Unleashed Was Awesome

I got back late (2 am) last night from our men’s retreat, and it was awesome! I can honestly say it was the best retreat I’ve ever been a part of. There were 71 men, and the cool part was that everyone had a blast together. It was amazing to see how guys wanted to connect and get to know each other, and there were absolutely no issues the whole time. Here were some highlights for me…

• Riding up with some guys was fun, great start.
• At the beginning of the 1st chapel, I could tell the men were pumped to be there. The excitement level was off the hook right from the start.
• My message on Thursday night, “Unleashed From Sin” went for an hour and a half. Amazingly, nobody moved, they were all so wanting to hear.
• Ryan did a great job Friday morning with “Unleashed From Doubt”.
• Hours of basketball was fun, but I’m out of shape.
• I heard paintball and the ropes course was awesome.
• Food was horrible, but what do you expect at camp?
• Jonathan and Ryan did a great job organizing the whole retreat. 
• The Wellman’s went into town and got massages, we made fun of them Secretly, the rest of us were jealous.

Without a doubt the highlight was worship during the Friday night service. The men were absolutely into it, and I thought they were going to rip the roof off during “Mighty To Save”. I taught on “Unleashed From Fear”. At the end we had men huddle up and prayer for each other and their families. It was moving to see guys praying and crying together.

Just Like God

Generally as I read Scripture I have a habit of skipping the records of ancestors. It doesn’t seem very important to find out “who begat who” However, in reading through the genealogies in Matthew 1 something stood out that I never noticed before…

Matthew 1:5: Salmon was the father of Boaz (whose mother was Rahab). Boaz was the father of Obed (whose mother was Ruth). Obed was the father of Jesse. Jesse was the father of Kind David.

Isn’t it amazing that Boaz, who was the “kinsman redeemer” to Ruth was the son of Rahab, who was a prostitute who helped the Israelite spies in the land of Canaan. It immediately raised some questions in my mind…

• How did Rahab marry Salmon? She must have been brought back by the spies due to her helping them.
• How cool that a former prostitute found value in serving God, and her life was changed.
• Was it Rahab’s past that caused Boaz to be so kind to Ruth, a hurting widow? He was certainly a righteous man, but also a caring man.
• Does it strike anyone else that King David was the great-grandson of a prostitute?

This is just so like God to take the most unlikely candidate and do something great through her. Rahab was a prostitute who chose to believe God, and her life was completely changed. Can you imagine what God will do through us if we choose to believe Him and His promises.

As one who used to live for the world and the things of it, I can identify with Rahab and her story. I’m so thankful that God is the God of second-chances and redeemed lives. I’m evidence that He can and will use anyone who desires Him, regardless of where they’ve been or what they’ve done!

Route66

It has been awesome to hear from so many about their excitement for reading the Bible this year. It’s awesome to know we’re doing it together as a church family. If you haven’t yet, check out www.pvcroute66.com and join the journey with us.

TRUST ME, you don’t want to miss this weekend at Palm Valley Church. It’s going to be awesome. Our creative team has put together a worship experience that will cause sensory overload I’m serious, make sure you get there early (hint: there will be cool stuff to check out before service on the patio) and come ready to dive into the Bible. I’ll be teaching on “what the Bible’s all about”, giving us a simple overview of why Scripture is so important.

I believe the next 4 weeks at Palm Valley Church are going to rock our world. I want to thank our staff and leaders who have put so much time into making the route66 such an incredible journey already!

Crazy Week

As I left for the mountains last week I knew I’d be returning to complete craziness with my schedule. With kickin’ off the route66 series this weekend, speaking at our men’s camp (begins today) as well as some big changes at Palm Valley this is truly the case. Lori even asked me if we should just cancel the snow trip so I could focus on all this stuff. I appreciate her thoughtfulness, but it wasn’t even a choice for me.

Note to leaders: don’t ever sacrifice your family for the busyness of ministry. My family’s health is most important. I want my kids to grow up loving the Lord and the local church because of our ministry at Palm Valley. I’m in this for the long haul, and to do that I and my family must be healthy. Same is true of you and your family. Don’t compromise that. You’ve only got 1 shot at raising your kids, there will always be ministry opportunities. Also, when I’m healthy Palm Valley benefits!

Anyways, I’m pumped about what God’s doing at PVC right now. We’ve got a ton of momentum, and I just sense God is about to do something big. If you think about it, please pray for me as I speak at men’s camp the next few days and finish up my talk for this weekend as we kick-off the route66!