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

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!

Thanks and God bless you,

Pastor Jim

For more information or to volunteer to help call Ginger Denham at (509) 292-8791

It was Larry, he was excited and he wanted  someone there with him to speak to me.  Her name was Mandy and she too sounded excited about something, but I didn’t know who she was or what really was going on.  It’s hard for me to express the joy I felt when she shared with me that she had prayed to receive Jesus Christ as her Lord and Savior.  Mandy told me that she would be coming to church soon and I can’t wait to welcome her and express again how happy I am that she is now a child of God.

Taking phone calls during scheduled meetings is rude- but there are some calls that warrant interruption.  Thanks Larry for your persistence- I was blessed to hear the good news about Mandy and I look forward to meeting our new sister soon.

Love in Christ, Jim

The Bible is a manual filled with life instruction from a heavenly Father who created us and loves us and knows what is best for us.

Why do we have AWANA at Peaceful Valley Church?  We run the program because it helps us to accomplish our purpose of showing children God’s love and teaching them God’s truth.

We live in a world where our children are exposed to a lot of unhealthy influences, ideas, values  and beliefs.  AWANA is a program built on biblical principles with a biblical world-view that helps our children to discern the difference between what is true and what is a lie.

The truth is that God created us to have a relationship with him.  But that relationship with Him was severed by sin.  And the consequence of sin is separation from God.  The problem is that while we were created by God to be with God we rebelled and sinned which built a wall between us that could only be torn down by a perfect sacrifice.  God provided a solution to this problem by sending His Son Jesus.

Jesus came to earth to die as that perfect sacrifice.  The Bible says, For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. 1 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

The following five verses will help to clarify our condition before Christ, the solution to the problem of separation from God and how you can respond if you want to start a relationship with God:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23 (NIV)

1.  we are all sinners- none of us is perfect.

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23 (NIV)

2.  We deserve death- eternal separation from God- but…

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8 (NIV)

3.  Even though we rebelled against God he sent his Son to die as the perfect sacrifice for our sins.  The sin of mankind has been paid for but we each must accept God’s free gift of salvation.

That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10 (NIV)

4.  As it says in the verse above- if you want to begin a relationship with God believe the claims of the Bible and ask Jesus to be your Lord and Savior.

God created the heavens and the earth and all that is in them including you and me.  He loves you and me and has made a relationship with him possible by the death of His Son, Jesus Christ.  The Bible says that everyone who calls upon the name of Jesus is saved and that’s where life begins.

AWANA is important because our kids are important.  God has given parents the privilege of children and the responsibility of raising them to know about God and how God expects us to live.  We are a light on the hill exposing people to God’s love and His truth- AWANA is a tool that we use to do just that.

The theme verse for AWANA is 2 Timothy 2:15 which says…

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 (NIV)

AWANA is a great children’s ministry teaching biblical principles that when applied help our kids to live the kind of lives that God intends.

Thank you for allowing us to spend time with the kids and thank God for the many leaders that make this ministry possible here at Peaceful Valley Church.

At about 8 PM I received a phone call.  From the caller ID it appeared to be Jeff, a dear friend and brother in the Lord.  I answered, “Hello, this is Jim.”  But the voice on the other end wasn’t Jeff’s.  The voice was much younger and replied, “Hello Pastor Jim, this is Mathew.”  Mathew is seven years old.  “Hello Mathew,” I said, “How are you?”  He said that he called because he had some news.  He explained that he had prayed to ask Jesus to be his Lord and Savior and that he wanted to be baptized.  Sunday was a great day and the good news of Mathew’s salvation made it one of the best ever!  There is no better news than that someone has come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Praise God!

There are many lessons we can glean from this short phone call:  How God uses loving families to lead children to Christ; the importance of affirming our children’s salvation by sharing the good news; The joy that accompanies the testimony of a new believer; one of the greatest blessings realized in the life of a pastor; the start of something big for the Kingdom of God and the list goes on.

I am thankful for the many blessings God has bestowed on me- but phone calls and testimonies like these rank among the highest.  We are building the Kingdom of God together- to Him be all glory forever and ever, amen.

Pray for young Mathew- and praise God for his salvation,

Love in Christ,

Pastor Jim