Phenomenal Weekend!

As I sit here and reflect on the weekend, all I can say is “wow, yeah God!”. These past 3 weeks, in my opinion, I’ve really sensed God at work in incredible ways. People are coming to Christ in bunches, lives are being touched in meaningful ways, and the spirit in our body is one of unity and expectation.

In short, I sense the momentum like I’ve only felt a few times in the past. We’re pushing right up against 2,000 people each week, and it’s been a tough barrier to break. I really feel we’re poised to bust through it and experience some incredible growth. Again, it’s not about the numbers, it’s about the people each number represents.

The music has been kicking the past few weeks, and the crowd is really engaged in the worship. I think this series may have been the most insightful (God’s insight, not mine) teaching I’ve ever delivered. I could tell it really hit home.

I’m pumped about what’s to come in the days ahead. Palm Valleyer’s, you don’t want to miss the next 3 weeks, as we explore what it means to be a “Dangerous Church”!

Great Saturday Night

Tonight’s service was phenomenal! The crowd was very large, the worship team was rocking, and I felt like we did a great job wrapping up the “Good ‘n’ Angry” series. I think this series hit a felt need like very few we’ve ever done.

The specificness of people’s comments tell me that God has used this series to do some serious business in people’s lives. I shared a lot of painful stuff from my past in this series, so it’s always redeeming to see God use my past pain to bring healing in other people’s lives. You can watch it here…

We also had an incredible “Connection event” tonight. About 150 people showed up to get connectd to a Home Team, so I’m guessing we launched about 12-15 new HT’s. It’s awesome to see people taking such a faith step and becoming a part of the body at Palm Valley. God’s up to something!

How’s This For Set-Up

I found this picture at Dave Ferguson’s blog, and I thought all of our set-up and tear-down folks would enjoy it. This is the courtyard at the Vatican.

Kind of makes the 900 chairs we lug in and out each week seem a little easier. Thanks to all you who help!

Prayers Needed BIG TIME!

A young boy in our church, Joshua, has been fighting Leukemia, and he’s really struggling today. For a 7 year old, he’s got an incredible fighter’s spirit, but today he needs your prayers. He’s been placed on a ventilator because he’s no longer breathing on his own. He’s also fighting a number of other related issues.

The next 48 hours are critical for Josh. Please pray that the Lord would heal him. Pray for his comfort. Pray for peace for the family.

If you’d like to keep us with the lastest on Josh, here’s a web site his parents are keeping updated… http://www.joshinfo.com/

Anger Thought #5

The Bible teaches us that as we give the Holy Spirit greater control in our lives (i.e. “filling”), God produces fruit in and through our lives that is not only evidence of our relationship with Christ, but is evidence to others that He has changed us.

In creative team meetings this week the thought came up that anger (unjustified, unrighteous anger) is really the antithesis of the fruit of the Spirit God wants to produce in our lives. In short, God wants to develop the virtue of patience in our lives.

If you and I are honest, we’d have to admit that most of the time we get angry, it’s because we’re not willing to wait. We want things to happen our way, in our time. We don’t have control, and we hate it. Learning to wait upon the Lord not only teaches us patience, it sharpens our faith in Him. So, if you’re tempted to be impatient today, ask God to give you patience, and grow your character in the process.

Field Trip

Today I went on a class field trip with my 1st grade son. Wow, I’m tired tonight

I had a blast hanging out with my son, and seeing him interact with his “posse” on their turf. I was assigned 5 kids, and we had a great time together. We went to the Heard museum. I was reminded how creative and curious children are. I need to have those attitudes!

To other pastors, here’s a leadership tip: one of my core values is to honor my family; I really didn’t have the time this week to take a day off to chaperone a school field trip; but it was a chance to practice a core value and place my family over my job. It means I’ll be working late tonight on some things, but it was worth it.

In ministry, the demands never stop, and the larger your church grows, the greater the demands. It’s tempting for pastors to sacrifice their families on the altar of minstry; don’t do it. Honor the Lord by living by your priorities, not the demands and expectations others place on you. The Lord will honor you in return; I guarantee it!

Staff Vision

Yesterday I spent the morning with all of our staff, sharing my heart with them and the vision I had for 2007 (I’ll be sharing this with the church body beginning next weekend). It was an awesome time together, and reminded me how much I love and appreciate each of the team members God has brought together.

If you attend Palm Valley Church, I hope you realize how fortunate we are to have such a great staff. I challenge you to pray for us daily, we need it. Also, I encourage you to write a note to a staff member who has ministered to you; they rarely get the thanks they deserve.

For the curious, here’s the 10 challenges I gave to our staff; and asked them to make these values a priority for 2007…

1) Work with passion

2) Lead with integrity

3) Develop and unleash leaders

4) Cast vision regularly& creatively

5) Honor your family

6) Take care of the temple

7) Communicate clearly and generously

Protect the unity & vision of Palm Valley Church

9) Run strong

10) Have fun!

Anger & MLK

Today I was thinking about Martin Luther King, and I realized “there’s a guy who had anger, and used his anger as a fuel for passion to make a difference”.

You see, most of the time we get angry about stuff, but we’re not willing to do anything about it. So, we sit angrily and complain about the way things should be, and the anger inside of us just grows. In the end, we’re no help to anyone, and nobody wants to be around us because we’re so bitter.

Unfortunately, a lot of Christians are the same way. They’re sit and complain about the world, their life, the music in church; whatever. However, they’re unwilling to use that passion to fuel themselves to make a dfiference. Bottom line, we’re often too self-centered or lazy to bother to get out and make a difference.

Martin Luther King was angry about a just cause. African Americans were begin oppressed and mistreated because of color (I hope that makes you angry too!), and it was wrong. He knew things needed to change, and he was willing to put himself on the line to change it. He led a revolution because he was angry about the right things, and did something about it.

This week at Palm Valley I’m talking about how to “be angry, and not sin”. In essence, to flip that anger into fuel to change the world by getting involved in what Christ is doing; building His Kingdom. So I challenge you today, if you’re angry; pray about it, pray for whoever it is, and then go do something to improve the situation.

Children’s Ministry Rocks

A huge shout out to the leaders and volunteers who serve in our children’s ministry. It takes literally hundreds of people each week to make it happen, but you do it with style. From the incredible set-up, to the preparation, the passion for kids, to the follow-up, you all make a huge difference in the lives of kids!

On a personal note, thanks! Today, you made a huge difference in the lives of my own children. My two grade school boys talked the whole way home, and over lunch, about what they learned at KidZone today. It impacted their life. It solidified their faith. You helped them grow today, and made Jesus (and His Word) more real in their life. As a dad, I can’t thank you enough!

If you’re looking for a place to impact people’s lives at Palm Valley, I can’t think of a better place that our children’s ministry. Dave Ellis is building an incredible team, and they’re impacting hundreds of kids every week!

Ryan’s The Man!

Ryan Nunez, our Home Teams & Student Ministries pastor came into my office this week and asked if he could have Sunday (today) off so he could run the PF Chang’s Marathon in Tempe. Part of me wanted to see if he would pass out halfway, so curiosity got the best of me and I told him yes.

I talked to Ryan tonight, and he finished the whole marathon right at 4 hours. Now, I gotta give Ryan his props, he’s the man! I thought I threw him off when I took him to Pei Wei for lunch Wednesday, but he’s a true champion.

Ryan, I’m proud of you man, thanks for doing Palm Valley proud. By the way, with Darius having run the marathon last year, it only leaves Daniel on our youth staff who hasn’t completed a marathon. Daniel, you have this day off next year so you can run!