Nothing kills a relationship quicker than apathy. When both partners stop trying, stop growing, stop pursuing, stop pleasing, stop serving, you find yourself in a rut where you’ve become more like roommates than helpmates!

Today, get your relationship out of the same old rut and back onto the highway of growth. Kick apathy out of your way and be a servant-lover today by bringing some variety. Show your partner you still care and want to grow by praying together, do a household chore your spouse hates, sit beside each other at dinner, snuggle and hold hands while you watch tv, write a sexy email to your husband telling him you can’t wait for tonight when you can share God’s gift of intimacy (after all God made sex for marriage). Bring some variety today and spice up your life!

This event, called Gladiator Night, was a fun filled night of activities and we saw about 250 teens there. A short gospel presentation was also given and I have to say it was a very fun night from start to finish.

I always encourage our youth to invite their friends to events and we have an Invite event each month. So I wanted to share with you the power of the invite.

Three of the four teens that were invited by our youth group accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior tonight! Sometimes all it takes is a personal invitation for someone to come to church and we never know if that might be the time that the Holy Spirit calls them to accept Christ.

So a big shout out to the youth group for inviting their friends to share in not only the fun and friendship, but also in the eternity! May you have an opportunity this week to invite an unchurched or lost friend and watch the amazing things God gas in store!

Gary

Every battle has casualties becase every battle has an enemy. The problem in relationship conflicts occurs when we forget the true identity of our enemy which causes us to inflict casualties on the wrong person.

Paul said that we “fight and wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities…”. Our war and battle isn’t against our spouse or the person we are dating! We need to war against Satan and make sure any casualties of war through the arena of conflict are against him.

Today, or the next time you have a conflict, make sure you don’t say anything that attacks or wounds the other person. Battle Satan by warring as a team agaisnt the problem. Attack the problem and Satan rather than each other. When you work things out without wounding each other, you thwart our real enemy and go on the offensive against him.

Jeremiah was God’s messenger to tell the nation of Judah to examine their lives and turn back to God. He wanted them to learn from the nation of Israel’s punishment and avoid the same mistakes. More than anything, God wanted His people to interact with Him personally and let Him lead and orchestrate their lives instead of allowing circumstances and other gods to steal their worship.

Do you see in the verses above, God’s heart’s desire is that we hear, we listen, and we obey. That is what Him being Lord means. It is ignoring our own selfish ways, thoughts, and desires, and being led by the Spirit to in every moment.

Today I want to challenge you to listen for God’s voice about your dating relationship or marriage. What is He trying to say to you about your relationship? What needs to grow? What needs to change? How do you need to encourage today? What act of love or words or time do you need to excercise today as you listen and obey His voice instead of your normal way? Today, after you have heard from Him what you need to say or do, go for it with all you have!

Amen

One of the greatest ways to neutralize an argument when you are fearful, hurt, or wronged is to switch your focus off of the issue and onto what you love about your partner. This is an awesome perspective builder when you are caught up in the moment.

So don’t wait! Today, make a list of the things you love about your partner and why you are glad God gave him/her to you. Then, you will be prepared with ammo the next time you are in a conflict. You will be able to take a minute, reflect on that list, get perspective of your whole relationship and not just the immediate conflict, and address your concerns in a healthy way!

The future bride in this relationship is looking at their current and future life together and she has some concerns.
The word fox there is imagery of something that would come in and cause hurt, wrong, fear, and if unchecked, ruin in their bidding relationship.

She is challenging him to examine their relationship and see problems when they are small and to reject passivity to address them head-on. This way the small foxes don’t turn into big foxes.

In your relationship today, are there any foxes you need to address? Maybe they are small, but they can turn into big things. Address them head-on in a spirit of love today with your partner, having the goal of reconciliation, not just to get an apology. Then be on the lookout, ready to spot conflicts before they start so you can catch foxes like Solomon.

“This is the miracle that happens every time to those who really love the more they give, the more they possess.”

by Rainer Maria Rilke

One of the greatest ways to grow a lifelong love is to display your love for one another. The quote above is so true, “the more you give, the more you will possess”. So today be bold in displaying your love both in public and in private.

Men: Find a way today in public and in private to declare your love for your lady. Maybe you could have your own “I love this woman” screaming moment from the commercials a few years ago. Then find a way to display your love in private. Maybe you write her a note, give a backrub, or bring a little present home with no strings attached.

Women: Find a way to appropriately display your love today. If you are married, nothing is off limits, in fact, the Lord said every physical expression of love between a husband and wife is good! So show him you love him in a way that will speak volumes to him and make the rest of the world and it’s problems fade away. If you are dating, show your love with a hug, a kiss, or some cuddle time. Then do a thoughtful gesture that shows you care deeply and were thinking of a way to make him feel special.

Men: Today, get to know your lady in a deeper way. Remember that knowing what type of deodorant she wears doesn’t make you intimate, it just makes you familiar. Ask her these questions to build intimacy…

- If we could go on vacation anywhere in the world, money being no object, where would you pick?

- What is a funny story about you that I don’t know?

- What do you feel like is going well in out lives right now? What is an area we can work on?

- Where would you like to see our family five or ten years from now financially, relationally, and spiritually?

Women: Men want a partner with whom they can experience life. We want intimacy through shared adventure. We need a comrad on our team who’s ready to take on life, quench any enemy together, and live life to the fullest.

Today plan an adventure to share with your man. It doesnt have to be something costly. Make it something out of the ordinary that you can look forward to. It doesn’t have to happen today, just plan something today and tell him you did so. You can share the plans with him or keep the a surprise, but let him know you want to spend some time doing something together.

Yesterday we looked at “Love’s Miracle Grow” and some tips to grow a lifelong love. This week my love tips will be broken down into tips for men and tips for women. Remember, these things are ways we can show the love of Jesus by choosing to love in these ways regardless of the other person’s performance. This is how Christ loved us, so we can imitate Him in truest form.

Men: Today, be a shadow of protection to your lady and let her lean on and find rest in you.

If she has been struggling with her body image, tell her how beautiful she is. Pick one of her features and just rave about it.

If she is having a tough day, be there emotionally. Tell her you are ready to listen without distractions and you won’t offer her your “fixes” unless she asks.

Protect her spiritually today by spending intentional time praying for her, then tell her you did so. If you want to take it to the next level, identify areas where she is being attacked spiritually today and help her come against them outloud in Jesus’ name. Be her warrior today.

Women: Nothing makes your guy feel like he can conquer the world than you believing in him.

Find a way to encourage him today. Tell him something he is great at doing or something you admire or appreciate about him.

If he has let you or the family down in the past and not protected you emotionally, spiritually, financially, etc., then purpose in your heart to forgive him today.

If he is helping with the kids or around the house, but it is different than the way you would do it, choose not to start an argument today. Release some control, allow him to lead, and remember different isn’t always wrong.

What an incredible time everyone had and the big hit was broom ball. If you don’t know, it’s just like ice hockey but without the skates, and brooms instead of hockey sticks and a ball instead of a puck, so I guess it’s not much like ice hockey, is it?

Anyway, after shakes at steak n shake, 2 hours of skating and broomballing, a short devo on Jesus, we headed back to the church and got home at 3am.

I only do one late night event a year, but the kids loved it, and although they were sore afterwards, they asked when we were going back!

So yes, the youth had a great time and I know we will be broomballing it again next year!

Gary

Today, think of a tangible gift you can give to your partner to express your love and say you were thinking about him/her. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It could be their favorite candy bar, or cost nothing at all by giving them a footrub. Lavish your love with a gift today!

I was driving down to Charleston on business this week and heard a cool idea that fits into our mission of inviting others to Christ. You may have heard it before, but I have a little twist. This week if you are going through a drive thru at your local fast food place, pay for the person’s order behind you. Here’s the twist. Give the cashier 2 of the flyers advertising the current sermon series or the little cards that Pastor David asks us to hand out each week from the bulletin. Invite the cashier to join us for worship and ask him/her to give one of the cards or flyers to the person behind you as well. So they get a random act of kindness in the form of food and an invitation to come worship. Talk about a win, win!

What do you think? I’m going to try it!

Worship the King!

Michael

In a world like that, everyone of us appreciates someone who cares enough to put all the distractions away and focus solely on us for a moment. In “Twenty Things I Need To Tell My Wife”, the #8 thing is, “I want to hear what you have to say.”

Today, become an oasis of presence by being wholly present when your spouse is around. Have a five minute conversation today where the other person is the only one in the world at that moment. Ask about work and really listen. Ask how you can pray for him/her. Be at full attention during every conversation and don’t do anything else that might distract you. Show your love and your partner’s importance today by putting away distractions and being present!

She had a great appointment today. In fact, the only time she cried today at the doctor’s was when I told her we had to take the gown off because we couldn’t take it home.

She is so amazing! I thank God for giving Katie and me such awesome daughters. Tell your kids how much you love them today and share a funny story about them when they were little.