Route 66 completed

This morning we opened our Bibles and read the last reading of the year, completing our journey this year through God’s route 66, the 66 books of the Bible. I’m so proud of so many in our church who read through the Bible for the first time! If you fell a little short, celebrate that you read the Bible more this year than you did the previous year. That’s a good thing!

2008 was an incredible year for Palm Valley Church, and much of it is due to our growth in God’s Word. Let’s keep striving forward as we read through the Bible again in 2009, adding the element of journaling, using the S.O.A.P. acrostic.

So, as January 1 hits, let’s open to Genesis 1 and start again, growing in our understanding and application of the Bible!

Christmas Eve Reflections

After some time off to recover and reflect, here’s some thoughts from our 6 Christmas Eve services…

• So proud of all our volunteers, many who served multiple services to make it happen!
• Sean Smith did an incredible job pulling together all the creative elements. I loved the stage design with 3 huge video screens and Christmas decorations.
• So proud of so many PVC’ers who invited people to come!
• During our first service all the video stopped working, creating a major mess, since our songs were tied by clic-track to the videos.
• Derrick and the worship team kept plowing forward and didn’t let it stop the service, they did an awesome job!
• The Felix testimony is one of the most moving stories of hope I have ever seen. You can watch it at the beginning of my message, click here.
• Thanks to all the Home Teams who brought cookies. I personally tested as many as possible, and they were all good.
• Adam Waltho and Lilly Hughes nailed their solos on Christmas, they both moved me to tears at different points of the worship. 
• Good to have Fernando and Eileen back on stage. Glad they escaped from Arkansas!
• 6 services is a lot of preaching, I was fried Christmas morning
• Can’t wait to kick-off “LifeCoach” this weekend, great way to start the new year!

15 years ago today!

Today Lori and I are celebrating our 15^th wedding anniversary. It’s hard to believe how quickly time has flown, it seems like just yesterday we were walking down the aisle with great expectations. We’ve experienced a great deal in 15 years…

• A wonderful youth ministry that still produces fruit today.
• 3 years of marriage w/o kids where we built a deep and abiding friendship.
• The birth of 4 children, truly God’s greatest blessing is our family. Watching our children grow physically, emotionally, relationally and spiritually brings us great joy.
• Starting Palm Valley Church together in our home. This was easily the biggest step of faith, yet our greatest faith-growing experience.
• Developed great friendships, many which have remained a huge blessing to us today.
• Experienced great sadness at close friends who have chosen to walk in sin and wrecked their lives, leaving us feeling hurt and helpless in the wake of damage.
• Learned great lessons in how to communicate love to each other and avoid the pitfalls of marriage.
• Learned huge financial lessons, the hard way, that have drawn us closer to each other and to our Lord.
• Realized how blessed we are that God brought us together, and have fallen more in love with each other every day.

To my bride, Lori…

• You are my beloved wife.
• You are my best friend.
• I love when you laugh, even when you’re laughing at me
• I love your passion for Jesus, and that you’ve always walked with Him.
• I’m grateful you saved yourself for me, it makes me feel special.
• You’re the most incredible mother ever; our children are blessed by you.
• Your faith encouraged me to pursue my dreams. Without that, Palm Valley Church wouldn’t exist. Every changed life at PVC can be traced back to you!
• Thanks for believing in me when everybody told you to run.
• You’re more beautiful today than the day I married you. You defy logic.
• I want to grow old with you
• You’re the best little help-mate ever
• I thank God every day that He brought you into my life!
• The first 15 years have been amazing, I believe the next 15 will be even better.

Through 15 years, with ups and downs, nobody will ever know how hard we’ve worked at our marriage, but Lori and I do, and that’s what matters. I love you honey!

Weekend Reflections

It was good to be back at Palm Valley after my travels, but jet-lag is still working me over.  Here’s some thoughts from the weekend…

• Glad I wasn’t teaching, I was so tired I could barely do announcements.
• Wayne Cordiero’s message was awesome. Video teaching works!
• I loved the praise team’s leading of “Let Me Sing”. Very worhshipful!
• Video team was right on cue all weekend.
• Nate rocked the sound board, it was crystal clear.
• Lots of excitement for Christmas, it’s going to be awesome.
• Route 66 has been the best thing we’ve ever done. Most of our church has read the Bible more this year than they did last year. That’s a win!
• December cracks me up. People are so busy with Christmas stuff (the birth of Christ) that they can’t make it to church to worship Him.
• Big things in the works that I hope to be able to share in a week or two.
• I mean really big!
• Had our staff Christmas party at our house Sunday night. I love our staff!
• The highlight of the night was the white elephant gift exchange. Somebody brought Derrick’s new monitor as their gift. You should’ve seen the stress on Derrick’s face when he realized what was going on.
• Some gals from PVC put together all the food and decorations, as well as serving. Thanks to Kathleen, Michelle, Jane, Judi, Kim, Toni, and Nancy.
• Don’t forget to invite people for Christmas Eve services, 6 great opportunities to see your friends meet Jesus!

Traveling home, longest birthday ever!

We woke up at 3:15 in Cairo to begin our long journey home. At 4:15 we all met for breakfast, and as I walked in the whole group sang happy birthday to me. It was a surprise, but great to know they cared By the way, I celebrated one of the longest birthday’s ever. Due to the 9 hour time difference and travel, I actually celebrated my birthday for 33 hours today on 3 different continents. Top that!

Our flight from Cairo to London was extremely empty, which allowed us to spread out and relax. Very nice. With a 3 hour layover in London, Lori and I had lunch with friends at Gordon Ramsey’s restaurant in the airport. We’re big fans of his, so it was cool to eat there. Our last flight was 11 hours from London to Phoenix. It seemed like an eternal flight, but we finally made it home about 7:00 pm Phoenix time.

Side note: the long flight allowed me to read Craig Goershel’s book, “IT”, which was an awesome and challenging read, especially for pastors.

It was so nice to get home and seek our kids, I can’t explain how much we missed them! So concludes an incredible journey, one that I’ll never forget.

King Tut, Lunch with a view, Ancient wonders

Today was our last day of the trip, and we went out with a bang. Here’s the highlights…

We began the morning by heading to the Egyptian Museum of History. What an incredible place. We only had 2 1/2 hours there, but we’d really need 3 days just to see everything there. Our guide focused mainly of the King Tut grave relics. It was amazing to see how much was packed into his tomb, and the ornate details of all the pieces. The museum actually has over 1 million more ancient egyptian relics they don’t have room to show, but they’re building a huge museum near the pyramids.

Egyptian Musuem of History

We then headed to the “suspended” Coptic church, which is egyptian Christians, in the old city of Cairo. As you enter the area you pass the “city of the dead”, which is a huge development of small homes that house the bodies of the dead of the city. Each family has their own “house” where all their dead are buried. It literally looks like a “ghost city”. The suspended church is named so because it was built on columns that exist from the Roman occupation.

The “suspended” Coptic (Christian) church

We hit lunch at a restaurant right across the street from the pyramids. Lunch was okay, but you couldn’t beat the view! Traffic was “light” today, but from our terrace table at a main intersection we found great amusement watching.

The view during lunch

Making bread for our lunch

Light traffic (seriously)

After lunch it was time to ride the camels to the pyramids. I had pictured the site being out in the middle of the desert, but they’ve literally built the city of Cairo around the pyramids. We started by riding camels, which was quite an adventure. It was hilarious to watch the whole group hanging on for life while laughing at each other. Somehow we all managed to survive!

Riding the camels

Pyramids and sphynx

Some of the group walked the tunnels to the middle of one of the pyramids while the rest of us just took in the sites. It truly is an amazing piece of workmanship. Our guide informed us that there’s actually 95 pyramids throughout Egypt, and he even pointed out a group of 7 pyramids off in the distance.

Group at the pyramids

King of the Pyramids

The last stop was at a papyrus store, where they showed us how they make paper of the papyrus plant. Very simple, yet fascinating technique. It’s amazing how resourcesful we are when we want to accomplish something.

Tomorrow we wake up at 3:15 am to head to the airport for the long journey home. Please pray for us, especially because I’ve picked up a stomach bug that’s waging war inside of me (I’m losing). We fly to London then straight to Phoenix, getting in around 6:30 pm. I have to tell you I can’t wait to see my kids, I miss them all so much!

This has been an incredible journey, one all of us will never forget!

More pics

Monday’s post has been updated and now contains more pictures for your enjoyment

Grumbling in Sin, fresh water, broader horizons, fresh water

After our crazy trip, 3 hours of sleep didn’t seem like enough. However, after a VERY cold shower and a Redline, we managed to get ourselves going around 7:00 a.m. As we walked out of our room we noticed the beautiful Red Sea. Lori and I walked down to the beach and simply enjoyed the incredible blue waters. I guess I never pictured it this way, but man what a way to start the day!

By the Red Sea

We loaded up in 4×4 vehicles, 6 to a truck, and headed out to follow the wanderings of the Israelites through the desert. What a blast it was to romp and stomp through the desert. Our driver, Akmed, wasn’t nervous about hitting the gas and we were flying around in the back. Much better way to see the desert than wandering around

Hanging with our 4×4 drivers

Our Egyptian guide, Harry

As we drove we’d periodically stop and enjoy views of the desert. Our first couple stops were in the valley of Sin, named because that’s where the Israelites complained about Moses leading them out of Egypt. To be honest, after viewing the rough terrain, endless desert views, and heat, I can empathize with the Israelites a little better. One of the cool stops was a spot where the Israelites first encountered the Amelikites in a huge area. It was amazing to picture this as a battle field. We had a blast climbing sand dunes, building rock monuments and getting to know our Egyptian drivers a little better.

The group learning about the Valley of Sin

Running down a huge sand dune

Our next stop was for a true Bedouin lunch. The Bedouin’s are tribal people who have wandered the desert for thousands of years, much like the one’s who purchased Joseph from his brothers and sold him into slavery in Egypt. The Bedouin’s were very friendly, and I had a blast playing with their kids. It reminded me how kids are kids, no matter where they live, and also made me miss my children today! The lunch was awesome, consisting of chicken, cooked vegetables, rice, a pita like bread, and a few other things I don’t know how to explain   We were all a little nervous at first, but everyone thoroughly enjoyed the lunch. What a life experience!

A true Bedouin lunch

Lunch close up

My new security team!

During lunch our guide showed us the local Tamarisk trees, which in this region actually produce a gummy-like substance that’s edible and nutritious. The locals call it “manna”. Many believe this is actually the manna that was provided by God daily for His children right in this area.

The next stop was at the only fresh water spring in the valley of Sin. It’s extremely logical (and widely accepted) that the Israelites would have utilized this spring during their wanderings. It was awesome to see God’s provision for His children, literally providing a stream in the desert. I was also very touched to have wandered (albeit by 4×4) where Moses led the people. It gave me a much greater perspective on the book of Exodus, and broadened my horizons to how events in the Bible actually unfolded.

Fresh water spring in the desert

After driving out of the desert (with a little more romping ), we loaded back on our bus and headed to Cairo. Along the way we stopped at Marah, where in Exodus 15 God turns bitter water into fresh water. This is typical of what God does; He takes unusable and makes it usable, dead and makes it alive, bitter and makes it fresh I love our God. There are two wells at Marah, and I see how they were an oasis in the desert to the Israelites.

One of the 2 wells at Marah

We journeyed on to Cairo, witnessing the Suez canal (very cool), which had huge tankers passing through. As we entered Cairo we were amazed at the multitude of empty buildings. Cairo has 20 million residents, and as the city has sought to expand it’s led to uncontrolled (and unscrupulous) building. There are literally thousands of completely empty high-rise buildings that were never completed. The corruption is unchecked and leads to developers taking huge loans and bailing on the projects before completion. I’ve never seen anything like it! Until…

Cairo traffic. Man, this is crazy. People literally walk out onto the freeways (en masse) to hitch rides. They run in front of cars all over the roads. Kids dart in and out of busy traffic, never looking. Moms holding babies play “frogger” across 6 lane roads. I’m not talking occasionally, it’s every few feet. I was heart-broken at the state of this city, and it’s people living in rampant poverty. It reminds me once again how blessed I am and thankful for all I have.

It’s early Wednesday as I write this, and today we’ll be taking a camel ride (yep ) to the pyramids. Can’t wait to see one of the great wonders of the world, and I hope to blog it late tonight, as we leave for the airport at 5:00 am tomorrow for 19 hours of flying home. We all appreciate your prayers.

Monday, long day

 We’ve been on the road for a couple days, which has been extremely tiring, but also very enriching. Here’s a make-up blog to share what happened on Monday, December 8^th…

Sunday night’s dinner at Foccacia (incredible Italian food!)

Monday was a crazy day that seemed like it would never end. We found out that Egypt had closed the border crossings due to the muslim celebration going on. So, after lounging in the morning we loaded up at 10:00 am and headed out. About an hour down the road to Jericho, our guide realized we were missing papers we needed. So, we backtracked, losing a couple hours in the process.

On the border

Our group at the border, waiting

On the border – Closed

The lost time required us to make a decision, visit Massada or Timna Park. Massada is the ancient Roman fortress  on the hills surrounding the Dead Sea. It was here that thousands of jewish revolters met their death at the hands of the Roman army in 70 AD. Timna contains a life size replica of the tabernacle the Israelites worshiped in during their wandering in the desert. We chose Timna.

Lori and I having fun on the ride

Greg and Kim enjoying the ride

After 6 hours of driving, and a McDonald’s stop (it was AWESOME!), we hit Timna. What an awesome learning tool as we walked through the tabernacle, experiencing what the Israelites saw, and hearing from our guide how every piece and instrument in the tabernacle points to Christ. Everyone agreed that we made the right choice, as this truly enriched our faith and showed us how much thought God puts into our worship. What a great reminder that we ought to do the same!

Our Israel guide, Fabrecio. You’ll be seeing him in Phoenix this fall at Palm Valley.

After Timna we stopped at a truck stop for dinner, then headed down to the border of Egypt to wait for it to open.  We got to the border about 7:30, and to our surprise we were pretty close to the front of the line. Our guide had us get off the bus and get into line. Over the next hour, I made a bunch of friends, including Indian Christians and more Nigerian Christians, and I almost set off an international incident! You had to be there

Me and a new friend, John Jacob from India.

Another friendship formed at the border, a pastor/author from Nigeria

Right before the border opened our guide told us to get back on the bus because they would drive us past the Israel border into the holding area. About an hour later we cleared customs and met our Egyptian guide, Harry. We passed through all kinds of security checks and loaded up on the bus, about 11:00 pm.  They also assigned us an armed soldier complete with an Uzi, very reassuring

The drive across the Egyptian desert was crazy, as the roads were pretty bad. At times we slowed down to about 10 miles per hour due to holes and dips in the road. We also hit check points about every 30-45 minutes. I tried to sleep on the bus, but it didn’t work. We finally got to our hotel in the Sinai peninsula about 4:00 am, which gave us about 3 hours to sleep!

With our driver, Elias. He was awesome, and is truly a friend!

As you can see, it was an eventful day. All part of the joy of traveling. I had a blast the whole time, keeping things fun and reminding the group how blessed we are to get to do this. The group had a great attitude the whole time, and we actually had  a lot of fun trying to guess what would happen next!

Checking In

Pastor Greg is without internet access today so he couldn’t post an update. But he talked with Pastor Ryan and wanted to make sure that everyone knew they were safe and doing great! They are on the way to the Egypt portion of their trip and will have updates for us soon.