Train A Child

During our current series on parenting, I’ve been challenging parents to have the big picture in mind, and parent from vision, not reaction. In the book of Proverbs we’re given 7 key areas to train our children in…

1) Train them to manage God’s money. (Prov. 3:9-10)

2) Train them to carefully select friends. (Prov. 13:20)

3) Train them to watch their words. (Prov. 4:24)

4) Train them to be responsible. (Prov. 6:6-8)

5) Train them to guard their minds. (Prov. 23:7)

6) Train them to be generous. (Prov. 11: 25)

7) Train them to fear God. (Prov. 1:7)

I think this provides a great reference point for parents.  I’m praying for you!

Haiti Bound

I’m getting crazy excited about heading back to Haiti next week.  After services on Sunday, August 29th, Mark Grochocki, our Pastor of Care and Missions, will be flying down to Miami and then Haiti.  Our focus will be touring orphanages in Port Au Prince with our new missions partner, C3 Global.

I’m most excited about spending some time with the orphans and leaders at our orphanage in Petionville.  We have 46 kids being housed, fed and educated, completely supported by Palm Valley Church. Our prayer is that out of this orphanage we will launch a church to impact Haiti. We will get tons of pictures and video to introduce PVC to our kids.

As we tour other orphanages we will see the impact C3 churches are having together, and we will also be scouting for our next orphanage to adopt.

So please pray for safe travel and discernment of opportunities. PVC, this is our giving at work!

Ministry Opportunity

Hey PVC’ers, now that we’ve got our own building, we’ve got even greater responsibility. One of the ways you can take ownerhship and “be the church” is by joining the landscape team to help us give the best 1st impression possible to our community…

You can come help this Saturday, August 21st at 7:00 am.  Bring leather gloves and a leaf rake (if you have one).  The team will work for 1-2 hours.  For more info email Aday@palmvalley.org

Future opportunities…

September 18 @ 7:00 AM
October 16 @ 7:00 AM
November 20 @ 7:00 AM
December 18 @ 7:00 Am

Happy Birthday To My Bride

18 years ago I met my future bride at a prayer meeting. What better place to meet your bride, right?  I knew from the moment I saw her that she was unique, not only beautiful on the outside (she is), but on the inside also. For the next few months I pursued her, and she ignored me. After a while though, she got tired of rejecting me, and we began to spend time together

In those early days I knew this was the women for me. She was stunning, loved the Lord with all her heart, and radiated kindness and love. She was everything I was looking for, and as I would discover over the years, so much more.

After a year of dating we were married, officially making me the luckiest man on the planet.  Life sped up, ministry happened, and we started adding kids to the mix. We started a church together and have experienced incredible blessings in our marriage, family, and ministry.

Today, Lori celebrates her birthday. I celebrate that she was born, and that God brought her into my life.  After 17 years of marriage, I simply enjoy her more every day. She’s more beautiful than the day I met her. She’s grown so much in the Lord and her ministry skill, she has no clue how much her spiritual maturity encourages those around her. She’s given me 4 incredible children and nurtured them in every way; she’s an awesome mom! She’s my partner in ministry and is a huge reason why Palm Valley Church is what it is today.  Her patience, strength and grace have helped me weather some huge storms in ministry; without her I doubt I would have made it.

So today I celebrate my bride, Lori. I love you honey, and pray that today and every day you will know how much you mean to me. I pray that God will bless you with everything your heart desires, because I know that your desires are wrapped in your identity and mission in Christ. I look forward to the days we have ahead and thank you for choosing to walk them with me. Happy Birthday!!

Israel 2010

I spent some time today thinking about, planning, and just plain getting excited about our trip to Israel and Rome this November/December. This will be our third trip, leading a group mostly from Palm Valley, but is open to others. I love going to the Holy Land, and it’s such a joy to help others experience it for the first time. if you’re interested in joining us, email pastorgreg@palmvalley.org and we’ll get you all the information you need.

Some personal highlights that I always look forward to…

• boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. Untouched, just as Jesus saw it.
• Ceasarea Philippi, ancient pagan worship site where Jesus promised to build His church
• Caesarea Maritima, roman port city, you can stand on the exact spot where Paul preached in chains.
• Mt. Carmel, where Elijah called fire from heaven, looking over valley of Megiddo (where Armegeddon will happen)
• Dead Sea, lowest point on earth, site of Sodom
• Masada, mountain fortress where Jews hid during revolt of 72 ad.
• Qumran, caves where Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered (incredible proof of reliability of the Bible)
• Mount of Olives, love standing where Jesus ascended to heaven from and looking across at Temple mount.
• Rabbi Tunnel — going underground, standing 10 feet from the “holy of holies”, the dwelling place of God!
• Temple Institute — watching end times prophecy fulfilled is always amazing.
• Temple Mount — Abraham, David, Jesus have all stood there. Most controversial piece of real estate on the planet.
• Garden Tomb — it’s still empty , love doing communion there.

Overall, I just love the sites, the sense of history everywhere you turn, the interaction with Jews and Palestinians who can be so welcoming, it’s the trip of a lifetime!!!  If you can make it, join us in Israel this November.  If you’re a Senior Pastor and want to go, contact me, I would love to help you make this trip.

After going to Israel you will never read the Bible the same again, it will be alive like you’ve never experienced!

New Believer Book – Follow Me

Paul Lewis, Pastor to New Believers here at Palm Valley Church did a great job writing a book for new believers. You can take a look at it here: Follow Me.