A shot of Gustav from my front door. 

This was the Sunday before Gustav slammed us.  We focused on Psalm 23 with the faithful few who were still in town and then we prayed for our city.  During the worship, the tune that seemed to really fit was Matt Redman's "Never Let Go".  We had no idea how hard Gustav would rock but we were soon to find out! 

Thank God for being our Shepherd during this difficult storm . . .

Peace.

dh

Today was, well, a bit different.  As Lead Pastor of LifePoint, I had an epiphany this week that drove me to make a radical decision.  Today, I was fired!  And not only me, all of LifePoint was fired!  The staff, the board, the volunteers, the band, the singers, the teachers, the LifeGroup leaders - all of us were fired! 

I found myself passionless about people and consumed with completing our building.  Through a strange series of events, I believe God led me to a place where I saw more clearly than anything I've ever seen before:  Buildings without people serve no purpose!  Accomplishments without relationships are meaningless!   Relationship is what fuels our purpose and purpose is what fuels our passion!

There has been LifePoint without a building but there's never been LifePoint without people - diverse, messed-up and broken, though we may be!  And if we try to have a cloistered community, the result will be stagnation, politics, powerplays and religion.   But if we, with determination and intentionality, develop relationships with those NOT like us, those OUTSIDE our little world, then purpose is restored and passion is reignited and the fire that characterized us in the beginning will flare again!

So, only the passionate will rejoin this team.  Only those who want to be here and make a difference in this dark world will sign up again.  I've reenlisted.  I hope you do, too! 

Peace, love and passion!

The recently fired/rehired Lead Pastor, Donavon Hill

Check this out . . .

Today, we started with an incredible video advertising the LIfePoint/LSU outreach thing.  The commercial was produced by and stars Caleb and Elizabeth.  They interviewed a plethora of people trying to come up with an official name for this event - but to no avail! 

We continued our series on fire.  The worship and prayer was great and we ended with communion and a baptism. Sweet!

Today, we looked at Olympic torches from 1938 until the present.   They are carried around the world, coddled and cujoled to keep the flame burning.  In every nation represented in the Olympiics, the torch lights the night and burns in the day as a witness - a witness that this nation will be there!   The flame must be kept alive. 

In our walk with God, the fire must be kept alive!  We looked at famous and infamous fire scriptures and found meaning and relevance.  We had awesome prayer at the end! 

Peace and love - burn hot and prosper!

dh

Wow!  What a great day!  We had a great crowd, great fun, great worship, great prayer and we were challenged greatly by the Word! 

We started with a Youtube video of J-Mill eating the worlds hottest pepper!  That was hilarious!  Then, we went into an acoustic worship set with Alexander on the drum!  Great job Alexander! 

I concluded our conversation entitled Deeper with today's installment being Back to the Basics.  We looked at Jacob's building the altar of Genesis 33:20.  It was here that Jacob took his move back into Canaan to another level.  His altar signified a depth to his commitment that would sustain him throughout the rest of his life. 

We were all encouraged to go deeper by having a serious commitment to God!  We then had great prayer and God moved powerfully! 

Remember, LifeGroups start this week and this is our week of prayer and fasting! 

Mucho love!

dh

LifePoint couples went out for a night on the town!  We dropped off our kids at the LifePoint campus where the Venue offered free childcare!  Thank you Venue!

We went to The Cabin in Burnside, an historic collection of buildings including an old general store, post office, slave homes and the first catholic school for African Americans in Louisiana.  Most of the buildings are connected and inside is a very cool, authentically Louisiana restaurant. 

We had a blast, laughed a lot and connected at a deeper level with each other.  Let's do this again, eh?  Sweet!