London Baby!

In the timeless words of Joey from Friends, “London Baby!”. Yep, that’s where we’re at tonight. We had a great flight, some missing luggage, a whirlwind bus tour of London, dinner and now we’re off to bed. It’s about midnight, and we have to leave at 5:30 a.m. to make our flight to Tel Aviv, Israel. Thanks to everyone who’s praying.

My satellite internet isn’t working, so I’m going to have to rely on hotel internet, pray it works. I’d like to upload pics and video daily to share our journey. We’ll see.

I heard services at Palm Valley rocked today, and that Sean did an awesome job teaching. It’s great to have such a gifted and talented team!

I’m off to bed.

Thankful today

1 Chronicles 16:34 (NLT)
³⁴ Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good! His faithful love endures forever.

I have so much to be thankful for today (as do you), and I didn’t want the day to pass w/o naming them…

• I’m thankful for Jesus, the giver and sustainer of life, the author and perfecter of faith, my Lord and Savior.
• I’m thankful for Lori, my wife, my best friend, my ministry partner. 15 years and more in love with her each day.
• I’m thankful for my 4 children. They’re each unique, and in each one I see the imprint of a Creator who loves them and has big plans for their life. I’m thankful He’s entrusted them to me, and I relish the title “dad”, it means the world to me.
• I’m thankful for the awesome people of Palm Valley Church. I love being on the journey with Christ-followers who are committed to living authentic, sacrificial lives. Through all the ups and downs, God has molded a church family that I truly love.
• I’m thankful for an incredible staff. God has given PVC a wonderfully talented team who are deeply committed to the vision and people of our church!
• I’m thankful we live in a country that’s free. Even when we disagree, we unite as Americans. Given the events in Indian, I’m thankful we’re a country that doesn’t single people out due to their faith or color. I know we’ve got a lot of ugliness in our past in regards to racism, but I’m thankful we’re making progress.
• I’m thankful that today I’ll eat too much, but I’m more cognizant this year of people who won’t. I’m more committed to helping ease suffering for those in our world who don’t have the resources we have.
• I’m thankful for Value Baptist Church. What a great ministry partner we have. They think we bless them, but truly “it’s more blessed to give than to receive”.

I know it’s been a tough year for so many, my family included, but I choose to be grateful for what God has blessed me with, not worry about what I don’t have (or even have lost). God is so good, and I’m thankful today. Blessings to you and your family on this special day!

It’s 5:00 am, I’m pumped!

I’m not a morning person, and I’m tired today, but God has me up at real early this morning, jacked up about a number of things…

• teaching on “money” today. Had such an awesome response last night, can’t wait to help give people Biblical direction during tough times.
• Gary Lamb’s big announcement. Since he’s at church right now (east coast), I’ll spill the beans..they’re getting an awesome new location. It’s insane how God brought this together. Go over to his blog later today for more informaiton.
• The possibility of a new location for Palm Valley to meet out. Still can’t say where, but it will be awesome!! Keep praying.
• Praying this morning for east coast ministry friends… Gary Lamb, Tony McCollum, Perry Noble, Tadd Grandstaff, Steven Gibbs, Nelson Searcy and Bob Franquitz. Join me in praying for these pastors and their churches.
• Still can’t believe the people of PVC provided nearly 30,000 meals to Phoenix Rescue Mission to provide food for hungry people in the west valley. Not sure how much more we gave to Agua Fria Food Bank, but your generosity overwhelms me!!
• One week until we leave for Israel, I better get crackin’ on the packin’.
• Last week I got to spend time with John Maxwell, Andy Stanley and Joel Osteen (seriously), and some of the things they said about leadership are kickin’ my butt. Still not sure how I ended up in the room with those guys, but man did God use the time to stretch me. I’ll blog more later on that.

Seize The Moment

Over the next 4 weeks we’ll be re-visiting our Seize The Moment campaign. I’m excited to update our church on all that God has done in the last 18 months, and look towards the work yet to be done. Here’s an invitation…

Seize The Moment Invite from Palm Valley Church on Vimeo.

Post Election Thoughts

Today, we woke up knowing who our next President will be. Here’s some thoughts I have today…

• It’s a historic day, as we’ve elected the first African-American president of the United States. It says to me that we’re making progress as a nation to ending prejudice.
• Awesome to see voter turnout. I’m glad to see more citizens engaged in the process.
• I’m thankful for the rights we have in this country.
• I have deep respect for the life John McCain has lived, and his speech last night was very touching. He’s truly an American hero.
• Obama embodies the American dream. He’s accomplished a great deal. I pray that he will seek the Lord’s wisdom as he leads our country.
• I’m glad the election is over. I’m still getting emails from people angry that I guided people to vote for McCain, while others are chastising me for encouraging people to vote for Obama.
• I will never be apologetic for being pro-life. The Bible instructs us to be a voice for those who have no voice, and to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
• Thankful for a number of gals in our church who experienced teenage pregnancy, and are now looking to help teens who are currently pregnant with hope and encouragement.
• I pray our country will unify behind President-elect Obama. We’ve got some big challenges ahead of us.
• I pray that he will lead us where we need to go.
• Ultimately, our country and our world need Jesus. So, as a Christ-follower, today is the day to live out the Great Commission!

Weekend Reflections

This weekend we wrapped up Letters To The Next President. Here’s some thoughts…

• All-Church picnic Saturday was a blast.
• Baptizing people for over an hour straight was moving, reminds me we’re hitting our target as a church. 
• Some powerful moments in every service, but also some very tense ones.
• Adam did an awesome job leading worship!
• Got e-mails from people who felt I favored the Republican view during this series.
• Got e-mails from people who felt I favored the Democrat view during this series.
• I’m glad this series is over, it was draining.
• Next week starts “Seize The Moment”, it’s going to be fun!