GCV Blog

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1-2)

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.

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. You might as well have a car without an engine than camp without smores. This summer, camping and Kidsfest are coming together in a fun theme with a purpose. We’re going to encourage our kids between the ages of 3 and 10 to camp out around the greatness of God. We’ll sit around the campfire to preach about a God who is everywhere at once, all knowing, jealous, glorious, truth, and more.

“Doulos” is the Greek word for slave. It’s also the name of our summer internship program. Far from being a dismissive term, “doulos” represents the heart of Christian leadership. Jesus’ disciples had the same worldly, upside-down perspective of leadership that we are prone to ourselves. They argued which of them would be the greatest, got upset when James and John tried to weasel their way into sitting on Jesus’ left and right hands, and fought over who would be the greatest among them. Jesus corrected their selfish perspective by explaining, “You know that those who are considered rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. But it shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be slave of all” (Mark 10:42-44). The greatest example of servant leadership is Jesus himself, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Mark 10:45).

For good or ill, the past has changed our present. Whether we know it or not, the past has brought us to where we are today. And through it all, God has been in Heaven, doing whatever He pleases. June 22 1559 In England, Queen Elizabeth's Prayer Book was issued. During her 45-year reign, Elizabeth I rejected the Catholic faith, adopting instead the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Anglican Church.

Believe it or not, summer is right around the corner! Our summers bring us delicious fruit, time off from school, plenty of swimming opportunities, and more. But a rapidly growing summer favorite is our Summerfest. Both within our church family and without, Summerfest provided us with great chances to fellowship, play together, and enjoy solid teaching. This summer we are back with round 2, which includes our exciting Kidsfest! This summer we need your help.

For good or ill, the past has changed our present. Whether we know it or not, the past has brought us to where we are today. And through it all, God has been in Heaven, doing whatever He pleases. May 5 1925 High school biology teacher John T. Scopes, 24, was arrested for teaching the theory of evolution in his Dayton, Tennessee classroom.

John 17:3. “And this is eternal life, that they know you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” Knowing God, and Jesus Christ whom God sent, lies at the heart of our children’s greatest need. Knowing God truly is a matter of eternal life or death, and so we are excited to be moving towards Kidsfest 2014. The focus of our time will be the teaching about the one true God, and all the other activities are vehicles to help us point towards him.

Resurrection. It’s a startling word, a thrilling concept, and a spiritual keystone. It’s an essential for Christianity, a target for skeptics, and a theme for mythology and religions alike. This week gives us as a church another chance to focus uniquely on our central belief that Jesus rose from the dead. But within our church and without, reactions to this glorious truth can vary widely. Such has always been the case, as even a quick survey of biblical history will show.

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.