What is Gospel-Centered Minsitry?

For anyone who is a Christian preacher/teacher this is a must hear by Tim Keller:

What is Gospel-Centered Ministry?

Matt Chandler at Southern Seminary

UT vs. OK - "I Am Second"

Take a couple of minutes to check out UT vs. OK - "I Am Second" with Colt McCoy and Sam Bradford

Bill Withers (Lean on Me) with USC Football Team

This is awesome! I love college sports.



Thanks to Mom Haddox for sending this my way...

Satire on Youth Ministry

Disaster Relief Mission Trip (Orange, TX)

Click on the street sign to check out some pics from the weekend:


Hurrican Ike left quite a mark on many of the houses and businesses in this area and we were fortunate to have partnered with Community Church to help with some repairs.

Hurrican Ike - Disaster Relief Mission

(Click on pic for more info.)

HPBC Single's Ministry will be in Bridge City, TX from March 19 - 22 to partner with Common Gound Community Church and help "rebuild the walls" in the city. We will be doing light construction, painting, and supply distribution throughout the city. Check back soon for video testimonies from the trip and other pics of our activities!

The Serpent of Eden

HPBC during Spring Break week is a little slower than normal. With half of the staff out on mission trips, for the first time in 2 1/2 years I had the opportunity to preach at the 6:00p.m. service! Once I can figure out how to upload either the audio or the video I will post it...

Child Advocacy with Compassion International

Hey everyone,

After spending a week with Compassion International ministries in Ecuador I wanted everyone who follows this blog to know what a top notch organization it is. I have never been more impressed with a Christian organization from the perspective of being run as a business with such professionalism, yet not sacrificing the quality of their work and ministry. Compassion is Christ Centered, runs all its programs through the local church, is credible, and is doing great kingdom work all over the world.

How many kids are being sponsered in the Child Advocacy promgram? January lists 1,129,216 currently registered children in the Compassion program. Of those, 964,608 are sponsored. Would you like to sponsor a child? For $32.00 a month (which amounts to not eating out one night this month) you can help change a life/family/community. Click on Compassion to learn more about how to get involved!

Compassion International - Ecuador

Hey everyone,

Check out my pics from last week in Ecuador with Compassion International ministries. More updates/stories to come...

"Spiritual Warfare" Internet Search

The most commonly consulted source from internet searches for almost any topic is Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. With almost three billion Wikipedia articles online, no matter what search engine one uses and no matter what topic they search, one of the first hits on a search if not the first hit on a search will be from Wikipedia. With this in mind it is useful to share the definition from Wikipedia that will be viewed by most people doing a cursory search on this topic, “Spiritual warfare is the concept that demons or fallen spirits attempt to thwart goodness and the will of God. Some believe it to be manifested in multiple ways, including by demonic possession, demonic harassment, by attacks on a person's thoughts, relationships, or life with God.”

This week on the “channel guide” station on television (the station that gives times and channels for upcoming broadcasts) a production on the life and ministries of Joel Osteen was being shown. It was fascinating to get a “behind the scenes” look at the amount of manpower, time, and technology that goes into a production of a ministry of this size and nature, and it was also amazing to see how many people are impacted on a global level by these ministries. It was stated that over two hundred million people are touched by these ministries on a weekly basis. With this in mind and given the nature of what most ministries address it seemed logical to search for “Spiritual Warfare or Spirituality” on Osteen’s website, unfortunately no results were found in these searches.

Another popular writer, speaker, and pastor that has influenced the lives and ministries of many people across the United States and around the world is John Piper. On the website Desiring God one can do a search for “Spiritual Warfare or Spirituality” and be directed to numerous online sermons, articles and other resources on these topics. Under a tab which reads, “Resources on Spiritual Warfare” the following statement is made, “Jesus spent his whole ministry fighting Satan and his demons. Therefore, the reality of spiritual warfare is something Christians should acknowledge and learn about from Scripture.” Some of these articles and sermons include titles such as “Don’t Go Back from Sonship to Slavery”, “Spiritual Warfare and Prayer”, “Cosmic Level Spiritual Warfare”, and “A Handbook of Enemy Strategies”.

A young “Pastor Dude” according to ABC Nightline by the name of Marc Driscoll has grabbed the attention of many people in the U.S. through his leadership at Mars Hill Church in Seattle and his involvement with the Acts 29 network that has a vision for church planting in America. A search on the Mars Hill Church website on the topic of “Spiritual Warfare” brings up hits from a 4-part sermon series titled Spiritual Warfare . In the second talk in the Spiritual Warfare series Driscoll writes on the reality of The Devil, “We are all involved in a spiritual battle between God and Satan. Christians need to know the schemes Satan uses to deceive us from the truth just as Eve was deceived in the Garden of Eden.”

Dr. Chuck Lawless, Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Church Growth at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary writes in his blog on Biblical Church Growth on the topic of Spiritual Warfare and Church Growth. In this article he lays a theological framework for Satan’s deception as the “god of this age” and the fact that people are blinded by him. He goes to emphasize that in order for a church to overcome the enemy it must preach the word, and as we do so evangelize and pray.

Scripture speaks clearly to the reality of spiritual battles and the fact that they are being fought all around people everyday whether they are aware of it or not. As I reflect on the information I was able to come across from this internet search it has challenged me to personally spend time in prayer asking for God’s protection and guidance over my own life and others who are following Christ, but also for His power to break through to those who are held captives as P.O.W.’s to the “god of this age”.

I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic or any others resources you have found useful in studying this topic. I just started reading a book by Clinton Arnold, 3 Crucial Questions about Spiritual Warfare that examines, 1) What is Spiritual Warfare? 2) Can a Christian be demon-posessed? and 3) Are we called to engage territorial spirits?

Snowboarding with Beth, Jill, and Susan

As we prepare to head to Whistler, Canada for some serious skiing and snowboarding take a second to learn from Beth, Jill, and Susan in Salt Lake last year (commentary by Matt Trenz).