Are You STRONG Enough?

Ok men, the STRONG men’s conference is right around the corner! Make sure you get registered NOW so your name can go in the drawing to drive one of these! http://bit.ly/9kFtKA (Make sure your volume is turned up when you watch this clip!)

Driver who wins will be announced at STRONG!

Oh yeah, that is what I am talking about! STRONG men, sign up at http://www.FreedomHouseChurch.org so we can see just how STRONG you really are! You can also find out other details on the website too!

Ladies, make sure your STRONG man signs up now! It is going to be a blast! Lives are going to be changed forever!

News Flash…………..

We are so excited! Why? Because since the day we planted Freedom House Church in the North part of Charlotte, we knew it was just the beginning! This year we will be launching our internet campus and our South Charlotte campus! Both are in the works and both are exciting us!

Meetings have begun for each of these and if you are interested in helping with either of these, please let us know. We would love to talk to you. Right now the South Charlotte people are already meeting and connecting with each other. They are so excited to have Freedom House right there in their neck of the woods! Some people have been driving for 45 minutes or more and having something close would really make it easier to invite friends and connect with neighbors.

Here is the bottom line. We want to make it hard for people in Charlotte to go to hell. We are going to do our best to cover this City in God’s love. We are excited, pumped up, thrilled and anything else you can think of. It looks like you guys are too! Just since we announced it this past Sunday, we have been getting calls and emails about it! Everyone is excited!

So where are we in the process? For the internet campus, that will be up in the next few weeks. It is a great way for people to be introduced to our church who might not just walk in the doors. The South Charlotte campus, well that is slated to be up by the end of the year. We are in the process of raising up the leadership necessary and developing the teams necessary to support that campus. We don’t start things without knowing it will be done with excellence so that is what is going on now behind the scenes. We are also scouting locations as well. We want to stay near 485 so travel back and forth between all of our campuses will be easier.

All I can say is that it is an exciting time to be a part of a vibrant, healthy, church! It is an exciting time to be a part of Freedom House Church!

Please contact us if you have any questions during this process! We love growing with you!

Don’t Miss It!

Hey guys don’t miss our Men’s Conference, STRONG! We have special guest, Kevin Gerald from the Champions Centre in Tacoma, Washington! Not to mention our own Troy Maxwell! Not only is there going to be ribs and lots of BBQ, we will have manly games, and the winner’s choice of a Lamborghini, Ferrari, Aston Martin, and the list goes on of cars to drive! Yeah there is lots of other stuff too but the most powerful thing of all: men coming together and worshiping the Lord together! Get there! Don’t miss it!

When: Saturday, March 13th at 5 pm

Cost: $25.00 per person

Age: 16 and up

Sign up at http://www.FreedomHouseChurch.org

U Be U!

A great pastor and friend did this rap video.His name is Ed Young and he pastors Fellowship Church in Dallas, Texas.  It is hilarious but has a very important message behind it. Listen to this.  I hope you get the message. Enjoy it!

Did you get the message?

He Did One Thing Right…..

Last night was pretty tough on my husband. His father passed away. Troy was sad because his father had wasted his life abusing alcohol and drugs. That was only the beginning but that is not the part of the story I want to tell you about.

Last night when we got the news we were in Dallas, Texas. We were getting ready to go eat with about 20 pastors when the call came in. It was as if the Lord knew exactly the impact it would have on Troy and He had the right people there to love on him. He literally hung up the call with the hospice nurse and turned around and there was Jentzen Franklin to pray over him and love on him. I was already at the table with the rest of the gang and Troy called me to let me know he was not coming in, that I needed to meet him out front. He told me the news of his father’s passing. Immediately Leon Fontaine and Terry Crist (all three guys I mentioned are pastors) jumped up and came outside. They too hugged Troy and loved on him. I never saw Troy cry like that before that moment. He was so torn in his emotions as you could imagine. Eternity is a long time to ponder.

Terry and Leon took Troy for a walk and when they came back Troy told me some of the things that were prayed over him and spoken to him. One such thing was the fact that Troy had said his dad had wasted his whole life. The pain he felt knowing that was overwhelming. He was 63 and died and alcoholic, alone in a hospice bed. That was hard to think about. Leon looked at Troy and said, “Troy, he had you so he at least did one thing right! You are changing people’s lives and THAT is what you can think about.” I think that put so much in perspective for Troy. It helped me as well.

There are so may lessons in here but one that stood out for me was having the right people at the right time in your life. Those three guys (in my opinion) are some of the most amazing pastors in the world. I mean Leon and Terry were old friends and Jentzen a new one, but they were all there at a crucial moment for Troy. The pastor (Troy) got pastored by three amazing men and that was pretty cool to me. I could not think of three cooler guys to be there to hug him and love him through it. They held him up during a painful moment and he will never forget that. I will not either.

It does not stop there. The whole day the other 17 pastors we were supposed to be eating with, called him and encouraged him. They made sure that he felt the love and support. Let me tell you, he does. It is almost shocking to think people love and care that much.

Serving God along side of pastors like these men is an honor. I believe in pastors. I believe in the call. I believe God knew just what Troy needed at just the right moment, it was a pastor. He was surrounded by pastors who have a heart for God’s people. Can I just say that pastors rock?! I sure hope you have a pastor or pastors in your life! It made all the difference in the world to us. You will need them sometime soon. We did!

***By the way, when we got home a few minutes ago, some pretty amazing people were here for us to pick up where they left off. FHC staff, members and friends, we cannot thank you enough. I don’t know how people survive painful situations without a church family in their lives to help them push through. Love you all!

Cristy’s Coconut Cake!

Ok, you have to make this cake! It is easy and it will rock your world! It did mine! Thank you Cristy Burton for the recipe!

Cristy’s Coconut Cake

1 Box of Butter Cake Mix (Any Brand)
1 Can Sweet. Condensed Milk
1 Can of Cream of Coconut
12 oz of Coconut (I use frozen)
Lg. Container of Cool Whip

Prepare and bake cake as instructed in a 9 x 13 pan. While cake is still warm, poke holes allover cake with a fork, toothpick, etc. Mix sweet cond. milk and cream of coconut together and pour over warm cake. Cool completely. Cover with cool whip and then top with coconut. Store in the refrigerator.

Exposed!

Guest Blogger: Makeda Pennycooke, Freedom House Church

I injured my hand last week. I will spare you the details of how I injured my hand but suffice it to say that I ended up with some serious wounds on the back of my right hand.  I use the term wounds because these were more than just cuts or scrapes, these were wounds were the skin was removed and just pink, raw dermis is visible in multiple areas on my hand. When I got hurt, my first instinct was to cover up the wounds. I found some big, waterproof band-aids and figured they would be perfect. I applied them to my wounds and felt good that I had taken such good care of myself.  The next day I went to see my doctor and when we took off the band-aids, the skin around my wounds did not look good. My doctor suggested that I not cover up the wounds anymore if I can avoid it. They will actually heal better if they stay exposed to the open air and the skin around the wounds won’t end up getting macerated (that’s a really big word that is defined as causing to become weak or thin).  It’s been hard keeping the wounds open to the air because they are definitely more prone to getting accidentally hit or touched which only makes it hurt more (we won’t even talk about the painstaking effort needed to put on a shirt or a jacket without touching them). But my doctor was right, in the few days since I’ve had them open to the air, the wounds themselves are looking MUCH better and the skin around them is also healing nicely.

My little injury got me thinking about the emotional wounds in our lives that we keep covered up. You know the ones that are so painful that we hide them with some emotional band-aid and then pat ourselves on the back for “taking such good care of ourselves”. You know the hurt that someone caused you by something they said; the pain a leader caused you by what they did or didn’t do to you; the wounds from our childhood that are too painful to even put to words but whose pain is eating away at the core of who we are.  We all have them and for all of us our first instinct is always to cover them up; to keep them away from other people so we won’t hurt again. I know that’s my first instinct. Shoot who am I kidding it’s my second and third instinct too! But when we do that we are actually doing more harm than good. We think we are taking care of ourselves but we are in reality making ourselves weak and thin. We need to take the emotional band-aids off and expose those wounds so they can be healed. I’m not suggesting that we put our wounds out there to just anybody but I am suggesting that we take the coverings off and expose them in some way. Being vulnerable like that is risky and can cause the pain to rise up again but I discovered an interesting thing the few times I have hit my hand or rubbed it against something by accident, when I blow on it just a little the pain seems to subside.  I wonder what would happen if we would allow the Holy Spirit to blow on some of our wounded areas.

We need to allow the Holy Spirit to breathe on those wounds and bring healing to those areas. Yes it’s uncomfortable and yes there will be times when it will hurt but by keeping it open we will experience true healing. We won’t be weak and thin, instead we will be strong and able to accomplish everything He desires for us to accomplish. So who’s with me? Who’s willing to take the emotional band-aids off? Who is willing to expose those hidden wounds to the gentle touch of our loving Father and His Holy Spirit?

Real Leaders Go First!

Real Leaders Go First by Michael Hyatt

Years ago, when I was still in college, I was a summer intern for a non-profit organization. I had competed against scores of candidates and won a spot on a prestigious sales team. It paid $65.00 a week. I was thrilled at the opportunity and eager to get started.

The job was in another city, so the first day was spent in traveling and getting settled. The second day was our first official day on the job. It began with a full-day training session.

We were going to be cold-calling prospective customers, so we began with a thorough exploration of the product. (I am intentionally being vague, so as not to implicate a national brand that is virtually a house-hold word.)

Next, we went through a sample presentation. We learned the main points of the message and even discussed specific phrases to use and to avoid. We then considered every possible objection. The instructor taught us how to respond and even drilled us, so it became second nature. As the day wore on, our confidence increased.

The next day was to be the big day. The instructor was sending us out to engage with real-live prospects. We were a little nervous but excited to actually be doing what we had been hired to do. As we were leaving the training site, I innocently said to the instructor, “I can’t wait to get started. I look forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

The instructor replied, “Ah … I won’t be there tomorrow.”

“What do you mean?” I said, puzzled by his statement.

“Well, I won’t be with you tomorrow,” he admitted. “I have never actually been in the field.”

“Wait a second,” I stammered. “You have never actually made a presentation like the one you taught us today?”

“Ah … no, I haven’t” he said, staring at the ground.

My heart sank. I thought, You have to be kidding. You have just spent an entire day teaching us something that you have never actually done yourself? This is all theory? I was blown away—and disillusioned. I felt abandoned.

Compare my sales trainer’s approach to Lt. Col. Hal Moore’s speech to his troops before they departed for Vietnam. This was famously depicted by Mel Gibson in the 2002 movie, We Were Soldiers.

We are going into battle against a tough and determined enemy. I can’t promise you that I will bring you all home alive. But this I swear, before you and before Almighty God: that when we go into battle, I will be the first to set foot on the field, and I’ll be the last to step off. And I will leave no one behind. Dead or alive, we will all come home together, so help me God.”

Real leaders go first. They never ask others to do what they have not done or are unwilling to do themselves. They lead by example. Like the Apostle Paul, they are willing to say, “Follow me, as I follow Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Like Lt. Col. Moore, they are the first on the field and the last off.

Question: What about you? Are you leading by example. Where do you need to step up and go first?

What A Great Night!

This year at Vision Night we had a homecoming! We had muscle cars, the national cheerleading champions doing the half-time show, we had football jerseys and we had a play book with all of the nights events in it! The energy from the whole night was simply amazing! We had a blast talking about the future!

If you missed it I am so sorry but here are a few glimpses for you!

Here is the year in review!

Here is where we are going as a church!

Hope you enjoy the video footage and I hope you get in the game! The sidelines are for the cheerleaders!

Richmond Memories

Well it has been 8 years since Troy and I moved to Charlotte. It has been an amazing 8 years to say the least! While we were in Richmond at MiMi’s funeral, we had to make a few stops.

This is a picture of the house MiMi and PaPa raised Troy in. This is also the house where Troy and I would eat Sunday lunch with them. Yep, this is the place where the yeast rolls came out of the oven then went right into my mouth! I have such great memories of MiMi’s house! It was always filled with love and the smell of her cooking. That front right window was the window PaPa would always stare out of. He would wait for our car to pull in the driveway and meet us at the door.

This picture is very special for two reasons. This is the place where Troy first told me he loved me. A few years later it was the place he asked me to marry him. I had no idea he was going to take me there and show me that spot. It made my day. To be loved like that is just so incredible to me. He told me he wasn’t sure if it was possible but he just might love me too much! I had no words to respond. I still don’t. I just know I love him with all my heart!

In this picture our son, Colby, is either mocking us or being sentimental. I think it is probably not the latter of the two. Either way it was fun!