Making the Connection

Pam and I love to go to be a part of music festivals so much that we flew to Washington state for our 10th and 15th anniversaries. Last year we heard they were going to be bringing one down to Texas and we were pumped, because it meant there was a possibility we could bring along some other friends to enjoy it with us. So this year, we’ve got some people from TCC joining us and we’re bringing our kids along. Collide is happening June 7-9 in Sherman, just north of Dallas. They just added Relient K to the lineup, which will be a lot of fun. And there will be a lot of worship at full volume! Not to mention the fun of camping out. If you want to go, let me know.

Okay, I’m back. Like I said before, as a kid, I read a lot of comic books. At one time, I was getting around 8 titles in the mail a month. In the sixth grade, I realized how uncool that was and took my whole collection in to one of those comic stores where they gave me around 3 or 4 cents a piece for them. That amounted to around $100 that I then used to buy a new boombox cassette radio. That was symbolic of how music became my new thing. I just thought you’d enjoy that piece of history.

Spider-Man 3 was a great movie. It is filled with spiritual themes of sin, forgiveness, wise choices, and friendship. In fact, according to Sam Raimi, interviewed in Christianity Today, the climactic scene was shot in a church intentionally as the place where Spider-Man sheds his dark side. Overall, it was a lot of fun with a moral message to boot.

If you missed last Sunday’s message on "The Deadly Effects of Revenge" you can listen to it online here.

Today’s the day we’re starting our month-long journey through the book of Proverbs. Since this book is 31 chapters long, it’s perfect to read through in one month. Join me and many others at TCC in this experience.

The first chapter makes such an incredible promise for me: "These proverbs will make the simple-minded clever" (1:4). That’s just what I need!

God says that fearing Him is where wisdom starts. There are so many people in the world who have more abbreviations after their name, but God says that true wisdom starts by acknowledging who He is and that He is in control. Until we get that, all of our education is worthless.

And as for those people who are up to no good, God says "they booby-trap their own lives" (1:18). It’s crazy when we willingly make decisions that end up making us miserable, when we thought it was the path to happiness. It’s like beating ourselves in the head.

The good news is, God is not hiding His wisdom from us. It’s here in His Word, for our benefit. I’m excited about this journey. Let me know what you’re discovering along the way.

Check out the guitar cam!

Yesterday, I got to talk about The Facts of Life. My challenge to the married couples in our church is to openly discuss their romantic relationship this week. That’s right, schedule and plan a sit down, face to face, heart to heart meeting to get real honest with each other.

For this to be effective, you’ll want to prepare and pray before the meeting.  Prepare two lists.  First, write down and discuss what you love about your relationship now, in any area.  Start with compliments. Make the list as long as you can.  The second list is, “What I’d like to see different.”

Don’t make “you” statements like “You always do this… You never do this …” Any statement that starts with “you” can be an received as an accusation and is likely to cause conflict.  Instead, make “I” statements – “Here’s what I need…. Here’s what I’d like … Here’s what I’d like us to think about…”

When you come together for this meeting, have a spirit of cooperation, not competition.  Remember, you love each other.  You’re married.  You’re in this together.  Don’t fix the blame. Fix the problem.

Do it in the spirit of encouragement.  We always change faster through encouragement than we do through criticism.  1 Thessalonians 5:11 says, “Encourage each other and build each other up.”

I’m praying for you this week that God will strengthen your marriage and that He will be honored through your relationship.