Praying Through 1 Peter 1:13-15

Most Heavenly Father, I pray that you would prepare my mind for action in your kingdoms work this day. Help me be self disciplined that I might serve you well in righteousness and help me set my hope completely on the grace that you extend to me through Jesus Christ.

Help me Lord Jesus be disciplined in obedience to your word and not be conformed to the desires of my former life, that I might be considered holy as you are holy in all my conduct.

I thank you Lord that I am holy because of the work Jesus Christ has done on my behalf. I praise you and worship you for being a holy and righteous God, full of justice and mercy and lovingkindness which endure forever.

Thank you Lord for being an impartial judge. Give me strength to conduct myself in reverence during the time you have given me in your service.

Thank you Lord for the redemption I have in Christ. I thank you that I have been redeemed from my former way of life and the life inherited from my fathers. I recognize that I have been redeemed by the precious blood of Christ and that my previous life holds no power over me.

Thank you Father for Jesus Christ and for your word which reveals him at this time.

Thank you Father for raising Jesus from the dead and giving him the glory that is his and his alone so that my faith and hope will be in God.

I pray that your Holy Spirit would lead me in the truth that I may have a pure heart to love the brother and live a full and complete life being born again by the living and enduring word of God. Amen

New Name, Same Mission

You may have already heard via other media outlets that Campus Crusade for Christ announced a name change at our recent National Staff Conference. The new name that Campus Crusade for Christ has selected is Cru. Cru has been a nickname used by our staff for a number of years. Who we are and what we are about has not changed. This name change does not impact the mission or name of FamilyLife®. FamilyLife remains a subsidiary of Cru.


We understand that some recent media reports have questioned our commitment to Jesus and our calling as ministers of the gospel. FamilyLife, along with Cru, are unswervingly committed to proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ in all that we do. We are committed to the centrality of the cross, the truth of the Word, the power of the Holy Spirit and the global scope of the Great Commission.

We still exist for the sole purpose of helping individuals experience the transforming grace and forgiveness of the gospel through Jesus Christ. Words may take on new meanings over time, but our calling never changes. We are committed to give every person around the world an opportunity to hear the gospel and a chance to say Yes to Jesus. That is what makes a name change necessary.

You can be sure that our calling and mission for FamilyLife and for Cru have not changed. Our heart remains the same - to help fulfill the Great Commission by winning people to Christ, building them in their faith to see their lives transformed, and sending them out to reach others for Christ.

For more information you may follow this link Campus Crusade for Christ.

Love and Self-control

My dad recently shared the importance of the Bible verses found in Matthew 5:43-48 to his life . This prompted me to put together the following thoughts on love and self-control.

I have recently been meditating on the biblical concept of love and have come to conclude that there is a direct relationship between love and self control.  2 Timothy 1:7, "for God has given us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self control."

Since the biblical concept of love (agape) is an action, if I  act lovingly towards others I  will be exercising self-control. If I exercise self-control in all matters, then I  will be expressing love in word and deed.
 
This connection between love and self-control is also mentioned in Galatians 5:22-23a. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faith, gentleness, self-control." There in lies the answer, that is, "the fruit of the Spirit". I must be filled with the power of the Holy Spirit moment by moment in order to express love and self-control in my life.

Confidence in Christ, Sufficiency from God

I remember well how with great excitement as a new believer in Jesus Christ I embraced the Apostle Paul's testimony in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."(NASB) Here was the Apostle Paul who had been whipped, beaten, shipwrecked, and endured other hardships and illnesses saying that there was nothing he could not do because he was strengthened by Christ. Wow! What power there is in being a Christ follower. I memorized this verse and reflected on it often as well as prayed for Christ's strength in times of difficulties.

Lately I realized that because of my fallen nature I was missing the emphasis of this verse. Over the years of using this verse the initial pronoun 'I' became the emphasis. I, instead of Christ, took center stage. Recently another portion of Scripture has clarified Paul's intent and my application of the power of Christ in me.

Such is the confidence that we have through Christ toward (in) God. Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, who has made us competent to be ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit. For the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. 2 Corinthians 3:4-6 (ESV)

Believers in Jesus Christ are not sufficient in and of themselves. But rather their sufficiency is from God! It is God the Father who saved us. God the Father makes us sufficient to minister. No matter what our role in the body of Christ is (father, mother, pastor, missionary, electrician, clerical worker, etc.) we are sufficient only through God's grace of being made sufficient.

My application of this verse now is one of worship. Worship of a God who so loves that he has given me sufficiency to minister. I can now worship God in all situations knowing that he has given me the sufficiency to meet the challenge of the moment. It is not about I, but it is about God the Father, his son Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit. Each and all are worthy of our honor and praise.

Love Like You Mean It™ Cruise 2011

On February 14 we embarked with 2200 guests on the inaugural Love Like You Mean It™ marriage cruise. Our responsibilities were to pray during each session for our guests, the speakers, artists and entertainers, and our staff. We were encouraged to have a number of others join us in the prayer room at various times throughout the four-day cruise.


From pre-cruise prayer requests we knew that there were couples looking for immediate help in their relationship and couples looking for encouragement in their already good marriage. Our over arching prayer request was that God would meet couples in their area of need and that many couples would come away encourage to disciple others in marriage relationships. From the below selected comments we are encouraged that God answered our prayers.


We were really struggling! This trip was an answer to prayer. God opened my eyes as a Christian man and husband to step up and be intentional about changing me and my marriage through the power of the Holy Spirit. This marriage cruise saved my marriage!! - married 4 years

This was very instrumental in reviving my heart and re-dedicating my life to Christ. It really helped me figure out how to take my chaotic life and get back to what’s really important. The speakers helped me to sort through my feelings and figure out how to get back to God and a Christ-centered home. We were given the tools we needed to improve our marriage and work through issues. You’ve changed our marriage and our lives! Thank You!! - married 11 years

We were in love when we came, but we are more in love after 4 intense days than we could ever imagine. We have become “contagious” with a message that we can’t wait to get home and “spread” what we caught! - married 40 years

2010 ended on an exciting note, actually more than one!

Seeing the seriousness of the relationship between Rebecca and her boyfriend Jeff, we invited them to attend the Weekend to Remember® in St. Louis with us. They accepted and off we went for a weekend getaway.  Jeff, the assistant men's golf coach at Texas Tech, was on a recruiting trip and flew in from Dallas.  Rebecca and we flew in from Little Rock.  Our fights arrived early enough in the day to allow us some time to play on Friday afternoon giving us an opportunity to spend personal time with Jeff and Rebecca. A trip to the St. Louis Zoo fit the bill very nicely as we were able to walk and talk as we experienced many exotic animals.

The Weekend to Remember was a hit with both Jeff and Rebecca. Midway through the getaway Rebecca even commented "Mom and Dad,

God Space, A Review

God Space, Where Spiritual Conversations Happen Naturally (127 pages) by Doug Pollock, 2009, Group, Loveland, CO, group.com is a unique book for all generations. I was captivated by the title because of my personal belief that I needed to refresh my approach to evangelism and sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book as a resource for both evangelism and discipleship.

I was raised in a religious culture that specifically frowned on proselytizing, so personal sharing of one's faith simply was not practiced. After my college and military days I was introduced to the Person of Jesus Christ by a friend in a working environment. By God's grace ...

Our New Role at FamilyLife

It is with great joy that we enter into a new phase of ministry here at FamilyLife as the National Prayer Directors for the Weekend to Remember® (WTR). It is the perfect time, the perfect place, to serve a Perfect God. We are excited to see how God will manifest himself according to John 14:13-14

As the National Prayer Directors we will provide an effective and transferable scripture-based prayer effort for the WTR through a volunteer organization in each Weekend to Remember getaway area. We will help the local WTR City Ministry Team and the Regional FamilyLife Staff in selecting prayer leadership and intercessors for each WTR getaway. We will also provide the personnel training, organizational strategies, and resources necessary for each Weekend to Remember getaway area to have effective and specific prayer coverage for the WTR getaway cycle culminating in on-site hour by hour prayer coverage during the WTR sessions.

Grandparents

Now that I have been a grandpa for a couple of months I have a whole new perspective on prayer.  It started when we got the phone call but really set in when I received the following 'official' birth announcement from our son.

 "We have been reminded of our smallness and of God's majesty these last few weeks and continue to marvel that Father God would give up his Son on our behalf. That He would pay mind to us who are so small and even exceed that by giving us joy in the arrival of our own smaller son has helped us cling to Christ even more. Please join with us as we worship Christ our creator who thought it for our best to give us a baby boy:

Zebulun Miller (Zeb) - 7 lbs, 20 inches long, born on Aug 25th @ 12:24 AM and healthy to boot!!!"

Not being able to be hands on in raising Zeb, I realized that my greatest influence on Zeb is and will be by praying for him and his mom and dad.

If you are a grandparent, aunt or uncle you may be interested in the following quote from The Family Manifest regarding grandparents.

"We believe grandparents are to be honored as valued family members. We believe their

The Art of Marriage

August was an exciting time as we joined the entire FamilyLife staff for our staff conference. Our time of fellowship and training was capped with the premiere of The Art of Marriage. Wow! This video event makes it possible for individuals and churches to bring the biblical principles of marriage to their local community.


 The Art of Marriage is like no other video 'conference' experience you have seen.  This is not a recording of a live event but is designed specifically for the video audience.  Take a look at this clip, The Art of Marriage , then decide how you might use The Art of Marriage to minister to those in your sphere of influence.

Marriage, The Foundations

As Margie and I celebrate 30 years of marriage today I was reflecting on our beginnings and journey to this point in our lives.  I attribute our 'success' in marriage to three things; Jesus Christ, mentors, and biblical blueprints.  Our personal relationships with Jesus Christ gives us the capacity to grow together in unity.  Christ-following mentors early in our relationship lived out a picture of what it looks like when two imperfect people join together in marriage.  Biblical teaching in our churches and the Weekend to Remember® getaways we attended throughout our years of marriage have provided solid blueprints on which to build a strong marriage foundation.

In a recent Marriage Memo article, God's Purposes for Marriage, Dennis Rainey writes that "three purposes give your marriage a sense of direction, internal stability, and the stamp of God’s design. They lift your marriage above the everyday, run-of-the-mill relationship and place it on a high and lofty spiritual plane." These purposes are; 1) Mirror God’s image, 2) Complete each other and experience companionship, and 3) Multiply a godly legacy. Margie and I took these teachings to heart in 1980 and look at us now!  To God the glory!

You can find out more details about building a strong marriage foundation in the book Starting Your Marriage Right, by Dennis and Barbara Rainey, Thomas Nelson Publisher, 2000. Or you may listen to Dennis and Barbara on a Starting Your Marriage Right CD from FamilyLife®.

A Very Special Romantic Getaway

Looking for a romantic getaway with your spouse? FamilyLife's Love Like You Mean It Marriage Cruise is the perfect place to reconnect, recommit, and strengthen your marriage. The ship departs February 14, 2011, from Port Canaveral, Florida, and makes stops in Cococay and Nassau, Bahamas. Check it out!

One of the great things about a cruise like this is that you do not have to put up with all the secular stuff of a regular cruise.  There'll be plenty of great teaching and encouragement in addition to time just for you two!  Margie and I have been on two previous cruises and even with our restricted choices of foods we had plenty to eat!  And good stuff too!!

Giving Away Ministry…

There are many heroes of the faith and Steve and Robbie Brooks, I believe fall into that category. In 1980 Steve and Robbie were involved with a ministry of discipleship of which Margie and I were beneficiaries. We learned skills of evangelism and developing disciples fo Christ but most profoundly they invited us to our very first Weekend to Remember! They gave away ministry allowing us to participate alongside of them, helping us help those we could influence. It is hard to imagine what our life would have been like without the influence of Stephen Robbie Brooks.

They are currently on staff with Crown Financial Ministries, Steve is the Area Director for Arizona. They touch the lives of hundreds each year through their ministry in the area of biblical financial responsibility. They are still in the business of giving away Gospel ministry.

As you know, the US economy has been struggling for a couple of years. Many people are trying to make ends meet each month. And unfortunately, most Americans are going further into debt each month, which only exacerbates the situation. I would like to let you know about some of the FREE (and nearly free) resources Crown Financial Ministries has to help people to get their financial house in order. If these resources are not for you, perhaps you know someone who could benefit from their use.

Here are some links that you might like to look at…

Address to the St. Louis Weekend to Remember® Volunteers

It is good to see each of you and be able to join you today via webcam.

We are on the beginning of some of the greatest ministry opportunities in the history of FamilyLife®. There are many individual reasons, some very personal, as to why each of us are involved with this ministry. But the underlying reason for all of us is that we want to share the Biblical principles of marriage with those around us because we know that this message is life changing.

I would like to take us to Matthew 25:14-30, The Parable of the Talents.

• A friend's book The Path of Consequence caused me to re-think the application of this parable on a day-to-day basis in my own life.

• God has given each of us talents to use in his Kingdom's work. I usually thought of the talents in terms of material possessions when studying this, not extending my thinking to gifts and abilities.

• The protagonists find themselves on a journey to discover a hidden treasure in the book The Path of Consequence by John W. Richardson. The lessons they learned as they looked for and pursued clues...

Heaven - Our Hope

This week we had a wonderful impromptu FamilyLife Staff Meeting with Randy Alcorn speaking.  Certainly it was the hand of Providence that the author of the book Heaven would speak to our staff the morning after a dear friend and coworker met Jesus face-to-face.  Certainly it was the hand of Providence that the author of the book Heaven would speak to our staff the week another dear friend and coworker was discharged from the hospital because there was nothing more the medical staff could do for the cancer she was facing.

In the midst of great suffering, heartache, grief and sadness even the Christian needs to be reminded of our Hope.  The devotional that Randy shared lifted all of our spirits.  One key thing he shared is that "Biblical hope is rooted in the fact that this life and its troubles are brief experiences relative to eternity. Paul said, "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us" (Romans 8:18)."

I could not help but think back to 1978 when two men at different times during the year went out ...

Grumbling

I have a confession to make.  I am a grumbler.  It was recently pointed out to me that the words I use sound like I am complaining and grumbling about my situation.  Of course, I vehemently denied this!  After all I was just stating facts about the situation.  Well, God had some training and correction in mind!

I happen to be reading through the book of Numbers and found a number of references to grumbling. Having just finished reading Exodus I remembered the Israelites were also grumbling on their way out of Egypt towards the promised land. ""How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me."  (Numbers 14:27 ESV) As  I studied Numbers 14-17 I became quite aware of the seriousness of grumbling.  Grumbling in the Old Testament time was such an offense to God that he killed those responsible as noted in Chapter 17 "and the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them up, with their households and all the people who belonged to Korah and all their goods." (Numbers 16:32 ESV)

I think I shall work hard at learning to not grumble and I am very thankful that we are now under the grace of Jesus Christ!

Death was not always God's response to grumbling.  In Exodus he did not slay those who crumbled but he ...

Launched March 1...

FamilyLife is pleased to announce the official launch of MomLife Today, http://www.momlifetoday.com/.

Over the past few years I have monitored a few mom blogs on the Internet.  Some were good, somewhere so so and some were just awful.  What they all had in common was a single moms experience and thoughts of parenting and what it means to be a mom.  I'm excited about MomLife Today because of the crossgenerational panel of moms who contribute, all from various backgrounds and experiences with one common goal to share biblical principles about issues that impact moms.

We are very excited about how God might use this new outreach to speak into the lives

God in his Majesty...

God is awesome! In the first two weekends of the FamilyLife Weekend to Remember schedule we have seen God work mightily in the lives of thousands of couples. In the first two weekends of February God ministered to 10,006 people at 10 Weekend to Remember events.  There were 708 indicated salvation decisions at the combined events.  Amazingly, and to His glory, five of the 10 events were sold out!

You can check out some comments from those attending a Weekend to Remember on the /FamilyLife Weekend to Remember fan page on Facebook.

I believe that all ndividuals are looking for significance in life and specifically in relationships.  It would be my prayer that all find

Joyfull New Year!

A post near the end of January does not qualify as a Happy New Year piece.  Especially in the light of a devastating earthquake in Haiti, lingering illnesses in the family, and deaths of family members of friends of ours.  As I read Psalm 16 I began contemplating the difference between 'happy'and 'joy'.  In the Christian worldview the difference between the two words is significant.  We can be happy only when things are going well and our spirits are uplifted, whereas a state of joyfulness is not dependent upon our circumstances, but rather a willful state of mind (James 1:2, 1Thessalonians 5:16).

I find that David has a great perspective on a new year, one that focuses on his relationship to God and not on what his resolutions for the year might be.  In verse one he talks about the need to be preserved by God ...

Merry Christmas!

We are excited to celebrate Christmas! We have seen the Lord Jesus Christ work in the hearts and minds of thousands of couples this past year. We know there are families celebrating their Christmas together with great joy because of how God changed the life of a husband or a wife or both at a Weekend to Remember marriage conference this last year.

Margie and I wish you a very Merry Christmas! Many of you reading this have a part in our ministry and we wish for you to rejoice with us for the marriages saved and families restored through our ministry here at FamilyLife. 

Psalm 127:1 Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.