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