The past few weeks have been saturated with romance…it seems like everytime I turn around, sombody else is falling in love!! I did a wedding last weekend, I’m doing 2 this weekend, and I’m scheduled to do another next weekend. My daughters insist on going with me to every wedding I officiate. They are “star-struck” over the bride and are captivated by this invisible, magical, Disney-like, princess dream. I enjoy watching young couples grow and develop in their love for each other, but I’m having a hard time convincing my girls that they need to stay home with Mom and Dad until they’re about 40 years old. We’ve taught them that boys have cooties, but Alexa recently came home from school and told me, “Circle-circle, dot-dot, now I got my cooties shot.” At this point, Mikaela believes that if she ever kisses a boy, she will turn into a frog…I’m not telling her any different for a long, long, long time!!

The speed of life in ministry can at times be breathtaking. If you’re into casual Sunday afternoon drives and lazy days at the beach, you’ll be thrown into a panic while hanging out with me. The spring semester is gone, students are graduated, the summer heat is already here, and there is no time to waste…it’s time to hit the ground running.

We normally think of summer in terms of going to the beach, relaxin’, chillin’ and grillin’, taking time off, hangin’ out at the pool. But as a former athlete, I was always told that the “off-season” is the most crucial part of your training regiment. The ones who work hard, sweat, and sacrifice when it doesn’t count will see the biggest results when it does! In prayer this morning, I felt God speak the same principle to me in spiritual terms. The harvest of the fall season is being determined by what we do now. God will enlarge our capacity for the harvest as we commit ourselves to seeking Him today.

The best way to avoid the “summer slide” is to get a vision of where God is taking you. The sacrifice of today is not just for today. Where do you want to be in 3 or 4 months? What commitments do you need to make now in order for those dreams to become a reality? If you’re like me, you’ve asked God for a lot of big things in the future–you must be willing to do now what He’s asking of you, otherwise, it’s just wishful thinking!

The summer is here…it’s time to start steppin’!

It’s past midnight, and I’m sitting in my computer room enjoying the afterglow of an incredible Late Nite service. My body is absolutely worn out, but my spirit is so alive right now. I just finished off some leftovers Rachel set aside for me in the refrigerator, and I cannot stop thinking about how amazing God is. J-Dawg and the band hit it out of the park–we have the best praise and worship in the country, bar-none! They set the table for me every week and make my job of preaching so easy. It truly is an honor to be part of such a talented and committed team. The series “House: the cure for the common church” has been a lot of fun for me–especially tonight…I’ve been looking for an excuse to get rowdy and make a royal mess in church without getting in trouble all my life! I hope it has ignited a fresh fire and an intense desire in you to be fully committed to what God is doing through His church. By the way, if you didn’t get your sword and body armor as you left the service, be sure to talk to Terry Olivier–I hear he’s making his own custom HPC whips and weapons of war! Protect the house, serve the house, commit to the house and you will experience the blessings of the house. I hear my pillow calling out my name for now…until next time.

Last week I had the opportunity to travel to our nation’s capitol with Dan, Lance, and Marc to attend a “Buzz Conference” hosted by National Community Church (Pastor Mark Batterson) in Washington DC. Their church meets in several theaters and a coffee house in the metro DC area and has creatively been reaching out to their community for almost 10 years. The idea of the meetings centered around how to create “buzz” for our churches, echoing the words of Jesus in Luke 14:23 “Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full.” The word urge means to demand attention–to stop and take notice.

In the media craze our culture has created, we are blitzed with over 3000 marketing advertisments every day. Commercials on TV–billboards while driving down the road–You can’t even use the bathroom without being bombarded by some form of advertising…isn’t anything sacred anymore!! I believe the Good News ought to make the news, and it should spread like wildfire. The church has the best message on the planet, and our worst fate is to be ignored.

Amazing enough, when you consider the life of Jesus, He should have lived and died without even being a blip on the radar. He was born in a barn with a bunch of farm animals. He grew up in an obscure part of Palestine as a carpenter’s son. He never traveled more than thirty miles outside of his own home town. He died a criminal’s death and was even buried in a borrowed tomb. Yet, as ordinary and insignificant as all of this seems, Jesus started a radical movement that millions of us follow still today!

We now have an ancient mandate from our Savior to “urge anyone we find to come so that His house will be full.” This Spirit-empowered, word-of-mouth revolution must continue in our communities today. How is the “buzz factor” in your own personal life? How well are you connecting the cause of Christ with your own friends, neighbors, and circle of influence? Are you confronting your fear of the unfamiliar and putting yourself in the shoes of the unchurched? Ask yourself the tough questions, have the courage to answer them honestly, and start creating life-changing “buzz” all around you.

It’s 5 o’clock right now on a Tuesday afternoon, and I have been runnin’ and gunnin’ since early this morning. After a crazy day of meetings, appointments, decisions, and ministry planning, the highlight of my day is just around the corner…a little backyard kickball! One of the best decisions I’ve made in the past 7 years, is to invest in a kickball at Toys-R-Us. Since I’m surrounded by women (Rachel and my two daughters), all I’ve known is playing dress-up, Barbies, babydolls, Pretty Pretty Princess, and everything fru-fru. I’ve been needing to rediscover my macho-masculine side–I have faint memories of its previous existence!

Alexa and I have been in some heated battles over our backyard kickball games. I warn the neighborhood kids and all the little “mama’s boys” to stay at home at watch from their windows. My competitive streak has been ignited once again–finger-pointing and running my mouth has always come second-nature to me. They don’t call me “the Hamanator” for nothing! Rachel says this competitive drive needs to be crucified…I suggest it only needs to be sanctified.

So if you’re in the neighborhood and you’re up for a little challenge, bring your running shoes… becuase when I kick it, you’re going to be running for a long, long time!