Palm Valley Church Rocks!

There were so many volunteers it was awesome! The services (4 of them) were off the hook! Not just the main service, but the kids areas as well. Greg really brought home the Gospel message talking about Light (Jesus). The tech guys would say that there were a lot of problems, but the lighting and camera effects I saw were great! Michael wasn't there to see all of his hard work come to fruition, but it was great (he'll have to watch the video). Twelve people that we know of accepted Christ. One of the stories was particularly amazing and a true Christmas miracle. And all that was just Christmas eve weekend!

Christmas was amazing! I love that we begin Christmas in our family with prayer and reading the Christmas story from Luke 2. Then we celebrate God's gift to us by giving gifts to each other. This we set a pretty low dollar limit so that we can contribute more inthe spring to our building fund at the church. I loved the creativity required to give great gifts and stay within the budget. I'm usually the biggest offender when we set limits, but I love giving gifts to my family. I actually stayed within budget this year, and Santa did too! Even though there wasn't a lot of cash spent, there sure were a lot of gifts! The creativity was great, and it was a lot of fun stuff, not just practical things.

I hope that you had a great Christmas celebrating God's gift of Light through Christ Jesus.

Custom Home Building 101

We're building our dream home (finally). Not a tract home, but a custom home on an acre lot that was previously farm land. We have a well and will have propane for heat. We're doing it as an owner-builder which means we make all the decisions. Since we really have no clue what we are doing, we have a guy named Vince helping us. He is an awesome Christian brother who cares more about us than the house.

I wish that there was a "Custom Home Building 101" class we could take. There are so many decisions to make! Just yesterday we were deciding where to put the irrigation berms that we will use to water the grass (yes, I'm having grass in the dessert and lots of it!). A few weeks ago I didn't know what irrigation berms were. This will be quite an experience (and learning curve). I'll do updates on the blog so if you're thinking of building your own house you'll have an idea what your getting yourself into.

Lesson 1 - Be extremely patient!
We purchased the land in August 2005. It is late December 2006 and we are just now breaking ground. There was a point a few months ago that I lost it. In my frustration I said some things that I shouldn't have and caused all kinds of problems and hurt feelings. After many apologies, I have finally given the process, not just the outcome over to God. Things will happen when He wants them to happen. If I force them, it won't be right. Let Go and Let God!

Israel on Trial

I just finished reading Micah in my devotions. This book is basically God putting Israel on trial. It is an indictment of the sin and rebellion against God that Israel has committed over and over in spite of having the presence of God in their midst. With all the things that He did for them you wonder how they could turn their backs on Him. Oh wait, isn't that what we do now when we sin?

In four days we will celebrate God becoming man to save us from our sins. We celebrate it every year, and yet even with this reminder we still sin. Each sunday we go to church and have yet another reminder, yet we still sin. Every day we study Scripture, yet we still sin. Perhaps we "protest too much" when we wonder how Israel could have rejected God.

Fortunately for Israel, and for us, God is merciful and forgiving. He wants to forgive us. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to live forever in relationship with Him.

Take some time to ask for God's forgiveness. Begin focusing on Him moment by moment. Don't give up when you sin, strive to sin less, by the power of God. Pray every day that you will become more like Him.

Proud Parent - Kids

I am so proud of my boys, Josh and Caleb. I have had extra reason to be proud of them recently.

Caleb just finished his first semester at Bible college with straight A's and is leaving this morning on a missions trip to Mexico. He has grown so much in the past couple of years.

Josh is showing his leadership at work at a Christian book store. This past week he was leading his college group Bible study at our house. I overheard him explaining the book of Job. He did a great job on Job! Way to go O.T.!

It's good to see that we at least got some things right! It is also great that there have been many influencial people in their lives that have discipled them and modeled Christ for them. A few of those people are Drew Miller, John Kalil, Jake Haney, Darius Sanders, Ryan Nunez. I am so thankful for these guys' impact on the lives of my sons! There have been many others, but these stand out even to us as parents.

I am grateful and proud to be their dad!

What A Weekend!

What a weekend!

Friday night we had our staff party. It was great. We have so much fun together, and it was great to have spouses hanging out with us too!

Saturday was strange, we didn't have church, so setup wasn't until 9:30. It was odd having all day. The day started really great. We went out to the land and saw the beginning of the dirt being moved in preparation for the house. It was so cool to see the tractors there. It's finally happening! Now it's getting exciting!

Saturday night was a party at a good friend's house. We had a great time hanging out and playing bocci ball (or however you spell it). Then it was off to setup the school for church.

Sunday services were great! Ryan did a fantastic job talking about stress being an issue of obedience to Christ. I've never thought of it in that term. I talked to a lot of people today and got a chance to pray with a few. The morning began a little hectic, but everything got handled.

I can't wait for this next week. We get to celebrate what Christ did for us by becoming a man. God with us - How amazing is that!

It's a Wonderful Life

It's a wonderful Life is Paige's favorite movie. In it there is a scene in which George (Jimmy Stewart) calls a teacher and unloads on her. Shortly afterward the teacher's husband called him and let him have it. Later in the movie the teacher's husband hits him. There was a day earlier this week that I wanted to do that to the parent of a child in Paige's class. I didn't and it would have cause all kinds of problems if I did, but I sure felt like it.

She came home really upset about a parent who wrongfully unloaded on and at her. I love my wife and hate to see her upset. Especially for something like this. She's had a tough school year and things like this don't help.

You have to be thick skinned to work with people sometimes. Ultimately you have to remember who you are doing this for. For teachers, it's for the benefit of the kids, not the parents. For a pastor it is for Christ and the souls of the people we encounter. It's all about purpose and vision. Keep your purpose in mind, and stay focused on your vision, and tough encounters are a lot easier to get past.

Preaching

Not to long ago, I was telling Greg that it had been over a year since I last preached anywhere and that it didn't bother me because I knew that I was doing what God wanting me to do.

Shortly after that I started having thoughts like if I wasn't preaching, then I wasn't using the gifts that God has given me. I really began praying. I wanted to know if the thoughts were God telling me that I need to look for opportunities to speak, or if they were Satan trying to distract me and bring disharmony through me to our church staff.

Here are some thoughts from that time of prayer:

1. I really was at peace about not preaching. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy preaching and would love to preach again.

2. God is not a God of confusion and he wouldn't give me peace in an area just to get me confused about it.

3. I love what I do. I believe that my job is important and that I am using the gifts that God has given me.

4. God can change our gifts and focus at different times in our lives. I have seen it in my own life.

5. I know now that it wasn't God who was making me rethink this.

6. I know it was God who has given me clarity, and peace.

The bottom line is that I don't know if God ever wants me to preach again and I'm OK with that. I'm OK with that because I serve a sovereign God and I will do whatever He wants me to do. At some point He may have me doing something different than what I'm doing now, and that will be OK too because it is all for His glory.

If someone were to ask me if I could do anything I wanted to do in the church, what it would be, I would have to say that I'm already doing it. Every day I have the privilege of serving Jesus Christ and working with a bunch of people who also count it a privilege to serve Him. Roles change and have changed on our staff even since I've been on board. Everyone has a whatever it takes attitude and we encourage each other in that. I firmly believe that I am doing what God wants, where He wants me doing it. My role could change tomorrow, but until then, I'll do what God wants me to do today, and I'll do it in peace.

Good and Angry

I read the book of Jonah this morning and here's a few things I learned:

1. God waits for us to ask Him for help before he helps us.
2. When God tells you to do something, do it!
3. Don't get mad when God blesses your enemies, it's none of your business!

On the surface it would appear that Jonah had good reason to be mad at God, Ninevah, and the worm (You'll have to read the story). His anger seemed justified. The reason god sent the worm was to show him that it wasn't. He was trying to show Jonah that He is sovereign. He is the one true God and he can bless whom He wants and destroy who He wants. When Ninevah repented, He showed His great mercy. Thank God that He is merciful! These people were Jonah's enemy and he wanted God to destroy them. When He didn't, Jonah was really ticked off! God showed Jonah that He wants everyone to repent and come to Him.

We say "Jesus is the reason for the Season". The reason Jesus came was to show God's mercy. He came to show that if we will turn away from our sin and turn toward Him, He will have mercy on us and save us just like Ninevah. Don't be angry when your enemy gets saved! Rejoice for their salvation and yours!

Nativity - Movie Review

I should have posted this a few days ago. Paige and I went to see The Nativity on Saturday night after I got home from church. Here are my thoughts:

- It moves a little too slow. It's 1 hr 40 minutes (approximately), and could easily have been 10 to 20 minutes shorter. I think it moves too slow for kids to enjoy, but I have heard people who have taken their kids say they did fine and liked it.

- Hollywood can't get the wisemen right! Once again, the wise men come to the manger shortly after the birth of Jesus. Theologically it doesn't really matter, so it's no big deal, but it would be nice to see them get it right once in a while. If they're really trying to follow the Scriptural account, then they should look at the information from all the Gospels. Then they would know when things happened.

- Hollywood got it right! I think they did a really great job capturing the emotions that the people involved probably felt. We can't know for sure, but culturally, socially, emotionally I think that they nailed it. Especially when Mary tells Joseph and her family that she is pregnant. Their response and the response of the people of Nazareth were exactly as I would have imagined.

- Theater popcorn has gotten really bad! I used to love getting popcorn at the movies. It was the best! Hot buttered and salted popcorn that is messy and hot is a thing of the past. How sad!

- Anyway, I give the movie a B+ only because of the slowness and when the wisemen came. I really enjoyed it. I loved Joseph's line as a soon to be father of the Messiah, "I wonder if I will be able to teach Him anything!"

Go see it. It's worth the time, and it's a great story :-)!

Be Here Now

I don't know what movie it's from, but I remember the line "Be here now". I was thinking about that the other day. Sometimes I'm someplace else. Let me explain. Sometimes when I'm listening to someone, I'm not listening, I'm thinking aobut something else. It may be something important, but it shouldn't be as important as listening!

I could make all kinds of excuses about ADD, busyness, etc., but it comes down to selfishness (see the last blog). My prayer this week has been to truly listen to people when they talk to me. I want to here not just their words, but their heart as well. If I practice this long enough it will become habit. I could make it a new year's resolution, but I don't want to wait that long! I think that there really is a difference between hearing and listening, and I want to become a listener not just a hearer (kind of like being a doer of the Word, not just a hearer only!). I really want to "be here now"! How about you?

Edom's Gonna Get it!

In my daily devotions through the prophets of Israel, today I read Obadiah. In this short book we see God poor out His judgement on Edom. The Edomites are descentents of Esau and have been a thorn in the side of Israel ever since the twins had problems. Edom's arrogance is what ultimately brought it down. It's fortress was thought to be impenetrable, but not for God! Edom would be completely destroyed.

I think this is where the old saying "pride comes before the fall" or something like that, comes from. I also think that our pride and selfishness is at the root of nearly all sin. It's amazing how selfish we are. I can't count how many selfish things I do every day. Which leads me to this. My desire everyday is to become less self-centered, and therefore less selfish. I want to become totally God-centered and Jesus focused. In Colossians it says that if we will focus on the things above, than the things of Earth will fade away. Christmas is a giving time of year, and I love to give. Giving makes me feel good, but isn't that a selfish motive?

My prayer today is that I will focus on Jesus today and give because He gives so much to us!

Moving Dirt

Finally! We should sign papers within the next couple of days to begin construction on the new house. Dirt will begin moving as early as today when the lot is skinned. Steve and Terri's pad will be done first (their funding is done). By the time their's is done, our funding should be finished so ours can be done too. It's getting exciting and scary at the same time!

Israel's in trouble, again!

In my daily devotions, I have been reading through the prophets. I just finished Amos. in that book, you can easily see that God was really ticked off and sick and tired of all that Israel was doing. Not only had they rebelled against God, but had turned their backs on each other as well.

I have noticed throughout the Bible that God is amazingly forgiving when we rebel against Him, but don't turn your back on others! Don't mistreat His children! He is consistent that we are to love others and care for them. In this Christmas season, there are several ways to show that you care for others. Its the easiest time of year to step up and meet the needs of others. Our family, along with many others at Palm Valley Church, have participated in Operation Christmas Child with their Shoebox Greeting minstry, Operation Christmas Child that serves the families of those in prison, Stockings for Soldiers sending care packages to those serving in our military in harm's way, food for the Phoenix Rescue Mission, and some other stuff I can't remember right now. I hope that this season of caring will be repeated throughout the year. We as a family have helped in other areas in our community. I won't mention them because it's not about us. I hope that you will latch on to something in your community where you can show the love of Jesus.

Links

In case you haven't noticed, the links on my blog aren't working. I switched to the new and improved beta blogger, but as you can see some things don't work very well. To go to the links, you'll have to use the old www. format. I know it's old school, but I can't do anything about it right now, sorry!