or anger. You can free them through forgiveness, and thereby free yourself from their power over you. Unforgiveness is a trap, but it’s not your enemy that gets entangled.

Question of the day:
Who am I allowing to stand between my provision and deliverance?

Coming and Going

It seems like half the people I know are either out of country or about to get on a plane to cross the pond. This is a really cool time for Healing Place because we have mission teams going to Honduras, Swaziland, Mozambique...all kinds of great places! And, we have teams coming in to learn how to do outreach, HPC-style. People are coming and going all over the place; and all for the purpose of making Jesus known. I love it!!
Side note: I was at a meeting at the Annex last night and just as we were leaving, the Hub (college ministry) was gearing up for their weekly service. I heard it was Redneck Nite, which alleviated some of my concerns about how our next generation was dressed. I gotta say; JP in his shrimp boots, cut-off t and overalls...not a good look. Love your spirit though Bro.
OK, back on track. I've had the opportunity to talk to some of the people going on these mission trips, and I got to pray with some of them. A common theme, throughout the prayer requests, was this: I want God to do something amazing. These kids could have asked me to pray for anything...safety, finances, favor, anything. What they wanted most, was more of God. Way cool.
So be praying for all of our mission experiences, both here and abroad. All of us, I think, want to see God do something amazing. I know I do. All glory to Him!

Highlights

There are so many things that happen and I think 'I really need to blog that'. But then 6 other things happen and I never make it to my laptop. So, today I am going to share a few cool things that I've seen lately.
- Intern Graduation happened on Sunday afternoon. These are the people who, for the past 9 months-3 years, have worked like Hebrew slaves (serving at campuses, raising money for missions, writing papers, studying for tests, worshipping, giving, building the Kingdom and reaching the world by serving one), all for an audience of One. These guys are sold-out for God and I believe every one of them will be a world changer for Jesus. It was so cool to see them walk across the stage and receive their diplomas. GO INTERNS!!!
- Volunteer Appreciation Day was Saturday. Until you've spent a day on False River with 20 inner-city volunteers who have never been outside city limits, you haven't lived. Favorite quote (from GED student): "Well I ain't never been on a river neither...we jus gonna act like it's a bathtub!" Second favorite quote (from Carole to her child): "Evangeline, if you get hit by lightening you are in so much trouble!" Gotta luv our peeps!
- David Wray preaching at BRDC...all I can say is WOW! He did a slammin' job; and he and Bethany are just so cool!
- Last Sunday I walked into the sanctuary and saw Ang (intern) talking to a woman I didn't know. Ang subtly waved me over to the woman, who was talking fast and sobbing. Ang gave me the 'I'm not sure what's happening' look so we both just stood there and listened. The woman finally got out what she wanted to say: Thank you. She told us we ('we' downtown means anyone in a Serve shirt) had knocked on her door and prayed for her to get a job and the next day someone called her and offered her one. The tears were tears of excitement and gratitude. How cool is it that we get to stand close enough to watch God move? Love it!
I am sure there are a hundred other things that I could write but I have to go for now. Oh yeah, if you haven't read Pastor Dino's book yet, Servolution, put that at the top of your to-do list...it's fantastic.
All glory to God!!!

Kept Safe

I'm sitting in my living room eating a Hot Pocket and watching TV...yep, the secret life of Donna Frank. I'll be leaving to go on Midnight Outreach in less than an hour but I haven't blogged in so long I thought I'd see if I still knew my password. The fact that you're reading this means 'so far, so good'.
We have a team in from Texas this week...a cool group of young women who play college basketball and, in their spare time, drive to Baton Rouge to help out with inner-city outreach. So far this week they have grilled for people on the street, hosted a b-ball clinic for at-risk youth, fed the homeless and done outreach is various venues. I saw them this afternoon and they looked a little weary. They will be on Midnight with us tonight so I hope they had a moment to rest. They're doing a double-header with midnight and bar outreach so they should be getting in around 3am. Gotta love mission trips!
I have to change my Serve shirt and get ready for round 2 (or 3 or 4). I love that on a Friday Night at 8pm HPCers are prepping roses to take to strip clubs across the city. I love that, right now, there is a woman somewhere, in a terrible situation, getting ready to go to work in an unbelievably bad occupation, who doesn't know that God loves her beyond measure, exactly where she is. And I really love that in a couple of hours, we get to tell her.
I love that Jesus went to hard places. I love that Pastor Dino and Delynn allow us to go to the hard places. Lots of churches don't get to go; many times for fear of what others might think of them. I am so grateful that my pastor is more concerned about what God thinks than about what others may think.
"Fear of man will prove to be a snare but whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe" (Proverbs 29:25)
I love my church. I love my Pastor. Most of all I love my God! All glory to Him.