We serve the God of the “suddenly.” Throughout the scriptures we see God working His plan over years and generations of time and then, suddenly, the Lord moves. Have you ever had a suddenly in your life? You might have prayed about something for over a decade and then, suddenly, things change. We had a suddenly two weeks ago, and I am still spending most of my waking hours thinking about what God has said and responding to what I learned. Dr. Kelly Varner came to the Valley and I attended a luncheon where he was going to speak. Upon my arrival he requested that I join him after the meeting for a time together. In the next three hours this Apostle spoke to me all that God had showed him regarding Skyway and myself. I had not had a conversation with Kelly in over five years. Suddenly, God was speaking to me about things I had been praying about for the past year. Suddenly my thoughts and conversations were being declared by the Man of God with a heart for us to fulfill our destiny in Jesus Christ. When he finished I asked him to come to Skyway the very next morning to speak to my staff and leaders. He was able to join us for a couple of hours. Suddenly, when he began to speak the presence of God was so strong every one had tears streaming down their cheeks, and we knew that God had sent him to us. He spoke about our future and God’s plans for Skyway as a whole. He told us that God had named us before we were born and He had chosen us to participate in His plan for this congregation. He spoke about what God is doing in our leadership and what God wants to do in the greater Phoenix area. I had a prophetic dream about one month earlier. Many of the things he discussed were in this dream. Suddenly, God was putting the pieces together for me that had been like pieces of a puzzle in a box only a day before. We called another meeting with our leadership team to watch the DVD as a whole. Once again, the presence of God was in our midst. Throughout my ministry I have been blessed with these moments when God suddenly puts things together in a clear manner. This allows us to take secure steps towards our goal. I have clearly come out of one of those seasons. I have the entire DVD of Dr. Varner’s visit available along with a written document from me free of charge at the Kiosk. I want to make sure all our leaders have a copy and also any members who would like to know what God is up to with us right now. Suddenly things are getting clear.

Have you ever faced difficult situations in your life that seem bigger than God? Are there things that you have tried everything possible to get past, but you are stuck without any help in sight for your life to be better. Some people reach these places of impasse and give up, but others decide to press in to God. Which one of these would describe you? I have worked with many people over the years and have heard their testimony of when things seemed the darkest, God broke through. What is the key ingredient that seems to be in all these testimonies? It is the willingness to press into God and do something new to unlock to chains that have them bound. Pressing in is more than having will power. It is a surrender to allow God to give a new method or approach to the matter. Usually there is a previous event in time that opened the door to the current problem. When this previous situation is properly dealt with through biblical principles, immediate change takes place. Today we are going to hear some great testimonies of some people that pressed in instead of giving up. I hope you are encouraged to do the same.

Some of you who know me today as a fatherly figure to younger ministers, may not know the whole story of why I try so hard to help others succeed in ministry. It was the early 1990’s and the Church was much different then than it is today. Back then denominational connection was very important and adhering to doctrines that create the differences was equally important. I was brand new at being a local church pastor and my views did not seem to fit in anywhere. We were a part of the Southern Baptist denomination but not really liked there because we openly believed in spiritual gifts for today. Pentecostals did not believe we were really Spirit filled because we were connected to the Baptist. I really needed someone to look up to, someone to answer my questions and someone who thought the Kingdom of God was greater than a denomination. I finally found this person when I met Ed Delph. Ed welcomed me into his inner circle of pastors at a Francis Frangipane conference and began to speak into my life about leading the local church. He invited Dawn and me on our first mission trip in 1993 which led Skyway into the world mission involvement we have today. He was there for us when we hit plateaus in worship and spiritual gifts in the congregation. Ed has more to say in one sentence than many ministers say in one hour. Today Ed travels the world helping the church become The Church and we support his work through our missions. It is my joy to have Ed minister to our Skyway congregation today.

It is good to write that we have officially broken ground on our new 30,000 square foot education building directly north of our sanctuary. We have been working on the drawings and permits since last August. Now we should see the building go up quickly, finishing around the first of next year. Our building is two stories with twenty two classrooms, an indoor gymnasium and administrative offices. We have a five year renewable agreement with Phoenix Christian Elementary School with grades K-6 (starting this August!) and possibly extending to K-8 in the future. We will use all of the building for our church needs on week day evenings and weekends. This is a great partnership and opportunity to practice good stewardship of our resources. We are hosting Christian Education for the West Valley and expanding our own discipleship capabilities. Last month we opened the two smaller buildings F & G and our Sunday morning education is already out of room. Once this new building is open we will have plenty of discipleship classes and training space for our adults and children. Thank you for your faithfulness and prayers. Let’s all give thanks to God for His blessings upon our lives and congregation.

Fathers come in all shapes, sizes, ages and temperaments. Some people have the best stories about their dads, and they tell them with joy and even tears. The father who is an example should be celebrated and honored. Sometimes when we read a book about Fatherhood we see some important things we missed out on because our dad was different. Maybe for others you don’t need to read a book to know your father was absent, abusive or missing when you grew up. The pain of our childhood is real and it carries on into our adult lives. For you, perhaps Father’s Day is not so joyful because of the bad memories. How do we get beyond the pain and memories if our father was in the second group described? It starts with finding something good. Was your dad a hard worker? Did he serve his country as a soldier? Did he overcome a great obstacle in his life to do as good as he did? Sometimes we focus on what was missing and we forget what was good. What if your father was missing completely? Where there other men who stood out to you by taking special interest in you and being there for you? Overcome the sorrow by taking time to honor your father or the man who stepped up for you. Remember the good things that came into your life through them and tell that memory with joy to someone today. It will bring healing to your heart.