We are currently in a series at all of our campuses entitled, GOD: Revealed. This weekend we spoke about, “God Forgives” and it was amazing!! Many times the message of God’s forgiveness can be so difficult to get your mind and heart around. But we are so encouraged to hear some incredible reports from our campuses…people receiving His forgiveness and experiencing freedom from the guilt and shame of the past. God is truly doing an great work!

Check out this report from HPC_El Paso…just this weekend there were 18 salvations, and since launching this campus earlier in the month there has been 39 recorded salvations, 20 people signed up for baptism, and 50 people who attended a newcomers gathering-Awesome!! It is so great to see God moving and changing lives in a movie theater in El Paso, TX…Buck and the team are doing such a great job.

Saturday night, I captured two great moments…a precious girl in our church, Brandy Rector, turned 24, and we surprised her during service with a cookie cake and the whole church sang “Happy Birthday” to her…she was shocked–the smile on her face was priceless! Also, I caught these four crazy LSU fans in the foyer all wearing gold–the color of a true LSU Tiger!

I haven’t made a blog post for 7 days–guess I’m still recovering from Rachel’s week-long birthday extravaganza. But you know what’s scary–Mikaela has a birthday next Wednesday!! Yikes! I might need to take out a loan! Of course, I’m only teasing. Life moves so fast–I think we need to take every opportunity we can to celebrate everything we can.

I’m not a guy who takes in a lot of music on the radio, but the other day I caught a sound-byte of a song as I was driving down the road, and it stopped me in my tracks. I went home to look it up on iTunes, and I can’t stop listening to it. Have you ever gotten stuck on a song and it drives everyone around you crazy? The tune is so cool, and the lyrics are lethal. It’s a Toby Mac/Kirk Franklin song called “Lose My Soul.” You gotta hear it–it’s slammin!!

It’s a powerful reminder of how important it is to maintain an eternal perspective. We live in a culture that is intoxicated on materialism and wealth, but I don’t want to gain the whole world and lose my soul. I want to be a dad who is in the mix, a husband who stays legit, and a lover of Jesus who rises above. I teach about prosperity, but the first thing that prospers should be inside of me.

Check it out and let me know what you think!!

I want to dedicate this post to the woman who has captured my heart & controlled my wallet for the past 12 years! Rachel turned 32 this Wednesday, and we decided to celebrate all week long-24 hrs just isn’t enough time to say Happy Birthday.

On Monday, we went to the mall where Alexa bought a cookie cake with her own money and gave it to Rachel-of course we ALL enjoyed that gift. Not to be outdone, Mikaela cleaned out some of her old toys on Tuesday & wrapped them along with some personal drawings in tissue paper-what creativity!

Wednesday, the girls in the office made some cupcakes for her and sang “Happy Birthday” to her. Then that afternoon, I kidnapped Rachel for a quick overnight getaway to New Orleans. I made sure we ate a huge breakfast on Thursday because I knew my attitude would need would need some serious help–a full day of shopping!

Friday night, some of our friends have a little surprise up their sleeve, finishing a fantastic week for an incredible girl. Happy Birthday Rachel-hope you know how much you are loved!!!!!

1. I had a wonderful time this past weekend visiting with Casey and Stacy Henagan, Lead Pastors of Keypoint Church in Bentonville, Arkansas. Keypoint Church is three years old, has 700 people involved, and will be launching another campus soon. They are doing an amazing job in the community and are truly making a difference…They also made a huge investment in our community through sending resources and a team to help in Hurricane Relief!

2. Took this snapshot of two of our MVPs during our work in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav. Terry Olivier and JP Brumfield along with so many others served tirelessly to serve those affected in our community. I thought this was a priceless moment; The suspenders JP has on stunk so bad; poor guys have been working in direct sunlight in our parking lots for the past 5 days.

3. I captured this once-in-a-lifetime glimpse of my Father-in-law about to go into surgery…I never thought over 12 years ago when I was dating Rachel I would ever see her father like this. The only thing missing was some high heels and lipstick and he would be the perfect girl! On another note, he is recovering well and we would like to thank everyone for their prayers.

There has been a lot going on at HPC over the past 7 days as you read in the previous post, and I have been in the mix of alot of what we have done to help those in need during this hard time. But I felt in my heart it was not complete until yesterday, when I got my hands on a chainsaw! Several guys and I had the opportunity to go out and clear trees from yards in the Broadmoor area. This one tree we cleared was a monster!! Something about controlling a piece of heavy machinery and getting dirty from head to toe was so fulfilling!

The most fulfilling part was knowing that we were able to help someone in need in a major way, and thorough this act of kindness share the love of Jesus in a practical way! I love the outreach we do at HPC! I want to give a huge THANK YOU to over 500 amazing men and women who served our community through PRC Compassion. In dark times it is amazing how the church brings forth such a bright light…I am proud to be apart of powerful move of God in the local church!