Feb 4 - Matthew 19:6

Make me to know

your ways, O Lord;

teach me your paths.

Matthew 19:6

^ESV

What's the worst thing you've ever seen?

My worst thing is sad. Tragic. Horrible, actually.

Do you know what Russian Roulette is? It's very high stakes gambling. You take a gun, chamber one bullet, and spin the cylinder. Putting the gun to your own head, you pull the trigger. The result? A sudden, one-in-six chance of exploding your skull.

Now, imagine the horror of walking into a hospital room and seeing someone you knew who had lost at this obscene game.

On life-support -- a charade that would only last a few days -- the forehead of this young man looked "normal." The back of his head, however, was gone. His skull was concave. It was grotesque. Brainless. Tragic. A tragic waste.

Here’s the point: That's the state of marriage in our world today. All of us walk down the aisle with boundless hope. We're joyfully confident that our life and love is bullet-proof. But let's be honest ... marriage in our modern world is Russian Roulette.

In America, we host gorgeous pageants. Brides wear beautiful dresses. Smiling grooms sliding golden rings on delicate fingers. Romantic music fills the air. But about as soon as we cut the cake, the trigger is pulled. Marriage begins. And today's brides and grooms get a two-shooter as their wedding gift. The survival rate of marriages is about 50-50. Couples today have a one-in-two chance of exploding their marriage.

It doesn't have to be that way!

Starting today I’m going to talk a lot about marriage and relationships in my daily devotions. Now I realize, of course, that many of you are not married, so please understand that I'm not excluding you! Indeed, most of these devotions can be applied to the majority of our relationships. After all, God's kingdom is all about relationships!

Nevertheless, these devotions are my volunteer offering, and you need to know that right now two things are on my heart…

1.      First, as a pastor I am tired of gun-shot wounds destroying husbands, wives, children, and communities. It doesn’t have to be that way!

2.      Second, I am a dad. I have a second son who is getting married. I want to pass on to Jay and Emelie (and to Paul and Meredith … and to your spouse and your marriage-age kids) what I have learned from …

a.      28 years of marriage

b.      20 years as a pastor

c.      thousands of sessions while counseling marriages, and …

d.      tens of thousands of hours studying God's wisdom and word.

I hope what you hear is God's wisdom, not mine. Why? Because marriage needs a strength that is bigger than me or you. Indeed, all of our relationships need God's power.

Question of the Day: see below

In Christ's Love,

a guy who wants to see

more beauty than bullets

Question of the Day

Getting Married and Newlyweds: For many of you, you will be married once. (Maybe twice.) Most of the people you look to for marital advice will be married once (maybe twice). Your perspective (and theirs) is limited. God, on the other hand, has been involved in billions of marriages! What do you need to do – individually and together – to begin to hear the Author of Love and the Creator of Marriage more fully in your lives?

Married: For many of you, you will be married once. (Maybe twice.) Most of the people you look to for marital advice will be married once (maybe twice). Your perspective (and theirs) is limited. God, on the other hand, has been involved in billions of marriages! What do you need to do – individually and together – to begin to hear the Author of Love and the Creator of Marriage more fully in your lives?

Not Married: You are part of this society that is destroying marriages, families, and children. What can you do to help marriages?