Pastor Jim – A New Face in the District

A New Face in the Fire District

By Division Chief Gino Palomino

Please join me in welcoming the newest addition to the Fire District, Jim Trull.  Jim, the Senior Pastor at Peaceful Valley Church in Elk and a familiar face to some of you, has agreed to serve as a Chaplain.  Chaplain Jim has served as the Senior Pastor at Peaceful Valley for the past four years. Prior to Peaceful Valley Church, he served at Mt. Spokane Church. He and his wife Pam, live in Elk. They have two grown children, Jim and Melissa.

It is through the aspirations of many of our members that this has come to fruition. Our desire to take care of our members and offer the resources needed always remains in the forefront of how we do business. Adding a Chaplain is just one more element of this process, in addition to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and our Critical Incident Stress Management Team. Chaplain Jim will eventually be serving as part of our Critical Incident Stress Management Team and be available to respond to incidents when necessary.  Chaplain Jim will be making his rounds over the next couple of months during OTEP Training to meet folks. We trust you will find him to be a sincere and very approachable man with a heart to serve his community. We are extremely excited to have him available to us.

I thank Gino for these kind words and I thank God for this opportunity to serve those in our community who are serving others in their time of need.  I also want to thank the people of Peaceful Valley Church for their loving support too.

God bless you, Pastor Jim

Good Friday 2012 @ PVC

Oswald Chambers wrote, “Never confuse the cross of Christ with the benefits that flow from it.”  Oftentimes we talk about salvation and redemption and justification- but those are all benefits that flow from the cross.  The message of the cross, the meaning of the cross is…for God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son.

From the world’s perspective the day that we commemorate as Good Friday is a lot of things but not good.  And if all you had to make that judgment were the actual events of that day you would be compelled to agree.  Consider some of what happened: Jesus was betrayed by a friend, He was abandoned by His disciples, He was falsely accused and later condemned by both the Jewish authorities and Roman officials.  He suffered a flogging-literally beaten to a pulp, he was mistreated- taunted and ridiculed, he experienced unimaginable pain and humiliation, and faced what was the single most difficult time in His existence- Jesus was separated from His Father.

The cross is a symbol of justice, imperfect as it was- a tool of torture and execution for those who committed crimes deserving of death.  The people of Jesus’ time understood its purpose.  They had seen others hung on crosses- criminals facing death for their crimes.  But Jesus hung there voluntarily- willing to endure whatever the Father required.  He could have freed himself at any time- He had the power and authority- but He chose to endure it all, even separation from the Father, so that He could bear our sins and the burden of the same for all who would ever believe.

But what about those who encountered Jesus on that day- they witnessed all that had happened.  Would they have called it a good day?  Did they know what was to come?  Jesus was tried and interrogated by Annas, he stood before the High Priest Caiaphas, before the Sanhedrin- a delegation of 70 Jewish leaders, He was taken to the Roman Governor Pilate- who sent him on to Herod- who sent him back to Pilate- who knew that Jesus was innocent but sentenced him to death to appease the crowd and prevent a riot.

Good Friday?  For who?  for those who watched as Jesus passed by hardly able to walk for the weight of the cross on his bloody shoulders,  was it good for Simon who was pulled from the crowd to carry Jesus’ cross; how about the soldiers who administered His punishment nailing him to the cross?  Was it good for his mother Mary who watched as her son was crucified, or for John who stood near her?  Who was it good for?  Did anyone take pleasure in that day?  Did God, although clearly His will…Did he think it was a good day?

There was evidence that something good had happened- darkness feel upon the land from 12-3; the temple veil was torn in two giving access to the Holy of holies to all who would enter; the earth shook, dead believers rose from their graves- all these signs that something ‘good’ had happened.  The soldier who watched as Jesus died said, “Surely this man was the Son of God.”  How did he know, what did he see- was it good?

Jesus had died, the Messiah was dead- how could this be called good?

Never confuse the cross of Christ with the benefits that flow from it.  Oftentimes we talk about salvation and redemption and justification- but those are all benefits that flow from the cross.  The message of the cross, the meaning of the cross is…for God so loved the world that he gave.  The good of this Friday is that we remember that Jesus died for us to accomplish what only He could.  He died so that we could live with him and for him and one day be with Him forever.  Today is Friday but Sunday is coming and Jesus – He is alive!