Even at the church outreach you can see support for all things football and all things Louisiana. From the food all the way down to what you can drink. LSU was playing the Florida Gators today, can you tell?
No longer will the people of Louisiana drink Gatorade, only LSUade.
In the french quarter there is a statue of Jesus in which at night its shadow is projected onto the St. Louis Cathedral behind it. Louisiana is SEC football country and to locals this statue is known as TOUCHDOWN JESUS!
Stephany and I along with another couple spent the afternoon hanging out and driving around Uptown New Orleans. Tulane & Loyola Universities are here along with Audobon Park and a ton of little shops that run along Magazine Street. You have to take a drive down St. Charles to see the beautiful & huge southern homes that make up the Garden District.
Stephany and I had never taken a street car down St. Charles; so we parked our car and took a ride all the way downtown were we spent the evening and had dinner at the Red Fish Grill.
This afternoon we arrived in New Orleans to celebrate this weekend with Calvary New Orleans at their 10 year anniversary outreach and services! We checked into our hotel and met up with some of the people from the church for dinner before their midweek Bible study. We ate at ACME Oyster House which is one of my favorite places to go while in town. Pastor Kevin has been teaching on the gifts of the Spirit on Thursday’s and tonight he was teaching on the gift of teaching! It was a great study and great to see people from the church again.
However, after service Stephany and I along with a friend were able to go and see one of Stephany’s favorite Jazz musicians Kermit Ruffins. Every Thursday night he plays at Vaughn’s in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. We got there around 9:30 and stayed until midnight and Kermit was still going strong. The music was great and there was also red beans & rice that you could help yourself to, they were excellent!
Tomorrow we are going to the Destrehan plantation in the morning before meeting up with a couple that are flying into town for the weekend as well!
This morning we had the opportunity to visit Mars Hill Church. I have been very blessed by the teaching and ministry of Pastor Mark Driscoll and Mars Hill. Their desire to reach people in culture with the transforming message of Jesus while planting churches throughout the US and internationally through the Acts 29 church planting network is exciting.
Pastor Mark, fresh off his trip to Australia was finishing up his sermon series on prayer entitled “Pray Like Jesus”. And this week he was teaching the first part of the high priestly prayer of Jesus found in John 17. It was a great message and I was encouraged to not look at suffering or difficulties in life as obstacles but as opportunities to see God move in our midst. It was a much needed encouragement from the Lord!
Our time in Seattle has been very refreshing for both Stephany and I, even though we have been going non-stop. We also hit Seattle at the right time of year and it hasn’t rained one day (even though I was hoping we would get a little rain). Stephany and I definitely want to come back and we haven’t even left yet. If you get the chance to come to the Pacific Northwest, enjoy the city of Seattle and while in town check out Mars Hill Church…you will be blessed!
We arrived in Seattle tonight and after checking into our hotel on Lake Union we made our way over to the Space Needle. Being afraid of heights (yes, I am willing to admit it) I had some hesitations about going up 520 feet into the needle, however I am very glad I did because it was an amazing view of Seattle.
Thank the Lord that even though the New Orleans levee system was challenged by Hurricane Gustav – no breaches have been found. (picture is the Industrial Canal in New Orleans, with some waves over topping the levee wall)
I know many of you have been praying that the storm would die out and not cause the amount of damage that Katrina did to the gulf coast; though we won’t know the full extent of the damage to places like Houma & Morgan City, LA until possibly tomorrow.
September is the busiest month of Hurricane season with Hurricane Hanna forecast to possibly make landfall later this week on the east coast and tropical storm Ike out in the Atlantic Ocean.
If you or your church would like to help the relief work that will happen throughout Southeastern Louisiana in the days and months after the storm, please follow this link to Calvary New Orleans for information about volunteering.
Today is the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. A massive storm that hit the gulf coast in 2005, today many across the gulf states are remembering the lives that were lost. Lost due to the power of the storm and lost due to the failure of the levees in New Orleans.
It was Hurricane Katrina that brought me to New Orleans a month after the storm to do relief work with Calvary. And it was during this time that the Lord gave me a heart for the people of New Orleans and Southeastern Louisiana. Here are some pictures from that trip!
As Hurricane Gustav is growing stronger and is forecasted to enter the Gulf of Mexico and strengthen into a powerful Category 3 hurricane; I am asking that we all pray for those who may be in harms way.
I am especially asking you to pray for the people of New Orleans and the city itself that if the storm hits; the levees will hold and there wouldn’t be a repeat of 3 years ago. Also be praying for Pastor Kevin Cox and the members of Calvary New Orleans specifically. Thanks!
