This week is perhaps my favorite week of 2009 so far…and I have three reasons why.  I have the privilege to speak in 3 of the greatest environments that our church offers: Reach for Recovery, our divorce recovery ministry lead by Greg and JoAnn Alford; New Beginnings, our addiction recovery ministry lead by Chad and Angel Dinkel; and at the Angola Prison HPC Service lead by Chaplin Jim Rentz and Pastor Timmy Straight.

When scanning over my weeks, many times I feel, these are the places Jesus would have been during his time on earth…right, smack in the midst of families, men, and women who are struggling through some difficult situations.  I am so excited I have the opportunity to be a voice of hope and healing to these meetings.  This is the essence of being a “healing place to a hurting world”!  I love it!!

Creative Church Conference at Fellowship Church in Dallas, TX.  This has been an incredible gathering of innovators, visionaries, pastors, leaders.  There are amazing things happening in body of Christ today.  We are living in a crucial time and the doors of opportunity are swinging wide open to reach the lost like never before! Powerful churches are being planted all over the world, and HPC is right in the mix…what an honor!!

Over the past three days, we have heard challenging messages from Chris Caine, Jentzen Franklin, Ed Young, Craig Groeschel, Tommy Barnett & the real Bishop…TD Jakes. (Thunder & Lightning…don’t get caught in the storm!!). Saw some interesting people-Mike Huckabee stayed in our same hotel, and I met the guy who wrote “Celebrate” from Kool & the Gang, Sir Earl Tunes-a-Lot. I’m loving his hairstyle…think I’m going to grow mine out like that-Rachel will love it!

There was breakdancing in the order as well, and I must say this guy on stage had nothing on Marc Cleary-he was busting serious moves…he’s a natural!  We enjoyed a little piece of heaven in some Texas-Style BBQ and as always I was blown away by some BIG time creativity throughout the entire event. God is sending us waves of His Spirit…don’t miss it!

I just got this update from my boy, JP Brumfield, who heads up all of our outreaches to the community here at HPC.  In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, we held 5 outreaches and with the help of over 110 volunteers check out these stats from all that was given to share the love of God in a practical way:

Roses: 1,200
Ice cream sundaes: 50
Heart candy boxes: 560
Bottles of water: 586
Capri suns: 300
Pairs of earrings: 100
Live the Dream water bottles: 25
Heart boxes: 100
Pralines: 200
Chocolates: 250

I love what we get to do here!  If this excites you like it did me…check out what you can be a part of through Servolution this April 3-9!  You will want to be a part of this!!

I believe we have some of the most creative minds at HPC and our teams have put together some great videos in the past, but this year’s Men’s Conference Promo Video is probably the best I have ever seen.  The video features Brandon Meyer (one of our worship leaders and stage design extraordinaire) as Timmy Hayes in an infomercial about Men’s Conference 2009.  If you are not convinced after watching this video, that you, your sons or friends should register, I will add a money back guarantee too!

God has awesome things in store for us as men.  I can’t think of something more powerful to invest your time and resources in, then a chance to rally together on the weekend of March 13 and 14 and hear about being all He has intended for us to be.

Don’t wait REGISTER NOW…I will see you there!

This week at our Men’s Bible Studies we tackled the issue of guilt and shame.  We engaged in some powerful and life-giving discussions that helped many men see the freedom that Christ offers to those that may feel bound by this emotion and thought process.

Check out the bible study below entitled, “Guilt-Free not Guilty”…we gave this to all of the men as they left from the study.  We pray this is a tool and guide to use in experiencing the freedom that we all desire.

“Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.” Hebrews 10:22 (NIV)

If you have been to a grocery store lately you may have noticed a health food trend. Guilt-free food! Somehow, someone has come up with a way to make brownies, cookies, chips, bread, and even bacon in such a way that you can eat them without one ounce of guilt. That’s right, guilt-free bacon! As impossible as it seems to get the guilt out of those foods, it seems even harder to ride ourselves of guilt in our lives.

In Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life, he places guilt as one of the top five things that can drive a person’s life. He states:

(Many people) spend their entire lives running from regret and hiding their shame. Guilt driven people are manipulated by memories. They allow their past to control their future. They often unconsciously punish themselves by sabotaging their own success.

It’s amazing that people can be so driven by guilt that they tiptoe through life only to arrive safely at their death!

Did you know that in the Bible the words guilt and sin are often interchangeable? What that means for us is that sin and guilt go hand in hand.  A life driven by guilt is a life driven by sin. So, is there any good news? Yes! Jesus came to set us free from sin, so that means He can set us free from guilt too. If you have never experienced freedom from guilt, today Jesus wants to set you free. He has already forgiven you. All you have to do is open up your heart and receive it. So, next time your feeling guilty, remember that Christ died so you can be Guilt-free!

Ask Yourself:

• In what ways have you allowed guilt to drive your life?

• Have you ever accepted Christ’s forgiveness for your sin?

• What past experience can you release to Christ in order to move forward in your life?

Scriptures to Challenge you:

Psalms 32:1-5, Isaiah 6:7, Romans 8:1, Hebrews 9:14, I Peter 1:18-19