Tweet It’s been a while since I made a genuine “mixed tape” for Cheryl. I frequently make CD’s for her to listen to in her car, but it’s mostly with…
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Tweet For several years, I spent some of my reflective time in an old cemetery in our city. The older the tombstone, the more likely to have an epitaph inscribed….
In our series called Modern Family, I opened with a message on the purpose of marriage. I’m not certain most couples fully understand why God created marriage…and I’m especially not sure we often live according to those purposes.
Feel free to dialogue with me after the message:
If you’ve been following my blog this week, I’m in Ecuador with a group of pastors on behalf of Compassion International.
We were blown away today as we entered a village in the mountains of Ecuador. It took an hour to drive the curvy dirt road, our bus got stuck, and we walked a short distance to the village. Upon rounding a corner, we saw a crowd waiting for us. Hundreds of children from the village had formed a receiving line where they gave us a rose (Ecuador is famous for their roses) and a homemade card welcoming us to their village. It was slightly overwhelming.
Have you ever received an overwhelming undeserved show of affection?
I can’t help but share this picture. This little boy warmed my heart (as did many others). I’m not sure he knew how cute he is!
Day 2 of visiting Compassion Projects in Ecuador was my favorite so far, and it happened because of one little boy. He’s one of the boys in this picture. When I went to take his picture he asked if his “best friends” could be in the picture too. I loved that!
Anyway, this little boy was asked what he liked best about Compassion International sponsorship program and he said, “God blessed me with the opportunity to meet my sponsors.” Wow! That’s the part about Compassion I like the best! It’s an open book. Today I saw the records…I saw the documents…I saw the paperworks side…but more than that…I saw the kids who many people sponsor. If you sponsor a child with Compassion International, you can make a visit to that child…and they feel “blessed by God” when you do.
By the way, if you do sponsor a child…
Is it common in your marriage for one spouse to be strong when the other is weak?
Or is that just in my marriage?
Cheryl and I have noticed that it goes in seasons for us, and sometimes even day-to-day.
When Cheryl is having a bad day…week…month…I seem to be having a better period of time.
Cheryl often appears to be stronger during my weaker moments.
We have found it to be true emotionally, physically, and sometimes even spiritually.
When she’s weak, I can strengthen her…
When I’m weak, she can strengthen me…
That “imbalance” in our marriage has proven to be quite strengthening for our marriage…
This imbalance actually helps to keep our marriage balanced and strong…
I wonder if God might even be the designer of this imbalance at times…
Have you noticed this healthy “imbalance” in your marriage?
What’s the purpose of marriage?
We are doing a series called Family Ties at Grace Community Church next month and I’m speaking three times on marriage. It begins with a look at the purpose of marriage. I’m not convinced we all know…or perhaps even agree…with what the purpose of marriage. Of course, we will look at what the Bible says about marriage, but I’m curious…
As I prepare, dialogue with me on this post. I want your opinion. I believe the Bible should shape our thoughts, not a person’s opinion, but I also believe understanding what people believe will help me prepare to address this from a Biblical perspective. Also, while I believe the Bible gives some clear purposes for marriage, I realize some of that is subject to interpretation of Scripture.
So, will you help me? Consider these questions to fuel your thoughts.
What do you believe is/are the purpose/s of marriage?
Is it better for some people not to marry?
Do you think some people marry for the wrong reasons?
Is the Bible clear on “all” the purposes of marriage?
I love the vision Grace Community Church has to impact our community. Our people serve their community throughout the year. The largest project, and the one that draws the most attention, is our annual Operation Serve held each fall where hundreds of volunteers serve in a one (sometimes two) day blitz of community needs. I’ve written about it before HERE. This past year over 1,300 people logged some 10,000 hours of service to our community meeting all kinds of practical needs.
Well, another project is stirring interest. Our community, like many others nationwide, have experienced struggles adequately funding school systems. Enter Operation Serve School Edition.
April 9th we hope to have hundreds of people volunteering in all 35 schools in our public school district. Operations Serve School Edition invites the community to participate with our church in landscaping, painting, cleaning, and completing other things the school needs done, but the budget simply can’t provide. The schools are compiling lists now and materials are being acquired.
To accomplish such a large task, we are also partnering with 5 Star Radio Group. They are providing publicity to recruit volunteers and providing tremendous moral support the day of the event with live remotes.
It’s catching on already. Here are a few articles already talking about Operation Serve School Edition:
Operation Serve: School Edition
Church aims to renovate entire school system
Church To Fix Up 35 Schools In 1 Day: Grace Community Church In Clarksville Seeks Volunteers
Besides the fact that we meet in a school…actually two schools…and doing a church our size and age would be very difficult without this partnership, it makes sense to partner with our schools because:
I need your help. If you regularly read this blog I’d love to hear from you. Even if you’ve never commented before, consider doing so on this post.
I’ve been active online for over 15 years now and I see what I do here as an extension of my calling in ministry I’m consistently encouraged by the professionals…bloggers, pastor friends and book publishers…to define my life focus. Supposedly if I do I can write a book about it. Currently I simply post what’s most current on my mind or heart, but I always want to improve.
I can look at the analytics of the posts I write, but honestly they don’t tell me much, as there doesn’t seem to be a pattern to any certain theme of posts I write and page views.
So, I need your help. Could you answer a few questions for me?
Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in time of need. Hebrews 4:16 NIV
Do you know why you can approach God’s throne of grace with confidence?
Unconditional Love! God loves you unconditionally!
Have you ever experienced the awesome feeling of knowing you are loved unconditionally?
I have come to realize how many people struggle with understanding the concept of unconditional love.
I feel so blessed to