A huge congratulations to our super-duper worship leader Derrick Logan and his wife Kim, who finally had their baby at 3:40 p.m. today.

Little Jude William Logan was born 8lbs 13oz’s, 21 inches long. Both mom and baby are doing great!

No word yet if the little guy has that very cool hair-do of his father, but we’ll see soon

I’ve been in a reflective mood the last few days, for a number of reasons. Just been reflecting on growth, God’s goodness, Palm Valley Church, my family, and the future. Here’s some things going on in my life (and head) right now…

• I think I’ve learned more in the last year than any in my life. I’m not the man I was a year ago, and I’m thankful for that.
• I’m loving coaching my 6 year old’s t-ball team. It’s a fun break to get out and play with the kids, as well as getting to know some new families in the community.
• Watched my 8 year old son’s team make an 8 run comeback in the last inning last night. It was awesome!
• Having our church read the Bible together is one of the best pastoring decisions I’ve made.
• Seeing 163 people give their lives to Jesus in 3 weeks, and then baptizing 136 people last week blew me away. I’m still amazed at what God’s doing at Palm Valley.
• I’m struggling with some throat problems, caused by teaching 5 services each weekend, stress and reflux issues. The doc has me on a VERY bland diet for the next month: I had to give up soda, chocolate, salsa, red sauces, ice cream, and anything spicy or citrusy. Pray for me!
• I’ve taught every week except one since the beginning of December. Quite honestly it’s too much (especially with 5 services), and I’m looking forward to some week’s off coming up.
• There’s some books I’m really looking forward to reading.
• Lori and I are attending (and speaking at) all of the camps for our young people this summer. I’m fired up about the opportunities to pour my heart into our children and teens.
• Our staff is really hitting their stride in some key areas: vision, leadership and communication. It’s cool to see guys and gals I love really going to the next level.
• I want to reach our community with the good news about Jesus. It pains me to see so many who are missing the great hope found in Him.
• God is good beyong our comprehension; I can’t believe He’s allowed me to experience all that I have.
• Lori and I are leading a trip to Israel and Egypt this December. I’m excited about taking people from PVC who have never been. If you want to go, contact the church office.

This weekend we kicked off the “Beautiful” series, and it was amazing…

• The gals (Kim, Nancy, Michelle, Kathleen, Lori) who helped me put together this series did an amazing job putting special touches on this series that made a huge difference.
• We gave away gift bags of assorted chocolates to every women in attendance (sorry guys).
• Sean and team did an awesome job on the staging. The chandelier and grand piano were great. (i’ll post pic’s soon).
• Danny Larsh led worship, it was great to have him back.
• We sold out of t-shirts before the 10:00 am service. We’ve ordered more for this weekend.
• Lori taught with me and knocked it out of the park. She absolutely stole the show! My wife is truly beautiful! If you missed it, watch the video here.
• Candyce rocked “I Am Beautiful” with all her heart. It was awesome to see the impact that song had on the crowd. The standing ovation in the 11:30 service was off the hook!
• Mother’s Day is going to be awesome at Palm Valley: free family pictures and one incredible story from a beautiful mom in our church!

Had a ton of response to the Beautiful series promo, check this out for a good laugh…

Wow, what an awesome weekend…

• Our service was centered around the important topic of Baptism. If you missed it, watch the video at our web site
• Teaching in a bathing suit and t-shirt was cool, felt very relaxed.
• Amazing response, baptized 136 people this weekend! Yes, 136!!
• Paul and the Fresh Start team did an awesome job preparing for the weekend
• DJ did awesome on his first baptism
• It was so cool to see such life-change in our church, I was humbled during every service. I loved how excited people were taking this step of obedience!
• Loved hearing people understand that baptism isn’t a ritual, but an idendification with Christ and declaration of their commitment to Him.
• I love baptizing couples and families together, means a whole household is being changed!
• Darius and his team are rockin’ the youth ministries. Over 200 students coming each week.
• Two major additions about to happen with our children’s staff. Be patient, wait for it. All I can say is…KidZone will be the most rockin’ place in the southwest valley for any child to be on the weekend!
• I’m excited about “Beautiful” beginning next weekend. I believe it’s going to impact every woman, and man, who attends.
• Invite people to the first week of Beautiful, they’ll thank you!
• Check out the Beautiful promo video here.
• Thanks to the volunteers at PVC who make it happen, you guys and gals rock!

I know it’s been a few days since I last blogged, it’s just been plain crazy around Palm Valley (in a great way). God is working in us in an incredible way!

• This last weekend God spoke in a big way through the message. I wasn’t supposed to be on, I’ve been teaching straight through since January and was looking forward to a break. However, God clearly spoke to my heart and told me I needed to deliver this message.
• This weekend wore me out. I was literally and completely “spent”. I felt like I went through a 15 round fight.
• As I walked on stage Saturday I had no clue how the message was going to preach. I had studied and studied, just wasn’t sure how it would come across. I love that feeling because I know it’s going to be a message from God, and not me.
• I did say that word this weekend That’s why we have a children’s ministry.
• Derrick and the worship team gave it their all this weekend, and it was awesome.
• Heard about some big time answered prayers in people’s lives, yeah God!
• Record crowd for Saturday night, it continues to grow. If you can, make the move to Saturday and free up seats on Sunday.
• Excited about baptism this weekend. If you haven’t been baptized as a follower of Christ, take the plunge this weekend! We’ll be doing baptism in all 5 services.

There’s days where I see God at work in such an incredible way that I can’t believe He’s allowed me to be a part of it. I’ll be the first to admit I’m in way over my head, and that it’s only God’s grace and power that is doing this. I’m so grateful to the Lord for letting me experience this. Today, I was humbled and moved by a number of events…

• Heard some incredible discussions amongst our staff. Our guys and gals are growing in such a great way, they’re developing the leadership integrity and skills it’s going to take for PVC to go to the next level. I see our staff thinking and talking about things at a much higher level than in the past. They’re moving past simple details and into visionary leadership, and it’s exciting me for the coming days. We’ve got a young staff, but they’re hungry for the Lord’s presence and power in our ministry.
• Paul Lewis came and shared with me that 163 people have made decisions for Christ in the past 3 weeks at Palm Valley. I know, I couldn’t believe that number either. I’m also excited because every one of these people who have stepped across the line of faith are being followed up with by our Fresh Start team. I’ve never experienced such a wave of people coming to Jesus, it’s awesome!
• Got to pray with Mark today as he heads for Africa. I hated seeing God lead Mark off our staff, but I’m digging having a front row seat to watch (and be a part of) what He’s going to use Mark to do next. Mark loves Jesus, and he’s going to impact the world (literally) with the love of Christ. Pray for him over the next 3 weeks as he travels Africa discerning his role in helping churches connect with opportunities.
• Had lunch with big-wigs from a bank that’s considering funding our building project. It amazed me today to sit in a meeting that reminds me how close we are to actually seeing a campus for Palm Valley Church became a reality. Thanks to those who were praying, I felt it went incredibly well. In the coming weeks we’ll be making some huge decisions about how we move forward; it’s definitely speeding up. Drove by our land on the way home, all the roads are in and infrastructure is almost all in place. Yeah God!
• Ended the day by celebrating the 80th birthday of Lori’s dad. Hosted the party at our house for Lori’s family, just had a great time celebrating an incredible man. Lori’s dad pastored for 50 years, and has done things for the Kingdom that the rest of us dream of having the faith and courage to do! He took about a 1/2 hour and shared his life story with the kids and grandkids, ending with a special prayer of blessing for us. I was moved to tears thinking about how much his faith has meant to me, and the huge amount he’s poured into me. It meant alot to me to see my kids so intrigued and interested in PaPa’s faith, I know they were processing it. I pray that I will be as faithful to the calling God has placed on my life as this man has been.
• Sitting here tonight thinking about what an encouraging message God has given me to deliver this weekend. We’ll be talking about “Growing Through Failure”, and I believe what I’m going to share will have a huge impact on all of us; since we’ve all failed at different times. I’m so thankful God’s definition of success is far different from ours!

That’s it, what a great day! To top it off, tomorrow I’ll be hanging out and swimming with my kids, then Lori and I are taking our boys to our very first Nascar event at PIR; thanks to a friend who shot us some tickets. We’re fired up to honorary rednecks for the evening!

Just sitting here thinking about so many exciting things coming up at Palm Valley, thought I’d share a little…

This Weekend: Talking about “Growing Through Failure”. So many people struggling with failure, thinking it’s final. Can’t wait to help people understand God’s definition of success and how to moving towards it!

Baptism: Two weeks from now, April 26th/27th, we’ll be having baptisms as a part of all five of our weekend services. I’m excited about seeing so many people who have made commitments to Christ “go public” with their faith in obedience to what Christ taught us. If you’ve made a commitment to Christ and haven’t been baptized, contact the church office and get signed-up asap. This truly is one of my favorite things to do as a pastor!

“Beautiful” a series for women: Beginning May 3/4th I’ll be teaching a series called “Beautiful”. I’m looking forward to talking about the differences in what our culture teaches our young women about beauty versus what true beauty is. I’ve been working with a group of women in our church in preparation for this series, and they’ve doing an awesome job with staging, environment, creative ideas and some other fun surprises! I’m challenging the people of PVC to bring every young woman, junior high and up to attend this series. I believe it will be life-changing for so many women (and us men too).

Summer Camps: Lori and I are attending and speaking at Palm Valley’s Elementary, Junior High, and High School camps to invest in the young people of our church. I think all of these camps are going to be off the hook! Parents, get your kids signed up now, they won’t want to miss out!

Seize The Moment moving forward: We’re making big strides towards being able to build our campus. All the infrastructure for the area is nearly in place, and we’re working with the Town of Buckeye on site approval. God has been so good to us in this process, and it’s definitely time to seize the moment and move forward!

One Prayer: As I talked about last week, we’ll be joining with thousands of churches around the world for one unique teaching series. Utilizing video teaching we’ll hear from some of my great friends, who also happen to be some of the best teachers around! What a statement to have so many churches come together as the body of Christ!

The Ultimate Fighter: This series was originally scheduled for June, but due to “One Prayer” we’re moving this to August. We’ll take four weeks and talk about what it means to be a man in today’s world. We’re pulling out some awesome surprises for this!

• Derrick did a phenomenal job with worship this weekend. He is developing into a great worship pastor!
• Greeters/ushers are off the hook, they’re an army.
• So much healing taking place during this series. I love being in a church where we can be so real.
• Sharing my story this weekend was very tough, but necessary.
• I’m getting a ton of response for kids and youth camps this summer. Parents, sign your kids up now!
• “It Is Well” is such an awesome song, calms my spirit every time I hear it (that rhymes ).
• Very Big crowds at 4 of the 5 services. We need more people to move to the Saturday night 6:30 service.
• Talking on failure this week, got plenty of personal stories here
• Fresh Start had 22 people in the new believers class this weekend, can you believe it? God is bringing them by the bunches!
• The Fresh Start team is awesome! They’re growing and discipling more and more people every week.
• I love Palm Valley Church!
• Took a bunch of hits for being a TarHeels fan.

That’s it for the weekend. There’s so much momentum at PVC right now, God is changing lives in a greater way than I’ve ever experienced! Can’t wait to see you this weekend! I’m praying for you as you go through the week.

Due to reasons I will not discuss, the North Carolina victory party scheduled for Monday evening at my home has been cancelled. For all those invited, you’re no longer invited.

The party will be rescheduled for the first monday in April of 2009, when UNC will cut down the nets in Detroit, Michigan. Thank you all for your support.

Warmly,

Greg