Old school

Ran into Jimmy Hart on the plane home from Tampa! What a legend!

Marinating

Been marinating on this quote today and wanted to share it with u: “we have measured ourselves by ourselves until the incentive to seek higher plateaus in the things of the Spirit is all but gone…we have imitated the world,sought popular favor,manufactured delights to substitute for the joy of the Lord and produced a cheap and synthetic power to substitute for the power of the holy spirit.”-A.W. Tozer

SERVOLUTION

Check out this video real quick before you hit the streets tomorrow for national day of service. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78imC9zoOWI

Quote from the Pres

“We didn’t come to this point in history to fear the future but to shape it!”

Vacation

Pretty excited that I’m sitting in seat 16c on transair headed to sit back and chill for a solid 7 days and relax,read,swim,etc. The best part is that it gets to be with the hottest woman on the planet, @jenlaird
C ya in a week or so!!!

speak the truth even if it hurts

read this earlier this morning:
It is a dangerous thing, both for the messenger and the hearers, when the messenger fails to tell everything God says. In the prophets, God says those who only bring a “good” or “happy” message seduce God’s people: Because they have seduced My people, saying, “Peace!” when there is no peace (Ezekiel 13:10). God also says the messenger who doesn’t say everything God says doesn’t help his listeners: They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, “Peace, peace!” When there is no peace. (Jeremiah 6:14)
Acts 20:26-27 (New Living Translation)
26 I declare today that I have been faithful. If anyone suffers eternal death, it’s not my fault,[a] 27 for I didn’t shrink from declaring all that God wants you to know.

God has really been smoking me with this lately…as communicators of truth we cannot hold back even it what God is trying to speak is unpopular. The challenge is to speak the truth in love…we bless and honor people BUT never at the expense of honoring God and His word. Paul said, ^“ Even some men from your own group will rise up and distort the truth in order to draw a following.” -acts 20:30

We have to make sure we dont distort the truth or tone it down just cause we want to gain a crowd and win their hearts over.

blogging vs twitter

why is it so hard to blog now? prolly cuz it takes too long…ummm like 5minutes! and they make twitter so easy and effortless! ahhhhh i really dont even know if anyone still reads blogs…maybe the really good ones. anyway, im sry if your MAD cuz i dont blog that much anymore its just that twitter is just faster and less complicated. follow me at twitter.com/tweeze

what do u like bettter, twitter or blogging?

Shanteev

Its funny how you show up to a place like Africa and actually think your gonna change it and by the time you catch your flight back to the cozy comforts of america you discover that the place you thought you were changing has actually changed you. This trip has been one of my top trips where i felt God working in my heart.  Ive been to africa prolly around 4 times but this time felt so much different. There are many things i wanna say right now but i’ll just mention one.

God reminded me of His heart for the ONE on this trip. There were at least 3-400 kids at the carepoint there in Mozi but for some reason this ONE kid named Shanteev just stole my heart and the feeling i felt everyday I would see him racing towards me from across the yard after not seeing me all day made feel in some small way like the Father of the lost son when he returned, the woman who found her lost coin, or the shephard who found his lost sheep. Shanteev made me only imagine the joy God feels over the ONE.

I love the phrase my lead Pastor, Dino Rizzo always says, “change the world by serving ONE.” The thing im beggining to discover is that it truly is all about the ONE.  The question is…..Q. who’s your Shanteev? That is, who’s the ONE that God is looking to you to reach?

Africa trip 09

I’m in route back to the U.S. After an amazing trip to Africa with some friends!! My heart is so full right now after seeing what I’ve seen and having the priviledge to be a part of this trip! Over the next couple of post I plan on throwing some pics up along with some of the things I got to experience. For now I want to just leave u with this one scripture I’ve posted about and spoke about for the past couple of weeks b/c I can’t seem to shake it: 1 timothy 1:12-13 Nlt please check it out when you have a second. //I can’t believe God considered me for this trip to serve….

THAT DAY

i havent blogged much lately in case u havent noticed….anyway, God has really been smokin me about really living for eternity. i love how often the apostle paul talked about “that day”….eagerly awaiting “that day”, not that ive achieved these things but one thing i do is look forward to “that day”. its as if paul was consumed with “that day” when he would stand before Jesus and see him face to face. to me thats scary sometimes…i mean ya, i cant wait to get to heaven but sometimes the thought of standing before a righteous judge can be terrifying…and rightly so. b/c on “that day” everything we”ve lived for, evrything we”ve said and done will bring either reward or regret. so my question is: when was the last time you REALLY thought about “that day”?

servolution: roll tide

this weekend was definitely a great kickoff for servolution for me. i found out towards the end of the week that my granny that lives in Alabama wasnt doing very well and that the family needed to come be with her so i decided to take off towards Bama to be with her. well, it was tough considering Saturday was the big servolution day back in BTR and i wouldnt be there. SO, i wasnt gonna let a little geography keep me from servolution so i decided to rally the troops(mama red, joey, danielle, granny, and my rib) for a little family outreach. we decided to hand out 100 carnations to 88 residents and 20 thank you cards to the nurses!! the really cool thing is that my granny, who earlier this week was bout to see Jesus, was the servoultion leader in her own nursing home!!! it was amazing to sense the joy up and down those halls as we distributed flowers and hugs…the joy on my grannys face was priceless as she told every person we came in contact with that “these are my grandchildren.” Im not really sure but i think that was my grannys first outreach and since her health is fading quickly it will probaly be her last but it was amazing to share servolution with her. I went to Bama to reach out to one old lady at a nursing home(my gran) and ended up changing the atmosphere of an entire nursing home thru that one little old lady.A few lessons learned:
1. servolution isnt a an event or a location…its a spirit that you carry with you.
2. “change the world by serving one” is an understatement.
3. many of the staff nurses truly have a love for God and the forgotten and we should value them more.

servolution 09

7 Days of Servolution: Amplified Update from Healing Place Church on Vimeo.

this is freaky

alrighty, so here’s the deal for all of you that didnt hear the news…yup, you guessed it, we’re gonna be parents!!! how scary is that? anyway,this is a pic of the first time we went to the doctor and saw him/her (preferably her)and we found out that it looks like the due date is around november 22. this is totally a miracle since jenn and i have been trying for about 1 1/2 years. so, please be praying for everything to be all gravy!

tour de SERVE

so here’s the deal: Pastor Dino and I had this crazy idea to rock the serve mobile to a couple of the partnering churches that have joined up for the 7 days of SERVOLUTION!! Basically, a couple of guys and I are planning on taking a little tour de serve and trying to drop in on a few of the churches to get some video footage and interviews of what God is doing thru SERVOLUTION….Im pretty stoked about the tour!!! And then to top it all off we plan on taking the serve mobile to the next level and leaving for the ARC conference a few days early to bust up some outreaches the whole way up to the N.C. and then park that mug right all up in the mix!!!! so, heres the deal: i need some of you weirdos to be praying that we can get the serve mobile’s heart in good condition cuz she’s definitely got some internal issues with the motor OR if you or somebody you know has a clue about mechanical stuff then gimme a shout!!! also, if you or your church want to hook up with hundreds of other churches participating in this massive servolution then you can sign up or check out more info here. holla

reminds me off growin up in the AG baby!!!!

3rd generation

well, here’s the deal….I’ve been rocking the blackberry for a while but I’m seriously considering pulling the switch-a-roo when I’m up for my upgrade in march. SCARY!!! i really cant stand phone switches and to be honest i really like my blackberry but I’m prolly gonna switch for two reasons:
1. mobile-me to help me with my many calendar issues
2. 3G

anyway be praying for me hahahahaha
for all of you that tuned in needing one of the doctor’s spiritual nuggets you may be feeling disappointed at the lack of spiritual content associated with this post so let me, like a good preacher, tie this into something spiritual hahahah but for real…
cool leadership thought i stumbled on during sermon prep…the thought is based on this great passage in 1 kings 12:1-14

Rehoboam illustrates the crucial need to pass on faith in God carefully
and deliberately from one generation to the next. David was the first
generation of a new era of history. The Scriptures remembered him as a
deeply committed man of God who molded a nation from a loosely organized
group of competing tribes. Second generation Solomon inherited a stable
kingdom and simply had to organize the nation.

Rehoboam is a classic example of a pattern of behavior seen in the third
generation. He showed little concern for God or for the nation he was to
rule as the anointed of God. Whether in nations, organizations,
businesses, churches, or families, the third generation is always at risk.
Frequently, they simply inherit the traditions of their parents without
making them their own. The dream of the first generation does not fire
them. They are not compelled to maintain the stability won by the second
generation. They often see no need to walk in the ways of their fathers
and try to make their own way. Lacking commitment to something beyond
themselves, without the guidance and wisdom of a larger community, their
quest for independence becomes their destruction.

Weirdos

Jp's castin out the "destroyer"…..great job Dup in reaching 09 goals!!!!

"GOOD LIKE ROBINHOOD"

I SMOKED THIS 8 POINT YESTERDAY MORNING IN ST FRANNY ON A HUNT WITH MY BOY TIMMY STRAIGHT AND EDDIE G FROM THE FRANNY CAMPUS. IT WAS AN AWESOME HUNT WHERE I SAW ABOUT 12 DEER ALL DAY BUT THIS WAS THE ONE I HAD TO TAKE…I KILLED HIM WITH MY BOW AT ABOUT 40 YARDS!!! I TOTALY DIDNT FEEL COMFORTABLE SHOOTING AT THAT DISTANCE BUT I WENT FOR IT AND IT PAID OFF. IT MAY NOT BE A BEAST LIKE JDAWGS BUT JDAWG SHOOTS A GUN LIKE A FEMALE AND I SLING ARROWS LIKE ROBINHOOD…..HAHAHAHA (JUS JOKIN) BUT ALL IN ALL IT WAS AN INCREDIBLE DAY HANGIN WITH THE FRANNY CREW-BIG THX TO THOSE GUYS AND MR. TOM

1st wed

Don't forget about 1st wed tonite at hiland!!!! Starts at 7pm-gonna be ridiculous. C ya there

Zondervan

Pretty cool oppurtunity I heard about that's going on at HPC this weekend!!!
Fwd from Ps Johnny:

I want to let you know about a unique opportunity at our Highland Campus services this weekend (January 3rd and 4th). We're going to be hosting Zondervan Publishing's Bible Across America tour. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the NIV Bible, they are travelling by RV all across America to invite people to contribute to a completely handwritten Bible – America's NIV – that will eventually be sold in retail stores and online. Their tents will be set up outside the back foyer for all Highland services, and everyone will be invited to write a verse for this historic Bible. There is no age limit!
Help us to spread the word!