At Parkview our mission is to guide people to Life Change in Jesus Christ

Life change does not happen in our lives apart from the Gospel.  The Gospel is what changes us.  Our salvation has been accomplished by what God alone has done, not by what we have done.  From cover to cover, the Bible is all about the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is the Gospel that shapes everything about us, producing life change.  We cannot know God or His Gospel without knowing His Word.  As we understand and embrace God’s Word, we find it so dynamic that is begins to define us, sanctify us and motivate us.  This is why one of our values at Parkview is:

Fueled by God’s Word
We believe God’s Word has the answer to all of life’s questions, and therefore, we surrender willingly to its timeless truths.
2 Timothy 3:16 – All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. (NKJV)

In order for each of us to experience life change we must be people of God’s Word.  This means we need to know how to study it and do what it says. As James 1 tells us we must not only be a hearer of the Word but also a doer of the Word.

At Parkview, we have incredible pastors, teachers and leaders, and we desire to help you grow in your faith and in the knowledge of God’s Word.  But more importantly than that, our heart is for you to discover God’s Word for yourself.  We believe God’s Word holds the answers for all of life problems and we know that it brings purpose and meaning to our lives.  God created us for relationship with Him and in His Word is where you will find that relationship.  He made us to respond to Him and it is in the truth of His Word where we are able to respond in obedience by His Grace.

One of the things that have helped me to be able to study the Bible has been Inductive Bible Study.  This is simply a method of study that opens Scripture up to us so that we can discern what God is saying to us as individuals.  Because we believe that it is God’s Word that changes lives and that God longs to meet you in the pages of His love letter to you, on February 16-18 we are bringing a Precept Inductive Bible Study Training Workshop to Parkview.  My wife, Denise, and several of our women leaders have attended this training over the last several years and have grown from the principles and study habits they have learned.  I will be attending this workshop and am looking forward to growing in discovering God’s Word for myself as well.

Click here to find out more information about learning the Inductive Study Method.  I want to encourage you to take a look at the information and giving prayerful consideration to attending. You may attend only one day or all three, but to receive a 25% discount, you need to register before January 23! I know it will be life changing!  If you have any questions in regards to this great training opportunity, please contact Sylvia Shows at (386) 586-2291 she will be glad to help you in any way she can.

Join me as we learn how to effectively study God’s Word and experience life change together!

I never cease to be amazed at the goodness of God. I often shake my head at His favor and I am grateful for His blessings. One of the ways that I experience the aforementioned delight is through the people the Lord has put in my life. Let me just mention 2 people:

1. My wife – Denise is amazing. In fact, she never ceases to amaze me! She is loving, loyal, encouraging, and causes me to want to be a better person. She loves God and loves her family! We laugh often and enjoy life together. Like any couple we fight – and almost always at the heart of it we are fighting for our marriage. The other times that we fight it is just me being stupid:) 20 years and the best is yet to come!
2. The leaders around me – At this time of year I am watching the staff work to the bone! They are committed to celebrating the birth of Christ and are trying to draw as many people as possible to the Messiah. Our elders have my back and embrace vision that is destined for failure without divine intervention. Tonight I met with our finance team and just love being with those guys. I got choked up twice in our meeting just thinking about God’s provision for His vision!!

God is good and way better to me than I deserve!!!

October is Pastor Appreciation month and in honor of that I would like to share a few words about my pastor.

My pastor is Tom Messer. Pastor Messer leads Trinity Baptist Church in Jacksonville, Fl. He has pastored that church for about 19 years and has done a phenomenal job. Let me share a few ways that he has been a blessing to me:

• He rarely misses an opportunity to tell me he is proud of me.
• He led Trinity to be our mother church when we launched Parkview
• They invested several thousand dollars into our ministry in the early years.
• He still buys my lunch regularly:)
• Even though our churches are different he has always encouraged me and not tried to change the philosophy I embraced
• He has taught me more about preaching than anyone else
• I have benefited from hundreds of his sermons over the years
• He has stepped in and helped me through some very challenging seasons of my own ministry
• In recent weeks he stepped up again
• He brags about me like a proud dad
• He has trusted me in his pulpit on countless occasions
• He is a great leader
• He has faced very difficult times in his own ministry and remained steadfast
• He has modeled how to love a congregation
• He has modeled how to shepherd a congregation
• He is a faithful friend

I can’t think of a finer mentor and friend! You can check him out here and here.

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?!