This Is Funny

The Student Minstries at PVC begins a new series this week called “American Idol: What Do You Worship”. The guys did a promo video last week that was hilarious, check this out…

And if you’re a jr. high or high school student in the west valley, make sure you’re at church this Sunday to catch the action!

Weekend Reflections

What an amazing weekend at Palm Valley Church. I came home from High School Camp tired and exhausted, and to be honest I was really struggling Saturday afternoon to find the energy and will to preach… “the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak”. That said, I believe this might have been the most moving weekend services I’ve ever been a part of.

• The choir, yes I said choir, rocked the house. The energy in the building during every service was electric!
• Big props to Derrick, Lindsay, Lilly and Jan for pulling together all the elements and people for this service.
• Some cool stories from first time visitors this weekend; one of whom hadn’t been to church in over 30 years. He said he hated God until this weekend. He’ll be back at PVC next weekend.
• 9 people visited the Fresh Start table during the 11:30 service alone. I never get tired of seeing changed lives!
• I can’t wait until summer’s over and all our volunteers are back from vacation. I’m glad they’re taking time off, but we miss them.
• Teaching through Jonah was a blast, loved helping people connect with an old story in a new way.
• Sean Smith did the set design for this series and he nailed it!
• I’ve been out of the office for a few weeks, can’t wait to get back in the morning. I love the guys & gals I work with.
• I’m pumped about “At The Movies” next week.
• This week I get back to the gym. I really slacked this summer, but I need to be at my best to be able to do what I believe God is preparing for Palm Valley.
• I’m so proud of the job Ryan and Darius did teaching while I was gone. God has brought such an amazing team around me. I believe we’re one of the few churches where the quality of teaching goes up when the lead pastor is gone.
• Did I mention that camp was “off the hook”. I had such a blast with our high school students; they can crash my family vacation anytime!
• Huge shout out to the adults who went on camp and made it all happen. God used you in a big way.
• I’m really starting to get excited about our Israel trip. If you’re interested, I’d encourage you to go here and pray about joining us.
• Palm Valley’ers, get out there this week and give away popcorn to invite people to come with you next weekend.

HS Camp – Day 4

Today was our last full day with the students up here. I think next year we’re going to have to extend camp a day to give us more time. It was an awesome day, here’s some reasons why…

• I actually got 6 hours of sleep last night, most since we got here. I’m whipped!
• Went white-water-rafting today, what a blast. Only 1 of the students had ever done it, so we had a great time. God gave us a sunny day to enjoy on the way down the river.
• Pizza lunch at a park was a nice break.
• Free time in Durango was fun, what a cool town. Somehow we ended up in a hot dog bun throwing fight. Quote from Lori after being hit… “I’ve been bunned”
• These students are just plain fun to be with.
• Dinner tonight was chicken fajitas, and they were awesome.
•  Somehow I got involved in a game that involved fighting with styrofoam “noodles”. Had to put a whoopin’ on some students.
• Worship was awesome again tonight. The youth have introduced me to a new song called “Yahweh”. You’ll be singing it in church soon.
• I ended our camp with a challenge for students to be fully devoted followers of Christ; lights in a dark world. Teaching from Daniel 3, here were my points… 

1. It will not always be popular to follow Jesus.
2. You must decide who/what you will worship.
3. Jesus will always be with you.
4. Your character matters, and your character is your witness.

I ended our “family meeting” with a challenge and prayer for the students. There were a ton of tears as students were really wrestling with the implications of the message. Quote from Lori upon returning to the meeting room, “what’d you do to them?”.

Tomorrow morning we’re ending our “family vacation” with the traditional cook-out by the lake. Lori and I will cook eggs, bacon and hash browns. The students will have time by the lake to read God’s Word and journal, then we’ll end with a worship service by the lake.

Pray for us as we’ll have about a 9 hour drive home tomorrow afternoon.

“Family Huddle” tonight

As I mentioned earlier the worship rocked tonight. Singing “Mighty To Save” brought me to tears; the kids were so passionate!

Lori and I did a Q&A together, and ended up including our children. The students had so many questions, it was awesome. My heart is heavy though, as most of the students questions involved how to deal with pain in their life. Childhood isn’t as simple as it used to be

I shared with the kids 6 hopes and dreams I have for their lives (and every person who attend Palm Valley). Here they are…

1. That they would love the Word of God (Read Psalm 119)
2. That they would know how valuable they are (God loves them)
3. That they would live courageously (Joshua 1)
4. That they would care enough to make an impact (Matthew 28)
5. That they would love the local church, the bride of Christ (Ephesians 5)
6. That they would not waste a moment of their life!

HS Camp – Day 3

Day 3 of camp was another awesome day! For so many of the students they are experiencing things they’ve never done before, and it’s so cool for Lori and I to watch them explore and enjoy. I’m writing this as worship is going on, and the students are rockin’. Here’s some quick hits from the day…

•  Lori made her “secret-recipe, world famous” sausage gravy and biscuits. All I can say is wow! that’s some good eatin’.
• We spent the bulk of the day hiking today, a good 4 1/2 mile hike.
• Many students had never hiked in such beautiful surroundings, it was fun to hear them talk about what they were seeing.
• Watching 50 students fan out in a meadow to read God’s Word and journal will make any dad/pastor proud!
• D-Lo is connecting with the students right now, they’re digging his worship leading.
• We played around in the river for a while, great video of students falling and freezing
• The students were worn out after the hike, so we gave them a few hours to rest this afternoon.
• Props to my boys for succesfully leading the hike today!
• Grilled sirloin steaks with baked potatoes and corn for dinner. This is camp food?
• I love young people, they rock!
• right now 6 students are sharing their S.O.A.P.’s for the day. Cool to hear students sharing their spiritual growth with others. God is rockin’ their world this week!
•  My heart is encouraged by these kids.

I’m about to speak in “family huddle” about my hopes for our young people, i’ll write about that later. Here’s a great group picture from the hike today…

HS Camp – Day 2

It’s nearly midnight as I write, and I’m pretty darn tired, but had to share with you all what an awesome day we had. I’m loving spending time with the High Schooler’s, they’re such awesome young people! Here’s some quick hits about our day…

• 9:00 we kicked off the day with alpine slides, mini-golf, bungee trampoline, rock climbing wall, and some great scenery at nearly 13,000 feet. The kids had a blast racing each other down the apline sleds. Unfortunately Darius wiped out and left some skin on the track
• Cool to see kids building such strong relationships with each other and the youth mentors.
• Grilled burgers and hot dogs for lunch. I love grilling, so cooking for 60 on the grill was a blast.
• After lunch the students went off by cabins and did their daily S.O.A.P. times. It’s such a proud moment as a pastor to see everyone reading God’s Word, spending time reflecting and writing down what God is teaching us!
• Team building games capped off the afternoon, with the students working together to accomplish assigned tasks. There’s some great leadership in this group.
• Dinner was spaghetti. Lori made her secret recipe “bolognese sauce” and the kids loved it.
• I was moved to tears during chapel. D-Lo did such a great job leading, and I can tell the students are really growing in their worship from the heart.
• Different students shared their S.O.A.P. for the day. They have such faith and it’s cool to see them sharing it.
• I did a Q&A, allowing students and leaders to ask me any questions they wanted; nothing off-limits. It was humbling to talk about how God has changed my life, and I think the students gained a much different perspective of me. They asked some crazy, but meaningful questions. We’re going to do it again tomorrow.
• I talked from Daniel Chapter 1, reminding the students that God has a big plan for their life. My main points were (1) you must decide who you’re living for, (2) Realize that how you live your life matters, and (3) Remember that God will always make a way.
• I closed with a challenge for students to live their lives fully for Christ; that they might be blessed and be a blessing to others. I challenged them to dominate this culture with the gospel.
• A number of students waited in line to talk with me after the message. Obviously God is really working in their hearts. We shed a lot of tears and it was humbling for me to get to pray with them.

Well, tomorrow is a long 4 mile hike to the river, lots of fun. We’ll be gone all day and I can’t wait for the talks we’ll get to have with the students. Pray for us, especially since my 3 boys have been tasked to lead the way on the hike. We’re at their mercy to keep us on the right trail

Here’s some pics from today for your viewing pleasure…

HS Camp – Day 1

Today was the first day of our High School Camp, called “Crashing The Rohlinger Family Vacation”. We have 50 high school students with us up in Durango, Colorado for a great week. The students drove for about 11 hours today, finally getting to Durango about 7:00 p.m.  Some highlights from our brief night together…

• Parents can rest easy, the students made it in safe.
• My family cooked tacos for 60 tonight, which was no easy task. Thanks to the Molina’s we got it done.
• Darius is a GREAT leader. I’m grateful to Jesus that my kids are growign up with Darius as their pastor.
• This is a fun group of young people. They had such great attitudes after a long day. They jumped right in and helped with everything! I know parents all over the west valley are wondering how I’m talking about their kids right now
• D-Lo and Kim came up so that he could lead worship. He’s like a rock star to the high schoolers!
• Chapel was short, but incredible tonight. I loved that the students were so attentive as I talked tonight!
• My main points were simply to remind the students that (1) God loves them, (2) God likes them, (3) God knows their name and cares about them!
• The adult mentors rock. They took time off work to come invest in young people. I believe Jesus is proud of them!
• Watching my children serve the students dinner and dessert, and then clean up was awesome! I’ve prayed their whole lives that my kids would have servant’s hearts, and tonight that’s what I saw! I’m a proud dad!
• I’ve got to be up in 6 hrs, time to hit the sack.
• Tomorrow’s packed: alpine slide, rock climbing, hiking, team building activities and lots of fun.

Pray for us. I shared with the students tonight that I feel God has called me to invest my life in the next generation, to equip them to dominate our culture with the gospel. It’s a privilege to have this opportunity and I’m praying that this week will significantly impact each of the students and help them grow closer to Jesus and commit their lives to serving Him! More tomorrow….

Ending the Silence

I’ve been quiet the last few weeks, just spending some time investing in my family, my staff, and spending time with the Lord pondering what’s down the line for PVC. It’s been a great summer so far, very profitable. It’s hard to explain, but I believe Palm Valley benefits the most when I’m not around. Let me explain…

Don’t get me wrong, I love teaching, but it can become a grind when I do 24 of 25 weeks like I did this spring. with 5 services, I get flat worn-out. When I get away from the weekly teaching grind, I get a fresh perspective. My brain gets to relax, no pressure every week. I get to spend greater time in God’s Word and prayer w/o having to think about what I’m teaching right now. I visit other churches and spend more time talking with other pastors, gaining valuable perspective from what God’s doing around the country.

Basically, when I get away I feel like I get to just sit and here from God. I believe this is what Palm Valley Church needs me to do most. If I’m just teaching from my own wisom, we’re all in trouble. I believe God has big plans for PVC, and I want to be a part of every bit of it. By the way, my absence gives PVC the chance to hear from extremely gifted teachers like Ryan and Darius, who both brought it the past couple weeks. I truly feel that the quality of teaching doesn’t drop a bit when I’m gone. If anything, it goes up!

So, my blog silence is ending, and I can’t wait to be back with the people of PVC this week.