I wanted to make you aware of two absolutely phenomenal events that are coming to Palm Coast. I do not know of anything on this level in either worship or leadership that has been to Palm Coast in recent years.

1. Lifecoast Church is hosing a night of worship with Jared Anderson & Desperation Band on Friday, Sept 9. Click here to get additional information.
2. We are hosting Entreleadership with Dave Ramsey on Friday, Sept 30. At EntreLeadership 1-Day, experience Dave Ramsey live, as he shares how to grow your business and lead your team from a biblical perspective. EntreLeadership is Dave’s premier leadership training program where he personally teaches individuals, teams, and businesses how to grow. Whether you’re an individual who wants to develop your leadership abilities, a business or organizational leader who wants to develop your team, or an entrepreneur who wants to build a business on solid, proven principles, EntreLeadership is for you.  If you desire to grow in your leadership, I can’t think of a better opportunity that you can leverage for your personal growth!!!!! Click here to get more information or to register. I hope to see you at this great event!!!

Many people say you should never talk about other churches. I actually totally disagree with that premise! I think we should talk about other churches; in fact, I think we should do it often. I talked about another church the other day and it actually felt quite good. Not only do I sometimes like to talk about other churches, but I also like to do it from behind the pulpit! Two weeks ago I spoke about Lifecoast Church. Why did I talk about them – well, I said that they were in Haiti the same time our team was in Togo. But honestly that is not why I mentioned them. I really talked about them for one reason – IT IS NOT ABOUT COMPETITION IT IS ABOUT COOPERATION!! We are on the same team, fighting the same enemy, serving the same God, sharing the same Gospel and building the same Kingdom.

This week I am thinking about talking about Palm Coast Community Church. Here is why – this past Sunday morning on my way to church I thought I saw Billy Wight pulling into his church parking lot, so I turned in to speak with him. It wasn’t Billy after all, it was his wife, Kim, driving her husbands vehicle. Not disappointed in the least, I rolled down the window and spoke to her for a couple minutes. I shared with her how Billy and I had spoken the other day and we said that the 4 of us need to do dinner in the next couple weeks. (Billy may be like me and forget to share things like this with his wife:)) During our conversation Kim shared with me that she had prayed for me and Parkview that morning. If that doesn’t just beat all – I think I am going to have to talk about them from the pulpit!!

By the way, I not only think it is good to talk about other churches, I think it is good to talk about other Christians! Who you going to talk about today?!

In my last post I included my first rough draft on our new core values. In this post I want to include the draft that is a collaborative effort of our pastoral staff, elders and finance team. If you compare it to my draft you will see how the team was able to build in tremendous passion and clarity. Much of our time together was encouraging and fun but the end was hard work. It requires hard work to wrestle to the ground exactly who we are and how we go about doing what we do. This is not our team’s final draft:

PARKVIEW CORE VALUES

Core values are the qualities that make up and establish an organization’s character, and that character determines how the organization conducts its ministry.

1.   FUELED BY GOD’S WORD (Obedience)

We believe God’s Word has the answer to all of life’s questions and, therefore, we surrender willingly to its timeless truths.

“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”  2 Timothy 3:16

2.   CONSUMED BY GOD’S HEART (Worship)

We believe that engaging with God in passionate worship leads to a public expression of our private experience.

“As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.” Colossians 2:7

3.   DRIVEN BY GOD’S SPIRIT (Prayer)

We believe that prayer is a catalyst of all great things and that nothing of significance happens apart from prayer.

“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

4.   DRENCHED BY GOD’S GRACE (Encouragement)

We believe that grace is the outpouring of God’s unconditional love that flows to us and through us to others.

“God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”                2 Corinthians 9:8

5.   COMPELLED BY GOD’S LOVE (Evangelism)

We believe that, because people matter to God, we will move with radical abandonment to reach our neighbors and the nations.

“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8

6.   CONNECTED WITH GOD’S PEOPLE (Community / Service)

We believe that life change happens best in the context of community.  We will actively pursue relationships in which we grow and serve together.

“So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”  Acts 2:46-47

• We are looking for your input. You can help us by leaving a comment or email me at greg@parkviewlife.com.

O.K., this is an all skate and I am asking for your input. I stated yesterday that our leadership is working on a new set of core values that will lead our church into the next decade of ministry. Core values are not what we do (guide people to life change in Christ), or how we do it (celebrate, grow, serve, connect, reach), but WHY we do it. Core values are the qualities that make up and establish an organization’s character, and that character determines how the organization conducts its ministry or business.

Below is my first run at helping me personally think through what I wanted our church to value. I can tell you that our leadership team has created a far more superior rough draft of core values (a whole lot more concise, clear and catalytic) and I will share with you tomorrow our collaborative first draft, but here were my initial thoughts:

• We will be guided by the liberating truth of Biblical Authority and know that God’s Word is the final answer.
• We will generously offer Abundant Grace to everyone and still fall short of the grace we have received from God.
• We will connect with others in Authentic Community because that is the only way to maximize our personal growth.
• We will serve sacrificially in Personal Ministry with a high level of commitment and, in doing so, follow the model of Christ.
• We will live Externally Focused because we don’t go to church; we are the church that is going.
• We will act in accordance to Mega Faith, abandoning and following Him because God didn’t call us to play it safe but to reach the world.
• We will give with Radical Generosity because the kingdom of God is way more important than the American dream.
• We will be constantly looking for opportunities to Release Leaders because volunteers do good things but leaders change the world.
• We will wholeheartedly engage in Inspirational Worship by publicly expressing out of our private experience.
• We will actively participate in our church family because the local church is the redemptive agency through which God has chosen to work in this generation.

Please give me a little help!! Our team is interested in getting your input!! What would you emphasize, add or omit?

Over the last couple weeks our staff, elders and finance team have been working on updating our core values. For a couple months I sensed the Lord leading us to re-evaluating why we do what we do. At Parkview our mission is crystal clear – Guiding people to Life Change in Christ. Our values, while good, were not as crystallized, compelling or catalytic. Our team has not yet completed the process but have done some very good work and some very hard work!

Part of the reading we I did in advance of our work was Aubrey Malphur’s book, Values Driven Leadership. Below is an excerpt from his book:

There are ten essential reasons that core values are so important to Christian ministry:

1.     Values determine ministry distinctives.

2.     Values dictate personal involvement.

3.     Values communicate what is important.

4.     Values embrace positive change.

5.     Values influence overall behavior.

6.     Values inspire people to action.

7.     Values enhance credible leadership.

8.     Values shape ministry character

9.     Values contribute to ministry success.

10. Values affect strategic planning.

Tomorrow I will post an early rough draft of what I felt like should be values that our team strongly consider.

I am so thankful for the leaders that serve around me!!!