Staff Off-Site

Took a few days for a staff “off-site” meeting, and man was it good. It was really powerful to be away from the phones, emails, web sites, etc… as we concentrated on praying together and dreaming of what God might do this year at Palm Valley Church.

We have such an awesome team! It was good to laugh together, remember all God has done in the past year, and hear how He’s been working in each of our lives.

And PVC’ers, all I can say to you is “LOOK OUT”. I believe God is preparing to do something incredible this year at Palm Valley. I have much the same feeling about what God’s about to do as i did about lauching the church 6 years ago. I don’t know exactly what it means, but i do know He’s going to do something significant. Stay tuned 

Fresh Start

One of the cool parts about our staff retreat was hearing how God is growing different ministries.  I was really taken by the growth of our Fresh Start ministry this year.

Fresh Start is our ministry that supports people who make decisions to follow Christ, or to re-commit their lives to Him.  This ministry has evolved and expanded during this past year with the addition of a Pastor to New Believers, a Fresh Start Class (which answers questions New Believers have and helps them get started in their journey with Christ), and an expanded ministry team led by Volunteer Coordinator Diane Maloney. 

Diane has been such an encouragement to our team as this ministry has really taken it to the next level. It has been great to see the team answering the questions of those coming to the Fresh Start table, praying with them, and providing materials (including a Bible) to help them in their growth. This connection continues as the team follows up with our New Believers to encourage them in their Faith. 

We want to give a big thanks to Diane and her team for the wonderful and important job that they do.  There are a few opportunities to serve on this team, so if you have a desire to help new believers grow in their faith, indicate “Fresh Start Team” on your communication card, stop by the Fresh Start table, or Volunteer Central to find out more.

Going To The Circus

Friday’s my day off.  It’s been a weird work week: in Monday, Tuesday off for the 4th, working Wednesday and Thursday.

Had a great date night with Lori last night. Went to dinner at Abuelo’s, one of our favorite places! Then we went shopping for a high-chair for our daughter. It’s crazy that she’s old enough to move into the high chair. I’m struggling with that!

Anyways, today I’m taking the boys and one of their friends to the greatest show on earth, the Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey circus. Should be an awesome time, with hot dogs, soda, ice cream, and the best circus around.

I take the boys every year they’re in town, and it’s always a blast. I especially like the motorcyclists driving around inside a globe (very cool). Looking forward to some “guy’s only time” today!

Right Before God

Last weekend we talked about the breastplate of righteousness. It struck me this morning just how amazing it is that…

“God made Him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

 

This means that “positionally” before God, He sees us, followers of Christ, as being without sin. Not because of anything I’ve done, but because I received what Christ gave me on the cross: forgiveness of sin, His presence in my life, and the gift of eternal life!

 

And that gives me a responsibility. The “practical” righteousness means that I should be serious about becoming more like Christ; in the way He acted, thought, treated His body, and other people. This is our goal, to be conformed to the image of Christ, not this world. 

 

Friday morning thoughts

Gear Up 2

This weekend we’ll be looking at the last 3 pieces of armor that God has given us for the battle.  We’ll be talking about what it means to take up the shield of faith, helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.

I’ll be introducing some pretty awesome next steps stuff for Palm Valley Church. For the blog readers, here’s a preview…

This fall we’ll really be stepping up our discipleship ministry.  We are beginning a number of evening opportunities like, “How To Study The Bible”, “Marriage 101″, “Prayer”, “Leadership In The MarketPlace”, and many other Bible studies specifically for men and women. 

I’m excited to take the next step as a church, and to further prepare people to become all that Christ has created them to be. So make sure you’re there this weekend as we roll out some awesome plans for this fall!

Standing Firm

This Sunday (audio/video here) we were looking at Ephesians 6:13…

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

 

I unpacked it by talking about the plans the evil one has, and how he tries to lead Christ follower’s astray. As promised, here’s the things i mentioned satan seeks to do…

 

****Satan seeks to lead us to…

            —doubt God’s character and credibility

            —by making life difficult

            —be lazy (not learning, not serving)

            —become selfish (unwilling to give generously)   

            —be divided against other Christians

            —disobey God’s Word

 

By putting on the full armor of God each day, we can stand firm, and live victoriously. becoming all Christ created us to be!

Weekend Reflections

It’s Monday, and here’s my thoughts from the weekend…

The worship team continues to blow me away.  The worship this weekend was intentionally very upbeat, and it rocked the house.  I love hearing God’s people shout out with passion “I AM FREE”!

I’m enjoying the “Don’t Fight Naked” series. I’m really seeing & hearing people respond to the teaching on Ephesians 6 about “putting on the armor”. I’ll blog later today about the ways I mentioned yesterday that satan is trying to derail our faith.  If you missed the service, you can listen/watch here…

IT’S HOT!  I know that’s a given, it was 115 yesterday. However, I love seeing the hundreds of volunteers who give it their all every weekend to help us reach people for Christ and grow them up in their faith. Thanks to everyone who braves the heat and serve.  You all rock, and you’re making a difference!

Freedom…and be there early this weekend

I love the 4th of July weekend…hanging out with friends, bbq’ing, swimming, fireworks, I love it all.  Mostly though, I love that we live in the most incredible country on earth.  Our freedom is a blessing, let’s not forget that this 4th!

Speaking of…BE THERE EARLY THIS WEEKEND.  We’ve got some really cool elements to the service, celebrating freedom, that will happen even before the service begins.  So get there early, check the kids in, grab a seat, and be ready.  I can’t wait to be with you this weekend!

Personal Offense

Read “Chazown” by Craig Groeschel during my vacation, what a great book on defining and living out God’s vision for your life.

A great thought he had was regarding “personal offense”. It stuck out to me because I often hear Christians say that they take something personally. It also hit because I receive criticism every week from people, on things that they know nothing about. I’m often tempted to become defensive.

Craig writes that a person living a spirit-filled life has no room for personal offense. If my life isn’t about me, but about Him, I don’t have the luxury of taking things personally. I should only be offended by that which grieves the heart of God, not that which is aimed at me, makes me uncomfortable, or is simply something I don’t like.

What if we as Christians began to “stop taking things personally”, and began to be more concerned about His name than our own?  Just a thought

 

Bible Thoughts…

We’re in this series, “Don’t Fight Naked”, and talking about how to stand firm in our faith (See Ephesians 6:10-18). Yesterday I mentioned that we are no longer our own…

1 Corinthians 6:19-20…    ”19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.”

When I became a follower of Christ, I received the forgiveness of my sins, His presence in my life, and the gift of eternal life. In exchange, my life, my body, my mind, are now His.

I’m seeking to live the rest of my life for His glory. I’m not free to choose to do things with my body that He paid the price for on the cross. As 1 Peter 5:8a says… “Be self-controlled and alert.”