I’m excited to announce two more live q&a events at servolution.org/live coming up next week!

Thursday, March 5, 12:15pm CT (chat opens at 12:00pm CT)
Letting Your Community Know About 7 Days of Servolution (Media and Promotions)

Friday, March 6, 12:15pm CT (chat opens at 12:00pm CT)
Recruiting, Organizing and Deploying Volunteers in 7 Days of Servolution

Last Friday, we had 125 people show up for the first Live Q&A about 7 Days of Servolution (watch the video here) and I believe a lot of great questions were asked by those who joined in. Hopefully we were able to give some ideas, and I know there were some who offered some great ideas through the chat.

There is such an amazing potential in what the Church (note the big C) can do when we come together and share ideas and help each other out. So, I want to encourage you to share your ideas – what are you planning on doing during the 7 Days of Servolution? What ideas are you considering for outreaches?

Leave a comment and share your ideas. Who knows? Maybe your idea will inspire someone else to go for it!

Dan Ohlerking
Healing Place Church
Internet Campus Pastor

Thanks to all those who joined us for our Q&A session! We hope you were able to get some more ideas and answer some questions you had about starting a Servolution in your community. If you missed it, the video is available below, be sure to check it out! We’re planning another Live Q&A soon so stay tuned for more information.

If you have any more questions we didn’t address during the Q&A please leave us a comment and we’ll be sure to help you answer them. Thanks!

For us at HPC outreach has never been an event, it is has always been the way that we express Jesus to a hurting world. Today I sat and reminisced about my first experience with outreach at Healing Place Church. Let’s take a trip back 15 years ago, before I ever became a Staff member at HPC, and it was a foreign idea to give stuff away to strangers.

I was 19 years old and I was home from college on the weekend, and the church received a truck load of pineapples. These pineapples were the real deal, not the can, the whole pineapple—big, green, spiky leaves and all. I loaded up my 1988 Dodge, hatchback, two-tone grey Omni on a mission to blitz all of Baton Rouge with the “spirit of the pineapple”.

Before my mission began, I pulled off to get gas at the Race Trac across from the Mall of LA (in those days Bluebonnet looked a lot different than it does now!). I was so overwhelmed with excitement, I started passing out fruit right there! I was giving pineapples to everyone—to the clerks behind the counter, to the shoppers in the convenience store, and to all those pumping their gas! I will never forget the thrill of being able to give something away and not expect anything in return!

From this moment on, I was addicted—addicted to the spirit of serving. There is something incredibly captivating when you realize that within a small gift there is the potential to reach someone’s heart for the Kingdom! I will never forget that day when I led a pineapple outreach at Race Trac all by myself. I think I can still smell the strange mix of pineapple and petroleum—my car stunk for weeks! It was great.

Here we are, 15 years later, and that same spirit still drives our church today! We are people with hearts overwhelmed by the opportunity to serve the hurting and broken of our community. If you have never been on an outreach at HPC, I would encourage you to go; it will change your life and your perspective about reaching the world for Christ! Pineapples for Jesus, Baby!

Mike Haman – Teaching Pastor at Healing Place Church

Healing Place Church Lead Pastor Dino Rizzo was recently interviewed by the Seacoast team for their “Instant Advice” series… on the topic of “Servant Leadership.” Shawn Wood has the full post about it here. Check out the video:

Life has so many titles that are thrust upon you as you get older and experience
different stages within life. For example, here are some of my titles as a
person…lover of Christ, husband, father, son, brother, friend, mentor,
leader, witness, pastor. Those are just a few I can think of off the top of
my head!

While there are many different traits that those titles share, one of the
main ones is SERVING. Serving plays such an important role in all of our
lives. Here are some reasons why I serve:

* As a lover of Christ, I serve to love and glorify Him and because
He first served me in so many ways.

* As a husband, I serve my wife by trying to love her as Christ
loves the Church.

* As a father, I serve my kids so they will see a living example of
a selfless, love-filled life.

* As a friend, I serve by simply lending a hand when needed.

* As a leader, I serve because I believe it is the most important
example a leader can show those he is leading.

* As a witness for Jesus, I serve because it is the purest display
of people seeing Him face-to-face.

As 7 Days of Servolution gets geared up, I challenge you to examine your
life and take a closer look at how and why you SERVE. I can promise that
once you do, you will see even more how central serving is in your life.
You will also discover how serving is the most effective weapon you own in
the battle of eternity.

Lives are waiting to be changed. Go get your Serve on!

Marc Cleary – Executive Assistant to Ps. Dino Rizzo

Here is an amazing story from our Youth Director here at Healing Place Church: Jason Laird

This morning before we headed down town to have our weekly breakfast with our homeless brothas and sistas we hooked up for prayer. well, while i was praying i had a thought ….”what if one of these guys that i may talk to today is right on the edge and ledge just waiting, hoping, and praying that something could change….that something could break? what if just one conversation, one handshake, or even one smile could be the very thing that pushes them right over the edge and ledge right into the depths of God’s grace? what if today’s their day of salvation?

So as cheezy as it may sound i began to pray that these biscuits today would be more than biscuits. that they would be God’s grace extended toward them. you never know….they may be one biscuit away from experiencing the life God intends from them. might sound crazy but ask “Thadeus”(a guy from this morning) about those biscuits….he went over the edge today….he gave his life to JESUS. mmmmmmm biscuits of grace with a side of SALVATION. yeahya

Thanks to all those who joined us for our Q&A session this afternoon! We’ll be posting the video of it so check back soon. In the meantime, if you have any more questions that we can help answer please leave us a comment!

Don’t forget to join us at 12:15pm CST today for a live Q&A session with Lead Pastor Dino Rizzo and JP Brumfield. We’ll be taking questions and talking about how you can make 7 Days of Servolution happen in your community as we head into Easter 2009. Help us spread the word, everyone is invited!

Where: http://www.servolution.org/live
Date: Friday, February 20, 2009
Time: 12:15 pm CST (chat will open at 12:00 pm CST)
Cost: Absolutely FREE

Check out what my friend Chris Hodges, Lead Pastor of Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, Alabama wrote about 7 Days of Servolution:

“The 7 Days of Servolution campaign is giving our church a practical way to make a difference in our city. In both the large church service and the small group environment, we’ll be able to focus our whole congregation on the Biblical mandate to love one another.”

That’s what this really is all about – living out God’s plan for us to love one another. It is what Jesus did as he walked the earth two thousand years ago, and it is what he has built his Church to do.

We are no more Christlike than when we are loving and serving one another.

What is Servolution? Why am I compelled to give my life to it? I love its two simple components. First, it is a revolution. Webster defines a revolution as a complete change, an overthrowing of an authority or social system. Paul said (Col. 2:15), “having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.“ I want to be a part of the movement Jesus began 2000 years ago when He gave His life on a cross and began the destruction of this sinful, painful world in order to usher in a new one in which “there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” (Rev. 21:4)

It is a revolution of serving. A revolution is a counter-cultural movement that creates a new culture. Serving is not just counter-cultural; it goes against our nature and logic. We all want to get ahead through power. Jesus said that serving is the greatest way to gain influence. No agenda, no strings, no fine print. Just extravagant, sacrificial love through acts of kindness. The world will be changed. The Servolution has begun!

-Pastor Johnny Green