Taco Bell

I absolutely love Taco Bell! I actually was thinking about blogging this last night and then I talked to Brian today and he said he had Taco Bell for lunch and how good and cheap it is so I made a very important decision in my life today - to blog about Taco Bell!

About 9 out of 10 times I will order 2 Big Beef Mexi-Melts and 1 order of Nachos Bell Grande and a Large unsweet tea (I know what you are thinking, yes, the unsweat because the rest of the meal is so healthy too!)

Anyway, long live Taco Bell!

Be Confident with Who You Are

I am learning (key word!) to be who I am and to take it another step and be confident in it.

There is a lot of temptation in any circle to be what others want you to be or to be almost ashamed of who you are.

I have gotten better about being who I am - but sometimes in certain circles - in order to please people (or so I think), I will almost be ashamed of this person God made me to be - and the truth is, it is pride - because I want to impress that person or that group - and it is living to be accepted and even praised and approved by others.

When I do this, not only am I being prideful, but I am living in fear and I will never move forward or reach the full potential God has for me if I give in to fear. When I confidently (different from pride) move forward and enjoy and even "flex" the person God made me to be - not only am I full of joy, but I am being the Pete Hixson God inteded me to be - and that is far better than anything I produce myself!

Just a little life lesson I am learning.

Gas Station

Today at Vinings Lake, we cancelled our "regular" services in order to serve our community. As you can read on my previous blog, teams went to serve in a nursing home, Silver Comet Trail, parking lots to minister to people, a widow's home, homeless in Atlanta, Starbucks to give free gift cards away, a local apartment complex to play games, etc.

Today, the team I went with payed down the gas pump .25 per gallon for about 1 1/2 hours at a local Racetrack Gas Station.......it was absolutely amazing!!! When the signs went out saying "Cheap Gas" - the cars started to flood in - they were lined up at each pump. There were about 20 separate pumps and there was someone from VL at each pump basically welcoming each car and telling them who we were and that we cancelled church today - to "Be The Church" and serve our community.

There were great responses and people were impressed - not just with what we were doing - but with the fact that we did it on a Sunday morning. One of the ladies on our team said she told people that we were "practicing what we preach" - great words!

We will definitely do this again.

I think a few weeks out of the entire year - it's ok not to hear another sermon - and actually provide opportunities for people to do something with what we have already heard.

Be The Church Sunday

This coming Sunday at Vinings Lake, we are having "Be The Church Sunday" - we are basically cancelling our regular services in order to serve our community in various ways.

We are only meeting at 9:30 for a quick song and devotion and the goal is to have everyone out the door by 10:00am. We have several team leaders that are ready to head a team of people to their areas of service. Everyone that comes will have a chance to sign up to be a part of the different projects going on. We know that the "church" is people - not a building, structure, or a weekly service, so our agenda is simply to serve people and hand them a card that Derek designed (he is the man by the way!!!) that basically says "Today, our chairs are empty and our church is here..." - and we want to tell them that we are not attending church today but we want to "Be the Church" in our community.

Some of our projects include pulling weeds door to door in a neighborhood behind VL, paying down the price of gas at a gas station - while we fill their tank and wash their windows, going to the Silver Comet Trail and handing out bottles of water, going to a widow's house to minister to her and do a few things around her house, we are hoping to go to a local Starbucks and offer to buy an additional pastry to go with their coffee, going with a local ministry to give food to the homeless, and a few other opportunities as well.

I am looking forward with GREAT anticipation to this weekend and I think the people of VL are excited as well. The good news is that the we can do this all the time - BE THE CHURCH!

Xtreme Student Camp

I am in Panama City, FL this week at Xtreme Summer Camp. It is a camp that I have had the privilege to be a part of for the last few years. We started things off tonight with Will Goodwin's band leading worship and Pastor Johnny Hunt (the camp pastor) speaking the message. It was a great start.

We also have a few students and adults here from Vinings Lake so it will be a great week to hang around them as well.

Mighty to Save

I probably listen to Mighty to Save by Hillsong on an average of about once per day (give or take!).

This song gives us the confidence in God - that He is Mighty to Save - it reminds me that there is NO ONE that is out of His reach. We are frail and weak in our faith naturally, but supernaturally, our faith is strong - because the object of our faith is God Himself - and His word clearly tells us in II Peter 3:9b that "He (God) is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance."

I remember this song being such a celebration of worship a few months ago when a guy at Vinings Lake who had been coming and searching for months finally accepted Christ! I believe this is a great example of a worship song that brings glory to God - and we can sing from our heart in true worship to Him!

God is Mighty to Save!!! Who are the people in our lives that need a Relationship with God - it is not by our strength that it will happen, that pressure is gone because it is not possible - but note in the song the part that says to "Shine a light" - according to Matthew 5:16 - we are to be that light that Jesus shines - through our lives and our lips.

Never stop believing His promise in II Peter 3:9 and that He is Mighty to Save!!!

Below are the lyrics to Mighty to Save and here is the website to Hillsong (great worship!)
http://www.hillsong.com/united/

"Mighty to Save":
When everyone needs compassion,
And love that never fails, Let mercy fall on me
When everyone needs forgiveness, Kindness of the Saviour
The Hope of the nation

(Chorus:)Saviour, He can move the mountains,
My god is mighty to save, He is mighty to save
Forever author of salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, Jesus conquered the grave

So take me as you find me, All my fears and failures
Fill my life again, I give my life to follow
Everything that I believe in
Now i surrender

(Chorusx2)

Shine a light in and let the whole world see
Singing, for the glory of the risen king
Jesus, Shine a light and let the whole world see
Singing for the glory of the risen king

(Chorus)

Common Vision (same God)

I had coffee today with a guy who is with Campus Outreach in Brazil. His name is Russell Long and as we shared with each other, it became evident once again - that God is laying the same heart and vision - not only in the hearts of Christian leaders here in the United States, but the same vision in the hearts of these leaders around the world.

A few Sundays ago, I shared at VL that God is doing something common in the lives of Christian leaders in our country and "probably around the world" - but I didn't know first hand until today how true that is.

As we talked, he shared about his ministry to basically engage these university students. He said that it is really going in there and building relationships (which is SO important) with these students and inviting them to "consider Christ". I love the way he put this and then he shared the story from John 1 where Andrew and Peter were brought into contact with Jesus - and then Andrew went to Phillip and told him to "come and see". This reminded me once again that we cannot change someone's life - but we can, and as Russell talked about, we are called to share with people and invite people to "consider Christ".

We both shared some stories of individuals that we have personally built relationships with and talked about processes and challenges for "the Church" to accomplish what Jesus has called us to. It greatly encouraged me because although we are MANY miles apart, God is desiring to do the same thing here as He is there - and there as He is here.

A Common Vision - because it is the same God that has the world on His heart - and the world meaning the PEOPLE of the world!

Please pray for Russell and his family and their team in Brazil. Also pray and consider partnering with them financially as their support has dropped drastically. His email address is rlong@campusoutreach.org

Redeeming Love

My wife and mother-in-law convinced me to read what I previously called a "girly book". It is called Redeeming Love. I remember several years ago when it was somewhat popular and now I guess it is back.

I bought this book before I left for Los Cabos with Hollie. I was falsely told that the cover had been changed to make it a little more masculine - but as you will see from going to the website below - it is about as "girly" as it gets. I told Hollie that I needed some duck tape to put over to cover so no one would see what I was reading.

I was shocked, surprised, moved, and truly ministered to by reading this book. Shocked because I actually read the entire book (almost 500 pages), surprised because of how good and real it is, moved and ministered to because God speaks through this story.

I don't care if you are a man, woman, child, teenager, non-human...you MUST read this book. Here is the website:
http://www.redeeminglovenovel.com/home.aspx

Wimbledon, Tennis, SERVE

I am being somewhat "reunited" with tennis. I played one year in high school and have picked it up now and again since then. I have played quite a bit recently and I am enjoying the excercise and of course - the competition once again.

I have watched a little bit of Wimbledon and I am amazed at how these men and women play the game. While playing tennis and watching it, I am aware at one part of the game that is VERY important - the SERVE.

In tennis, the SERVE is one of the most difficult yet most important components of the game - so is with the Life of a Christ Follower - and to follow Christ is to SERVE.

This Sunday, I am planning to bring a one week message on the subject, SERVE. God's Word clearly challenges us with not just listening and absorbing God's word, but living it out with our lives - and a great way to do that is to SERVE.

Renewed - Important lessons learned in Los Cabos!

Hollie and I returned this past Saturday night from Los Cobos, Mexico where we celebrated our 10 year anniversary together. I will say - it was the best week of my life.

We had each other to our full attention for the entire time and we never got tired of each other for one moment. Hollie wrote me such an awesome note when we returned basically saying that it was great to get to know each other on that level all over again. That is such a great way to put it - although we love each other and live together and enjoy each other - there are so many "other" things and people that pull our attention away - that we fail to just enjoy each other - for who we are individually and then together.

I personally learned so much and I was renewed in my relationship with God and with my wife. I believe that there is a very clear and strong tie - in our relationship with God and our spouse - because in Ephesians 5:22-33 we find that marriage between a husband and a wife is how God describes the relationship between Jesus and His Church (PEOPLE!).

I learned that even though it is good to want to DO and BE everything that God wants - He really wants me - my heart. I also am learning what Hollie has wanted me to "get" for a while now - exactly the same - yes, she wants me to be a good husband, father, help around the house, do the right things - but what she really wants is just me - my heart.

And when God and Hollie have me and my heart - the other things come right along with it.