I just had a thought after I read the comment from Sharon in my previous post about the one year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. She shared a couple of really really cool stories about what God had done to pull people through the tragedies of the hurricanes that hit last year, and how they can now look back and see His hand in all of it.

It made me think - I wonder how many of you have a story that you could share here of what God has done in your life or in the life of a friend or loved one since the storms hit last year? Click here and tell your story.

I also want to share this report Donna Frank sent me from Dr. Cheri LeBlanc and our Healing Hands Mobile Medical Clinic team after they spent three days in Cameron working with hurricane victims there.

August 29th 2006

Just writing this date is emotional. It’s DeLynn’s birthday, but for those on the Gulf Coast it is the date that changed our world. Hurricane Katrina came and went with suffering, pain, injustice, hurt, loss, tears, abandonment, and displacement. And following right on its heels was Hurricane Rita.

During those first couple of weeks after August 29, 2005, I saw 2 things that amazed me. First, I saw human suffering that was shocking and hard to believe was happening within the borders of this great nation. Second, I saw the body of Christ being the first responders and still today is responding to the need now one year later.

I still hurt for the families who have lost everything and also for those families who lost loved ones. Our prayers continue to be with them. I am still tremendously thankful for the hundreds of churches, organizations, ministries, and clubs that represent literally hundreds of thousands of people who have given and given and given. Thank you for your heart to help people for whom Jesus died.

I believe the story of what God is doing through Katrina is still being written. Heroic stories and stories of sacrificial - all heartfelt stories we will continue to tell. And in doing so, I believe we will proclaim Jesus Christ is Lord over Louisiana!

A few things I want to be sure you know about:

TBN will be covering some of HPC’s hurricane recovery effort on their Hurricane Katrina One Year Anniversary Special airing on Monday, September 4th at 9PM CST.

Be sure to check out the udpated Relief page on HPC’s website. Donna Frank has done a ton of research and has written a couple of incredible pieces that we’ve included there. Be sure to read “Katrina One Year Later Update” and Faces of Katrina”.

On September 3, HPC-TV will begin airing on WBRZ (Channel 2) in the Baton Rouge area on Sundays at 10:30am. Click here for a full schedule of air times. We’re excited about this new opportunity to reach even more people with the message of God’s grace and His love for people who are hurting. Please pray that He will bless the programs and that many people will see and hear that God loves them and cares about them right where they are.

Finally, if you haven’t gotten a copy of the book Turning Points yet, or if you have friends or loved ones who are still recovering from Katrina or Rita or just facing challenges in life, now would be a great time to get a copy. We wrote the book during the weeks just before Katrina and in the introduction to the book, I wrote about how Katrina was precisely what the book is all about - it was a turning point for hundreds of thousands of lives. God has used the book already to help many people see challenges in their lives as opportunities for God to bring them through a turning point for His purposes.

Thank you, HPC, for all you have done for the Kingdom over this past year. It’s all for His glory.

Our panel of unbiased judges (Marc Cleary, Lance LeBlanc, and Dan Ohlerking) have reviewed the 90 comments that many of you posted voting on the “I Am Irrelevant” contest the last couple days.

With his confession, “I downloaded a Stryper song like 3 weeks ago!” and a follow-up confession claiming, “I sleep with a New Kids on the Block pillow case, while I listen to Stryper!!!” and rallying an estimated 75% of the total vote count, STEVE WARE is the official winner of the “I Am Irrelevant” contest.

In an attempt to help steer this bright young man into a touch more relevancy, we will present him with a gift card to a place that exemplifies relevancy in coffee and culture (Starbucks) in one of the services this weekend at Healing Place Church.

Congratulations, Steve.

From left to right: me, Chris Douglas, Craig Boutte, and Jerry Stone

Last Friday i got to hang out with HPC’s own Jerry Stone and Chris Douglas - now hailing from North Carolina - a little over a year ago Jerry and his wife left Baton Rouge and started The Life Church at Charlotte and with the help of Chris and his wife Miriam and the heart they share for touching the world, they have sowed some great seed into what is becoming a great, loving-the-lost passionate-for-God church.

From left to right: Carolyn Haas, Peter Haas, Hope Boutte, Craig Boutte, me

And then this week, Peter Haas and his wife Carolyn were here. They’re pastoring a new church in Minnesota called Substance Church (cool name, huh?) - and I’ll tell you this: I think they’re going to make an impact on the nation right from between the twin cities. He spoke at our Late Nite service here and did a slammin’ job.

It’s cool to have relationships with people who are getting after it for God. It’s refreshing and life-giving.

Wow. I’m stunned at the confessions of irrelevancy in the comments on my last post. I’ve laughed my head off at some of these.

I’m also having a hard time picking a winner, so I’ve decided to put it to a vote. Between now and Thursday night at midnight, cast your vote by clicking here and telling me whose entry was your favorite.

Then on Friday, my hand-selected panel of unbiased judges (Marc Cleary, Lance LeBlanc, and Dan Ohlerking) will review the votes and we’ll announce the winner of the Starbucks gift card right here.

Thanks to everyone who posted an entry. Confession is good for the soul, so every one of you is a winner. But since I only have one gift card left….. cast your vote!

Last night I had the awesome opportunity to speak and attend three of the student ministry environments at HPC. It was a blast - to kinda cap off the “Back-to-School Blessings” week. Mike Haman took Life U (and did a super job with “Don’t Mess With Thess, Chapter 2″).

So I was off to Pathfinders (j-high) - lots of energy. Then I rolled down to Refuge (high school) - serious passion.

I spoke at the Pathfinders meeting about being a different kind of person. I told the story about going back to school and how you need to be nice to the cafetria lady. The cafeteria lady in my life I remember was Miss Cantellia. Everyone made fun of her because she smelled like lotion and bacon mixed together. But I was sweet to her and she gave me the extra rolls and she called me “Baby” every day. It pays to be the different one in the bunch.

Then after visiting Refuge, I went over to Late Nite. Rockin’ worship, great attendance, good spirit… I finished up Mike Haman’s series on “I Am Relevant.” This was a stretch for me, because at 42 years old, I’m not as connected to what’s happening as I was when I was 22. But I believe with my deer imitation and a bunch of help from I Chronicles 12:32 that God touched some lives. Thank You, Jesus.

The next generation of Jesus-lovers at Healing Place Church are living strong.

At Late Nite, I did a little contest to see who the most irrelevant person was there. Four questions and the winner of each got a gift card to Starbucks.

1. Who still has a VHS tape of ET in their possession? (”phone home”)
2. Who still has a pair of Girbaud jeans in their closet? (bonus points if they are still tight-rolled)
3. Who still has a copy of Dawson’s Creek recorded on tape or on TiVo? (lame tv show)
4. Who can recite the lyrics from any song by the historical vocal talent legend Michael Bolton? (bonus points if the lyrics quoted are from his mullet era)

The final question’s winner actually went for a bonus by singing the lyrics on stage and won “all the money in Mike Haman’s pockets right now” - turned out to be $100!

I ended up with one extra Starbucks gift card, so I decided to do one more contest here on the blog.

What is the most irrelevant thing about you? Be truthful, be honest, confess….