GCV Blog

“I love to tell the story of unseen things above, Of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. I love to tell the story, because I know ’tis true; It satisfies my longings as nothing else can do. I love to tell the story, ’twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and His love.

From despair to hope, defeat to victory, death to life, Easter is celebration. The resurrection is so central to Christianity that without it there isn’t any Gospel to believe. With it, Christians are of all people most joyful and hopeful. But the resurrection isn’t just central to the Gospel, it’s also a key component of the glory of God. God, and God alone, gives life. He is where all life comes from. So without a God who can cause resurrection, there is no God of the Bible.

True story. We scheduled this review of Kevin DeYoung’s book Crazy Busy: a (mercifully) short book about a (really) big problem several months ago. It’s just that some things came up, the schedule got rearranged, we had several other projects that were more important. Basically things just got a little crazy. And busy. In other words, I needed this book even more than I thought, and you might too.

We are thrilled to welcome Blake Boys and his family to Grace Church of the Valley. Blake has just finished his first full week as a pastor here and we are excited to have him here and working. Blake will be giving the majority of his time overseeing our Sunday worship as he chooses songs, arranges the service order, shepherds the music and sound teams, leads rehearsals, develops musicians, works with facilities, and more. Blake will also be giving time to our media, including our website, app, social media, and audio and video resources. In addition, Blake will help plan and administrate events.

We are on the brink of some really exciting developments when it comes to more permanent facilities for our church family.

As Pastor Scott began the book of Jonah last week, one of the issues he covered was the debate about Jonah being a literal, historical book. That topic made me think of how essential our fundamental, basic convictions about the Bible are. One of God's blessings through kids is the reminder of how much we assume. For instance, before our kids were born I was under the mistaken impression that babies are born with some basic understandings. Turns out that not only are children born without basic communication abilities, hand-eye coordination, or motor skills, there's even a learning curve on how to eat. To eat! Pretty hard to get more basic than that.

Seven years ago Grace Church officially began. For seven years, God has been graciously growing and shaping us.

I'd like to encourage you to make the 9:00 hour a priority for your family in this new year, as well as let you know what's coming up.

This week, we who are Americans celebrate Independence Day. God has been kind to give us our religious freedom and our history in a democracy that prizes individual liberty. It's a blessing to be in a nation where we enjoy such freedom as Christians. Historically speaking, it's also quite rare.

"Doulos" is the Greek word for slave. It's also the name of our summer internship program.

What do you get when you match classic graham crackers, a perfectly toasted marshmallow, and a slightly melted Hershey's bar? S'mores make any campfire worth having. This summer, camping and Kidsfest are coming together in a fun theme with a purpose.

We call him baby Joel in our house. Baby Joel is the name for the boy we long to adopt. He may or may not even be born yet, but we’ve been praying and working to bring him home for a long time now. Cathy and I talked about adoption before we were even married, and adoption was one of the dreams we shared. At that point, it was little more than a mutual desire to adopt someday, to consider it when the time was right. Suddenly ten years slipped by. I got two seminary degrees, we moved from coast to coast, we had three children, and we settled into life in Kingsburg.

James 1:27 directly commends care for widows and orphans as the prototypical examples of true religion. Adoption goes beyond orphan care, as important as that is, to providing a lasting family that children so desperately need. God has designed the family, and He also uses adoption as an object lesson for what it means to become a Christian. Because of these principles, we are committed to helping families adopt. Financial assistance is a need for most families pursuing adoption, and so we have just established a James 127 adoption fund as an official part of our church budget. If you’ve been looking for a way to obey James 1:27, the elders want you to know about this ongoing financial opportunity.