Sunday Night Thoughts

Man, it was great to be back at Palm Valley today. I loved hanging out on the patio and just talking with some poeple. Here’s some thoughts for a Sunday night…

• The GO students did an awesome job today; hard to preach after them!
• services rocked, it seems like our body is just excited to be together each week.
• Can’t wait for Baggage next week, check out the video promo here.
• Lori got her hair cut in a Bob (whatever that means). She looks incredible!
• Alvin’s awesome, always there and reliable as all get out. Thanks man!
• We need more greeters and ushers, too many people coming.
• Next week is going to be insane, you better bring some people with you.
• Karina did a great job getting everything together for baggage. Wait until you see the staging.
• The mailers, invites, ads, and video for Baggage are awesome; great job Michael!
• Went to a D-backs game with my boys the other night. It’s cool for me to watch them taking to the American pastime. My youngest even got a ball, very cool.
• Reading 2 Thessalonians right now, love Paul’s resolve to do whatever it takes to reach people with the gospel.
• I’m out of preaching shape. I was seriously out of breath today. Need to get back in the gym and into preaching shape.
• 4 services beginning next week, did I mention I need to get into the gym.
• Palm Valley’ers, make sure you’re praying and inviting people next week; lives are going to be changed!

So Excited

Waking up with the cool mountain air this morning really refreshed me. I’ve had time this morning to do some thinking, and just dreaming about what God’s doing in my life, and what I believe He wants to do at Palm Valley. All I can tell you is, I’m excited. I’ve been stretched and grown in my leadership like never before, and I believe PVC is going to benefit from that.

I have the same feeling I had right when we started the Church. That same wonder and awe, nervousness, expectation, and hope. I can’t really explain it, but I know it to be true. God’s about to rock us! Our staff has really grown the past few months, become much greater leaders, and working more efficiently together. Our church body is united behind the vision, and leaders are stepping forward like crazy to do “whatever it takes” to reach this community for Christ.

Oh yeah, and did I mention that ”Baggage” is going to be a series that’s going to be off the hook. I’ve had time to do some serious studying, reading, and praying in preparation for teaching this, and I believe it’s going to be life-changing for EVERY one of us. 

I’ve got a few incredibly exciting announcements coming, but can’t reveal them just quite yet :0

The boys and I are dying to go hiking and climb some rocks, so we’re off.

Long, great day

I left the house at about 5:30 a.m. Monday morning, and I just got home at 1:30 a.m. Tuesday. That’s a 20 hour day. I’m whooped. I was all over town, a ton of meetings, spent some time with potential staff in the morning, and current staff in the evening. It was a great day, I love every moment of getting to do this. I’m running on fumes right now, but couldn’t imagine a better way to invest my life.

We were at the airport tonight for about 3 hours shooting some video for the upcoming “Baggage” series, beginning August 4th/5th. I really believe this is going to be a powerful, life-changing series. Make sure you invite people who don’t know Jesus; they’ll thank you!

Tomorrow I leave to take the family to the mountains, which should be a blast. Lori and I got our time away in June, this week is dedicated to the kids. My boys are pumped to get to the great outdoors.

Weekend Reflections

Wow, what an incredible weekend we had! It’s the middle of July, but I sense we have a ton of momentum as a church right now. God really used Seize The Moment to solidify us and focus us laser-sharp on our vision. We’re seeing the fruit of that.

• Moving to the auditorium has given us a great feel in worship. It’s much more intimate than the gym!
• Our Children’s ministry have adapted incredibly well to their new areas. I love that my kids are growing up in a church we’re they love going.
• Mike did an awesome job leading worship this week. I sensed God at work in people’s hearts as we sang.
• The message truly was a blog, straight from my heart. If you missed it, watch it here.
• We’ve had a lot of staff gone on vacation. This is good, they all needed it.
• I believe God’s getting ready to rock our socks off at Palm Valley Church! We’d better get ready.

Worship This Weekend

I feel it in my heart; this weekend is going to be awesome at Palm Valley Church! I believe God’s going to do something big in our hearts!

I’m telling you, the worship is going to be awesome! This guy is going to bring it. Trust me, you want to make sure you get there early this weekend! Did I mention that you should get there early this weekend? You don’t want to miss the worship.

The message God has placed on my heart is burning within me. I can’t wait to share it with you. So be there early

At The Dentist

Yesterday I went to the dentist for a check-up and cleaning. Now, let me preface my story with a few items…

• I love my dentist. He goes to Palm Valley and is incredible.
• I went about 30 years of my young life w/o going to the dentist, so I’ve been making up for it over the last 2 years.
• My saliva generates a great deal of bacteria (dentist says), which means I need cleanings every 3 months. I know, this was gross, but it’s part of the story.

It had been almost 7 months since my last cleaning, which is a long time for me. In addition, I’ve been really bad about flossing lately. I know moms, please don’t be angry with me As I sat in the chair, I could see the look of disapproval on the hygienists face. We both knew what was obvious, I hadn’t been good, and it was going to take some serious work (and pain) to clean up my teeth.

Now, I have to be honest, part of me says “don’t worry about the cleaning”, nobody can tell the difference. But, if we don’t go after the fledging bacteria, a great deal of decay sets in. So, I endured the pain, and my teeth are now clean. The hygienist chided me…”make sure you floss daily, but just know it’s going to hurt for the first week until the gingivitis is completely gone.”

Why have I told you this? As I was driving home, the whole deal reminded me of sin in our lives. How?…

We often become comfortable with sin, because it’s “really not that big of a deal”. We even rationalize that nobody else notices. As sin progresses, it decays our spiritual health and destroys our relationship with God.

In order to prevent this spiritual decay, we’ve got to “floss daily”. We must do a thorough, daily spiritual cleaning, by spending time in God’s Word, prayer, and confession. If we’ll attack sin daily, it won’t be allowed to grow in our life, and we’ll have long term health.

One warning: if you’re not in the habit of eliminating sin, your initial cleaning is going to be bigger, and more painful. The first week is going to hurt, but it’s going to get better as you make this a daily habit

I look forward to seeing you, and your beautiful smiles this week at PVC!

Creativity

Our creative team hit the ball out of the park last weekend with the blog opener!

Watch it here. I love being a part of a team that’s so creative in helping people engage with the gospel.

side note for leaders: it takes a lot more work to be creative than to do the same thing every week, but it’s worth it. Sounds like a whole ‘nother blog!

External vs. Internal

Caution: this contains a preview of this weekend’s message, and may be considered a spoiler…

As I’m preparing for this week’s message, it struck me that each week at church we get to see a cosmic colission of the external work of God meeting the internal work of God. 

What the heck does that mean? Well, for a full explanation you’ll need to be at Palm Valley this weekend (early ). Here’s the short answer until then…

God is evident all around us. Psalm 19:1 (nlt) says “The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship.”

This is the external work of God, making himself known to us through creation and the working of the universe around us. The external evidence of God’s existence causes us to seek Him, and draws us closer to Him. Theologians call this “general revelation”.

Every Sunday I see people who are being drawn to God through the external work (including people who share Christ with them). I love seeing people come to church who aren’t quite sure why they’ve come, but they just know they need God in their lives and desire to know Him. The Bible says in  Romans 1:19 (nlt) says “For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts.” 

This is the internal work of God, prompting men and women to return to Him. This internal work is referred to as “specific revelation”. I love creating an environment in our services each week where the external work of God meets the internal work of God. This is a miraculous experience where lives are changed and eternal destinies are reversed. I love being a part of this process.

Now understand, we don’t change lives. Jesus changes lives. However, He’s invited us to partner with Him in the life-change process. At Palm Valley Church, we’re deeply committed to helping people far from God find thier way back to Him, by helping them explore the internal promptings of the Holy Spirit, building on the external evidence of God’s power.

I can’t wait to share more about this during our services this weekend. Make sure you’re there early!

Coming This Weekend

You don’t want to miss this weekend at Palm Valley Church!! I guarantee it, don’t miss it!

Why, you ask? I’m glad you asked.

I’ve got a message on my heart that’s been brewing for 3 months. I want every person at Palm Valley to make sure they hear this.

We’ve got a guest worship leader in this week, Mike Hohnholz. Mike was named best new worship artist in 2006, and he’s incredible. Mike’s become a friend, and I can’t wait to have him in service this weekend. Here’s a tip… make sure you get there early this weekend, you won’t want to miss a moment.

Weekend Reflections

Sitting here on Monday, just thinking about what an incredible weekend it was at Palm Valley. Here’s some of my thoughts from this weekend…

• Started a new series called BLOG this weekend. 
• Michael and Karina came up with some great creative elements to enhance the message!
• It was fun to preach again, although I felt a little out of step. Have to re-learn this
• Eddie did an awesome job leading worship. It was great to see his passion flow!
• I’m digging the new auditorium, much better feeling than the gym.
• Prayed over our youth GO teams this weekend. I always cry when I pray for our young people. The teens were even making fun of me after the service.
• Everyone leaves Phoenix during the summer, and this weekend was probably the biggest exodus.
• In contrast, we had a ton of first time visitors this weekend.
• Our nursery coordinator went into labor during church, that’s one way to grow your own ministry
• Congrats to the Wunderlich’s on their healthy new girl.
• People who greet outside during the summer REALLY love Jesus.
• I love our church family. I had a blast catching up with people on the patio.
• As a staff, we’re reading and discussing Good To Great. It’s led to some awesome discussion and challenges for us.
• Matt gave me colors for my text, he’s awesome. Thanks Matt for fixing my blog!
• I’m really excited about some things coming at Palm Valley; I’ll be blogging on some soon.

That’s it for now.