We passed a milestone on July 27th–this past Thursday marked 10 years that Rachel and I have been married. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to grow in Christ together and share all of life’s experiences (good, bad, and ugly) with someone who is fully committed to you. When I look at my gorgeous wife and then take a quick glance at myself in the mirror, I’m convinced that our marriage had to be orchestrated by God Himself…there’s no other explanation!

It’s interesting how much life can change over the course of 10 years–it’s no longer just the 2 of us, safe in our own little private world, free to be totally absorbed in our love for each other. God has added 2 darling, yet demanding children, as well as an enormous amount of responsibility in a growing, high-impact church. Needless to say, my romantic skills are not as keen as they once were.

I’m convinced that Rachel missed her calling to be an FBI agent because it is next to impossible to surprise her with anything. You only get 1 chance to celebrate 10 years, so I had to get creative. This would be a massive under-taking, requiring me to enlist the help of some special people. Through a series of rigged phone calls, I made Rachel believe that I had drug my feet making plans for a little anniversary get-away (this wasn’t hard to do because it’s normally true), and every hotel room in New Orleans and Baton Rouge was booked. After some late-in-the-game brainstorming and some heated conversation about my inability to plan ahead, we resigned to staying at home and watching a movie, while the kids went with grandparents.

Her disappointment and frustration with me seemed to grow…little did she know I was playing her like a game of checkers! After a few tense moments and apologies from both of us, I tried to salvage the day by telling her to pack her bags and see if we couldn’t find a hotel in New Orleans with a last minute cancellation. She was reluctant, but felt that after 10 years of marriage and 2 children, it was more than just a stay-at-home, Blockbuster night.

When she got into the car, I had all of our old-school, love songs on cassette (c’mon baby, we were dating back in the stone age…no CD’s, iPod’s, or MP3’s) !! A little Boyz 2 Men, some Celine Deon, a little L-train Luther Vandross, even threw in a taste of Shania Twain and John Michael Montgomery for good measure. We pulled up to the W Hotel in the French Quarter and were greeted with 5-star service as the valet service parked our car. To Rachel’s surprise, the clerk at guest services let us know that a room was available–of course a room was available…I had sent Meghan, my assistant down earlier that day to trick the place out (candles, rose petals everywhere, 3 dozen roses, lotions & perfumes, chocolates, gifts, a card). I wanted to remind Rachel of all the reasons she fell in love with me, and that I was still her hunka-hunka burnin’ love!!! The battleground had become a playground!!

When she walked into my little surprise, I could tell instantly that I went from a Zero to a Hero! We rolled out to Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse to make our 7:30pm dinner reservations, and needless to say, it’s been a great weekend!!

I’m so proud of the Late Nite crew who dedicated their weekend to our Dream Center campus in Donaldsonville. A team of nearly 30 people made the trip to serve it up in one of the poorest communities of America–the average annual income per-family is $8200. I thank God for all of the missions projects we’re a part of overseas, but you don’t have to look very far from home to find extreme poverty and suffering…it’s in our own back yard. The Bible is clear on how Jesus feels about the poor, hurting, oppressed, and marginalized–we can’t even say we have faith in God if there is not room in our hearts to care for them and offer hope. Under the direction of the phenominal Dream Center staff, we were able to rebuild homes, clean up neighborhoods, minister to children, and serve in the weekend services. Every single Late Niter was stretched to think beyond himself/herself and gain a new perspective on life. It’s an incredible thing to be used by God to serve suffering humanity. Knowing we are placed on this earth for purposes much bigger than ourselves helps us understand the blessings of God more. Blessed to be a blessing is more than just a clever church saying–if we can help those in need, then we must!! Thank you Late Nite…it’s always an honor to serve.

This Wednesday night we kicked off our new series- I.AM.RELEVANT.
Relevant can be defined as:
1. connected to what’s happening
2. useful to what’s happening
3. suitable for a purpose

1 Corinthians 9:19-23 is an important scripture pertaining to relevance. In this passage of only five verses, the phrase “…so that I can bring them to Christ” is mentioned six times!!! The reason that we are still here and not brought up to Heaven is to bring others to the love and freedom found only in Christ!

Catch this: If the way you live your Christianity is not bringing others to Christ, then you are probably completely irrelevant.
I know this is tough to swallow, but it is possible to be saved and even serious about God, yet totally ineffective because you don’t know what’s going on around you!

We must remember that we are not on earth for ourselves- we have a much bigger purpose. We are here to make a difference. We must be understanding, committed, and unwilling to compromise.
What impact is your faith having on the world around you?

This past Friday, we celebrated Alexa’s birthday–she turned 8 years old–by taking her and a friend to Dixie Landing. (Am I old enough to have a daughter that is really 8? Does this mean I have to grow up and start acting like a responsible adult? It’s amazing how old I’m getting but how young I feel!) We dodged the rain drops for over an hour before heading to the mall for a little cookie cake and some birthday shopping.

While we were at the theme park, Mikaela, our 3 year old, got bit by a mosquito on the ankle. It began to swell over the next 24 hours to the point where she couldn’t even walk. Fearing the worst, Rachel and I took her to the Lake After Hours on Sunday afternoon. As we sat in the waiting room for nearly 2 hours watching old Scooby-Doo re-runs, an elderly lady came in, assisted by her daughter. Her thumb was wrapped up and bloodied, and the look on her face told us she was in severe pain. We found out that she had slammed her thumb in a car door as she was leaving church that afternoon. Alexa looked on in compassion…I could see God was stirring something in her. We encouraged her to go pray for the elderly lady, but she seemed a bit reluctant to step forward. She probably thought, “Daddy, that’s your job. You’re the preacher…I’m just an 8 year old.”

I sat in my seat, watching this whole scenario unfold, and hoped that she would take the risk. Sure enough, Alexa walked over to where the ladies were seated, introduced herself, and asked the injured one if she could pray for her. When the woman agreed, Alexa laid hands on her and prayed the healing power of Jesus Christ over her life. The elderly woman was crying, her daughter was crying, Rachel was crying, and everyone in that waiting room had just witnessed the awesome power of child-like faith. How cool is that?!!?! Now, all of a sudden, the exploits of Shaggy and Scooby-Doo seemed to pale in comparison to the encounter we had just witnessed. In my mind, I saw every sick person in that waiting room standing in line, as Alexa laid hands on every single one–I guess that’s the preacher in me that dreams of doing ministry one day along side my children! Lord, help us as parents to encourage and empower our kids to release their faith in a world so desperately seeking it!!!

P.S–Mikaela is doing just fine, now. She’s wide open, full-throttle!!