My wife, Julie and myself just returned from sunny Southern California where we received a Church Health Award from Purpose Driven Ministries/Saddleback Church during the PDC conference. While there we got to take some extra time and went to The Mission at San Juan Capistrano, took a boat excursion from Dana Point, and ate at Bubba Gumps in Long Beach. It was a great time to relax and enjoy some much needed time together and to unofficially celebrate our 25th anniversary!

I have been to the PDC Conference several times, but this was the first one that Julie has gotten to attend and she came away impressed. We had lunch on Monday with Glen Kreun, Saddleback’s Executive Pastor and picked his brain regarding administrative stuff. I have met Rick Warren a couple of times and never had a chance to get into a personal time with him. One of the benefits of winning a Church Health Award, is that you get to do a geet and meet with Rick. I saw a side of him that I had never seen before as he listened to pastors tell their story and then we listened to him share specific details regarding his life and ministry that will not be found in any of his books. It was refreshing!

During the week I attended the Launching Purpose Driven Churches seminar led by Ron Sylvia from Ocala, FL, while Julie got to attend a pastor’s wives luncheon with Kay Warren on Wednesday and she also attended a couple of seminars on administration. We garnered some great knowledge and information and came away refreshed to continue to do ministry for the Lord!