This is an amazing story of surrender to our God, who is greater than anything we will ever face.
Ted Blair is the Senior Pastor of Livingway Church in Garland, TX. Please join Lisa and I in prayer for Ted, his wife and daughters, and their entire church. Check it out...
...and purity for pastors, priests, poets and all people.
By now you've probably heard the sad and disappointing news of South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford's affair. It's a story that is sure to be in the headlines for the next several days. But after the hype of the news channels and tabloids, newspapers and magazines, the reality is that a marriage, and a family, hangs in the balance. And this story has caused me to think about my own marriage and the marriages of the people I meet every day.
Over the years, Lisa and I have been asked countless questions by thousands of people about our marriage. But one of the most important questions we've been asked is how we keep our marriage pure. So years ago I wrote out:
The 10 Commandments of Purity
1. I shall have no other human relationship before Lisa, including our children.
2. I shall remember our date night and keep it holy.
3. I shall honor Lisa on anniversaries and special days so that I may live long in the land the Lord has given me.
4. I shall not take the covenant of marriage in vain.
5. I shall not ride in a car or eat in a restaurant alone with a member of the opposite sex.
6. I shall not travel alone.
7. I shall not counsel a woman with the doors closed.
8. I shall not share the details of our marriage with others.
9. I shall not watch, read or expose myself to sexually explicit shows, books, websites, etc.
10. I shall remember the implications of committing adultery.
No matter who you are, I challenge you to make these your own. Follow them in your marriage every day. They may seem extreme. But something that has extreme consequences calls for extreme action.
Remember, everyone deals with temptation. It's what you do before facing temptation to stay pure that determines what happens in the face of it. You have to protect your marriage. So do I. Because failing to do so can result in heartache - for ourselves, our families and most importantly, our God.
This issue is bigger than only calling for purity for politicians. We need to call for purity as politicians, pastors, priests, poets and as all people.
A year ago, Fellowship Church opened our very own camp - Allaso Ranch - a place where lives are changed! Check out the stories of these students' experience.
And if you haven't signed up your children for this year, don't miss out. There's still time...
If it ain't broke, break it.
In other words, change. Just to change. That may sound like an odd statement, but it's vital. Why? Because change is the guts of creativity.
We all want to be creative. But to do that, in any venue of life, we have to be willing to change. Something. Anything. And we have to do it before we need to do it.
One of the biggest pitfalls we find ourselves in is the inability, or unwillingness, to change. We lock ourselves into a style, a look, a time zone. And after a while, everything we do and say looks and sounds like circa 2002.
When you drill it down, the lack of change is all about fear. Many people and leaders resist the need to change because of the resistance of change. But there's a spin cycle of success when it comes to change.
Change. Conflict. Growth.
If you want your life and your leadership to reach the level God wants it to, you have to change.
At Fellowship Church, we change all the time. There's a running joke that FC stands for "frequent change." But it's true. We've discovered over the past 18 years that when we change, yes, we face conflict. Yes, people do the push back. Yes, some people even leave the church! But as we stick through the changes, we also discover tremendous growth on the other side.
So what does change really look like here?
Change Your Preparation
I don't always prepare my messages the same way. I vary the books I read, the articles I research and the people who help me craft the weekend messages. I even change the places I study.
If I stick to doing things the same way, I fall into a rut. And there's no less effective place to be than in a rut.
Change Your Worship
Over the years, we've blown up the entire dynamic of our worship department. And not just once.
This is one of those areas that, when it's "working," people are afraid to change. But it's one of the greatest ways to keep the church on its feet with its arms raised in worship rather than folded in familiarity.
Change Your Style
I'm not talking about just your clothes (though, yes, please change those as the years go by). I'm talking about the style of your leadership. In other words, change the people you have in leadership positions.
Even as I write this, we're in the process of changing the entire leadership scheme of Fellowship Church. Because we've discovered that new perspectives, new viewpoints help elevate our church to heights we never dreamed possible.
Don't be afraid of change. Instead, be afraid of what could happen if you don't change. Be willing to face the conflict change will bring. And get ready to experience the growth on the other side!
Congratulations to Tammy Bunting - this month's winner of the Golden Crab Award! (and no, I'm not spilling the details of this coveted prize... yet.)
There are times when it is necessary to be reminded of the power and urgency of prayer in all of our lives. Today is one of those days.
Yesterday, during the 10:00 a.m. service at our Grapevine campus, a 23 year old man named Jared collapsed and was taken to the hospital. I ask that you lift him up in prayer, as well as his family who were all together at the Easter service. Jared is hanging onto life by a thread, and the pain his family is experiencing is immense.
As I type this I am reminded of the urgency of prayer, not only for Jared, but also for so many others who are in need of healing physically and spiritually.
As far as we know, Jared is secure in his eternity with Christ. But every day, you and I pass hundreds and thousands of people who are not. They too are holding onto eternal life by a thread.
While they may not realize their need for spiritual healing because of the fact that they have a physical pulse, there will come a day when that pulse will stop. And for too many people, that day will be a tragic and unnecessary death. It doesn't have to be that way.
So as I ask you to pray for Jared's physical healing and for his family, I also ask you to pray for those in your life who do not know Jesus Christ. Pray that they come to realize who Christ is and all that he can do in their lives. Because it is only through Jesus that we have any hope for life. And it is only through him that we can experience true healing!
The tongue is a powerful thing. It has the ability to build up or tear down; it can heal or destroy; it can deliver words of life or words of destruction.
This past weekend I talked about a guy who used his tongue to destroy. But in response to that slander, David wrote the following words. Read them. Pray about them. And consider how you use your tongue when you talk about others.
Psalm 52
Why do you boast of evil, you mighty man? Why do you boast all day long, you who are a disgrace in the eyes of God?
Your tongue plots destruction; it is like a sharpened razor, you who practice deceit.
You love evil rather than good, falsehood rather than speaking the truth. Selah
You love every harmful word, O you deceitful tongue!
Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin: He will snatch you up and tear you from your tent; he will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah
The righteous will see and fear; they will laugh at him, saying,
"Here now is the man who did not make God his stronghold but trusted in his great wealth and grew strong by destroying others!"
But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God's unfailing love for ever and ever.
I will praise you forever for what you have done; in your name I will hope, for your name is good. I will praise you in the presence of your saints.
